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Today's
Stories
November 22,
2006
Kathleen Christiston
The
Massacre at Beit Hanoun
November 21,
2006
Robert Bryce
The
Ongoing Myth of Energy Independence
John V. Walsh
Spoilers of the World Unite!
Luis Hernandez Navarro
Lessons from the Teachers of Oaxaca
Kevin Zeese
An Interview with Michael Isikoff on Iraq
Peter Rost, MD
Rules of the Game: How Big Corporations Avoid Paying Their Taxes
Evelyn Pringle
Drug Your Fetus: How Big Pharma Hits on Pregnant Women
Roger Morris
Reason in an Age of Folly (and Felony)
Don Monkerud
Here Come the Democrats ... So?
Website of the Day
The Grind
November 20,
2006
David H. Price
American
Anthropologists Stand Up Against Torture and the Occupation of
Iraq
Col. Dan Smith
Usurpation of Power
Katherine Hughes
Compassion on Trial in War on Terror: Muslim Charities and the
Case of Dr. Rafil Dhafir
Dave Himmelstein
Ziodammerung: Netanyahu and the End Times
Robert Jensen
Opportunities Lost
Joe Mowrey
America's Progressive Nightmare: Here Come the Armani Democrats
Mike Whitney
Housing Bubble Smack Down: Alan Greenspan, Homewrecker
Carl N. McDaniel
Living Within Limits
Robert Fisk
Shia Walk
Ramzy Baroud
Killing Hope in Beit Hanoun
Website of the Day
Iraq:
the Hidden Story
November 18
/ 19, 2006
Weekend Edition
Alexander Cockburn
Top
Dems to Voters: "Shut Up! We've Got a War to Run!"
Ralph Nader
The Hole in Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Lost the Senate
Barucha Calamity Peller
Who Will Live on in the Oaxaca Uprising?
John Ross
Halliburton Wrecks Mexico
Dave Lindorff
The Albatross: Why the Democrats Should Cut Loose Joe Lieberman
Fred Gardner
The Adverse Effects of Marijuana: California Medical Survey
Ron Jacobs
Back in the Aether Again: Thomas Pynchon's Stunning Return
Larry Portis
The Songs of Basilio Martin Patino: Father of the New Spanish
Cinema
Frida Berrigan
The Weapons Bonanza: a Perfect Storm of Profit
Wes Enzinna
Ghosts of Dictatorships Past: the School of the America's and
Memory in Latin America
Elizabeth Schulte
The Fall of Donald Rumsfeld: Architect of a Disaster
Peter Rost,
MD
The Credit Card Trap
Martha Rosenberg
We're Drinking What? Milk, rBST and Monsanto's Rats
Seth Sandronsky
University Unity: California's Professors and Students Unite
Missy Beattie
Explore This!
Adam Engel
Data Days
Jeffrey St. Clair
Playlist: What I'm Listening to This Week
Poets' Basement
Newberry and Curtis
Website of the Weekend
A Modest Proposal for the Art World
November 17,
2006
Greg Grandin
The
Road from Serfdom: Milton Friedman and the Economics of Empire
Joseph Massad
Pinochet in Palestine: Fateh's Unholy Alliance
Kevin Zeese
George McGovern's Return to Capitol Hill: "A Down-to-Earth
Disengagement Plan"
Gideon Levy
After the Rain of Death
Bill Quigley
WMDs Protected!: Blood-Pouring Anti-Nuke Clowns Sent to Prison
David Swanson
Last Chance for the Democrats?: a Tale of Two Conyers
Sherry Wolf
Gay Rights: When Will the US Catch Up with Africa?
Jerry Beisler
What James Webb Knows
Website of the Day
Thanks for the False Memories!
November 16,
2006
Kathy Kelly
Sources
of Violence
Col. Douglas
MacGregor
Was It Only Rumsfeld?
Norman Solomon
Operation Last Resort: the Media Offensive to Prolong the Iraq
War
Nikki Thanos
From Oaxaca to Portland
Cindy Sheehan
Impeachment Proceedings
Lena Khalaf
Tuffaha
Jimmy
Carter and the "A" Word: Will the Democrats Listen
to Carter on Palestine?
