Fifty years ago, a small group of Palestinian teachers and engineers living in Kuwait founded a secretive movement aimed at liberating those portions of previously British-ruled Palestine that became the State of Israel in 1948. The group they founded, Fatah, went on to dominate the entire Palestinian political scene. In 1969 it took over the …
Continue reading “Fatah’s Leadership Crisis Deepens”
Updated at 4:41 p.m. EDT, July 24, 2009
At least eight Iraqis were killed and eight more were wounded in the latest attacks. One U.S. soldier also died in a non-combat incident in Baghdad. Meanwhile, Iraq is asking the U.S. to explain reports that officials met with insurgent groups leaders in Turkey.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s newly installed ambassador in Washington says the "disagreement" with the U.S. over Israel’s settlement policy will be resolved "soon." Speaking on Israel Radio, Michael Oren was giving his first interview since taking up his post. His upbeat assessment is challenged by many other Israeli officials and by most political pundits who foresee …
Continue reading “Defiant Netanyahu Plays His Jerusalem Card”
No one would have been more surprised than Fawziya Khurd by the recent pronouncement of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that Israel operates an "open city" policy in Jerusalem. Mr Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem following the 1967 war — what he called the city’s "unification" — …
Continue reading “The Reality of Israel’s ‘Open’ Jerusalem”
Justin Raimondo on ghosts of the cold war
Don’t turn the page on history, says Tom Engelhardt
And it’s worse than Vietnam, says William Pfaff
Updated at 7:16 p.m. EDT, July 23, 2009
At least four Iraqis were killed and 17 more were wounded in light violence. No Coalition deaths were reported, but the Iraqi Monitor of Constitutional Freedom and Bill of Rights (MRFC) reported that U.S. forces have killed at least 10 Iraqis since withdrawing from cities at the end of June.
In a signal victory for President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday evening to end production of an advanced fighter jet that many independent military analysts have long considered a wasteful boondoggle. The 58-40 vote to delete 1.75 billion dollars in funding to order seven more F-22 "Raptor" jet …
Continue reading “Obama Wins Big Victory on Defense”
RAMALLAH — The northern Palestinian West Bank is turning into a flashpoint as Israeli settlers continue to attack Palestinian civilians and their property as part of a "price tag" policy. On Tuesday Walid Assaf, a Palestinian Legislative Council member, was injured after Israeli settlers near the northern West Bank city Qalqilya threw a rock through …
Continue reading “Rampaging Settlers Shatter Fragile Calm” 
