Army veteran accused of slipping secrets to Israel in '80s 
Larry Neumeister, San Francisco Chronicle - An 84-year-old U.S. Army veteran was charged with revealing secrets about America's nuclear weapons, fighter jets and missiles to Israel more than 20 years ago in a case linked to an earlier spy scandal that strained U.S.-Israeli relations. more

 Our reign of terror, by the Israeli army 
Donald Macintyre, The Independent - In shocking testimonies that reveal abductions, beatings and torture, Israeli soldiers confess the horror they have visited on Hebron. more

 American Ambassador Recalls Israeli Assassination Attempt—With U.S. Weapons 
Andrew I. Killgore, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - Just before John Gunther Dean was to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing as American ambassador to Lebanon in 1978 he received an urgent telephone call from the office of the secretary of state. “John,” the caller said, “we have just noticed that your mother’s [maiden] name is Ashkenaczi. Does this make a serious problem for you?” “Absolutely not,” the near legendary Dean replied, “my father was Jewish, too. I represent a secular America, so that’s all there is to it.” more

 Should the U.S. End Aid to Israel? Funding Our Decline 
Alison Weir, CounterPunch - On April 1st I participated in a debate in San Francisco that raised the question of US aid to Israel. It was highly appropriate that this debate was held two weeks before tax day, since in Israel's sixty years of existence, it has received more US tax money than any other nation on earth. more

 What Our Taxes to Israel are Funding 
Alison Weir, Greenwich Citizen - Over a month after my talks at the Greenwich Library, I find that Israel loyalists are still publishing astonishingly inaccurate tirades about me in local newspapers. While the name-calling is unfortunate, it is excellent that discussion of the profoundly important topic of Israel-Palestine is continuing. more

 What Christians Don’t Know About Israel 
Grace Halsell, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - The answer to achieving an even-handed Middle East policy might lie elsewhere—among those who support Israel but don’t really know why. This group is the vast majority of Americans. They are well-meaning, fair-minded Christians who feel bonded to Israel—and Zionism—often from atavistic feelings, in some cases dating from childhood. more

 Alison Weir’s Letter to the Editor 
Alison Weir, Greenwich Post - A recent letter writer to the Greenwich Post challenges a statement on our website synopsis of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "When the inevitable war broke out the outcome was never in doubt, according to U.S. intelligence reports from the time. The Zionist army consisted of over 90,000 European-trained soldiers and possessed modern weaponry, including up-to-date fighter and bomber airplanes. The Arab forces, very much a third-world army, consisted of approximately 30,000 ill-equipped, poorly trained men. The U.S. Army, British intelligence, and the CIA all agreed: it would be no contest." more

 Sanctions causing Gaza to implode, say rights groups 
Ian Black, The Guardian - Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living through their worst humanitarian crisis since the 1967 war because of the severe restrictions imposed by Israel since the Islamist movement Hamas seized power, a report says today. more

 VIDEO – Gaza: A humanitarian implosion 
The Real News Network - A coalition of eight UK-based human rights organizations released a scathing report on conditions in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Watch Video

 Gaza: Humanitarian situation worst since 1967 
Amnesty International UK, CARE International UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Médecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save The Children UK and Trócaire - Poverty and unemployment up, hospitals suffering 12 hour a day power cuts, water and sewage system close to collapse. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worse now than it's been at any time since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967, according to a new report published today (6 March) by a coalition of leading humanitarian and human rights organisations. The weekend's upsurge in violence and human misery underlines the urgency of this report. more

 Thoughts on the Attempted Murder of Palestine: The Siren Song of Elliott Abrams 
Kathleen Christison, Counter Punch - "Coup" is the word being widely used to describe what happened in Gaza in June when Hamas militias defeated the armed security forces of Fatah and chased them out of Gaza. But, as so often with the manipulative language used in the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, the terminology here is backward. Hamas was the legally constituted, democratically elected government of the Palestinians, so in the first place Hamas did not stage a coup but rather was the target of a coup planned against it. Furthermore, the coup -- which failed in Gaza but succeeded overall when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, acting in violation of Palestinian law, cut Gaza adrift, unseated the Palestinian unity government headed by Hamas, and named a new prime minister and cabinet -- was the handiwork of the United States and Israel. more

 Book: Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years 
Israel Shahak - This book, although written in English and addressed to people living outside the State of Israel, is, in a way, a continuation of my political activities as an Israeli Jew. Those activities began in 1965-6 with a protest which caused a considerable scandal at the time: I had personally witnessed an ultra-religious Jew refuse to allow his phone to be used on the Sabbath in order to call an ambulance for a non-Jew who happened to have collapsed in his Jerusalem neighbourhood. Instead of simply publishing the incident in the press, I asked for a meeting which is composed of rabbis nominated by the State of Israel. I asked them whether such behavior was consistent with their interpretation of the Jewish religion. They answered that the Jew in question had behaved correctly, indeed piously, and backed their statement by referring me to a passage in an authoritative compendium of Talmudic laws, written in this century. I reported the incident to the main Hebrew daily, Ha'aretz, whose publication of the story caused a media scandal. Read the Whole Book

 The Gaza Bombshell 
David Rose, Vanity Fair - After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever more

 Video: Old Palestinian Man Describes Being Shot 

 Gaza: Israel Blocks 670 Students from Studies Abroad 
Human Rights Watch - The Israeli government is arbitrarily blocking some 670 students in Gaza from pursuing higher education abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. Israel is denying exit permits that the young men and women need to leave Gaza for university programs in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Germany, Britain, and the United States. more

 Israeli Settlement Activity in and around the Old City 
PLO Negotiations Support Unit - Illegal Israeli settlement activity in and around occupied East Jerusalem has intensified following the re-launch of peace negotiations between the PLO and Israel at the Annapolis conference in November 2007. New settlement housing units are being constructed in and around the Old City of Jerusalem to form an inner ring in the so-called "Holy Basin", a densely populated Palestinian area, as well as an outer ring around the whole of East Jerusalem. more

 Video: British film crew threatened by jewish settler in Hebron 
lordfinalcall - Tel Rumeida is a small Palestinian neighborhood deep in the West Bank city of Hebron. Palestinian families from whom these jewish settlers occupied lands, live directly next to these jewish settlers and are often virtual prisoners in their homes, subject to the settlers' violent attacks and destruction of property. Watch Video

 Speech on the Mideast Brings Opinions to a Boil 
Peter Applebome, The New York Times - When people learn that she speaks on the never-ending conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, Alison Weir said at the beginning of her speech at the Greenwich Library on Thursday night, they want to know which side she’s on. And, she said, she found that question off-putting because it’s not a football game and it’s not a matter of being on one side or the other but of being true to the facts and sensitive to injustice in whatever form. more

 If Americans Knew—Palestinians, Israelis, and Americans Would be Free 
Mohamed Khodr - Alison Weiris a courageous, dedicated, and compassionate journalist. more

 George Habash's contribution to the Palestinian struggle 
As’ad AbuKhalil, The Electronic Intifada - I lived more than half of my life in the US and I never felt the alienation that I felt on the day I read George Habash, the Palestinian revolutionary who passed away last week, labeled as a "terrorism tactician" in a front page obituary in The New York Times. What do you do when they want to convince you that a kind and gentle man you met and respected as a person is a terrorist when you know otherwise? Do you quibble with their definitions to no avail? Do you go back and see how they wrote glowing obituaries for Zionist militia leader and later Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, a man whose record of killing civilians is as horrific and grotesque as that of Osama Bin Laden, former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, Fatah Revolutionary Council founder Abu Nidal or Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet? more

 Library Censors If Americans Knew 
A group of local citizens is challenging the decision by some officials at the Greenwich Library to cancel two upcoming talks that had been in the works since January. more

 Mike Malloy Fired from Air America Radio 
Stephen Pearcy, Indymedia - Mike Malloy, one of the most popular talk radio hosts in the country, especially as a voice for the left, has been fired by Air America Radio ("AAR"). Malloy's termination comes at a time when he's been highly critical of Israel for its aggressive military attacks upon civilians both in Lebanon and Palestine. Many people are now asking whether Malloy's termination is related to such criticism. more

 Neocons Shaken, But Not Deterred 
Jim Lobe, IPS News- Almost exactly five years after it reached its zenith with the invasion of Iraq, the influence of neo-conservatives has waned sharply in Washington, as their nemeses, the "realists" in the national security bureaucracy, have increasingly asserted control over U.S. foreign policy. more