Gloria La Riva
Where is the Justice? Anti-Castro Terrorist Gets Only 4 Years
Pat Williams
How the Democrats Won the West
Kerry Joyce
From Rummy to Rahmmy: Bob Novak's New Source
CP News Service
Wal-Mart Charged with Selling Non-Organic Food as "Organic"
David Letterman
Top 10 Slogans for Wal-Mart Wine
James Ridgeway
Did Robert Gates' Planning Help Bring Black Hawk Down?
Website of
the Day
A Conversation with West Point Grads Against the War
November 15,
2006
Jennifer Loewenstein
Alice
in Erez: the Gaza Crossing
David Rosen
Rev. Ted Haggard and the Eclipse of Evangelical Fury
Ashley Smith
A Socialist in the Senate?
Landau / Hassen
Talking Tough on Iraq Isn't Courageous
Walden Bello
Iraq After November 7: New Challenges for the AntiWar Movement
Sibel Edmonds
The Highjacking of a Nation
Austin / Bernstein
Why Bill Cosby is Wrong to Link Black Culture to Economic Decline
Yitzhak Laor
This Merchandise, Security
James Rothenberg
Unimpeachable: a Brief Argument Why
Gail Dines
"Borat": It's a Guy Thing
Website of the Day
Kakistocracy
November 14, 2006
Werther
Beltway
Bromo-Seltzer: a Sneak Peak at the Baker Report
Ray McGovern
Benching Scowcroft
John Walsh
Korea, Vietnam and Iraq Syndrome: Alive, Well and Gaining Strength
David MacMichael
Gates to the Pentagon
William S.
Lind
Lose a War, Lose an Election
Sharon Smith
Democrats, Born to Compromise
Laura Carlsen
Oaxaca Fights Back
Ron Jacobs
The Perishing Republic
Peter Rost,
MD
Whistleblowers: Who Are They?
Carol Norris
Post-Campaign Ad Stress Disorder?
Website of
the Day
A Map of the US Nuclear Arsenal
November 13,
2006
Kathleen and
Bill Christison
Screw
the Palestinians, Full Steam Ahead
Bill Quigley
Robin Hood in Reverse: the Corporate Looting of the Gulf Coast
Paul Craig Roberts
The Democrats and Civil Liberties: Will They Turn a Blind Eye?
Uri Avnery
Call It What It Is: a Massacre!
Joe DeRaymond
The Strange Return of Daniel Ortega
Norman Finkelstein
Jimmy Carter's Roadmap
Col. Dan Smith
The Pentagon's Revolving Gates: Out with the Old, In with the
Old
Shepherd Bliss
After the Party
Dave Lindorff
What Vote-Theft Conspiracy?
Missy Beattie
For Better / For Worse: Will Laura Stay the Course?
Trenticosta / Fleming
Vindication for the Angola 3
Weekend Edition
November 11 / 12, 2006
John Walsh
Rahm's
Losers
Barucha Calamity
Peller
Oaxaca at Any Cost
Al Krebs
Be Careful What You Wish For
Niall Meehan
Ireland's Freedom Struggle and the Foster School of Historical
Falsification
Conn Hallinan
The Ills of War: Shafting the Vets
Patrick Cockburn
"We
Worry About Staying Alive, Not the U.S. Elections"
Gary Leupp
Democrats Can Be NeoCons, Too
P. Sainath
India High and Low: the Anatomy of a Tiger
Nikolas Kozloff
The Return of Tom Lantos: Beware Venezuela, Here Come the Democratic
Hawks
Lawrence R.
