Article Archive

How They Stole The Bomb From Us

An article by Uri Avnery on the Iranian Bomb. The irony in the new American intelligence report about the 2003 halt in the Iranian efforts to produce a nuclear bomb. "Gone is the excuse for an American military attack on Iran, the dream of the Israeli government and the neocons. Gone is even the pretext for more stringent sanctions." How They Stole The Bomb From Us

"Unrecognized" Palestinians

Global Research published an article by Stephen Lendman about the over 150,000 Palestinians living in the Galilee and the Negev desert in villages which were delegitimized by Israel in 1965. "Israel denies all Palestinians their basic rights. However, those living in so-called "unrecognized villages" face a special threat - demolition of their homes, loss of their land and possessions, and frightening displacement that will make them refugees along with millions of others in their own land."

The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy

John J Mearsheimer,Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, and Stephen M Walt, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University published this research paper in March 2006. They discuss the impact of the US uncritical support for Israel in the context of Middle East foreign policy and the influence of the "Israel Lobby" on that policy.

Panel: The Israel Lobby and the US Response to the War in Lebanon

Panel discussion including speakers John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, at the National press Cluc, Washington, DC, August 28, 2006.

Walt/Mearsheimer Reply

Authors of The Israel Lobby, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, reply to questions about their article, in the London Review of Books, 11, May, 2006.

Israel's "new Middle East"

Article by Tanya Reinhart. The "new Middle East" has been a dream of the Israeli ruling military circles since at least 1982, when Sharon led the country to the first Lebanon war with precisely this declared goal. Hezbollah's leaders have argued for years that its real long-term role is to protect Lebanon, whose army is too weak to do this. They have said that Israel has never given up its aspirations for Lebanon and that the only reason it pulled out of Southern Lebanon in 2000 is because Hezbollah's resistance has made maintaining the occupation too costly. Lebanon's people know what every Israeli old enough to remember knows - that in the vision of Ben Gurion, Israel's founding leader, Israel's border should be "natural", that is - the Jordan river in the East, and the Litani river of Lebanon in the north.

Learning from Its Mistakes

Hizbullah seems to learn, however Israel appears to make the same ones over and over again. What else can Israel do to Lebanon? It has bombed comprehensively, destroyed the country's expensively restored infrastructure, laid siege to it and sent its troops back in. Israel still insists that it will destroy Hizbullah...

A New Middle East

An analysis by Robert Malley in the recent New York Review of Books,of the new situation in the Middle East resulting from the election Of Hamas in Palestine and the success of Hezbollah in the recent conflict with Israel in Lebanon.

Nations and Narratives

Article from The Economist, November 2, 2006 about the new book by Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. He argues that the first step toward solving the deadlock between Israel and Palestine should be Israel's confession of a deliberate campaign to expel nearly 800,000 Palestinians in 1948.

Jimmy Carter and Apartheid

Review of former President Jimmy Carter's Book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid in the NY Review of Books March 29, 2007.

Can American Jews unplug the Israel lobby?

As Bush's unbalanced Mideast policies careen from disaster to disaster, people who don't toe the AIPAC line are beginning to speak out. By Gary Kamiya on Salon.com March 20, 2007

Terrorized by 'War on Terror'

How a Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America, by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Sunday, March 25, 2007 The Washington Post

Carter and the Swarm

Article by Israel Shamir on the publication of Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. "It's not that Carter said anything we did not already know about Palestine. Before Carter, we already knew that the Zionists had established a racist apartheid regime in the Holy Land where Jews have rights, and goyim have duties. Before Carter we knew a native Palestinian has no right to vote, move or work freely in his land -- that he is locked up behind the twenty-foot wall. Before Carter we knew that the US support allowed the atrocities to occur and the apartheid regime to entrench. But what we did not know was that there are prominent Americans who would dare the wrath of organised Jewry and spell it out loud."

Why Israel Won't Accept a Two-State Solution

Article by Bernard Chazelle, professor of computer science at Princeton University. "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often narrated as a morality play...Let's quit the blame game and focus, instead, on what's feasible and what's not...The two-state solution has its appeal...Unfortunately, 40 years of history have gamed the system against the two-state solution. Once the only realistic road to peace, it is now a challenge likely beyond Israel's ability."

