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Turkey as Israel’s “next Iran”? A strategic rivalry reconsidered

Turkey as Israel’s “next Iran”? A strategic rivalry reconsidered

When former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Turkey, with the support of Qatar, was replacing Iran as Israel’s major strategic...

latest 5

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Punishing language: Queensland’s Antisemitism Bill

Punishing language: Queensland’s Antisemitism Bill

In a feat of enterprising delusion and sinister suppression, Australia’s second largest state has decided to deal with what it regards as an...

yesterday 30

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

LeBron, Gaza, and the Cost of “Nothing but Great Things”

LeBron, Gaza, and the Cost of “Nothing but Great Things”

It takes a special kind of sentence to stain a legacy. LeBron James found one: “I’ve heard nothing but great things” about Israel — uttered...

yesterday 30

Middle East Monitor

Junaid S. Ahmad

Peace in name only: Why Trump’s Board of Peace does not help Gaza?

Peace in name only: Why Trump’s Board of Peace does not help Gaza?

While children in Gaza search for warmth inside tents and broken buildings, Washington hosts meetings under the title of a new “Board of Peace”...

yesterday 200

Middle East Monitor

Tamer Ajrami

New game explores links between Ireland and Palestine

New game explores links between Ireland and Palestine

Resistance through gaming and fun is the aim of two young women from the Middle East who launched a new card game last week which links the shared...

yesterday 100

Middle East Monitor

Ciaran Tierney

Of braids and Moustaches: Weaponizing hair in post-Assad Syrian conflicts

Of braids and Moustaches: Weaponizing hair in post-Assad Syrian conflicts

Legend has it that Jabr and Jabreen were two brothers from the tribe of Zabeed who lived near Tayma, in present-day Saudi Arabia. Jabr, the younger...

yesterday 40

Middle East Monitor

Prof. Musa Al-Halool

A stunted start marks the inaugural Board for Peace in Gaza

A stunted start marks the inaugural Board for Peace in Gaza

Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” inaugurated in early 2026 to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction and potentially supplant UN roles, began with low...

previous day 20

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

Selective Freedom: Muslim Women, Headscarves, and the Unfinished Legacy of February 28

Selective Freedom: Muslim Women, Headscarves, and the Unfinished Legacy of February 28

As February 28 approaches, it is important to remember that this process is not merely a closed chapter in Turkey’s past. The deep scars it left on...

previous day 20

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ayşe Duran Yilmaz

Trump’s war: A conflict of survival, not strategy

Trump’s war: A conflict of survival, not strategy

“Trump’s challenge isn’t just Tehran. It’s balancing Israel, the donor class, and his own movement—both of which are pulling him in...

previous day 30

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

From Greenland to the Gulf: Is Washington replacing the rules with raw power?

From Greenland to the Gulf: Is Washington replacing the rules with raw power?

By early 2026, US foreign policy appears less anchored in the language of rules and more openly framed in the language of leverage. The past year has...

previous day 40

Middle East Monitor

‏Peiman Salehi

Indonesia’s trade deal with US risks straining its Middle East partnerships

Indonesia’s trade deal with US risks straining its Middle East partnerships

This week, Indonesia and the United States signed the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade. Most of the negotiation debate focused on tariffs and market...

previous day 150

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

Ramadan under the rubble: Gaza welcomes the holy month amid ruin and unhealed wounds

Ramadan under the rubble: Gaza welcomes the holy month amid ruin and unhealed wounds

Ramadan arrives in Gaza this year (2026) for the first time since the ceasefire that came into effect last October. Yet the word “ceasefire” feels...

previous day 350

Middle East Monitor

Ahmed Asmar

The final solution to Imran Khan

The final solution to Imran Khan

When a regime starts rationing a prisoner’s light, it is no longer governing — it is unravelling. If credible reports are accurate that Imran...

previous day 150

Middle East Monitor

Junaid S. Ahmad

From Coercion to Negotiation – Why Washington Now Sits Across from Tehran

From Coercion to Negotiation – Why Washington Now Sits Across from Tehran

For years, Washington addressed Tehran through pressure. Sanctions were tightened layer upon layer. Naval deployments in the Gulf were amplified....

thursday 40

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

Where is the international community’s accountability for Israel’s latest annexation phase?

Where is the international community’s accountability for Israel’s latest annexation phase?

