What lies behind the bloody battles between Hamas and Fatah loyalists which have claimed dozens of Palestinian lives in Gaza in recent days and increased fears of a Palestinian civil war? EI co-founder Ali Abunimah argues that in the minds of Bush administration ideologues, Palestine has become another front in what they conceive as a new Cold War against “Islamofascism.” Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Gaza warlord Muhammad Dahlan have become the willing proxies for an American war spreading across the region. And as Palestinians kill each other, Israel watches — and lets the weapons come in — with glee. Read more about The American proxy war in Gaza
For many years now, Mr. Muhammad Salah lived life in the infamy of being labeled as the only designated US terrorist. He suffered the repercussions of this judgment, long before he could face an open and fair trial in a US Court of law. His assets were frozen, and his life shattered. His family carried the burden of this label to their schools, workplaces, and to the local supermarket. Today at the completion of an emotionally tolling trial on Mr. Salah and his family, the final verdict is out. Though he was found guilty of obstructing justice, he was found not guilty of racketeering — the major charge. Read more about The Muhammad Salah Bottomline
Arab regimes and the United States are rushing to shore up Siniora’s government. On January 25, the same day of the bloody protests and curfew in Beirut, Siniora attended a donors conference in Paris, where he received pledges of $7.6 billion in aid and loan guarantees. Some of the funding will go toward reconstruction after last summer’s war, but much of it will be used to make interest payments and refinance Lebanon’s crushing $41 billion public debt. The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is now about 180 percent—the second-highest in the world (after Malawi). A large proportion of the pledges received at the Paris III conference are tied to unpopular economic reforms that Siniora has vowed to undertake, including raising taxes and privatizing state assets. Most of these measures—such as raising gasoline surcharges and the value-added tax—will most heavily affect Lebanon’s poor and working classes, who are disproportionately Shiite. Read more about Blowback in Lebanon
On the streets of Beirut, a vernacular of graffiti, political posters, cloth banners and stenciled portraits of leaders and martyrs — and the effacement thereof, whether intentionally or through natural causes — produces a lively debate. Various individuals and groups effectively claim existence, label their territories, as well as write and re-write their histories — Lebanon has no one history. I refer to this as a “debate” because of this back and forth, of placement and replacement, which lies in stark contrast to the monologue that rises above buildings and highways, the one-way beaming of high-priced messages as represented by billboards and advertising space. Read more about Brand America: Of False Promises and Snake Oil
One day in 1981, my late father, Maurice Hanna Bisharat, returned from a long day at his Sacramento, Calif., medical office with an extra bounce in his step, his eyes dancing with excitement. His friend, Michael Himovitz, the young owner of a local art gallery, had called, offering to hold a one-person show of my father’s paintings - mostly California landscapes. My father had taken up painting after immigrating to this country from Palestine in the late 1940s, and although an amateur, had won a national art award within two years. Read more about Pro-Israel Censorship Hurts Us All
At the Davos World Economic Forum recently, the Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas accurately summarized the terrible state of the Palestinians in the occupied territories, the economic siege and resulting deprivation inflicted upon them, the segmentation, the Israeli theft of Palestinian land and resources, and the daily humiliations they must endure. Nevertheless, he avowed that he was optimistic, based, apparently, on the strength of his last meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister: “I have recently had a good conference with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, during which we talked very frankly about several issues, and it was agreed that Israel will carry on certain procedures that will alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.” Read more about Abbas: Far from 'the right and moral point'
In your article “A model for EU-Israel integration” published in the English online version of Haaretz (17 January 2007), you argue that a closer relationship between the EU and Israel in the field of scientific and academic exchange would be of mutual interest for EU and Israeli citizens, as well as for its research communities and consumers. Building on the successful European experience of encouraging research collaboration and financially supporting those who want to study or research abroad, you are inviting Israeli researchers to apply for and participate in the new Seventh Framework Programme that will be funded with 55 billion Euros. Read more about Don't take right to education for granted
It is said of Albert Einstein that he gave a particular exam to a class that had already been given that exam. Alarmed at what he saw and thinking it to be the result of the professor’s absent-mindedness, an assistant warned Einstein of what he was about to do. The Professor just smiled and said: It’s alright the answers have changed. The same thing goes for the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the questions remain the same but now sixty years after the establishment of the Jewish State, the answers have changed. Read more about The Answers Have Changed
Steven Friedman and Virginia Tilley25 January 2007
It may seem odd that many people working hard for a stable peace in Israel-Palestine find veteran Israeli activist Uri Avnery so immensely irritating. The reason stems from his moral contradictions, all too common to liberal Zionism: that is, while taking an unflinching moral stand against racist abuses of Palestinians, he somehow drops the same principles in assuming that Israel itself has a right to preserve its “Jewish character” at the expense of Palestinian rights. Read more about Taken for a Ride by the Israeli Left
Listen to an interview with Bilal El-Amine on KPFA’s Flashpoints. This interview outlines the realities of the general strike called by Lebanon’s opposition movement lead by Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement. This interview addresses the central political demands of the Lebanese opposition, which center on the neo-liberal economic policies of the current Lebanese government backed by international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank. Bilal El-Amine also addresses the connections between the current Lebanese opposition movement and the 2006 Israeli strike on Lebanon. Read more about Audio Report: General Strike 2007
