WASHINGTON (IPS) - StandWithUs — an “organization that ensures that Israel’s side of the story is told” — has become increasingly aggressive in challenging the “pro-Israel” credentials of moderate Jewish-American groups, going so far as to suggest that receiving money from Arab donors and supporters of Human Rights Watch undermines a group’s commitment to Israel and peace. Read more about StandWithUs money trail reveals neocon funders
This weekend, J Street, a new Jewish “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” Washington-based public action committee is holding its first national conference. The two of us, along with another artist, were scheduled to perform and read poems at several sessions during the conference. Instead, we have been censored and pushed out of that very debate. Kevin Coval and Josh Healey comment for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Time for a democratic discourse
Civil rights groups in Israel have expressed outrage at the announcement last week that a special undercover unit of the police has been infiltrating and collecting intelligence on Israel’s Palestinian Arab minority by disguising its officers as Arabs. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israeli intelligence pose as Arabs to spy on citizens
I felt the need to point out a rather significant confusion of terms to be found in Joseph Shahadi’s review of Steven Salaita’s The Uncultured Wars: Arabs, Muslims and the Poverty of Liberal Thought, published by The Electronic Intifada on 15 October: that of conflating liberalism with leftism. Read more about Don't conflate liberalism with leftism
It may be too early to hope that the Goldstone report will result directly in Israeli leaders facing trial in international courts; there are still too many opportunities for Israel and its backers to block such action. But Goldstone marks another major breach in the wall of Israeli impunity that is slowly but surely crumbling. Hasan Abu Nimah comments. Read more about Another breach in Israel's wall of impunity
For his continued wars against Pakistanis, Afghans, and Iraqis, his support for the overthrow of democracy in Honduras, his abetting dictatorships across the Arab and Muslim worlds (which his government finances, arms and trains in torture methods), his planning for a possible invasion of Iran, and his enthusiastic support for the racist Israeli settler colony (and its colonial wars and occupations against Palestinians), US President Barack Obama received the Nobel “Peace” Prize. Joseph Massad comments. Read more about Obama's peace
The Electronic Intifada’s exclusive footage of the multiple disruptions of former Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s speech in Chicago last week has now been seen by millions all over the world. EI’s exclusive video report of this event, posted on YouTube, had 100,000 views and had been reposted or cited as a source by news organizations all over the world. Read more about EI video of Olmert protest goes global
In his timely and insightful new book, Engaging the Muslim World, University of Michigan professor Juan Cole debunks prevailing myths and presents a set of compelling policy prescriptions that aim to encourage dialogue and defuse hostilities. However, while he convincingly addresses the questions of knowledge, he leaves issues of power largely unexamined. Muhammad Idrees Ahmad reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Book review: Juan Cole's "Engaging the Muslim World"
UNITEDNATIONS (IPS) - The 47-member Human Rights Council approved a resolution Friday endorsing war crimes charges against Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as spelled out in a report by a four-member international fact-finding mission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone. As expected, the United States threw a protective arm around Israel and voted against the resolution, along with some members of the European Union. Read more about UN body adopts Goldstone report
Approximately 30 activists – mainly students from area universities – disrupted a lecture given in Chicago by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday which was hosted by the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. While Olmert’s speech was disrupted inside the lecture hall, approximately 150 activists protested outside the hall in the freezing rain. Read more about EI exclusive video: Protesters shout down Ehud Olmert in Chicago