Velvel
Throwing
Rumsfeld Under the Bus
Fred Gardner
Marijuana, the Anti-Drug
Ralph Nader
Taking on the Boss: Claybrook vs. the Chamber
Ben Terrall / John Miller
East Timor: 15 Years After the Massacre
Mike Whitney
Cheney in a Box
Joshua Frank
Post-Electoral Deliriums
Mukul Dube
The Death Penalty Case of Mohd. Afzal
Jason Hribal
Jesse: Eulogy for a Working Dog
Daniel Wolff
The Unseen Springsteen
Michael Donnelly
Red Rock Blues: the Moab Folk Festival
Lord Montague
A Dissenting Note on the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917
Poets' Basement
Davies, Louise, Buknatski and Orloski
November 10,
2006
Alexander Cockburn
Lame
Duck
Marjorie Cohn
The War Crimes Case Against Rumsfeld
Jorge Mariscal
What Veterans See
Gregory Elich
The Trial of Saddam: Who Will Pass Judgment on the Judges?
Joshua Frank
Blue Dog Group: Bye-Bye Coke, Hello Pepsi
Megan Boler
The Joke is On Us: How "Borat" Lowers the Bar of Political
Satire
Ramzy Baroud
The Treacherous Road to Oslo Begins Here
Farzana Versey
An Iraqi in India
Roberto Rodriguez
A Thumpin' or a Whippin'?
Cartoon of
the Day
Splat!
November 9,
2006
Jennifer Loewenstein
How
Gaza Offends Us All
Patrick Cockburn
War of the Snipers
Paul Craig Roberts
Will Democrats Become Part of the Problem?
Manuel Garcia,
Jr.
The Roots of Corruption
Mike Whitney
Bush's Chernobyl Economy
Alan Maass
The Repudiation of One-Party Rule
Robert Jensen
Blood on the Tracks: the Elections and the Coming Train Wreck
Nicola Nasser
Saddam's Trial in Context
John Chuckman
As I Lay Dying: Watching the US Elections from Canada
Jamal Juma
Between Resistance and Deception in Palestine
Felice Pace
Can the Klamath be Restored?
Website of
the Day
The Robert Gates Files
November 8,
2006
Alexander Cockburn
/ Jeffrey St. Clair
Count
Your Blessings: NeoCons and NeoLibs Take Big Hit as Voters Say
No to Bush, War and Free Trade
Lawrence E.
Walsh
Robert Gates and Iran/Contra: Lies, Cover Ups and Slanted Intelligence
Bruce K. Gagnon
What's Next for the Peace Movement?: Confront the Democrats,
Now!
Neve Gordon
Anti-Semitism?
Mr. Dershowitz, You Just Don't Like What I Say
Dave Lindorff
Election Post-Mortem: What's Next?
Arthur Neslen
Another Tragic Day in Palestine
Joshua Frank
An Election Hangover: Thank God It's Over
James Goodman
The Corporate Food System is Broken
Charles Sullivan
Voting in the Absence of Choice
David Swanson
Subpoena Envy: The Dems Have the Power, But Will They Use It?
Missy Beattie
The Electorate Speaks and Barney Barks!
Dr. Susan Block
American Voters Say, "Bush Sucks!"
Website of the Day
Stealing Olive Groves from Palestinians
November 7,
2006
Michael Neumann
Cut
and Run from Iraq: Sooner Rather Than Later
Paul Wolf
Saddam Must Die: A Pre-Ordained Verdict
Nikolas Kozloff
In Nicaragua, a Chavez Wave?
Eliza Ernshire
The Women of Beit Hanoun
William S. Lind
The Smile on Saddam's Face: He's Tan, Rested and Ready
Mike Ferner
Pick a Number: Greater Than 47,615
Felice Pace
Pumping the Klamath Dry
Chris Genovali
The Problem with PBDEs: Why Canada's Proposed Ban Won't Protect
People or Wildlife
Gilad Atzmon
Watching Borat
Dick J. Reavis
Going to Class War with the Proletariat We Got ...
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Lives (and Votes) Lost: the Ordeal of Larry Peterson
Website of
the Day
Magic Sam: a Sure Cure for the Election Day Blues
Question of the Day
Is Bush Gay?
