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Originally posted at TomDispatch. One way of understanding the ongoing bloodbath pitting Israel against Hamas is to see it as just the latest chapter in an existential struggle dating back to the founding of the Jewish state in 1948. While the appalling scope, destructiveness, and duration of the fighting in Gaza may outstrip previous episodes, this … Continue reading “America’s War for the Greater Middle East (Continued)”

There is a reason why Palestinians are keen on releasing their prisoners, despite the heavy price they continue to pay for their freedom. It may seem rational to ask the question: what is the point of releasing a few Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, if the price of doing so is the death of over … Continue reading “Dying to Be Free: Releasing Palestinian Captives Is Not a Numbers Game”

Day of judgment, God is calling On their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging mercy for their sins Satan laughing spreads his wings Oh lord, yeah! ~ Black Sabbath Lyrics In 1992, comedian George Carlin noted that after the Cold War politicians in Washington were always declaring war on things at home, “We got a … Continue reading “President Biden’s War Pigs”

It should already have been evident from the scale of death and destruction inflicted on Gaza over the past eight weeks that Israel was implementing a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against Palestinians in the besieged enclave. Now Israeli whistleblowers have provided details of how these crimes against humanity are being carried out – … Continue reading “How Israel Uses an AI Genocide Program To Obliterate Gaza”

This article was originally published by The Nation. Forty years ago, across a dozen pages of The Nation magazine, I was in a debate with the English historian E. P. Thompson about the U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms race, the relative culpability of both governments, and how activists should approach it all. At the time, Cold War hostility was rampant. … Continue reading “How the US Has Darkened the Nuclear Cloud Over Humanity”

A leading Ukrainian politician said in a November 24 interview that as early as April 2022, Russia was “prepared to end the war if we agreed to…neutrality.” On June 13, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia and Ukraine had “reached an agreement in Istanbul” and that the agreement had been initialled by both … Continue reading “It’s Unanimous: Ukrainian Neutrality Could Have Brought Peace”

Those unfamiliar with Gaza and its history are likely to always associate Gaza with destruction, rubble and Israeli genocide. And they can hardly be blamed. On November 3, the UN Development Program and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) announced that 45 percent of Gaza’s housing units have been destroyed or … Continue reading “History of Gaza: On Conquerors, Resurgence, and Rebirth”

Speaking from a hospital ward about 50 meters from where a bomb had just exploded, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder raised his voice over sounds of children screaming. In a video posted on Twitter/X he emphasized that Gaza’s health care system is overwhelmed. Pointing at children packed into the ward of a hospital he said was operating … Continue reading “Predicting Pestilence in Gaza”

In the fateful year 1917 the British cabinet had one Jewish member: Edwin Montagu. He was also the only cabinet member to oppose the Balfour Declaration of that year, which paved the way for the self-declared creation of the state of Israel, the so-called Jewish State, 31 tumultuous years later. The declaration was a brief … Continue reading “Jewish Dissent on the Balfour Declaration”

Volodymyr Zelensky may have been the perfect president to lead Ukraine through the war with Russia. But he may not be the perfect president to lead them out. Zelensky has made it difficult for himself to get out of the picture he felt he needed to paint to get Ukraine through the war. To maintain … Continue reading “Has Volodymyr Zelensky Passed His Expiration Date?”