 Israel’s Sacred Terrorism 
Edward Herman, The Real Terror Network - The record of Israeli terrorism is substantial, far too extensive even to attempt to sample here. A small glimpse into the reality was given by Prime Minister Menahem Begin in a letter published in the Israeli press in August 1981. more

 Israeli Versus PLO Terrorist Killings 
Edward Herman and Gerry O'Sullivan, The “Terrorism” Industry - A table comparing some Israeli terrorism to PLO terrorism. more

 I Was Israel’s Dupe 
Tom Hayden, CounterPunch - Twenty-five years ago I stared into the eyes of Michael Berman, chief operative for his congressman-brother, Howard Berman. I was a neophyte running for the California Assembly in a district that the Bermans claimed belonged to them. more

 Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: Attacking Iran for Israel? 
Ray McGovern, CounterPunch - Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is at her mushroom-cloud hyperbolic best, and this time Iran is the target. Her claim last week that "the policies of Iran constitute perhaps the single greatest challenge to American security interests in the Middle East and around the world" is simply too much of a stretch. more

 Israel shaken by troops' tales of brutality against Palestinians 
Conal Urquhart, UK Guardian - A study by an Israeli psychologist into the violent behaviour of the country's soldiers is provoking bitter controversy and has awakened urgent questions about the way the army conducts itself in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. more

 Candidates court Jewish support 
Matthew E. Berger, MSNBC - he John Edwards presidential campaign had a problem. Set to announce the appointment of former Rep. David Bonior as campaign manager in a few days, Edwards' strategists began to realize that the Michigan Democrat's strong support for Palestinians while he was in Congress could hurt Edwards among American Jews. more

 Treachery for treatment 
Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly - His calm demeanour belies the personal tragedy he is living. Journalist Bassam Al-Wahidi, 30, is on the verge of giving in to perpetual darkness. This will happen if he doesn't have an operation to reposition his retina, an operation that he was supposed to have had last month in a Palestinian hospital in Jerusalem. Although Al-Wahidi, a news presenter on the Voice of the Workers radio station in Gaza, had completed all the necessary administrative procedures required of him to travel to Jerusalem, officers in the Israeli domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, at the Erez Crossing on the northern border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, won't allow him to cross until he agrees to become an Israeli agent and provide information on the activities, leaders and members of Palestinian resistance movements active in Gaza. more

 U.S. too often follows Israel's lead in diplomatic situations 
Paul Findley, Iowa Press-Citizen - There is an open secret in Washington. I learned it well during my 22-year tenure as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. All members swear to serve the interests of the United States, but there is an unwritten and overwhelming exception: The interests of one small foreign country almost always trump U.S. interests. That nation of course is Israel. more

 Where Did AIPAC Come From? 
Grant Smith, AntiWar.com, Excerpt from Foreign Agents - AIPAC was founded by Isaiah L. "Si" Kenen, springing from the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs Kenen registered twice with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) as a foreign agent for Israel. more

 Banning Desmond Tutu 
Matt Snyders, Minneapolis / St. PaulCity Pages Newspaper - Back in April, when University of St. Thomas staffer Mike Klein informed his colleagues in the Justice and Peace Studies program that he'd succeeded in booking Archbishop Desmond Tutu for a campus appearance, the faculty buzzed in anticipation. For a program dedicated to fostering social change and nonviolence, there were few figures who embodied that vision more aptly than the world-renowned civil rights activist and Nobel Laureate. more

 Congressional inquiries got nowhere 
John Crewdson in the Chicago Tribune - In the 40 years since the U.S. Court of Inquiry closed its books on the Liberty investigation, members of Congress have asked for information about the attack and have received stock replies, like the one provided to the late Sen. Alan Cranston. more

 Sen. Gravel Says AIPAC Is Pushing Confrontation With Iran 
Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss - I keep declaring that the Walt and Mearsheimer is historic, that it has blasted down a wall in the American discourse. I keep getting more evidence. more

 New revelations in attack on American spy ship 
John Crewdson in the Chicago Tribune - Veterans, documents suggest U.S., Israel didn't tell full story of deadly '67 incident. more

 The Greatest Story Never Told 
Stephen Lendman - No issue is more sensitive in the US than daring to criticize Israel. It's the metaphorical "third rail" in American politics, academia and the major media. Anyone daring to touch it pays dearly as the few who tried learned. Those in elected office face an onslaught of attacks and efforts to replace them with more supportive officials. Former five term Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney felt its sting twice in 2002 and 2006. So did 10 term Congressman Paul Findley (a fierce and courageous Israeli critic) in 1982 and three term Senator Charles Percy in 1984 whom AIPAC targeted merely for appearing to support anti-Israeli policy. more

 Twilight Zone / The children of 5767 
Gideon Levy in Haaretz - It was a pretty quiet year, relatively speaking. Only 457 Palestinians and 10 Israelis were killed, according to the B'Tselem human rights organization, including the victims of Qassam rockets. Fewer casualties than in many previous years. However, it was still a terrible year: 92 Palestinian children were killed (fortunately, not a single Israeli child was killed by Palestinians, despite the Qassams). One-fifth of the Palestinians killed were children and teens - a disproportionate, almost unprecedented number. The Jewish year of 5767. Almost 100 children, who were alive and playing last New Year, didn't survive to see this one. more

 See No Evil: The Teflon Alliance with Israel 
Kathleen and Bill Christison in CounterPunch- Two recent offhand comments, both widely publicized, have seriously undermined whatever progress might have been made in exposing the fact that the Iraq war was initiated at least in large part to guarantee Israel's safety and regional dominance in the Middle East. more

 Siege of Al Ain Refugee Camp 
Alison Weir - I've been outside the Ain camp in Nablus, where the Israeli military has people under siege. They shot a crippled man early this morning and then would not allow the ambulance in to treat him. He died -- he was a civilian, not part of the resistance. more

 Clinton gets boost from rabbi poll, calls for undivided Jerusalem 
Ron Kampeas in JTA - In her new position paper on Israel, Hillary Rodham Clinton comes not only to praise the Jewish state but to bury doubts that she would be any less vigilant in its protection than the Bush administration. The position paper, published this week, goes so far as to outflank President Bush from the right. more

 The Land Mark 
Samia Khoury - "No Street names or street numbers" is something that amazes foreign guests in our area. How does one tell the taxi driver to get anywhere? Well you almost have to write an essay as you describe the way; the first entrance after the supermarket, and then the left turn after the traffic light. No, do not take the first one; the second one, just before the check point. No, you do not pass the checkpoint. etc. etc. more

 The Death of Samir Dari 
Neve Gordon and Yigal Bronner in the Dissident Voice - Almost a year and a half has passed since our friend Samir Dari was gunned down by an Israeli policeman. Samir, an Israeli resident and father of two, approached a group of policemen who had just detained his brother on a street corner not far away from his house and demanded the latter’s release. There are conflicting versions about how the events unfolded, but there is no dispute about the following facts: Samir was unarmed and the policeman Shmuel Yechezkel shot him from close range in the back. more

 Commentary: Embarrassing history 
Arnaud de Borchgrave in UPI - The Palestinians call Israel’s 1948 war of independence their nakba, or catastrophic ethnic cleansing, or forced exile. The Israelis, for their part, have steadfastly rejected any suggestion of ethnic cleansing as calumny in all its anti-Semitic horror. Historic revisionism is now under way. Without fanfare, just below the media radar screen, the Israeli Education Ministry has approved a textbook for Arab third-graders in Israel that concedes the war that gave birth to Israel was a “nakba” for the Palestinians. The textbook refers to the “expulsion” of some of the Palestinians and the “confiscation of many Arab-owned lands.” more

 Witness for the Defenseless 
Anna Baltzer in The Link - Every time I think I have understood the Israel/Palestine conflict, something will remind me how much more I have to learn. My first breakthrough came during a trip to southern Lebanon, where for the first time I heard a narrative about the state of Israel altogether different from the one I had learned growing up as a Jewish American. more

 Israeli army forces women to strip at Bethlehem checkpoint 
Maisa Abu Ghazalah, IMEMC News - "It seems that there are plans to topple the honor of Palestinian girls in the clutches of the Israeli intelligence through blackmail at checkpoints and military crossings, and I don’t doubt that inside the inspection rooms there are cameras video taping girls undressing." more

 Khouloud Daibes: Israeli soldiers forcing women to submit to strip searches at checkpoints 
Ma'an News Agency - Khouloud Daibes, the minister of Women's Affairs in the new emergency government, condemned the behaviour of Israeli soldiers in forcing Palestinians to submit to strip searches at a military check point near Beit Safafa, north of Bethlehem. more

