Lebanon’s elections last month confirmed yet again that in this tiny Mediterranean country, sectarian politics are paramount. Long gone from the collective consciousness are the lessons of the 15-year civil war that began as a political and class dispute and descended into sectarian enmity. Forgotten also are the post-war years that led up to the recent elections and were characterized by the ebb and flow of civil strife. Sami Halabi comments for Electronic Lebanon. Read more about Elections only fortify Lebanon's sectarian politics 

Recently, I spoke with some friends in Gaza and the conversations were profoundly disturbing. My friends spoke of the deeply-felt absence of any source of protection — personal, communal or institutional. There is little in society that possesses legitimacy and there is a fading consensus on rules and an eroding understanding of what they are for. Sara Roy comments. Read more about Destroying Gaza 

A Palestinian state could become “a firm reality” by the “end of next year or within two years at the most,” Salam Fayyad, the prime minister appointed by Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas, was quoted as saying on 22 June in a speech at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, a village outside Jerusalem. Such expectations have been frequently voiced before by former Palestinian prime minister and negotiator Ahmad Qureia, or the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. But what is more evident are the facts on the ground that do not provide much support for these expectations. Rami Almeghari comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Salam Fayyad's false optimism 

The little Sydney-based pro-Palestine lobby group which I chair called Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine decided we would commission a high class, well-known, opinion poll company to test whether Australia’s Labor machine or politicians knew something we didn’t — for example, that their one-sidedness reflected “the will of the people.” Peter Manning comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Australia's pro-Israel policies, pro-Palestine public 

At a White House press conference on 18 May 2009, US President Barack Obama expressed “deepening concern” about “the potential pursuit of a nuclear weapon by Iran.” He continued: “Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon would not only be a threat to Israel and a threat to the United States, but would be profoundly destabilizing in the international community as a whole and could set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.” By his side was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the room with them, there was an elephant, a large and formidably destructive elephant, which they and the assembled press pretended not to see. David Morrison comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about The elephant in the room: Israel's nuclear weapons 

Instead of coming up with an alternative program to that of the Palestinian Authority, and all the organizations belonging to it, and instead of building on the unprecedented, growing solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, the leadership of Hamas, in statements made by its leaders and — more importantly — letters sent to the US president, have begun a process of deterioration like that of their predecessors who sold out Palestinian rights at Oslo. Haidar Eid comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Hamas' political immaturity 

It is bewildering that the shift of public opinion in the UK regarding the Israeli occupation has had no impact so far on policy; but again we are reminded of the tortuous way the campaign against apartheid had to go before it became a policy. It is also worth remembering that two brave women in Dublin, toiling on the cashiers in a local supermarket, were the ones who began a huge movement of change by refusing to sell South African goods. Ilan Pappe comments. Read more about The necessity of cultural boycott 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a peace plan so ingenious it is a wonder that for six decades of bloodshed no one thought of it. Some people might have missed the true brilliance of his ideas presented in a speech at Bar Ilan University on 14 June, so we are pleased to offer this analysis. Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah comment. Read more about Netanyahu's "brilliant" peace plan 

Currently, the fate of one of the only remaining venues that offers a redress mechanism for Palestinians is at stake. It is one that can bring accountability of Israeli officials and decision-makers who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sharon Weill and Valentina Azarov comment on the recent moves to amend Spain’s universal jurisdiction legislation. Read more about Universal jurisdiction once again under threat