Forget the Two-State Solution: Israelis and Palestinians Must Share the Land. Equally

Saree Makdisi writes "There is no longer a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Forget the endless arguments about who offered what and who spurned whom...all that matters are the facts on the ground, of which the most important is that -- after four decades of intensive Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories it occupied during the 1967 war -- Israel has irreversibly cemented its grip on the land on which a Palestinian state might have been created."

For Some Palestinians, One State with Israel is Better Than None

Article by Richard Boudreaux and Ashraf Khalil, in the Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2008. Sooner or later the growing burden of occupation and threat of Islamic extremism will make Israelis receptive to the idea of a combined state that protects the rights of Jews. Frustrated by years of failed peace talks for a two-state solution, some are giving up hope of independence and pushing the idea of a single democratic state with equal rights for all.

Why Israel Won't Accept a Two-State Solution

Article by Bernard Chazelle, professor of computer science at Princeton University. "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often narrated as a morality play...Let's quit the blame game and focus, instead, on what's feasible and what's not...The two-state solution has its appeal...Unfortunately, 40 years of history have gamed the system against the two-state solution. Once the only realistic road to peace, it is now a challenge likely beyond Israel's ability."

Forget the Two-State Solution: Israelis and Palestinians Must Share the Land. Equally

Saree Makdisi writes "There is no longer a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Forget the endless arguments about who offered what and who spurned whom...all that matters are the facts on the ground, of which the most important is that -- after four decades of intensive Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories it occupied during the 1967 war -- Israel has irreversibly cemented its grip on the land on which a Palestinian state might have been created."

For Some Palestinians, One State with Israel is Better Than None

Article by Richard Boudreaux and Ashraf Khalil, in the Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2008. Sooner or later the growing burden of occupation and threat of Islamic extremism will make Israelis receptive to the idea of a combined state that protects the rights of Jews. Frustrated by years of failed peace talks for a two-state solution, some are giving up hope of independence and pushing the idea of a single democratic state with equal rights for all.

Remarks to the National Council on US-Arab Relations

Talk delivered to the Council by Ambassador Charles W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) on 31 October 2008, Washington, DC, concerning foreign policy in West Asia.

Carter and the Swarm

Article by Israel Shamir on the publication of Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. "It's not that Carter said anything we did not already know about Palestine. Before Carter, we already knew that the Zionists had established a racist apartheid regime in the Holy Land where Jews have rights, and goyim have duties. Before Carter we knew a native Palestinian has no right to vote, move or work freely in his land -- that he is locked up behind the twenty-foot wall. Before Carter we knew that the US support allowed the atrocities to occur and the apartheid regime to entrench. But what we did not know was that there are prominent Americans who would dare the wrath of organised Jewry and spell it out loud."

Born in Sin

Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy about the "death" of the Israeli peace camp. He states that it "was born in sin and died because of a lie: It was born as the legitimate son of the sin of occupation, and died the illegitimate son of the lie that 'there is no partner' with whom to negotiate on the other side...Today, we must painfully admit that it was struggle that did not produce much."

A Declaration of U.S. Independence from Israel

Speech delivered by Chris Hedges, former New York Times ME bureau chief at the Nassau Club in Princeton, NJ on May 22, 2008. The speech was well received to a packed room.

An End Foreseen

Article by Uri Avnery reviewing an insightful book by William Polk, "Violent Politics" in which the author compares insurgencies, from the American Revolution to the wars in Afghanistan. He concludes that they all have more in common that differences: "That is an iron rule: an insurgency supported by the public is bound to win, irrespective of the tactics adopted by the occupation regime." He discusses this from the perspective of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Neoconservatism Dies in Gaza

Excellent article by University of Michigan professor, Juan Cole. The recent Israeli offensive has put the final nail in the coffin of the Bush administration's Middle East fantasy. By Juan Cole

Israel's righteous fury and its victims in Gaza

Article by Ilan Pappe, from the Electronic Intifada, January 2009 discusses the deceit of the Israelis over the assault in Gaza as a continuation of the dehumanizing Zionist ideology..."the ethnic cleansing of 1948, the oppression of the Palestinians in Israel during the days of the military rule, the brutal occupation of the West Bank and now the massacre of Gaza."

