There has been a spate of recent news reports on international companies moving out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories to locations inside the internationally-recognized boundary between Israel and the West Bank. The impression is made that boycotting products originating in Israel’s illegal colonies in the West Bank is on its way to becoming mainstream, handing the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions movement with a fresh, substantial victory. The Electronic Intifada contributor Omar Barghouti comments. Read more about Boycotting Israeli settlement products: tactic vs. strategy 

In January US president elect Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the new American head of state. The term of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will end a few days before that, and in February, Israeli elections will be held. In 2010 the term of the Palestinian Legislative Council is also set to expire. The Electronic Intifada co-founder Arjan El Fassed suggests how the Palestinian national movement should move forward, inclusive of Palestinians around the world. Read more about Palestine's greatest asset: its people 

Israel seems to have little time for the irony that a modern Jewish shrine to “coexistence and tolerance” is being built on the graves of the city’s Muslim forefathers. The Israeli Supreme Court’s approval last week of the building of a Jewish Museum of Tolerance over an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem is the latest in a series of legal and physical assaults on Islamic holy places since Israel’s founding in 1948. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Travesty of tolerance on display 

During the United States election campaign, racists and pro-Israel hardliners tried to make an issue out of President-elect Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein. Such people might take comfort in another middle name, that of Obama’s pick for White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Israel Emanuel. Emanuel is Obama’s first high-level appointment and it’s one likely to disappointment those who hoped the president-elect would break with the George W. Bush Administration’s pro-Israel policies. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah looks at Emanuel’s record. Read more about Obama picks pro-Israel hardliner for top post 

“As usual, a lot of misguided analysis is once again attributing the failure of the peace process to the imminent departure of the leaders committed to it, thus obscuring the objective factors that made the failure inevitable. Such flawed reasoning holds that once new leaderships are in place in Washington, Tel Aviv and Israeli-occupied Ramallah, the process can begin anew.” Hasan Abu Nimah comments. Read more about One year after Annapolis 

GENEVA (IPS) - With the 2008 presidential campaign at its end, pundits have begun to discuss in earnest what expected winner Barack Obama’s administration might look like. An important piece of evidence is Obama’s campaign team, which largely escaped the harsh scrutiny that his opponent’s lobbyist-laden team received. Read more about Obama adviser Dennis Ross's dodgy record 

People around the world, including those in the Middle East, may have paid little attention to Canada’s parliamentary elections on 14 October. The Canadian election brought little change to the makeup of parliament. The Conservatives maintained their lead and formed a minority government while the Liberals lost more seats. But preserving the status quo and the virtual absence of foreign policy as a topic of public debate in the run up to the vote reinforces the transformation in Canada’s geopolitical role in relation to the Middle East. And this must be of extra concern today. Hicham Safieddine comments. Read more about The United States of ... Canada