Tag: israel

Israel’s Crumbling Pillar of ‘Defense’

The big news this Thanksgiving holiday is the announcement of the Gaza ceasefire. Will it last beyond the time you’re eating desert and trying to recover from a massive Tryptophane overdose? Don’t be so sure…. The reason for this uncertainty is because Hamas comes out the winner, on all fronts, and Netanyahu just as clearly … Continue reading “Israel’s Crumbling Pillar of ‘Defense’”

Is Middle East Peace a Mirage?

With the truce in the week-long Gaza war, Barack Obama is being prompted by right and left to re-engage and renew U.S. efforts to solve the core question of Middle East peace. Before he gets reinvolved in peacemaking, our once-burned president should ask himself some hard questions. Is real peace between Palestinians and Israelis even … Continue reading “Is Middle East Peace a Mirage?”

How Israel’s Assault on Gaza Is Like the War of 1812

What do Israel’s assault on Gaza and the American War of 1812 have in common? Much more than meets the eye. The stated purpose of the Israeli assassination of Hamas’s military leader, which provoked the conflict in Gaza, was to impede the group’s rocket firings on southern Israel. Yet the rocket fire has been going … Continue reading “How Israel’s Assault on Gaza Is Like the War of 1812”

Attacks on Gaza Unite Palestinians

HAIFA, NORTHERN ISRAEL — Dozens of Israeli tanks slowly made their way south on the back of flatbed trucks along Israel’s Road 6 highway Sunday. Emblazoned with Stars of David and Hebrew letters and carrying frayed Israeli flags, the movement of these tanks has left many believing that Israel will soon launch a large-scale ground … Continue reading “Attacks on Gaza Unite Palestinians”

Why Gaza?

The Israeli assault on Gaza was triggered Nov. 8 when the IDF crossed the border and murdered Ahmed Younis Khader Abu Daqqa, a 13-year-old boy playing football in his front yard: the official explanation for this action was an alleged weapons cache, supposedly stored nearby, but no credible evidence supporting this contention has come to … Continue reading “Why Gaza?”

The Four Guilty Parties Behind Israel’s Attack

A short interview broadcast by CNN late last week featuring two participants — a Palestinian in Gaza and an Israeli within range of the rocket attacks — did not follow the usual script. For once, a media outlet dropped its role as gatekeeper, there to mediate and therefore impair our understanding of what is taking … Continue reading “The Four Guilty Parties Behind Israel’s Attack”

Another Superfluous War

How did it start? Stupid question. Conflagrations along the Gaza Strip don’t start. They are just a continuous chain of events, each claimed to be in “retaliation” for the previous one. Action is followed by reaction, which is followed by retaliation, which is followed by… This particular event “started” with the firing from Gaza of … Continue reading “Another Superfluous War”

Israeli Firepower Threatens to Overwhelm Palestinians

When the late Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), was engaged in a heavily one-sided battle against a robustly-armed Israel in 2000, he admitted the Palestinians were completely outgunned by the Israelis. As the the U.S.-supplied Cobra helicopters rained fire on the West Bank and Gaza, Arafat told reporters, “I have only … Continue reading “Israeli Firepower Threatens to Overwhelm Palestinians”

Israel’s Real Agenda

Most observers have become wearied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s frequently voiced demands that Iran must be attacked because it is a threat to the entire world. The reality is otherwise, that Iran’s theocratic government’s security apparatus oppresses mostly its own people and its military lacks the capabilities that would enable it to threaten … Continue reading “Israel’s Real Agenda”