Sheldon Richman

The Trump administration and its apologists are quick to point out that Barack Obama was as willing as Donald Trump himself to tear-gas desperate people trying to protect themselves by crossing America’s southern border. So he was, though many will refuse to believe it. Let’s not forget, after all, that Obama, like Trump, was willing … Continue reading “The Cruel Tear-Gassing of Asylum Seekers”

Beyond any reasonable doubt, in substance if not in appearance, Donald Trump is a thoroughly conventional American politician. It’s a wonder that anyone requires proof at this late date. This couldn’t be clearer than in foreign policy. Some of us who understand the links among freedom, free trade, durable prosperity, and a noninterventionist foreign policy … Continue reading “Trump’s Foreign Policy War on Americans”

In 2016 and 2017 Al Jazeera produced a program that unmistakenly documents the Israel government and U.S. Israel lobby’s all-out effort to spy on, smear, and disrupt American students and other activists who are working to build an understanding of the Palestinians’ plight. The Lobby – USA, however, has never been broadcast by Al Jazeera. … Continue reading “The Art of the Smear – The Israel Lobby Busted”

Imagine that back in the day, the U.S. government had contracted postal services out to a private company rather than setting up its own “public” agency. Today the US Postal Corp. would have officers, directors, and employees who were not on the government payroll. They would be paid from the money raised by selling its … Continue reading “Let’s Stop the Merchants of Death”

Even if the Saudi monarchy or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in particular did not murder journalist Jamal Khashoggi, that regime is an especially evil one in both its domestic and international conduct. To see that, one need only consider the horrendous Saudi war against the people of Yemen, which has been backed by the … Continue reading “The Insidious Wiles of Foreign Influence: Trump, Bin Salman, and Netanyahu”

Jason Greenblatt, Donald Trump’s No. 2 special envoy to the Middle East behind son-in-law Jared Kushner, assures us that his boss’s plan to settle the Palestine-Israel “conflict” once and for all is still in the works and is going to be great. (It’s a conflict in the same way that a confrontation between a car … Continue reading “Trump’s Middle East Delusions Persist”

As though we had any ground for doubt heretofore, we can now clearly see – in light of his end to $350 million in annual humanitarian assistance to five million Palestinian refugees – Donald Trump’s cruel and spiteful nature. It was not enough to stack the so-called peace process against the Palestinians in every possible … Continue reading “Trump, Spinoza, and the Palestinian Refugees”

I and others have warned that enactment of the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act now before Congress would threaten free speech and free inquiry on America’s college campuses and beyond. As I’ve explained, this bill incorporates a conception – a “definition” plus potential examples – of anti-Semitism that conflates criticism of Israel’s founding and continuing abuse of … Continue reading “Anti-Israelism and Anti-Semitism: The Invidious Conflation”

In May the benign-sounding Anti-Semitism Awareness Act appeared before the U.S. Congress “to provide for consideration a definition of anti-Semitism for the enforcement of Federal antidiscrimination laws concerning education programs or activities.” No big deal? Let us see. S. 2940 is sponsored by Republican Sen. Tim Scott and has four co-sponsors: Republican Lindsey Graham and … Continue reading “Defining Anti-Semitism, Threatening Free Speech”

The Palestinians’ deteriorating conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip makes even long-term optimism difficult. Neither a one-liberal-state nor two-state resolution seems in the offing because (if for no other reason) either would seem to spell political suicide for any foreseeable Israeli government. The one-staters have a good argument against the two-staters and vice … Continue reading “A Glimmer of Hope in Bleak Palestine”