Israel's Lies

Henry Siegman writes in the London Review of Books about the Israeli misrepresentations associated with its assault on Gaza.

Israeli Palestinians: The Unwanted Who Stayed

Article by Jonathan Cook in The Link about the unequal treatment of the Palestinians living in what is now called Israel.

Israel Has Managed to Lose Again

Report by Gilad Atzmon stating..."Though Israel has proved beyond doubt that it is rather capable of conducting large-scale genocide, it also proved that its military forces do not have the answer to Islamic resistance."

Punishing the Palestinians

Article by Ralph Nadar citing the blame that the US Congress has for 60 years launched at the Palestinians for all hostilities and their consequences rather than at the Israeli government. He notes the most recent vote of 390 to 5, blaming Hamas for all the civilian casualties and devastation in the brutal Israeli attacks in Gaza.

The One-State Solution

Article in Newsweek by Sari Nusseibeh Newsweek. A two-state solution was a compromise. But talks have gone nowhere, so many Palestinians are giving up.

Navy Vet Who Foiled Israeli Attack Honored

Story from Consortium News about the Navy veteran who prevented Israel from murdering all 294 aboard the USS Liberty in 1967. The honor comes 42 years late. Thirty-four US personnel were killed when Israeli aircraft deliberately bombed the "virtually defenseless intelligence collection platform prominently flying an American flag in international waters." The incident has been covered up until only recently, but it is still not discussed widely.

How to Talk to a Right Winger

Gideon Levy in Haaretz, May 28, 2009 notes that MK Tzipi Hotovely states she has an alternative to the "two-state solution", but like other right wing Israelis, doesn't seem to be able to articulate what it is...

Netanyahu's Two-State Goal

Post by Saree Makdisi on the Huffington Post about Netanyahu's recent non serious offer to the Palestinians of a state lacking in definite territory, without control of its own borders or airspace, no real sovereignty, and disarmed. "What Netanyahu was saying to any Palestinians foolish enough to accept his terms is that if they want to stick a flag in their archipelago of little impoverished islands of territory and call it a state, they can go right ahead."

Arab World Sees Settlement Row as Test of Obama's Credibility

Article by Akiva Eldar. The clash on the settlements between the Obama-Clinton administration and the Netanyahu-Lieberman (and Barak) government is not some petty haggling over expanding a kindergarten in Ofra or adding a balcony in Ma'aleh Adumim. It's an argument on the legal status of the West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods and the sovereignty issue in the territories.

Maybe We Should Take the North Koreans at Their Word

Tad Daley writes in Tikkun, that Pyongyang has consistently said that its nuclear weapons are intended to deter aggression. And, indeed, they do. Also a forward comment by editor of Tikkun. Tad Daley is the Writing Fellow with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the Nobel Peace Laureate disarmament advocacy organization. His first book, Apocalypse Never: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapon-Free World, is forthcoming from Rutgers University Press in January 2010.

Why does the US think it can win in Afghanistan?

Article by Robert Fisk. "And Obama and McCain really think they're going to win in Afghanistan – before, I suppose, rushing their soldiers back to Iraq when the Baghdad government collapses. What the British couldn't do in the 19th century and what the Russians couldn't do at the end of the 20th century, we're going to achieve at the start of the 21 century, taking our terrible war into nuclear-armed Pakistan just for good measure. Fantasy again."

Abandoning the Iron Wall: Israel and :The Middle Eastern Muck"

Paper by Ian S. Lustick in Middle East Policy. Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania writes about the change in Israeli tactics toward the Palestinians and other Arab neighbors.

Top Ten Brands to Boycott this Christmas

Many of these produce goods in such a way that directly harms Palestinians — exploiting labor, developing technology for military operations, or supplying equipment for illegal settlements. Many are also the targets of boycotts for other reasons, like harming the environment and labor violations.