 Divide and Rule, Israeli-Style 
Jonathan Cook in CounterPunch – The boycott by Israel and the international community of the Palestinian Authority finally blew up in their faces with Hamas' recent bloody takeover of Gaza. Or so argues Gideon Levy, one of the saner voices still to be found in Israel. "Starving, drying up and blocking aid do not sear the consciousness and do not weaken political movements. On the contrary Reality has refuted the chorus of experts and commentators who preached [on] behalf of the boycott policy. This daft notion that it is possible to topple an elected government by applying pressure on a helpless population suffered a complete failure." But has Levy got it wrong? more

 Gaza in the grip of Hamas 
Saleh Al-Naami in Al-Ahram Weekly – While temporary security in Gaza might have been restored under the control of Hamas, the economic conditions continue to deteriorate and the future for all and sundry remains under threat, writes Saleh Al-Naami in Gaza. more

 Saving President Abbas 
Uri Avnery – Ehud Olmert is the opposite of Midas, King of Phrygia. Everything the king touched turned into gold, according to Greek legend. Everything Olmert touches turns into lead. And that is no legend. more

 Letter to Secretary of the Army Regarding Report of War Crimes 
Rear Admiral Merlin Staring and Rear Admiral Clarence Hill, Jr. - On 8 June 2005 the U.S.S. Liberty Veterans Association, Inc., submitted to you a documented Report of War Crimes Committed Against U.S. Military Personnel on June 8, 1967. That report was submitted to you in your capacity as Executive Agent for the Secretary of Defense under Department of Defense Directive No. 5810.01B of 29 March 2004. It was based upon, and contained a detailed description of, the sudden, savage, unjustified, and prolonged attack made on 8 June 1967, by air and naval forces of the state of Israel, upon the USS LIBERTY (AGTR-5), a U.S. Navy technical research ship then operating peacefully in international waters in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The LIBERTY was at that time the most sophisticated and best-equipped intelligence ship in the world. Of a crew of 294 officers and men, including three American civilian government employees, she suffered 34 Americans killed in action and 173 wounded in action. The ship itself was so badly damaged that it never again sailed on an operational mission. more

 Four Decades of Twisting Facts About Israel’s Attack on the USS Liberty 
James Ennes in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - Since June 8, 1967, when Israeli air and naval forces deliberately attacked the American intelligence ship USS Liberty, Israel and its American supporters have lied about what happened. more

 American Media Miss the Boat: For USA Today, Freedom of the Press Means the Right to Report It Wrong 
Alison Weir in CounterPunch - Capitol Hill, October 2003. It is a historic occasion. An independent, blue-ribbon commission is to release its findings from an investigation into an internationally significant 36-year-old attack on a US Navy ship that left more than 200 American sailors killed or wounded. more

 Whose Coup, Exactly? 
Virginia Tilley in The Electronic Intifada – Having sacked Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and dissolved his democratically-elected government, Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas has now installed Salam Fayyad as the new Prime Minister, to the clear delight of the West. Mutual accusations are hurled by Abbas and Haniyeh that the other side launched a coup against the legitimate authority. Nevertheless, now a fresh line of grave Palestinian faces has lined up before the cameras as Fayyad's new "emergency government" is sworn in. That the new PA has virtually no power in the West Bank, and none at all in Gaza, is the first glaring problem with this pageantry. (Bitter jokes about a 'two-state solution' consisting of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have circulated.) more

 Towards a Geography of Peace: Whither Gaza? 
Ilan Pappé in The Electronic Intifada – The Gaza Strip is a little bit more than two percent of Palestine. This small detail is never mentioned whenever the Strip is in the news nor has it been mentioned in the present Western media coverage of the dramatic events unfolding in Gaza in the last few weeks. Indeed it is such a small part of the country that it never existed as a separate region in the past. Gaza's history before the Zionization of Palestine was not unique and it was always connected administratively and politically to the rest of Palestine. It was until 1948 for all intents and purposes an integral and natural part of the country. As one of Palestine’s principal land and sea gates to the world, it tended to develop a more flexible and cosmopolitan way of life; not dissimilar to other gateways societies in the Eastern Mediterranean in the modern era. This location near the sea and on the Via Maris to Egypt and Lebanon brought with it prosperity and stability until this life was disrupted and nearly destroyed by the Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948. more

 Welcome to 'Palestine' 
Robert Fisk in The Independent – How troublesome the Muslims of the Middle East are. First, we demand that the Palestinians embrace democracy and then they elect the wrong party – Hamas – and then Hamas wins a mini-civil war and presides over the Gaza Strip. And we Westerners still want to negotiate with the discredited President, Mahmoud Abbas. Today "Palestine" – and let's keep those quotation marks in place – has two prime ministers. Welcome to the Middle East. more

 A setback for the Bush doctrine in Gaza 
Ali Abunimah in The Electronic Intifada – The dramatic rout of the US and Israeli-backed Palestinian militias in Gaza by forces loyal to Hamas represents a major setback to the Bush doctrine in Palestine. more

 Cristol Claim of 13 Investigations Into Israel’s Attack on USS Liberty a Travesty 
Terence O’Keefe in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - When A. Jay Cristol’s The Liberty Incident was released a year ago, it was uncritically hailed as the last word in the 36-year controversy surrounding Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty that took 34 American lives and wounded 172. The book was packed with tedious minutiae arguing the case. Indeed, if its author is to be believed, Liberty survivors have engaged in a 36-year slander against the state of Israel—which was guilty, at worst, of a grievous mistake in the heat of war. more

 ‘In Awesome Peril’ 
Richard K. Kolb in VFW Magazine - On June 8, 1967, the spy ship USS Liberty withstood an unparalleled assault by Israeli torpedo boats and planes off the coast of Egypt. Despite official and public abandonment, the courageous crew deserves recognition on this 40th anniversary of the costliest hostile U.S. ship action since World War II. more

 Statement of Rear Admiral Merlin H. Staring, JAGC, USN (Ret.) 
Rear Admiral Merlin H. Staring - I am honored to be allowed to participate in this tribute to the crew and survivors of the USS Liberty – ruthlessly attacked by Israeli forces on 8 June 1967. As a Navy JAG-Corps Captain, I had only a brief official contact with that event at the time – and not until many years later did I learn the full facts. When I did, I became aware – and I am now of the firmest conviction – the the Liberty honorees have suffered – for 40 years – an unprecedented injustice – and at the hands of our very own Navy and government. more

 2007 USS Liberty Memorial Statement of Ambassador Edward Peck 
Ambassador Edward Peck - The Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest decoration for bravery that our nation can bestow, was awarded to the Commanding Officer of the USS Liberty, Captain William McGonagle. more

 Profile: Elliott Abrams 
International Relations Center - Shortly after the United States agreed in early 2007 to a deal with North Korea aimed at shutting down Kim Jong Il's nuclear weapons program, part of which included taking Pyongyang off Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams sent a series of e-mails to administration officials deriding the agreement. According to the Washington Post, Abrams expressed "bewilderment over the agreement and [demanded] to know why North Korea would not have to first prove it had stopped sponsoring terrorism before being rewarded with removal from the list, according to officials who reviewed the messages." more

 2007 USS Liberty Memorial Speech 
Stan White at Arlington National Cemetery - The first thing I would like to talk about, in speaking for the USS Liberty survivors, is the organization "No Greater Love". These special people have been conducting ceremonies on June 8th annually at this location, for many, many years now, honoring our thirty-four shipmates killed during the attack on our ship June 8, 1967. more

 Targeted killing won't bring peace 
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti in the International Herald Tribune - As we enter the 41st year of Israel's military occupation, one of the more sinister policies inflicted upon us is what Israel calls "targeted killings." Israel applies no death penalty, except against Palestinians living under Israeli military government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. more

 Mondoweiss, Chapter One 
Philip Weiss in The American Conservative - Blogging about Israel and Jewish identity raises Observer hackles. more

 Media courtesans take a bow, give themselves a standing ovation... 
Trish Schuh - On the 14th Anniversary of World Press Freedom Day celebrated in May, UNESCO hosted an event for journalists called "Press Freedom, Safety of Journalists and Impunity." Under Article 1 of its Constitution, UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. United Nations Correspondent Association President Tuyet J. Nguyen spoke about the life-threatening danger faced by journalists covering such war zones as Rwanda and Iraq where the media is controlled by special interests or armed political parties. more