November 6,
2006
Alexander Cockburn
The
Message of Campaign 2006
Norman Solomon
Saddam's
Unindicted Co-Conspirator: Donald Rumsfeld
Robert Fisk
A Guilty Verdict on America, as Well
Marjorie Cohn
The Banana Election: From Hanging Chads to Hanging Saddam
Paul Craig Roberts
The Goose and the Gander: Is Bush Next?
Nikolas Kozloff
Election Eve Jitters: the Chavez Factor
Newton Garver
The Progress in Bolivia: Morales' Stunning Victory Over Big Oil
Mike Whitney
Bush's Carnival of Blood
Jesse Hagopian
From the Black Panthers to the Green Party: an Interview with
Aaron Dixon
Dr. Peter Rost,
MD
The Genocide Election: When a Life Saving Industry Cheats, People
Die
Website of
the Day
Robert Pollin vs. Rick Wolff: Is Pomo Marxism Marxism?
November 4
/ 5, 2006
Dave Zirin
Political
Players: Where Athletes Give Their Money
Patrick Cockburn
When
Does Incompetence Become a Crime?
Sanho Tree
War
Timing and Opportunism
Ralph Nader
Failure
Across All Fronts
Lee Sustar
The Obama Myth
Dr. Shepherd Bliss
Torture Memories
Adam Elkus
Babies and Banks: Celebrity Colonialism in Africa
Seth Sandronsky
Is Another Recession Looming?
Fred Gardner
10 Years of Medical Pot in California: Dr. Mikuriya's Observations
Joshua Sperber
How the US Lost Latin America
Evelyn Pringle
Ohio Redux: Mr. Blackwell and the Henhouse
Mitchel Cohen
The Left and the Environment: Notes on the Ecological Dimension
Missy Beattie
The Medium is the Massage
Michael Dickinson
Watching the Guards: a Prison Diary
John Holt
The Silk Road to Ruin
Dr. Susan Block
The Beastly Bombing
Poets' Basement
LaMorticella, Engel, Orloski and Davies
November 3, 2006
Laura Carlsen
Day
of the Dead in Oaxaca
Stephan Said
Honoring Bradley Will
John Stauber
"Victory in Iraq:" The PR Machine Behind Bush's Favorite
Slogan
Mike Whitney
Baghdad is Surrounded
Joshua Frank
DNC Deja Vu
Victoria Furio
More Than Timetables
Tammara~85,441
They Say He is Coming Home
Stuart Croswaithe
Beatings and Sugar Plums: New Labor's War on the Kurds
Missy Beattie
Bush Shock
Website of
the Day
Howlin' Wolf
November 2, 2006
Winslow T.
Wheeler
The
US Body Count in Iraq: an Analysis of Who is Dying and How
Paul Craig
Roberts
Evil
is as Evil Does
Dave Lindorff
Kerry Out: the Joke's Still on Us
Uri Avnery
The
Lovable Man? Lieberman and the Decline of Israeli Democracy
Jeff Birkenstein
Smearing Harold Ford in Black Face
John Ross
Slave Labor in Private Prisons
Zoltan Grossman
Recharging the Anti-War Movement
Eveyln Pringle
The SEC's Probe of Halliburton: Is Cheney Being Fitted for a
Striped Jumpsuit?
Christopher
Brauchli
Drug Profits and PACs: Why Big Pharma Pushes the GOP
November 1,
2006
Alan Dershowitz
v. Bruce Jackson
On
Torture
Brian Tokar
Running
on Hype: the Real Scoop on Biofuels
Fred Leonhardt
Democrats,
Sex Crimes and the Press: the Goldschmidt Affair
Richard W.
Behan
Triumph
of the Petropublicans: Bush's Other Civil War
Brenda Norrell
Indigenous Opposition to the Border Wall
Charles Sullivan
Spoils of Corruption: Who Will Stand Up When America Goes Wrong?