Eyeless in Gaza: Obama's Palestine Flop

Article by Michael Brenner..."The White House's approach to the combustible Palestinian issue was predicated on four assumptions. Each is fallacious. The key assumption was belief in the president's ability to wrest from the Israeli leadership concessions of sufficient importance and scope as to lay the foundations for a durable settlement -- that is one. Obama at first seemed prepared to invest considerable political capital and personal prestige in the effort. In fact, as we now know, he backed away from doing that -- preferring the course of least resistance. Success, as he saw it, would require making his demands on the Israelis credible -- that was two. Credibility, in turn, meant neutralizing the powerful Israeli lobby and its supporters in Congress -- that was three. Ross' involvement, along with that of Rahm Emanuel, became a crucial political shock absorber for the White House. Another critical assumption concerned the Palestinians. It was the conviction that the commitments extracted from Netanyahu et al would prove adequate to win their acceptance by Abbas and Fatah -- that is four."

Gaza Bonanza

Article about the capriciousness of policies and resulting corruption in the flow of goods allowed into Gaza. "There was a vague, unclear policy, influenced by the interests of certain groups, by this or that lobby, without any policy that derived from the needs of the population. For example, the fruit growers have a powerful lobby, and this lobby saw to it that on certain days, from 20-25 trucks full of fruit were brought into Gaza. It's not that it arrived there and was thrown out, but if you were to ask a Gazan who lives there, it's not exactly what he needs. What happened was that the Israeli interest took precedence over the needs of the populace."

Hamas' choice: Recognition or Resistance in the Age of Obama

Online article by Ali Abunimah of The Electronic Intifada about the choice faced by Hamas' leadership between being recognized by the world community and "the abandonment of the very principles on which the movement built its mass support."

Yes, You Can

Online article by Uri Avnery advising Obama not to be swayed by Netanyahu or the US Congress into not insisting upon Israeli compliance with certain positions essential to a Palestinian peace accord.

The Blue Velvet Hills of My Youth Have Been Destroyed

Memoir by Raja Shehadeh from the Guardian, of what has been lost. "Palestinians will never be able to undo the damage caused by these massive, illegal and politically motivated settlements."

Lawsuit Brings Murky West Bank Land Deals to Light

AP story by Amy Teibel gives a glimpse into the bureaucratic smoke screen that helps ensure a strong Jewish presence on lands claimed by the Palestinians for a future state. Inn a case before Israel's Supreme Court, a document shows that the World Zionist Organization, acting as an agent of the Israeli government, took private Palestinian land in the West Bank and gave it to Jewish settlers, even though the state itself had declared the property off-limits to settlement.

Top 10 Myths Likely to be Heard from Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in Washington this week

"To help prepare the mayor's Washington interlocutors for what will no doubt be a lively exchange of views, Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann and Americans for Peace Now's Lara Friedman have assembled this guide to some of the most prominent - and inaccurate - assertions often heard about Jerusalem."

The Case for a One-State Solution

Article by Ahmed Moor criticizing the recently surfaced two-state plan that the US would impose on Israel and Palestine which annuls the Palestinian right of return, and creates a "demilitarized Palestinian state."

Haifa – planned death of a city: PALESTINE’S PAST REMEMBERED

History by Ilan Pappe about the city of Haifa. Zionist plans to create an Arab-free land through the expulsions of 1948 did not entirely succeed; the nature of the city is still ambiguous despite the deaths and destruction. Appeared in Le Monde Diplomatique March 10, 2010.

The Future of Israel and the Decline of the American Empire

Article by Arno J. Mayer, emeritus professor of history at Princeton University, with the subtitle "The Wages of Hubris and Vengeance." He describes Israel's vanity, paranoia, and lack of restraint with respect to its enemies, while relying on the US to support it, all while the US's power may be in decline.

Failed Interventions and What They Teach

Remarks to the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations by Chas W. Freeman, Jr., USFS (Ret.)concerning recent U.S. Middle East policy.

Peace, peace, and there is no peace

From the blog of Stan Braverman on the current "peace" negotiations between Israel and Abbas. He suggests that the latest disclosure about Dennis Ross' behind-the-scenes tinkering is..."another nail in the coffin of the 'peace process.' It lays to rest the long-held fiction of the U.S. as an honest broker in these so-called negotiations. This disclosure comes as no surprise. It has already been officially leaked that these 'incentives' certainly include Israeli military presence and effective control over the Jordan Valley."

A Poisoned Process Holds Little Hope

Article from Financial Times by David Gardner about the unlikely success of the September 2010 "peace process" resulting from Israeli's unwillingness to give up land in the West Bank.

