Obama is like Bush is like Clinton is like Bush

The status-quo lives on: President Barack Obama says his administration overestimated its ability to persuade the Israelis and Palestinians to resume meaningful peace talks. Obama says both parties have been unwilling to make the bold gestures needed to move the process forward. If the U.S. had anticipated that earlier, Obama says he might not have…

Fisk on ever-worsening tensions between Lebanon and Israel

Robert Fisk on renewed fears that Israel and Lebanon may be at war again soon. The insanity of such a move is undoubted – both sides, Hizbollah and Israel, have been threatening the other – but it’s clear that Israel is determined to avenge its disastrous 2006 adventure against Lebanon: Of course, the gentle countryside…

A handful of goods now being allowed out of Gaza

The latest weekly edition of Gaza Gateway: Since the end of December 2009, 36 trucks loaded with strawberries and cut carnation flowers were permitted to leave Gaza for Israel’s Ashdod port, from which they were shipped to Europe. This is the first time since January 2008 that strawberries have managed to leave the 41 kilometer-long…

Racist Jews let fly and don’t really care

This is worrying though symptomatic of a larger malaise. Jewish chauvinism at its worst (via Tablet magazine): The Emails of Zion is a collection of messages from Jewish parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and others who are eager—often way too eager—to inform their children about issues of pressing concern to the Jewish community. Some of these…

Israelis back the BDS Cairo Declaration

The following statement was released by Boycott! this week: To the Initiators of the Cairo Declaration, We, members of BOYCOTT!, would like to express our vote of support for the “Cairo Declaration”, issued by the Gaza Freedom Marchers on January 1st, 2010. We are proud to stand together with fellow responsible citizens of the world…

Getting money into Gaza is essential for the living

Gaza is in ruins and Israel, now increasingly blocking access of foreign NGOs into the occupied territories, is trying to stop the flow of essential money into the Gaza Strip: Israeli officials suspect that representatives of international organizations used their cars to bring millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip, taking advantage of their immunity.…

Without the tunnels, Gazans would disappear

Earlier this week I wrote about an American friend, Nitin Sawhney, currently working in Gaza. His latest dispatch discusses a visit to the tunnels that bring in essential goods: Yesterday I visited the Rafah refugee camp along the southern frontier to meet an UNRWA supported Woman’s center and learn about their programs with poor families…

Are all Israelis legitimate targets of protest?

I’m not sure what I think of this. Protesting the mere presence of an Israeli tennis player (as happened in New Zealand last week) is curious. Israel player Shahar Peer is playing at the Australian Open in Melbourne. From the Melbourne Age: The planned protest has sparked irate emails to the website of Australians for…

Israel’s humanity in Haiti can’t hide its disregard for Gaza

Leading Jewish news agency JTA headlines a story like this: Israeli aid effort helps Haitians—and Israel’s image The article discusses the humanitarian work and adds: In a statement, the head of the delegation, Mati Goldstein, was quoted in an e-mail describing a “Shabbat from hell” in the earthquake-ravaged city. ZAKA is made up of Orthodox…

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