Ron Jacobs
Hell is Rising in Oaxaca: interview with a Oaxacan Rebel
Mike Knapp
Green Stench in Minnesota: the Commissioner and the Hog Lot
Moshe Adler
The Temptations of a Union Boss: the Case of Brian McLaughlin
Walden Bello
Chain Gang Economics
Lee Ballinger
The Collapse of Hip Capitalism: How Tower Records Committed Suicide
Joshua Frank
Party in a Cage: Snake Oil and the Midterm Elections
Carl Gelderloos
Cheerleading the Massacre in Oaxaca: an Open Letter to the Washington
Post
Peter Rost,
MD
Panic
in Big Pharma
Saul Landau
Bush's
Anti-Terrorism Record: Don't Look Too Close
Website of the Day
The Meatrix
October 31, 2006
William S.
Lind
The
Third and Final Act: Iran
Stephen S.
Pearcy
Dem Candidate's Wife Urges Cindy Sheehan Not to Protest Iraq
War
Uri Avnery
Who's
Afraid of an Iranian Bomb?
Michael Colby
Corporations Win Again!: Bush Opens National Parks to Bio-Prospecting
Sunsara Taylor
A No-Win Election for Women
Ben Beachy
Targeting Nicaraguans' Stomachs: 11th Hour Election Meddling
by the US
Edward Humes
Nine Words: America's Disservice to Veterans
Roger Burbach
The Meaning of Lula's Victory in Brazil
Subcomandante Marcos
A Communique from the EZLN on Oaxaca
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Funny Business in the Booth: Vote for James H. 'Jim'
Sharon Smith
Those
Damned Democrats
Website of
the Day
Parks Not for Sale
October 30,
2006
Robert Fisk
Dirty
Bombs Over Lebanon: Did Israel Use Uranium Weapons?
Bruce Jackson
Normalizing
Torture
Norman Solomon
I Was Wrong About Thomas Friedman, the World's Wealthiest Pundit
Lance Selfa
Liberal Doormats: Tread on Us
Ali Khan
The Veil and the British Male Elite
Lee Sustar
European Islamophobia: Fanning the Flames of Hate
Robert Jensen
The Death of Empathy
Akiva Eldar
Lieberman: Making Haider Look Good
Tim Montague
The Natural Step to Eco-Villages
Brian M. Downing
Evil in the Valley: Civilian Massacres, From Vietnam to Iraq
Website of the Day
Alien Impeachment
October 27 / 29, 2006
Weekend Edition
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Hogwash:
Fecal Factories in the Heartland
Maher Arar
The
Horrors of Extraordinary Rendition: a Personal Account
David Rosen
Perversions of Power: Mark Foley and the Bush Administration
Gregory Elich
"A Bursting Boiler at Russia's Doorstep:" Why Bush
is Seeking Confrontation with N. Korea
Tom Barry
Fear and Loathing in the North: an Apartheid Fence in America?
Jeff Taylor
Democrats By Default?
Dave Lindorff
Why Nancy Pelosi is Wrong
Ron Jacobs
The General Who Called Out the Devil: the Politics of Hugo Chavez
Maurus Chino
Hauba Hanu: Oppression Affects All People
Christopher
Brauchli
Veiled Threats: the Global War on Fashion
Sherwood Ross
The Wages of Whistleblowing: Why Bunny Greenhouse Sits in a Corner
Rev. William
Alberts
In Search of a Real Inter-Religious Dialogue on War and Justice
Aseem Shrivastava
Pushing India Toward a "Dollar Democracy"
Saul Landau
/ Farrah Hassen
Bush's Mea Culpa Speech, First Draft
Russ Fine / Dee Fine
Of Peters and Principles: Learning About Sex and Hypocrisy from
the GOP
Seth Sandronsky
Social Security: the Distortions of Sebastian Mallaby
Michael Carmichael
Rogue President: Midterm Meltdown
Joe Allen
The Legacy of Gillo Pontecorvo: a Maker of Revolutionary Films
David Vest
Playlist: What I'm Listening to This Week
Poets' Basement
Landau, Engel and Buknatski
Website of the Weekend
Safely Home
October 26,
2006
Ismael Hossein-zadeh
Islamic
Fascism?: Inflammatory Ironies
Carlos Zorrilla
The
Police Raid on My House: Trumped Up Charges and Collusion Between
a Mining Company and the Government of Ecuador
Paul Craig Roberts
The Crimes of Greed vs. the Crimes of Government: If Enron's
Skilling Gets 24 Years in Prison, How Many Should Bush and Cheney
Get?