The international community does not want to be held accountable  to history or its role in Israel’s colonisation of Palestine. With each...

thursday 400

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

Not forgetting the victims: Club Epstein and crimes against humanity

Not forgetting the victims: Club Epstein and crimes against humanity

With a sex trafficking, flesh peddling empire of favours, logistics and the good time to be had by the powerful, the gigantic scale of Jeffrey...

thursday 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

Notes on the draft constitution of the State of Palestine

Notes on the draft constitution of the State of Palestine

Nearly seven months after President Mahmoud Abbas formed the constitutional drafting committee, the president moved a few days ago to release the...

thursday 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Sania Faisal El-Husseini

‘Regime Cleavage’: How the ‘Language of Humiliation’ is Engineering a Second American Civil War

‘Regime Cleavage’: How the ‘Language of Humiliation’ is Engineering a Second American Civil War

A January 2026 Gallup poll showed that 89 percent of all Americans expect high levels of political conflict this year, as the country heads toward one...

18.02.2026 30

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

Indonesia condemns West Bank annexation while sustaining a dangerous contradiction

Indonesia condemns West Bank annexation while sustaining a dangerous contradiction

This week, Indonesia joined Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates in condemning Israel’s decision to...

18.02.2026 30

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

Israel’s not-so-subtle annexation plans in the West Bank

Israel’s not-so-subtle annexation plans in the West Bank

Israel’s latest moves in the occupied West Bank are not being framed in dramatic language inside the country. There has been no formal declaration...

18.02.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

Mexico Declines Trump’s Gaza Peace Board and Reaffirms Support for Palestine

Mexico Declines Trump’s Gaza Peace Board and Reaffirms Support for Palestine

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, reaffirmed this week her long-standing position with Gaza and Palestine as she declined an invitation from US...

18.02.2026 200

Middle East Monitor

Eman Abusidu

How Addis and Ankara are shaping a more stable Red Sea

How Addis and Ankara are shaping a more stable Red Sea

At the edge of the Red Sea, where history has always been written in salt and blood, a new chapter is quietly unfolding. It is not the clash of...

18.02.2026 90

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Algorithms and AI Have Turned Gaza into a Laboratory of Death

Algorithms and AI Have Turned Gaza into a Laboratory of Death

The revelations by 972 Magazine (https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/) and Local Call have exposed the darkest core of the...

17.02.2026 20

Middle East Monitor

Sayid Marcos Tenorio

Governance by weather: Iran’s independence, priced in dollars

Governance by weather: Iran’s independence, priced in dollars

When US and Iranian officials sit in separate rooms in Muscat, passing messages through Omani mediators, people in Iran do not wait for the...

17.02.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Mojtaba Touiserkani

Continuing genocide, with full international approval

Continuing genocide, with full international approval

The international community has truly illustrated its fragmented approach to both international law, order and human rights. Not only did the UN...

17.02.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

From Madame Claude’s Salon to Epstein’s Island: The unchanging currency of power

From Madame Claude’s Salon to Epstein’s Island: The unchanging currency of power

The most telling image of the Jeffery Epstein saga is not of a private jet or a tropical island. It is the photograph of the frail, brilliant...

17.02.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Sahar Huneidi

Rising prices strain family ties in Egypt

Rising prices strain family ties in Egypt

“I used to host my sisters for lunch every Friday at the family home, but I stopped that tradition after meat and poultry prices rose,” said Ahmed...

17.02.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Mahmoud Hassan

The new calculus in the Gulf: How Beijing and Moscow have altered the Iran equation

The new calculus in the Gulf: How Beijing and Moscow have altered the Iran equation

In the rarefied environment of the West Wing, the ghosts of the “Twelve-Day War” that transpired last June still linger in the Situation Room. For...

17.02.2026 150

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Freedom does not arrive on a cruise missile

Freedom does not arrive on a cruise missile

When Reza Pahlavi spoke on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference this week, he did not simply criticise the Islamic Republic. He urged...

17.02.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Alice Johnson

Germany is turning into ‘Little Israel’: Lies, smear campaigns, and Zionist propaganda

Germany is turning into ‘Little Israel’: Lies, smear campaigns, and Zionist propaganda

Germany’s complicity in the boundless cruelty of the genocide in Gaza, its unconditional support for the ongoing Nakba in the West Bank and occupied...

16.02.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Prof Jurgen Mackert

One is too many: Indonesia must act now on citizen serving in Israel’s army

One is too many: Indonesia must act now on citizen serving in Israel’s army

A report that an Indonesian citizen is serving in the Israeli military demands a firm response from Jakarta. If the report is correct, the government...

16.02.2026 80

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

From Waltz to Hormuz: Why a Gulf escalation would backfire systemically

From Waltz to Hormuz: Why a Gulf escalation would backfire systemically

Most analyses of potential US escalation against Iran in the Gulf remain confined to deterrence logic and regional balances of power. The debate often...

16.02.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

‏Peiman Salehi

How to negotiate from a position of strength when there is perceived weakness

How to negotiate from a position of strength when there is perceived weakness

Iran once again finds itself around the negotiating table with the Unted States. Its resolve is still strong, believing righteousness and time remain...