 The Wittenberg Door: An Open Letter to Evangelicals and Others: The People of God, the Land of Israel, and the Impartiality of the Gospel 
Evangelical ministers and others - Recently a number of leaders in the Protestant community of the United States have urged the endorsement of far-reaching and unilateral political commitments to the people and land of Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, citing Holy Scripture as the basis for those commitments. To strengthen their endorsement, several of these leaders have also insisted that they speak on behalf of the seventy million people who constitute the American evangelical community. more

 Israel killed more than 650 Palestinians in 2006, up threefold from 2005: Amnesty 
The Associated Press in the International Herald Tribune - Israeli troops killed more than 650 Palestinians last year – half of them unarmed civilians and including some 120 children – a threefold increase from 2005, a leading human rights group said Wednesday. more

 Death and Lies in Palestine 
Ali Abunimah in CounterPunch - I did not know Mr. Iain Hook, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestine Refugees' (UNRWA) official who was killed on November 22 by Israeli occupation forces in Jenin Refugee Camp. But I do know many people -- Palestinians and internationals -- who have worked for the agency. They are, to a person, amongst the most dedicated and compassionate professionals I have the privilege to know. Through a sense of humanitarian commitment they have helped Palestinian refugees to meet their basic needs for more than fifty years, often in the most dire and dangerous conditions. The vast majority of UNRWA's staff are themselves Palestinian refugees, meaning that the agency has not been a source of charity, but of empowerment and work for those who through ethnic cleansing and war lost everything. more

  And we sleep. 
Laila El-Haddad in Raising Yousuf, Unplugged: diary of a Palestinian mother - We go to sleep now waiting for the next round of Israeli attacks against "Hamas targets". That is what they are calling them now. Last night, I couldn't sleep again. The drones were waxing and waning in intensity overhead. And then of course the Apaches. And the explosions. more

 Israel 2007: worse than apartheid 
South African Minister for Intelligence Services Ronnie Kasrils in the Mail & Guardian - Travelling into Palestine’s West Bank and Gaza Strip, which I visited recently, is like a surreal trip back into an apartheid state of emergency. It is chilling to pass through the myriad checkpoints -- more than 500 in the West Bank. They are controlled by heavily armed soldiers, youthful but grim, tensely watching every movement, fingers on the trigger. more

 A top Jewish fund-raiser shifts his support to Obama 
Claude R. Marx in JTA - If money is, as former California Treasurer Jesse Unruh said, the "mother's milk of politics," then Alan Solomont is one successful dairyman. Solomont, a longtime leader in Jewish philanthropic and national Democratic political circles, is one of the go-to men when big money is needed. more

 And now, a fetus 
Gideon Levy in Haaretz - Memorial posters decorate the walls of the Rafidiya government hospital in Nablus, covering earlier posters of countless young people who have been killed. But this poster is like nothing we have seen before: a fetus covered in its own blood, its tiny head blown up by the bullet that struck its mother, and the caption - "Who gave you the right to steal his life?" more

 Arabic under fire 
Brian Whitaker in Comment is Free of the UK Guardian - A child on Hamas TV talked of annihilating the Jews ... or did she? more

 Red Cross Report Says Israel Disregards Humanitarian Law 
Steven Erlanger in theNew York Times - The International Committee of the Red Cross, in a confidential report about East Jerusalem and its surrounding areas, accuses Israel of a “general disregard” for “its obligations under international humanitarian law – and the law of occupation in particular.” more

 Israel plans Jerusalem settlement 
Laila El-Haddad in Al Jazeera - Israel has announced plans to build 20,000 new settler units on the outskirts of occupied East Jerusalem, prompting condemnation from Palestinians. more

 Commander's Veto Sank Threatening Gulf Buildup 
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service News Agency - Admiral William Fallon, then President George W. Bush's nominee to head the Central Command (CENTCOM), expressed strong opposition in February to an administration plan to increase the number of carrier strike groups in the Persian Gulf from two to three and vowed privately there would be no war against Iran as long as he was chief of CENTCOM, according to sources with access to his thinking. more

 A political marriage of necessity: a single state of Palestine-Israel 
Ali Abunimah, Christian Science Monitor - As Israel celebrates 59 years of independence, Palestinians on May 14 commemorate the Nakba, the catastrophe of expulsion and decades of exile that continue to this day. When my mother was 9 years old, she and her family mounted the back of a pickup truck and left their village of Lifta, adjacent to Jerusalem, under threat from Zionist militias. My grandmother covered the furniture in the family home that my grandfather had built. Anticipating a short absence until fighting in the area died down, they took only a few clothes. That was almost six decades ago. Like hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians, they were never allowed to return, and their property was seized by Israel. more

 New Section: Israel-Palestine and the 2008 US Election 
This section will contain links to information relating to the candidates' stances on the Middle East. We will update it regularly. more

 Questions for Candidate Obama 
Bill Fletcher in The Black Comentator - Senator Barack Obama has become a major celebrity, a truth that is now almost a cliche. His campaign has raised massive amounts of funding. He draws large and enthusiastic crowds when he appears. Often described as charismatic, he is more importantly smart and well spoken. more

 Senator Barack Obama AIPAC Policy Forum Remarks 
Barack Obama - Thank you so much for your kind introduction and the invitation to meet with you this morning. Last week, this event was described to me as a small gathering of friends. Looking at all of you here today; seeing so many of you who care about peace in this world; who care about a strong and lasting friendship between Israel and the United States, and who care about what’s on the next page of our shared futures, I think a small gathering of friends fits this crowd just right. more

 Senator Clinton's Remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 
Hillary Rodham Clinton - I am so honored to be here and once again to speak on behalf of the causes and concerns that we share. And there is no doubt that AIPAC is at the forefront of efforts to advocate on behalf of Israel. And on behalf of the shared interests and security and democracy that form the unbreakable bond between our two nations. more

 Candidates line up Jewish support 
Ron Kampeas in The Florida Jewish News- As candidates enter 2008 race, they begin courting Jewish voters. It’s a Washington ritual as reliable as the cherry blossoms, if nowhere near as pretty: Midterm congressional elections are over and aspirants for the most powerful job in the world are throwing their hats into the race for the U.S. presidency. more

 McCain Lines Up N.Y. Money Men, Raising Pressure on Rudy Giuliani 
Jennifer Siegel in The Jewish Daily Forward- Arizona Senator John McCain has scored an early victory in the battle between GOP presidential frontrunners by locking up support from several New York-area Republican moneymen also coveted by his northeastern rival, former Big Apple mayor Rudy Giuliani. more

 Open Letter to Hillary Clinton from Human Rights Watch 
Human Rights Watch - We write in response to comments attributed to you in Ha’aretz (November 15, 2005) during your recent trip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) regarding the construction there of a metal and concrete barrier (hereinafter referred to as a “wall”, in accordance with the terminology used by the International Court of Justice). The media has quoted you as expressing support for the wall because it “is against terrorists” and “not against the Palestinian people.” In light of your general standing as a supporter of international law and human rights, we find these comments disturbing and disappointing. more

 ‘The Israel Factor’ – Haaretz ranks US Presidential candidates on how good they will be for Israel 
Weekly Column in the Israeli Daily Haaretz - "The Israel Factor: Ranking the presidential candidates" is a new project on Rosner's Domain that rates potential presidential contenders in the 2008 race for the White House based on their attitudes toward Israel. Each month, a group of distinguished Israeli panelists, all of them experts on American policy and politics (go to the panel page to see who they are), will try to assess the candidates' positions on various Israel-related issues, and deliver their verdict on whom they consider to be the best candidate for Israel. more

 Senator John McCain Address to AIPAC 
John McCain - There will always be an Israel. The terrorist onslaught against her people represents not progress towards a refoundation of historic Palestine but a plunge into an abyss of moral decay perpetrated in the name of the Palestinian people by their own leaders. There will always be an Israel, because the Israeli people will defend their homeland against murderers who pose as martyrs, and will never accept justice imposed on them by leaders who send children to kill their children. more

 A capital question: More Palestinians are losing their right to live in Jerusalem than ever before 
The Economist - On May 15th, “Nakba [Catastrophe] Day”, Palestinians mourn the loss of most of their homeland to the newborn state of Israel. In a grim irony for them, this year's “Jerusalem Day”, the date in the lunar Jewish calendar when Israel celebrates its “reunification” of the city after capturing the West Bank in the 1967 war, falls the day after. The 245,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem itself will feel the irony extra sharply. Last year 1,363 of them, many from generations-old Jerusalem families, lost their right to live in the city—up more than six-fold on the year before, and the highest annual total ever. more

