Details of Israel’s attack on the flotilla to Gaza containing humanitarian aid are still leaking out from the Israeli attempt to stifle them. But even if Israel’s spin about its attack on the flotilla is accepted, the situation is still fairly damning for Israel. Israel maintains that it ordered the flotilla to divert to the …
Continue reading “Israeli Attack May Have a Silver Lining”
When Israel attacked the Gaza aid flotilla, Congresswoman Jane Harman was engaged in a parallel assault. Israel’s government relied on the efficacy of violence; Harman’s campaign was counting on the power of paid media. In both cases, the targets were advocates of human rights for Palestinian people. Brandishing guns and stun grenades, in international waters, …
Continue reading “Israel and Harman in Tandem: From High Seas to Airwaves”
RAMALLAH – The Israeli government’s spin machine has launched into full-throttle as the country faces yet another diplomatic crisis and harsh international criticism for Monday’s raid on the Free Gaza (FG) humanitarian aid flotilla that left 19 people dead and about 50 injured. However, whether Israel’s slick and well-oiled publicity machine, and the various lobby …
Continue reading “Censure Follows Raid on Gaza Aid Flotilla”
[Note for TomDispatch Readers: In recent years, this Web site has had a fine record when it comes to college commencement addresses, in part because I have a fondness for the form at its best, and in part because I think we should all have a chance to graduate into our world, whatever our ages. …
Continue reading “Living in the 51st State (of Denial)”
The condemnations, the imprecations, the expressions of shock are rolling in, as the nations of the world raise their voices in protest over the Mediterranean massacre carried out by Israeli commandos, but rather than get into specifics, I want to note a general pattern that this incident seems to confirm. It is often said, by …
Continue reading “The Mediterranean Massacre”
An Arab member of the Israeli parliament who was on board the international flotilla that was attacked on Monday as it tried to take humanitarian aid to Gaza accused Israel yesterday of intending to kill peace activists as a way to deter future convoys. Haneen Zoubi said Israeli naval vessels had surrounded the flotilla’s flagship, …
Continue reading “Israeli MP’s Terror on Aid Ship”
A chief lesson to learn from President Barack Obama’s recent unwillingness to stand up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Lobby is that such timidity can get people killed. Casualty figures are still arriving in the wake of Israel’s Sunday night-Monday morning commando attack on an unarmed flotilla trying to bring relief …
Continue reading “Obama’s Timidity and Deaths at Sea”
For Iraqi civilians, May has been the deadliest month so far this year. According to data released by various ministries, at least 275 died. Another 62 Iraqis who were security personnel were killed as well, along with five U.S. soldiers. On the first day of June, at least six Iraqis were killed and one more was wounded, including both civilians and servicemembers.
