America in the Middle East: US Policy Fails Its Purchasers

Can anyone doubt that Israel and its American friends direct U.S. Middle East policy? Do senior members of the administration ever dispute the axiom that Israel’s enemies must be America’s enemies? Does Congress or the corporate media ever question the huge financial, military, and diplomatic support Israel receives? Every year witnesses the shameful spectacle of … Continue reading “America in the Middle East: US Policy Fails Its Purchasers”

J Street Urges Obama to Seize the Moment

J Street, the Washington-based “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” advocacy group, drew a large crowd to its annual conference this year despite criticism over its controversial calls for the Barack Obama administration not to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. In the end, the administration vetoed the resolution, but the … Continue reading “J Street Urges Obama to Seize the Moment”

A Crazy Prophet

“Why don’t the masses stream to the square here, too, and throw Bibi out?” my taxi driver exclaimed when we were passing Rabin Square. The wide expanse was almost empty, with only a few mothers and their children enjoying the mild winter sun. The masses will not stream to the square, and Benjamin Netanyahu can … Continue reading “A Crazy Prophet”

Israeli Media ‘Fears’ the New Egypt

Over the past three weeks the Israeli media has been extremely interested in Egypt. During the climatic days of the unprecedented demonstrations, television news programs spent most of their airtime covering the protests, while the daily papers dedicated half the news and opinion pages to the unfolding events. Rather than excitement at watching history in … Continue reading “Israeli Media ‘Fears’ the New Egypt”

The Genie Is Out of the Bottle

This is a story right out of 1,001 Nights. The genie escaped from the bottle, and no power on earth can put it back. When it happened in Tunisia, it could have been said: OK, an Arab country, but a minor one. It was always a bit more progressive than the others. Just an isolated … Continue reading “The Genie Is Out of the Bottle”

Dead Peace Process Could be ‘National Suicide’ for Israel

The U.N. Security Council is poised to vote this week on a new resolution condemning Israeli expansion into the Occupied Palestinian Territories and calling for an immediate freeze on settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but the United States has already declared its intention to again deploy its veto power. Backed by 122 … Continue reading “Dead Peace Process Could be ‘National Suicide’ for Israel”

It’s Always About Israel

While most of the rest of the world, minus Glenn Beck, was celebrating the overthrow of one of the world’s most repressive dictatorships, over in Israel – which bills itself as the only real democracy in the region – they were sour-faced and ready to rumble. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told his cabinet … Continue reading “It’s Always About Israel”

Jimmy Carter’s Gift of ‘Apartheid’

Eclipsed by the events in Egypt, news from its little neighbor has not gleaned much notice save for media angst that Egyptian democracy might not be as genial as was the Mubarak dictatorship to the relentless, long-term ethnic cleansing of an indigenous people, the Palestinians. But news there was as Israeli “human rights” lawyers went … Continue reading “Jimmy Carter’s Gift of ‘Apartheid’”

The Freedom Reading List

With Hosni Mubarak gone, let’s do a little Egyptian math on the Mubarak years. According to experts, the fortune amassed by Egypt’s former president and his two sons (both billionaires) could reach $70 billion. That includes funds in secret offshore bank accounts and investments in residences and real-estate properties reaching from Rodeo Drive in Beverley … Continue reading “The Freedom Reading List”