 AIPAC on Trial: The lobby argues that good Americans spy for Israel? 
Justin Raimondo in The American Conservative - Is there a First Amendment right to engage in espionage? Dorothy Rabinowitz seems to think so. Describing the actions of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former top officials of AIPAC, the premier Israel lobbying group, who passed purloined intelligence to Israeli government officials, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist characterized them as “activities that go on every day in Washington, and that are clearly protected under the First Amendment.” If what Rabinowitz says is true—if passing classified information to foreign officials is routine in the nation’s capital—then we are all in big trouble. more

 G21 Podcast Interview with Alison Weir | Read the Description 
Tod Parish & Rod Amis, G21 - Austin, TX, USA - ALISON WEIR is the Executive Director of If Americans Knew, a nonprofit organization that provides information on Israel-Palestine, with particular focus on media analysis of this issue. Read the Description | Listen / Download

 Utterly Forbidden: The Torture And Ill-Treatment Of Palestinian Detainees 
B'Tselem & HaMoked - In recent years, Israel has openly admitted that ISA (formerly the General Security Service) interrogators employ "exceptional" interrogation methods and "physical pressure" against Palestinian detainees in situations labeled "ticking bombs". B'Tselem and HaMoked - Center for the Defence of the Individual have examined these interrogation methods and the frequency with which they are used, as well as other harmful practices. The report's findings are based on the testimonies of 73 Palestinian residents of the West Bank who were arrested between July 2005 and January 2006 and interrogated by the ISA. Although it is not a representative sample, it does provide a valid indication of the frequency of the reported phenomena. more

 Why Israel is after me 
Azmi Bishara in the Los Angeles Times - I am a Palestinian from Nazareth, a citizen of Israel and was, until last month, a member of the Israeli parliament. But now, in an ironic twist reminiscent of France's Dreyfus affair – in which a French Jew was accused of disloyalty to the state – the government of Israel is accusing me of aiding the enemy during Israel's failed war against Lebanon in July. more

 Israel's lab in Palestine 
Mel Frykberg in Al-Ahram Weekly - Doctors in Gaza have been reporting strange wounds on the bodies of innocent bystanders and those targeted by drones. These wounds consist of many small holes, often invisible to X-rays, and burns caused by heat so intense that many cases have required amputation because of the extensive burning. more

 Irish Nobel peace laureate shot by Israeli military 
Ekklesia - Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire has been shot with a rubber[-coated metal] bullet by the Israeli military while taking part in a nonviolent civil rights protest organised by Palestinians and Israelis. more

 Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Shot By Israeli Troops at Non-Violent Protest – Why Isn’t This News? 
Robert Naiman in Common Dreams - If you listened to Democracy Now on Monday, you already know the following: Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire was among a number of people shot Friday by Israeli troops at a nonviolent protest of the “apartheid wall” in the Palestinian village of Bil’in, near Ramallah. But if you didn’t listen to Democracy Now Monday, you probably didn’t know that. more

 Palestinian Children Do Not Have the Right to a Fair Trial Under the Israeli Military Court System 
Defence for Children International - In the 40th year of Israel's military occupation of the Palestinian territories, Tuesday 17 April 2007 marked Palestinian Prisoner's Day. Currently there are approximately 380 Palestinian children in Israeli custody, many of whom are awaiting trial or sentence, and others who are serving lengthy periods of imprisonment for such minor offences as stone throwing. more

 Settlements statistics updated 
Israel currently has 121 Jewish-only settlements and 102 'outposts' on confiscated Palestinian land. Palestinians do not have any settlements on Israeli land. more

 No one knows full cost of Israel's settlement ambitions 
AP in USA Today - Israel's effort since the 1967 Mideast war to fill the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jews has grown from the scattered actions of zealous squatters into a network of 142 towns and villages that house nearly 240,000 people. more

 Some Muslims Are Not Bad: The Message of PBS's "Crossroads" Series 
Alison Weir in CounterPunch - I attended an extremely disturbing event Thursday night. It was hosted by WETA, the PBS station in Washington DC, and was part of the national launch of an 11-part PBS series, "America at a Crossroads," to begin airing April 15. It featured clips from the series followed by a panel discussion with some of those involved in the films, moderated by Robert MacNeil. The panel discussion represented a "wide" spectrum of opinions: all the way from, at one end, suggesting that all Muslims are terrorists to, at the other end, suggesting that some Muslims are not terrorists. more

 U.S. Aid to Palestinians Vital to Repair Effects of U.S. Aid to Israel 
Delinda C. Hanley in WRMEA - American taxpayers may be unaware that their hard-earned dollars are playing a highly visible role in the Arab-Israeli conflict. But graffiti painted on Israel’s “annexation wall” clearly spells it out: “Apartheid Wall Paid for With U.S. Tax Dollars.” U.S. aid to Israel also has been used to construct checkpoints and commercial crossings that have strangled the Palestinian economy. Israel closed many of these crossings at the height of the winter export season for fruits and vegetables. As a result, farmers in Gaza alone lost $20 million when tomatoes, flowers, strawberries and other crops rotted in trucks. In 2003-2005, before Israeli settlers withdrew from Gaza, soldiers bulldozed orchards and destroyed the region’s $27 million-a-year citrus industry. more

 Emanuel's War Plan for Democrats: The Book of Rahm 
John Walsh in CounterPunch - Last week in CounterPunch, I wrote that the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Congressman Rahm Emanuel, had worked hard to guarantee that Democratic candidates in key toss-up House races were pro-war. In this he was largely successful, because of the money he commands and the celebrity politicians who reliably respond to his call, ensuring that 20 of the 22 Democratic candidates in these districts are pro-war. So the fix is in for the coming elections. more

 Report: “68 women gave birth on checkpoints, 34 infants and 4 women died” 
IMEMC - The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens Rights (PICCR) reported that Israeli troops stationed at hundreds of roadblocks in the occupied territories barred dozens of pregnant women from crossing the checkpoints while in labor; 34 infants and four women died on their roadblocks. more

 Why Does Israel Receive So Much Criticism? 
he media has a great hold over the things that interest us, they are the 'agenda setters', they are the people who put so many ideas into our heads. But, in order to discover to what extent this explains the bloggers' actions, we must try to establish how much media time is given to Israel, and also to other countries, such as Sudan, Nigeria, and Palestine. more

 The new Pentagon papers 
Karen Kwiatkowski in Salon.com - A high-ranking military officer reveals how Defense Department extremists suppressed information and twisted the truth to drive the country to war. more

 Dirty Tricks on Campus: How Pro-Israel Groups Use Deceit to Prevent Honest Debate 
Brian Hennessey - I attended the appearance of President Carter at George Washington University two weeks ago. The "question-and-answer" period was a sham, hijacked by zealots who had no intention of debating but also with an agenda to prevent others from debating and questioning. They were hell-bent on embarrassing the President and GW University in the process while preventing any kind of open dialogue with students who had real questions. more

 'My son lived a worthwhile life' 
Emine Saner in The Guardian - In April 2003, 21-year old Tom Hurndall was shot in the head in Gaza by an Israeli soldier as he tried to save the lives of three small children. Nine months later, he died, having never recovered consciousness. Emine Saner talks to his mother Jocelyn about her grief, her fight to make the Israeli army accountable for his death and the book she has written in his memory. more

 Taming Leviathan 
The Economist - This week saw yet another reminder of the awesome power of “the lobby”. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) brought more than 6,000 activists to Washington for its annual policy conference. And they proceeded to live up to their critics' darkest fears. They heard from the four most powerful people on Capitol Hill—Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner from the House, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell from the Senate—as well as the vice-president (who called his talk “The United States and Israel: United We Stand”) and sundry other power-brokers. Several first-division presidential candidates held receptions. more

 Iraq, Iran, and the Lobby: Four years after the invasion of Iraq, and the War Party is still in the driver's seat 
Justin Raimondo in AntiWar.com - It wasn't supposed to be like this: we weren't supposed to be "celebrating" the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. It was going to be a "cakewalk," the Iraqis would rise up and shower us with rose petals, and Johnny would come marching home in no time. Remember? Besides that, the whole deal would be cost-free, you see, because the revived Iraqi oil industry, no longer under sanctions, would pay the costs of the war. Or so Paul Wolfowitz assured us. more

 Jeffrey Goldberg: Pundit for Israel 
4-minute video about New Yorker staff writer Jeffrey Goldberg. Watch!

