Category: Human Rights

Iran can gain politically by de-escalating

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Al Jazeera Analysis April 15, 2024: (Scroll down that page 2/3)
… Stephen Zunes, a professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco, said the US is trying to “calm things” in the Middle East following Iran’s retaliatory attacks against Israel. While the US has “allowed Israel to engage in some pretty horrific war crimes against the Palestinians”, expanding to an international conflict of this magnitude, especially against a relatively powerful opponent like Iran is something the US will try and prevent, he said.
For the Israelis, however, there are more “hawkish elements” at play, he said. This includes Netanyahu looking to have the international community focus on Israel versus Iran, where he can garner more sympathy compared with Israel versus the Palestinians. The Iranian regime, at this point, can gain politically by not escalating, Zunes added. Israel’s actions in the war on Gaza, with US support, have alienated many non-Western nations and made them less likely to normalise relations with Israel, he said….

Getting Ukraine’s History Right

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Truthout Feb. 28, 2024, by Stephen Zunes [source]
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the 2014 Maidan Revolution in Ukraine, which ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and in turn prompted the Russian seizure of Crimea and the Russian-backed secessionist movement in the Donbas. It also marks the second anniversary of the Russian invasion eight years later. Western anti-imperialists have correctly recognized a number of provocative actions and other missteps by the United States and NATO which are a necessary part of the context for the ongoing tragedy. However, it is essential for us to get our criticisms right…

Russian aggression, US hypocrisy and is UAE a safe haven for oligarchs?

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The Progressive, March 1, 2022: There’s No Justification for Russia’s Aggression, But U.S. Double Standards on Illegal War Are Hard to Stomach: Nothing can excuse Putin’s invasion, but the hypocrisy could hardly be more striking.
Al Jazeera quotes Zunes March 7, 14 and 29
*The limits of Iran’s influence on Yemen’s Houthi rebels
*Analysis: Can the UAE be a safe haven for Russian oligarchs?
*Can Russia return to the world stage as other aggressors have?
Find more at Western-Sahara.org.

Western Sahara: Oberlin Club of Washington, DC

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January 24, 2022 Zoom: The UN and the World Court have called for the Sahrawi population to be allowed the right of self-determination. The U.S. meanwhile, remains the only country in the world that formally recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The presentation is timed with the release of the second revised expanded edition of Professor Zunes’ book Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution, and his return from visiting Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria. Professor Zunes will assess the human rights situation under the Moroccan rule, the nonviolent and armed resistance to the occupation, U.S. policy, and more. Find more at Western-Sahara.org.

Biden’s Dangerous Refusal to Reverse Trump’s Western Sahara Policy

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Foreign Policy In Focus, Jan. 21, 2022: In his final weeks in office, President Donald Trump stunned the international community in formally recognizing Western Sahara as part of Morocco. Morocco has occupied much of its southern neighbor since 1975, when it invaded and annexed the former Spanish colony in defiance of the United Nations Security Council and a landmark ruling of the International Court of Justice… Find more at Western-Sahara.org.