Mike Whitney
The Charnel House of Baghdad
Lily Hughes
A Cruel and Unusual Reality: Inside the Texas Death House
Jennifer Matsui
Madonna's African Safari: The Great White Baby Hunter
Tim Matson
How to Save Vermont
Stephen Fleischman
Like a Soldier: Benchmarks, Timelines and Lies
Missy Beattie
The Blood of October: Are We Sure Barney Still Supports This
War?
Patrick Cockburn
From
"Mission Accomplished" to "Mission Impossible"
in Iraq
Website of the Day
Open Letter to The Nation
October 25,
2006
Michael Donnelly
Ethnicity
and Baseball
John Stanton
The
Vindication of Sibel Edmonds
John Ross
Upheaval from the Bottom
Conn Hallinan
Hunting Hugo: When It's About Oil Nothing is Off the Table--Not
Even Assassination
Robert Jensen
Academic
Freedom on the Rocks
Johnny Barber
Drinking Tea with Hizbullah
Bruce K. Gagnon
Space Cowboy: Bush's War on Heaven
Daniel McGowan
Elie Wiesel for Israeli President?
James J. Brittain
Uribe's Failure to Learn from Colombia's Past
Peter Harley
Afghanistan in 3-D
Jonathan Cook
Israel's
Minister of Strategic Threats
Shepherd Bliss
The Bioneers and the New York Times
Website of
the Day
The Price of Staying the Course
October 24,
2006
John Walsh
The
Book of Rahm: Emanuel's War Plan for Democrats
M. Shahid Alam
Not All Terrorists Are Muslim: the Latest Falsehood from the
Advocates of Civilizational War
Dr. Trudy Bond
The Silence at Home, as America Eats Her Young
Michael Phillips
The Story of My Kidnapping in Nablus: "I Never Feared for
My Life"
Dave Lindorff
Truth and Consequences on Iraq: Bush's Latest Cut-and-Paste War
Plan
David Phinney
A US Fortress Rises in Baghdad: Asian Labor Trafficking Used
to Build World's Largest Embassy
Laura Carlsen
Food Insecurity: the World Needs Its Small Farmers
Pierre Tristam
The American Way of Gore
Marguerite
Rose Jimenez
"About
That Trip to Cuba:" When the FBI Came Calling
Website of
the Day
Tampon Terrorists
October 23,
2006
Saree Makdisi
Israel's
Cluster Bomb War: "What We Did Was Insane and Monstrous"
Joshua Frank
The
Antiwar Movement and Independent Politics: an Interview with
Cindy Sheehan
Fred Gardner
What Have California Doctors Learned About Cannabis?
Ralph Nader
The End of Habeas Corpus and the Belligerent Despot-in-Chief
Ron Jacobs
Bush's Clark Clifford: James Baker Wants a Kinder, Gentler War
Norman Solomon
Punditry Without Consequences: Channeling Thomas Friedman
Richard Manning
Outside the Market: We Need and Owe Rural People
Neil Kitson
Canadians in Afghanistan: Bloody, Unbowed, Stoned?
William MacDougall
The Socialist, the Columnist, His Wife and the Prostitute
Gilad Atzmon
Surviving the Board of Deputies
Werther
The
Evening of Empire
Website of
the Day
Different Drummer: Internet Coffeehouse Movement
October 20
/ 22, 2006
Alexander Cockburn
The
Myth of Microloans
Gary Leupp
How
the US Declared War on North Korea
Brian Cloughley
What Are They Dying For?
Dave Zirin
Pat Tillman's Brother Breaks His Silence
William Blum
Don't Look Back: Who Said Clinton Didn't Kill Anybody?
Christopher
Brauchli
The
Cronies' War
Winslow Wheeler
The
Mad Logic of Pentagon Spending: As Costs Rise, Readiness Declines
Michael Donnelly
GOP Death Slide: Is the Party Really Over?