 What 'Israel's right to exist' means to Palestinians 
John V. Whitbeck, Christian Science Monitor - Since the Palestinian elections in 2006, Israel and much of the West have asserted that the principal obstacle to any progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace is the refusal of Hamas to "recognize Israel," or to "recognize Israel's existence," or to "recognize Israel's right to exist." more

 Humiliation and Child Abuse at Israeli Borders & Airports: Strip-Searching Children 
Alison Weir in Counter Punch - Israeli officials have been regularly strip-searching children for decades, some of them American citizens. While organizations that focus on Israel-Palestine have long been aware that Israeli border officials regularly strip search men and women, If Americans Knew appears to be the first organization that has specifically investigated the policy of strip searching women. In the course of its investigation, If Americans Knew was astonished to learn that Israeli officials have also been strip searching young girls as young as seven and below. more

 The Easiest Targets: The Israeli Policy of Strip Searching Women and Children 
13-minute video: Five women – Palestinian, American, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish – tell stories of humiliation and harassment by Israeli border guards and airport security officials. Watch!

 Commentary: Why does The Times recognize Israel's 'right to exist'? 
Saree Makdisi, Los Angeles Times - 'AS SOON AS certain topics are raised," George Orwell once wrote, "the concrete melts into the abstract and no one seems able to think of turns of speech that are not hackneyed: Prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated henhouse." Such a combination of vagueness and sheer incompetence in language, Orwell warned, leads to political conformity. more

 Stop Funding Israeli Oppression of Palestinian Children Cards – 6¢ apiece 
Despite myths of Israeli "retaliation," 82 Palestinian children were killed in the first 3 months of the current uprising – before a single Israeli child died and before any suicide bombings. In 2006, 2 Israeli children were killed compared to 152 Palestinian kids.The child on the front of this card was shot in the head, the leading cause of these Palestinian deaths. Learn more about the Stop Funding Israeli Oppression of Palestinian Children Cards

 The Stability and Value of Israel 
Michael Neumann in CounterPunch - Norman Finkelstein ("The Israel Lobby", tries to present a balanced view on the Israel lobby. He succeeds, but that's not all he does. He also offers a set-piece passage proclaiming Israel's value to the United States. Pro-Palestinian writers--and there is no more passionate or impressive defender of the Palestinians than Finkelstein--seem to do this out of reflex, and it's perverse. Finkelstein's claims about Israel's value are just as destructive to the Palestinian cause as any common sense person would suppose. more

 Rachel Corrie: Myths and Facts 
Rachel's Words - With the long awaited opening of the play "My Name is Rachel Corrie" at the Minetta Lane Theater, we'd like to dispel some common myths that have often crept into media coverage regarding Rachel's death so we can focus instead on her life. We hope to avert factual errors and unnecessary controversy so the play can speak for itself. Towards that end, and with the cooperation of Rachel's family, we have prepared this fact sheet along with clearly referenced sources. more

 Occupation and Aid 
Shir Hever, Alternative Information Center (AIC) - There is no need to go into details, once again, about the extensive damage caused to the Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces. We have heard much already of the mounting poverty rate, that GDP has fallen by 9% during the first half of 2006, that 25% of the Palestinian work force is suffering from a severe loss of income due to the sanctions on the PA, and that welfare payments have fallen by US$180 million. Moreover, Per-capita consumption in Palestine has fallen by 12%. Deep poverty is reaching alarming proportions, in Gaza it is already at 79.8%. Additionally, food insecurity is also at very high levels, reaching up to 41% in Gaza. more

 Frequently Asked Questions Regarding The Camp David Peace Proposal of July, 2000 and Barak's so-called Generous Offer 
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - Answers to questions like, "Why did the Palestinians reject the Camp David Peace Proposal?" "Didn't Israel's proposal give the Palestinians almost all of the territories occupied by Israel in 1967?" and "Did the Palestinians accept the idea of a land swap?" more

 Iran: The war begins 
John Pilger, The New Statesman - As opposition grows in America to the failed Iraq adventure, the Bush administration is preparing public opinion for an attack on Iran, its latest target, by the spring. more

 Lost in translation 
Jonathan Steele, UK Guardian Comment is free... - Experts confirm that Iran's president did not call for Israel to be 'wiped off the map'. Reports that he did serve to strengthen western hawks. more

 Fatal Kiss: the build-up to war with Iran 
Uri Avnery - It sounds like a promo for a second rate soap opera: a 21-year-old woman appears with a much older celebrity, who grabs her, forces a kiss on her and pushes his tongue into her mouth. This scene has been occupying the attention of the Israeli public for months now, more than any other topic, except perhaps the allegation that the President of the State sexually assaulted several of his employees. The war and its consequences have been pushed aside. more

 The American proxy war in Gaza 
Ali Abunimah in The Electronic Intifada - In recent days the unremitting, murderous brutality of the Israeli occupation has been eclipsed by the carnage in Gaza as dozens of Palestinians have been killed in what is commonly referred to as "interfactional fighting" between forces loyal to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction on the one hand, and the Hamas-led government on the other. more

 The hidden cost of free congressional trips to Israel 
Jim Abourezk in the CS Monitor - Democrats in Congress have moved quickly – and commendably – to strengthen ethics rules. But truly groundbreaking reform was prevented, in part, because of the efforts of the pro-Israel lobby to preserve one of its most critical functions: taking members of Congress on free "educational" trips to Israel. more

 The Prevalence of Torture 
Ralph Schoenman in The Hidden History of Zionism - The use of torture in Israeli prisons has been the subject of extensive inquiry. In 1977, the London Sunday Times conducted a five-month investigation. Corroboration was obtained for the evidence adduced. The torture documented occurred “through the ten years of Israeli occupation since 1967. The Sunday Times study presented the cases of forty-four Palestinians who were tortured. It documented practices in seven centers: prisons within the four principal cities of Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and Gaza; the interrogation and detention center in Jerusalem known as the Russian Compound or Moscobiya; and special military centers located in Gaza and Sarafand. more

 We didn't disappear: the Struggle for Equality Inside Israel 
Jonathan Cook in Al-Ahram Weekly - The official political leadership of Israel's more than one million Palestinian citizens issued a manifesto in Nazareth last week demanding a raft of changes to end the systematic discrimination exercised against non-Jews by the state since its creation nearly six decades ago. more

 Placing the Fox in Charge of the Hen House: Washington Post Book Reviews on Israel 
Brian Hennessey - To review Jimmy Carter's book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, the Washington Post chose a Jewish Israeli citizen who willingly moved from his American birthplace to volunteer to become a soldier in Israel, working as a prison guard at one of Israel's worst prisons, where International and Israeli human rights organizations have documented a lack of process, inhumane conditions and torture for the hundreds of Palestinians (many women and children) who are held there indefinitely and without charge. more

 I Want to Keep my Wife!  
Ghassan Abdallah - Israel has decreed that my wife and I can no longer live together. I am Palestinian and she is Swiss and we have been married for 28 years. She was given two weeks to leave the occupied Palestinian territory. The Israeli Ministry of Interior wrote on her Swiss passport: “LAST PERMIT.” We have been living together in Ramallah for 12 years. We came in 1994, when, after the Oslo Agreement, we were encouraged to move to the West Bank by the prospect of ‘peace’ and development. more

 The last casualty? 
Gideon Levy in Haaretz - The numbers don't lie. They never do. In the past month, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces was 45 times greater than the number of Israelis killed by Palestinians. The Palestinian dead included 13 minors. All in one deadly month. The last name on the list is Ayman Abu-Mahdi, a 10-year-old boy who had come home from school and gone out to get a little air with his siblings and friends. He was sitting on a bench in front of his house. The time: 15 hours before the cease-fire in Gaza. more

 Speaking frankly about Israel and Palestine 
Jimmy Carter in the Los Angeles Times - I signed a contract with Simon & Schuster two years ago to write a book about the Middle East, based on my personal observations as the Carter Center monitored three elections in Palestine and on my consultations with Israeli political leaders and peace activists. We covered every Palestinian community in 1996, 2005 and 2006, when Yasser Arafat and later Mahmoud Abbas were elected president and members of parliament were chosen. The elections were almost flawless, and turnout was very high – except in East Jerusalem, where, under severe Israeli restraints, only about 2% of registered voters managed to cast ballots. more

 Gaza and Darfur 
Alexander Cockburn in CounterPunch - As a zone of ongoing, large-scale bloodletting Darfur in the western Sudan has big appeal for US news editors. Americans are not doing the killing, or paying for others to do it. So there's no need to minimize the vast slaughter with the usual drizzle of "allegations." There's no political risk here in sounding off about genocide in Darfur. The crisis in Darfur is also very photogenic. more

