5 February 2003
EI’s Ali Abunimah provides a detailed analysis of Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations Security Council, and the holes in the American case for an attack on Iraq, that “you could sail a U.S. Navy battlegroup through.” Read more about Focus on Iraq: Powell's UN speech dissected
6 February 2003
Surely the most remarkable thing about last week’s election in Israel was the fact that, even as Israeli citizens were enjoying their right to vote, their army was enforcing a lockdown that kept over 3 million Palestinians confined to their homes for three days, writes Saree Makdisi for EI. Read more about While Israel Voted...
31 January 2003
Until European intellectuals take on board the racist basis of the Jewish State, their support for the struggle of the Palestinians will always ring hollow, writes Joseph Massad in this contribution to EI. Read more about Sartre, European intellectuals and Zionism
29 January 2003
Twelve Palestinian factions, including the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas are meeting in Cairo. Egypt wants the talks to produce a unilateral Palestinian ceasefire in the conflict with Israel. Regular EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah assesses what, if anything, these talks may produce. Read more about The Palestinian Dialogue in Cairo
27 January 2003
UN chief weapons inspectors for Iraq gave a much anticipated report to the UN Security Council on 27 January. Did the statements by Hans Blix and Muhammad ElBaradei move the Middle East closer or further from war? EI regular contributer Hasan Abu Nimah and EI founder Ali Abunimah analyze the statements, point out inconsistencies, and explain where things stand. Read more about UN Report on Iraq: a call to war or a door to peace?
12 January 2003
Israel is asking the United States for $8bn (£5bn) in loan guarantees — and has sent to Washington Amos Yaron, one of the former army officers implicated in the 1982 Sabra and Chatila massacre of Palestinian civilians to persuade the Bush administration to grant the money. Robert Fisk writes in The Independent. Read more about Israeli at US loan talks is implicated in massacre
27 January 2003
By the way the media portrayed it, you would have thought that Illinois Gov. George Ryan walked into their living rooms wearing a belt full of dynamite when he pardoned four convicted murderers and commuted all sentences on Illinois’ death row to life imprisonment. Charity Crouse writes about disturbing parallels with the Israeli judicial system. Read more about No one wins the blame the victim game
25 January 2003
“Ironically, the neo-conservatives and Likudniks of George W. Bush’s regime who want to bring “democracy” to the Arab-Islamic world — by force if necessary — can realize their plans only by first dismantling democracy in the United States of America. They can’t pull off their neo-con artist sleight-of-hand unless they successfully shut down public debate and strangle participatory grassroots politics at home and abroad.” EI’s Laurie King-Irani examines the historical links between US and Israeli plans for regime change in the Middle East. Read more about Democracy's role in preventing the neo-con artists' dangerous sleight-of-hand
24 January 2003
Ariel Sharon is perhaps the worst prime minister in Israel’s history, yet he is almost certain to be re-elected, reports Graham Usher in Al-Ahram Weekly. Read more about United they stand
22 January 2003
Why did a dyed-in-the-wool military man and leader of the “Labor” Party, Amram Mitzna awaken such strong expectations among veteran Israeli Peaceniks? Why is the Iraq war almost a non-issue for the majority of Israeli peace activists? It is known that the Israeli government might use the Iraq war in order to expel as many Palestinians as possible. Isn’t that reason enough to give the subject a much higher priority on the political agenda of Israeli peace movements? Israeli peace activist and journalist Shraga Elam answers the questions in this feature from Between The Lines. Read more about They can't distinguish the forest from the trees