Fred Gardner
Corporate Drugs Useless Against Alzheimer's
Susie Day
How
to Stay Out of Gitmo
Lucinda Marshall
Behind Closed Doors: the Invisibility of Domestic Violence
Fred Wilcox
The Second Palestinian Intifada: History of a Struggle for Survival
Alan Maass
Standing Up Against Racism at Columbia: a Wake Up Call to the
Passive Left
Lee Sustar
A Bipartisan Border Wall: New Phases in the Crackdown on Immigrants
Ariadna Theokopoulos
Shame on You, Dr. Warf: Hail the Epidemiologist in Chief
Missy Beattie
Surges: the Dow and the Death Count
CP News Wire
Bush's Paraguay Land Grab: Hideout or Water Raid?
CP News Services
Sexually Repressed Republicans: Robert Bork, Riveted
Poets' Basement
Davies, Engel, Buknatski and Orloski
Website of
the Weekend
Scenes from Oaxaca
October 19,
2006
Elaine Cassel
The
Bush Administration's Assault on Defense Lawyers
Col. Dan Smith
Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine: Cracks in the Bush / Blair
Axis
Manuel Garcia, Jr.
North Korea's Nuclear Test: a Q & A
Josh Gryniewicz
Wal-Mart Tightens the Squeeze on Workers
Amira Hass
What is 20 Tons of Explosives?
Eric Holt-Gimenez
Poison and Famine in the Fields: How the Agri-Food Industry's
Deadly Cycle Feeds Immigration
Jesse Hagopian
Arrested Democracy: On Trying to Ignore Aaron Dixon
Sam Husseini
How Third Parties Can Solve the "Spoiler" Problem and
Win Elections
John Weisheit
A
Gathering of Water Buffaloes: Feds Celebrate Death of the Colorado
River
CP News Service
A Plea to U2 From Africa's Children: Stop Bono Before He Kills
Again
Website of
the Day
George W. Bush: Hollywood Producer
Art Gallery
of the Day
Botero's Abu Ghraib Paintings in Manhattan
October 18,
2006
Joshua Frank
Cindy
Sheehan's Lesser Evilism: Democrats or Bust?
Dr. Curran
Warf, MD
Slandering Sound Science: Bush's Attack on the Lancet Iraq War
Death Study
Saul Landau
Bush's
Foley: Will the Dems Blow It?
Tom Barry
The
Politics of Fear
Bruce Jackson
Thundersnow: a Report from Buffalo
Dave Lindorff
Loveless Among the Ruins: Even Repubs Flee Bush's Failed Middle
East Policy
Frederico Fuentes
When Cochabamba Said "Enough": Bolivia's Blow to Neoliberalism
Michael Simmons
Greetings from Echo Park: an Open Letter to Rolling Stone's Jann
Wenner
Daryll E. Ray
The Root Problems in American Agriculture
Kate Doyle
The Dead of Tlatelolco
Website of
the Day
The
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
October 17, 2006
Michael Neumann
Hit
and Run: Guerrilla Reviewing
Manuel Garcia,
Jr.
Nuclear
Test, Political Flare: Interpreting the Physics and Politics
of N. Korea's Nuclear Test
Stephen S.
Pearcy
The Interrogation of Julia Wilson: Secret Service Grills 14 Year-Old
Artist
Sharon Smith
Afghanistan
Reconsidered: The Taliban Aren't Gone, Women Haven't Been Liberated
Al Krebs
The Corporate Assault on Zoning
David Underhill
Politicus Interruptus: Come Back, Jo Bonner
Daniel Wolff
NY's Iraq Veterans Against the War Needs Your Help ... Now
James Brooks
Desirable
Duds: Israeli / US Cluster Bombs Litter Lebanon
Website of the Day
Stop Torture Now
October 16,
2006
Gary Leupp
North
Korea as a Religious State
Patrick Cockburn
General
Mutinies Against Blair
David Wilson
Where Have All the Doctors Gone?: the Collapse of Iraq's Health
Care Services
Robert Fisk
Confronting Turkey's Armenian Genocide
Robert Jensen
Racism and Cheap Thrills at U. of Texas Law School
Ingmar Lee
/ Krista Roessingh
An Appeal for S. India's Wild Elephants
Mike Whitney
America's Other War Party
Jake Whitney
The Courageous Dr. Rost
Sanho Tree
Sugar Daddy Politics: Was Foley Blackmailed to Secure His Vote
on CAFTA?