 Row erupts over Israeli textbooks 
BBC - Israel's education minister has said school textbooks should show Israel's pre-1967 borders, prompting a storm of criticism from right-wingers. more

 Rabbis forbid using books with map of pre-1967 lines 
Akiva Eldar in Haaretz - An organization of right-wing rabbis on Tuesday issued a Halakhic decree forbidding students from using schoolbooks featuring maps of Israel which include the Green Line, Israel Radio reported. more

 Report on Voting Records of Congress members regarding Israel-Palestine 
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, which disseminates information on the Israeli occupation, has compiled a report that catalogues the voting records of Congress members on legislation regarding Israel-Palestine. The interactive report, which it is disseminating to members for free, can be found at: 109th Congressional Report Card (2005-2006). Due to IRS regulations on advocacy, only members of the US Campaign should access the Congressional Report Card. (Members are defined as groups or individuals who contribute more than a nominal amount of time or money to the US Campaign.) If you fit this definition, then you can access the password-protected Congressional Report Card by entering “report” for the user name and “card” for the password. more

 No clash of civilizations, says UN report 
Dan Murphy in The Christian Science Monitor - A UN-sponsored group called the Alliance of Civilizations, created last year to find ways to bridge the growing divide between Muslim and Western societies, released a first report Monday that says the conflict over Israel and the Palestinian territories is the central driver in global tensions. more

 Yes, It's the Lobby: "Political Fear" Drives US Support for Israel  
Former US Senator James Abourezk - James Abourezk, formerly US senator from South Dakota, describes below what drives US Mideast policies. He is responding to Jeffrey Blankfort's rebuttal of Noam Chomsky's allegations. more

 US vote may alter stance on Mideast 
Matthew E. Berger in The Jerusalem Post - "There will be some Democratic chairmen who may not share all my views or have as clear a perspective on Israel as I do," Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California), a Jewish lawmaker, said in a recent on-line chat with Jewish voters, sponsored by the House Democratic caucus. "But they will not be chairing committees dealing with Israel and the Middle East." more

 Presbyterian Divestment – Still on the Table 
Presbyterian Israel-Palestine Mission Network - The Presbyterian Church (USA)'s 217th General Assembly retained the process known as "phased, selective divestment." The current resolution urges investments "only in peaceful pursuits" in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank including East Jerusalem; and affirms the "customary corporate engagement process" of the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) charged with carrying out General Assembly policy. more

 Silent Ethnic Cleansing 
John Dugard in IRIN News - A thousand West Bank Palestinians holding foreign passports have been expelled from their homes and thousands more face a similar fate after Israel tightened its visa regime, according to Palestinian campaigners. more

 Does It Matter What You Call It? Genocide or Erasure of Palestinians 
Kathleen and Bill Christison - During an appearance in late October on Ireland's Pat Kenny radio show, a popular national program broadcast daily on Ireland's RTE Radio, we were asked as the opening question if Israel could be compared to Nazi Germany. Not across the board, we said, but there are certainly some aspects of Israel's policy toward the Palestinians that bear a clear resemblance to the Nazis' oppression. Do you mean the wall, Kenny prompted, and we agreed, describing the ghettoization and other effects of this monstrosity. Before we could elaborate on other Nazi-like features of Israel's policies, Kenny moved on to another question. Within minutes, while we were still on the air, a producer handed Kenny a note, which we later learned was a request from the newly arrived Israeli ambassador to Ireland to appear on the show, by himself. Several days later, on the air by himself, the ambassador pronounced us and our comparisons of Israeli and Nazi policies "outrageous." more

 Commentary: Israelis adopt what South Africa dropped 
John Dugard in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Former President Jimmy Carter's new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," is igniting controversy for its allegation that Israel practices a form of apartheid. As a South African and former anti-apartheid advocate who visits the Palestinian territories regularly to assess the human rights situation for the U.N. Human Rights Council, the comparison to South African apartheid is of special interest to me. more

 American priest and nun join Palestinian non-violent resistance in Gaza 
Michigan Peace Team - On November 21 and 22, Father Peter and Sister Mary Ellen of the Michigan Peace Team visited the homes in Jabalya and Beit Lahia, Gaza, that have been surrounded with Palestinian men, women, and children, in order to prevent the Israeli military from destroying them. more

 Israel: Fear for Safety 
Amnesty International - Human rights defenders working in the Occupied Territories are at risk of attack by Israeli settlers. Amnesty International is concerned at the latest such attack against those who seek through their presence to afford protection to Palestinians and to bear witness to the abuses perpetrated against them by Israeli settlers in the area. more

 Carter shares insight on peace in Mideast 
Marty Rosen in the Louisville Courier-Journal - Former President Jimmy Carter's new book, "Palestine -- Peace Not Apartheid," reflects a lifetime of contemplation on the Middle East. Mixing memoir and policy, it recounts his youthful fascination with the Holy Lands, his long acquaintance with the political leaders who have shaped the modern history of the Arab and Israeli worlds, and it makes a strong case for renewed debate about the best path to peace in a long-troubled part of the world. In a telephone interview, Carter spoke in detail about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and his hopes for peace. Here are his unedited responses: more

 Holiday Gifts of Conscience 
As we enter a season meant to celebrate “peace on earth,” some people have expressed an interest in giving presents that will alleviate, at least a little, the escalating hardship in the “Holy Land” at the center of this celebration. more

 Recommended Documentary: Occupation 101 | Screenings 
Description: 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions. The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the United States' role, and sheds light on the major obstacles which stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace.
Directors: Sufyan Omeish and Abdallah Omeish
Awards: 2006 Artivist Best Feature Film Award in the category of Human Rights
Best Feature Film Award at River's Edge Film Festival
Best Documentary Feature Award at The deadCenter Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary at East Lansing Film Festival
John Michaels Memorial Award at the Big Muddy Film Festival.
View Clips Online | Myspace Page

 Aid agencies condemn Gaza carnage 
BBC - International aid agencies have reacted with dismay to the violence in Gaza in which at least 18 Palestinian civilians are known to have died. more

 The New York Times Marginalizes Palestinian Women and Palestinian Rights 
Patrick O'Connor and Rachel Roberts in The Electronic Intifada - A November 7, 2006 New York Times news article about a Human Rights Watch report on domestic violence against Palestinian women brings welcome attention to human rights issues. Unfortunately, the same article, viewed in the context of The New York Times' reporting on Israel/Palestine over the last six years, provides a powerful example of typical US mainstream media bias against Palestinians. Research shows clearly that The New York Times pays little attention to human rights in Israel/Palestine, downplays the larger context in which violence against Palestinian women occurs and generally silences Palestinian women's voices. more

 Ethnic cleansing returns to Israel's agenda 
Johann Hari in The Independent of London - When Jorg Haider's far-right Freedom Party joined the governing coalition in Austria in 2000, the world offered a collective retch and moved to isolate the country. In the past fortnight, a startlingly similar far-right politician named Avigdor Lieberman has joined the governing coalition in Israel – in the lofty position of Deputy Prime Minister – but the world's gagging reflex has yet to respond. more

 Swedish human rights worker viciously attacked by Israeli settler 
ISM Press Release - A 19-year old Swedish human rights worker had her cheekbone broken by an Israeli settler in Hebron today. Tove Johansson from Stockholm walked through the Tel Rumeida checkpoint with a small group of human rights workers to accompany Palestinian schoolchildren to their homes. They were confronted by about 100 settlers in small groups, who started chanting in Hebrew “We killed Jesus, we’ll kill you too!”, a refrain the settlers had been repeating to internationals in Tel Rumeida all day. more

 Al Jazeera and the Truth 
Charley Reese on AntiWar.com - Al-Jazeera, the Arab television network that the Bush administration hates so passionately, has launched its English-language service but is, of course, having trouble finding an American cable or satellite system willing to carry it. more

  Seven Questions: Ismail Haniya on the Future of Palestine 
Erica Silverman in Foreign Policy - It’s no secret that the Bush administration wants Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya out of power. Last Friday, it almost got its wish: Haniya offered to resign if the international embargo of the Palestinian territories were lifted. But even if Haniya steps down, he’ll still call the shots for Hamas, the government’s ruling party. FP recently sat down with the prime minister to ask how he intends to weather the current storm. more

 CNN's Lebanon Problem 
Eric Boehlert in The Huffington Post - I was surprised yesterday afternoon when a Reuters article popped onto my computer screen reporting that 53 Lebanese civilians had been killed by Israeli forces, part of the suddenly chaotic two-front battle Israel's military is fighting in the Middle East. Surprised, because I had been monitoring the day's events on CNN and hadn't heard much about that kind of swelling Lebanese death toll. more