America’s Faltering Search for Peace in the Middle East: Openings for Others?

Remarks to staff of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by former Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. He covers current American policies in the Middle East, the prospects for peace in the Holy Land, and the relationship of the Gulf Arabs, especially Saudi Arabia, to this.

Defending the Indefensible Badly

Review of an article,Rattling the Cage: Tips for Information Warriors, by Larry Derfner in the Jerusalem Post, about a debate between former Congressman Brian Baird and Anthony Weiner (D-NY).

Why No Outcry over These Torturing Tyrants?

Article by Robert Fisk about the silence in the US and Europe concerning the tyranny in Bahrain of the Sunni monarchy, the al-Khalifas, as they rule a majority Shia population.

Syrian Slaughter and Israeli Restraint

Gideon Levy argues that when the Syrian government shoots its peaceful demonstrators Israelis criticize it but when Syrians try to enter their own Golan Heights, the IDF kills them and calls them terrorists.

Failed Interventions and What They Teach

Remarks to the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations by Chas W. Freeman, Jr., USFS (Ret.)concerning recent U.S. Middle East policy.

Disappointment at the United Nations: The Palmer Report on the Flotilla Incident of 31 May 2010

Article by Richard Falk criticizing the UN Report on the Flotilla. Starting with the make-up of a panel "woefully ill-equipped to render an authoritative result" he goes on to discuss the politics of the report. "Israel has managed up to now to avoid paying the price for defying international law. For decades it has been building unlawful settlements in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. It has used excessive violence and relied on state terror on numerous occasions in dealing with Palestinian resistance, and has subjected the people of Gaza to sustained and extreme forms of collective punishment. It attacked villages and neighborhood of Beirut mercilessly in 2006, launched its massive campaign from land, sea, and air for three weeks at the end of 2008 against a defenseless Gaza, and then shocked world opinion with its violence against the Mavi Marmara in its nighttime attack in 2010. It should have been made to pay the price long ago for this pattern of defying international law, above all by the United Nations. If Turkey sustains its position it will finally send a message to Tel Aviv that the well being and security of Israel in the future will depend on a change of course in its relation to both the Palestinians and its regional neighbors. The days of flaunting international law and fundamental human rights are no longer policy options for Israel without a downside. Turkey is dramatically demonstrating that there can be a decided downside to Israeli flagrant lawlessness."

Exposing Netanyahu

Article by Paul R. Pillar in The National Interest. Pillar is a 28-year veteran of the CIA, a visiting professor at Georgetown University for security studies and a member of the Center for Peace and Security Studies. Prior to joining the CIA, Pillar served as a U.S. Army officer in Vietnam. He earned an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College, and received the B.Phil from Oxford University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. He became chief of analysis at the CIA's Counterterrorist Center in 1993, and was a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution from 1999-2000. From 2000-2005, Pillar worked as the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia.

The Fatah-Hamas Accord

Column in The Nation by Mouin Rabbani explaining what the accord signifies and how it will operate.

Sad and Happy

A column by Uri Avnery discussing the hypocrisy of Israel's opposition to the UN Palestinian bid for statehood.

Osama is dead but not bin Ladenism

Article by Rami G. Khouri about the persistence of conditions in the Arab-Asian region that will continue to contribute to Islamic radicalism. "Osama bin Laden is dead, and many will rightly rejoice that a killer has been killed and justice has been done. However, bin Ladenism persists..."

Permanent Temporariness

Article by Alastair Crooke in the London Review of Books about Israel's goal to avoid real negotiation with the Palestinians, keep them in a state of perpetual "acquiescence." "The demise of the ‘peace process’ has given us a rare moment of clarity: since the release of the Palestine Papers, the fiction underlying it has become clear to everybody."

Responding to anti-Semitism

Article by Stephen R. Shalom in which the anti-Semitism charge now means anti-Israel. "As it becomes increasingly difficult to justify Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people, Israel’s apologists...resort to another line of defense: namely, they accuse Israel’s critics of being anti-Semitic. Not the sort of classic anti-Semitism found for example in Hamas’s Charter, but instead the anti-Semitism of an anti-Israel double standard [holidng Israel to a different standard than other nations]."