Ira Glunts

"60 Minutes" serves as Israeli propaganda mouthpiece



As Philip Giraldi points out in his 12 August article “America’s Israeli-Occupied Media” published on antiwar.com, the Israeli government is continuing its campaign to get the US military to attack Iran or at least give a “green light” for a massive Israeli bombing strike. In pursuit of this reckless and ill-conceived plan Tel Aviv has a willing co-conspirator in the mainstream American media, who will present the Israeli world-view without criticism or qualification. Ira Glunts analyzes. 

MapQuest sidesteps requests to correct blatantly inaccurate map of Israel



Changing the map of the Middle East is difficult even in a literal sense. Last month the Electronic Intifada informed its readers of the blatantly inaccurate map of Israel which currently appears on MapQuest.com. As a result of our call to action, MapQuest received hundreds of e-mail messages from concerned readers. Initially responding with a boiler plate letter promising undefined future action, MapQuest ultimately refered writers to the Dutch vendor that provides their maps. Correspondence with the Dutch company has not resulted in any clear response commiting to update the maps, two weeks after they received our letter. 

MapQuest.com obscures status of occupied territories



Recently, I was quite surprised to find that the map of Israel on the popular Internet site MapQuest presents the area of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights (Syrian Heights) as undifferentiated from Israel proper. In other words, as opposed to depicting Israel delineated by its internationally recognized borders, MapQuest displays the “Greater Israel,” which is the dream of many in the Israeli right wing.  The realization of this “Greater Israel,” of course, precludes any possibility of the Palestinian people realizing their national aspirations. 

Kerry Indicates He Would Continue Bush's Pro-Sharon Policy



Lately, Senator John Kerry has been reassuring voters that he will be as pro-Israel as President Bush. He has expressed his support for Sharon’s policy of unilateral disengagement, building of the so-called security barrier and the political isolation of Yasser Arafat. The candidate’s present position toward Middle East peace contradicts his past support of the Oslo peace process and provides a surprising contrast to his views when he was a young anti-war leader in the early ’70s. Ira Glunts looks at the record of Kerry’s position.