 Palestinian human rights NGOs condemn Beit Hanoun Massacre; call for international investigation  
11 Human Rights Organizations - The Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) have committed an appalling act of mass murder in the town of Beit Hanoun today, one day after they redeployed around it. At dawn, the IOF fired eleven artillery shells on six homes in the town killing 18 civilians; seven of whom are children and six of whom are women. 53 others were wounded; of whom 25 are children and 12 are women. With this, the number of Palestinians who have been killed since the commencement of the IOF operation in Beit hanoun on 1 November 2006 has reached 77. more

 Israel’s Attorney General receives 40 torture complaints in past year, investigates none 
Nir Hasson in Haaretz - Twenty-four hours before the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit, Israel Defense Forces soldiers broke into the home of Mustafa Abu Ma'amar in Rafah. Special forces soldiers arrested him and his brother in their respective homes. more

 Hitching a ride on the magic carpet 
Yehouda Shenhav in Haaretz - Any analogy between Palestinian refugees and Jewish immigrants from Arab lands is folly in historical and political terms.
An intensive campaign to secure official political and legal recognition of Jews from Arab lands as refugees has been going on for the past three years. This campaign has tried to create an analogy between Palestinian refugees and Mizrahi Jews, whose origins are in Middle Eastern countries - depicting both groups as victims of the 1948 War of Independence. The campaign's proponents hope their efforts will prevent conferral of what is called a "right of return" on Palestinians, and reduce the size of the compensation Israel is liable to be asked to pay in exchange for Palestinian property appropriated by the state guardian of "lost" assets. more

 The Chomsky/Blankfort Polemic 
Reprinted from Signs of the Times - Journalist Silvia Cattori interviewed Jewish photojournalist Jeffrey Blankfort. Blankfort describes his research into the major factors determining US Middle East policy. more

 Israel’s ‘immoral’ use of cluster bombs in Lebanon poses major threat – UN aid chief 
UN News Centre - The top United Nations aid official today criticized Israel’s heavy use of cluster bombs in the last three days of the war with Hizbollah, describing their use as “immoral” and warning that up to 100,000 deadly bomblets still lie unexploded across vast areas of southern Lebanon where they are maiming and killing people every day. more

 Settlements grow on Arab land, despite promises made to U.S. 
Amos Harel in Haaretz - A secret, two year investigation by the defense establishment shows that there has been rampant illegal construction in dozens of settlements and in many cases involving privately owned Palestinian properties. more

 Israel's Plan for a Military Strike on Iran 
Jonathan Cook in Counter Punch - The Middle East, and possibly the world, stands on the brink of a terrible conflagration as Israel and the United States prepare to deal with Iran's alleged ambition to acquire nuclear weapons. Israel, it becomes clearer by the day, wants to use its air force to deliver a knock-out blow against Tehran. It is not known whether it will use conventional weapons or a nuclear warhead in such a strike. more

 Italian probe: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip 
Meron Rapoport in Haaretz - An investigative report to be aired on Italian television Wednesday raises the possibility that Israel has used an experimental weapon in the Gaza Strip in recent months, causing especially serious physical injuries, such as amputated limbs and severe burns. more

 Palestinian child deaths in conflict with Israel already nearly double that of 2005 
United Nations - Ninety-one Palestinian children have already been killed this year in the West Bank and Gaza, almost double the number for the whole of 2005, with youngsters suffering increasing levels of stress from violence and fear in the Israeli-Palestinians conflict, according to the latest United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) update. more

 Just Another Mother Murdered 
Alison Weir in Counter Punch - Almost no one bothered to report it. A search of the nation’s largest newspapers turned up nothing in USA Today, the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Houston Chronicle, Tampa Tribune, etc. more

 The Gaza Economy 
Sara Roy, Palestine Center Information Brief No. 143 - In one of many reports and accounts of economic life in the Gaza Strip that I have recently read, I was struck by a description of an old man standing on the beach in Gaza throwing his oranges into the sea. The description leapt out at me because it was this very same scene I myself witnessed some 21 years ago during my very first visit to the territory. more

 Muhammad’s sword 
Uri Avnery in Media Monitors - Since the days when Roman Emperors threw Christians to the lions, the relations between the emperors and the heads of the church have undergone many changes. Constantine the Great, who became Emperor in the year 306 – exactly 1700 years ago – encouraged the practice of Christianity in the empire, which included Palestine. Centuries later, the church split into an Eastern (Orthodox) and a Western (Catholic) part. In the West, the Bishop of Rome, who acquired the title of Pope, demanded that the Emperor accept his superiority. more

 Off the Charts 
Alternate Focus - Segment on Alison Weir and the If Americans Knew findings on media coverage. Watch!

 Detainee Paralyzed During Torture in Israeli Prison 
Mustafa Sabri in PNN, translated by Saed Bannoura in IMEMC - Every Palestinian detainee has his own story of the horrors of being held in Israeli detention facilities, but in the case of detainee Luay Al Ashqar, 28, from Saida village, near Tulkarem (in the northern part of the West Bank), the result and the outcome are clearly apparent on his body, which has been paralyzed due to Israeli torture. Al Ashqar is currently in Majeddo prison after the Israeli Salim military court sentenced him for 26 months. more

 Palestinians Are Being Robbed by Israel 
Amira Hass in Haaretz - It is evidently difficult to scrub off the sticker that is glued onto the front window. That's why when a new car from Germany or South Korea or the United States rolls onto the packed streets of Gaza or Ramallah, it generally has the big label with thick, red Hebrew letters forming the word "Checked" stuck on its windshield for several months. more

 Nonviolent resistance continues as Israel confiscates another 100 dunams of Bethlehem 
Najib Farag in Palestinenet.org - The central West Bank’s Bethlehem is going piece by piece. Israeli army Commander of the Central Region, Yair Naveh, adopted a new resolution Friday providing for the confiscation of 100 additional dunams of Palestinian land. more

 One blow to the brain 
Dalia Karpel in Haaretz - n Friday, August 11th, when the end of the Lebanon War was on the horizon, after several weeks in which no more than token protests had taken place in Bil'in, the weekly demonstration against the separation fence began. Border Police troops, who were waiting, threw stun grenades and fired rubber-coated metal bullets at the demonstrators, even before they left the village to head toward the fence. Limor Goldstein, 28, was wounded in the head by gunfire from a Border Police officer. As documented on the video that was being shot at the time there, two hours elapsed from the time he was injured until he was brought by ambulance to the emergency room at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. more

 Palestinian children pay price of Israel's Summer Rain offensive 
Rory McCarthy in the UK Guardian - Rights group says 197 civilians have been killed in Israeli military operation, including 48 minors . more

 Articles About the Region 
While the main focus of this website is the specific conflict between Israel and Palestine, there are often related issues in the rest of the region. In this section, we will provide some of these important articles. more

 Gaza After Disengagement 
3-minute video examining the situation in the Gaza Strip after Israel’s disengagment. Watch!

 American Comedian Strip Searched at Israeli Airport 
Emily - I want to tell you the story of what happened to my friend Maysoon Zayid when she left Ben Gurion Airport a few days ago to fly back to NYC. She called me when she landed in NYC and said "Emily you won't believe what happened to me at Ben Gurion Airport... I should note that Maysoon has cerebral palsy and went through this whole process in a wheelchair at Ben Gurion airport. more

 Video - Captured Prisoners 
If Americans Knew - 15-minute video about the prisoners in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. Watch!

 Israel captures pair in Gaza raid 
BBC, June 24, 2006 - Israeli soldiers have seized two Palestinian men in an overnight raid into the southern Gaza Strip. more

 Israeli troops arrest two in Gaza raid 
Al Jazeera, June 24, 2006 - Israeli forces detained two Palestinians, who the army said were Hamas members, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. more

 Report: IDF doctor says Dirani rape claim backed by evidence 
Haaretz - Channel 1 television on Wednesday reported than Israel Defense Forces doctor who examined kidnapped Lebanese guerrilla leader Mustafa Dirani found physical evidence to back his charge that he was raped. more

 Administrative detention: Despair, uncertainty and lack of due process 
Amnesty International Report - Thousands of people have been detained under administrative detention orders in Israel and the Occupied Territories. In practice, this means the detainee spends months and sometimes years in prison without having been tried and without knowing the details of the charges against him. It means shattered hopes as detention orders come u