16.02.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Mohamed Amersi

Missiles, carriers, and red lines: Washington, Tehran and Jerusalem face off in a historic confrontation. Who blinks first?

Missiles, carriers, and red lines: Washington, Tehran and Jerusalem face off in a historic confrontation. Who blinks first?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington last week was far from a routine diplomatic exercise. The objective was...

16.02.2026 200

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Oslo’s legacy: De facto annexation and an international mandate for subjugation

Oslo’s legacy: De facto annexation and an international mandate for subjugation

The Oslo Accords were never a peace process. They were distractions, a scam to neutralise the Palestinian movement and give reactionary Arab dictators...

16.02.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Jamal Kanj

Who fears the truth? The lawfare campaign to silence Francesca Albanese

Who fears the truth? The lawfare campaign to silence Francesca Albanese

Francesca Albanese has become one of the most polarising figures in contemporary diplomacy, not because she commands armies or signs treaties, but...

15.02.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Israel is trying to rewrite history – and British institutions risk helping them do it

Israel is trying to rewrite history – and British institutions risk helping them do it

Israel is trying to rewrite ancient history. In Palestine, Israel has systematically destroyed ancient heritage and made colonial land grabs of...

15.02.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Dr Marchella Ward

Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and the Limits of Islamist Electoral Politics

Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and the Limits of Islamist Electoral Politics

The recent electoral performance of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has revived an old debate: are Islamists structurally incapable of winning national...

15.02.2026 150

Middle East Monitor

Hammadurrahman

The Gaza Technocratic Committee will fail. Why?

The Gaza Technocratic Committee will fail. Why?

It is clear that the current situation in Gaza, and what is being planned for the post-war period, goes beyond temporary administrative arrangements....

15.02.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Tamer Ajrami

Objective Fallacy: Eulogies on the Passing of the Law Based International Order

The eulogies are starting to wear thin.  The lamented passing of the rules and law-based order only makes sense to those who believed that such rules...

14.02.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

Munich 2026 faces Gaza’s unanswered call for justice

At the Munich Security Conference 2026, beneath glittering chandeliers and tight security, diplomacy moved to script — until one question broke it....

14.02.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Saving Halmahera Island in Indonesia from Israeli investment

Despite cultivating a global reputation as a defender of Palestinian rights, Indonesia has approved a geothermal concession on Halmahera, a forested...

14.02.2026 90

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

Lawsuit before the Constitutional Court in Germany against arms exports to Israel fails

Lawsuit before the Constitutional Court in Germany against arms exports to Israel fails

The Federal Constitutional Court, the highest Court in Germany, has spoken. That sentence is the centre of gravity. It signals judicial restraint. It...

13.02.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Marla Karnabach

Government dealt a blow: Highest court deems Palestine Action ban unlawful

Government dealt a blow: Highest court deems Palestine Action ban unlawful

In a moment that exposed the flimsy nature of the government narrative, Keir Starmer’s government suffered a resounding blow from the UK Supreme...

13.02.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Adnan Hmidan

Indonesia’s 8,000: Can stabilisation proceed without normalisation?

Indonesia’s 8,000: Can stabilisation proceed without normalisation?

Gaza has become a scar on the conscience of the international system. With more than 72,000 Palestinians reported killed and over 1.9 million...

13.02.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Has Washington come to its senses in Iraq?

Has Washington come to its senses in Iraq?

Twenty-three years after the invasion of Iraq, Washington seems to have suddenly regained its senses — or worse, to be a detached observer of a...

13.02.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

France’s censorship of voices calling out international complicity with genocide

France’s censorship of voices calling out international complicity with genocide

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has once again been targeted, this time by French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot,...

13.02.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

Why Iran–US talks in Oman matter for global nuclear security

Why Iran–US talks in Oman matter for global nuclear security

The resumption of Iran–US nuclear negotiations in Oman represents a pivotal moment for global nuclear safety. The airstrikes on Iranian nuclear...

13.02.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Anam Murad Khan

IMEC vs INSTC: The emerging battle over Middle Eastern energy corridors

IMEC vs INSTC: The emerging battle over Middle Eastern energy corridors

The Middle East is no longer merely a producer of energy; it is fast becoming the epicentre of a new geopolitical contest over corridors, connectivity...

13.02.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Dr Kamran Yeganegi

Iran is not Iraq and it is definitely not Venezuela

Iran is not Iraq and it is definitely not Venezuela

Once again, a familiar pattern is playing out in US-Iran tensions: one side talks of diplomacy paired with threats of force. And when Washington...

13.02.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Muhammad Azhar Mohamad