Website of
the Day
Best
War Ever
October 14/15, 2006
Weekend Edition
Uri Avnery
Gaza
as Laboratory: the Great Experiment
John Walsh
How
Rahm Emmanuel Has Rigged a Pro-War Congress
Jean Bricmont
A Fable About Palestine
Jennifer Van Bergen
Bush's Military Commissions Act and the Future of America
Ralph Nader
Wilted Yankees: the Fruits of Checkbook Baseball
Floyd Rudmin
The Logic of Proliferation: How Bush's Belligerence Prompted
N. Korea to Pursue Nuclear Weapons
Mark Weisbrot
Correcting the Facts on US/Venezuela Relations
Laura Carlsen
Building a Future in the Mixteca
Hani Shukrallah
A Stroll Through the Cairo Mall: Shopping as Cultural Pursuit
Dr. Susan Block
The Spent Milk of Human Foley
John Chuckman
North Korea's Bomb: Still 1,126 Nuke Tests Behind the US
Lucinda Marshall
Is Betty Ugly?: the Profits of Denigration
Don Monkerud
The Case Against Depleted Uranium
Missy Comley
Beattie
What Bush Means By Tolerable Violence in Iraq
Ron Jacobs
Shouting "No One is Illegal" in a Crowded Theater
Website of
the Weekend
Ratfink Raunchfest
October 13,
2006
Jorge Mariscal
PowerPoint
Racism: How Military Recruiters Pitch to Latinos
Stephen Philion
The
Myth of the Spat Upon Vets: an Interview with Jerry Lembcke
John Blair
Strip Mining Wildlife Preserves: Black Beauty's Filthy Lucre
Col. Dan Smith
Oil, Atoms and War
Alastair Crooke / Mark Perry
How Hezbollah Defeated Israel: Part Two, Winning the Ground War
Stephen Fleischman
Journalism Then and Now
Charles Perroud
The Death Penalty's Invisible Victims
Anne E. Brodsky
Return
to Afghanistan: Where the Rhetoric Doesn't Match the Reality
Website of the Day
Underwater Nuke Test
October 12,
2006
Jonathan Cook
Israel's
Plan for a Military Strike on Iran
Norman Solomon
The Pundit Path to Death in Iraq
M. Shahid Alam
On Colonialism and Colleagues
Paul Craig
Roberts
Can We Call It Genocide Now?
Meredith Schafer / Chris Kutalik
Is a General Transportation Strike Looming for 2008? Can Labor
Seize the Moment?
Carl Gelderloos
Images of Occupation: Teaching in Nablus
Alastair Crooke / Mark Perry
How Hezbollah Defeated Israel: Part One, Winning the Intelligence
War
Charles Sullivan
Assassins of Truth
William S. Lind
Why Do We Still Fight a Lost War?
CP News Service
The South Turns Against the War
Website of
the Day
There's a Riot Goin' On
October 11,
2006
John Feffer
Pyongyang
1, Bush 0
Dave Lindorff
A Killing Occupation
Jackson Katz
Gunning Down Women: Coverage of "School Shootings"
Misses Central Issue
April Howard / Ben Dangl
The Tin War in Bolivia
Michael Carmichael
World War W
Ken Couesbouc
The New Witchcraft: Marvin Harris on the War on Terror
Gregory Afghani
Sleepless on Skid Row: Guilty of Being Homeless in America
Alexander Cockburn
600,000 Dead in Iraq: Chortles in the New Yorker for Slaughter's
Cheerleader, C. Hitchens
Website of
the Day
Petition: Defend Columbia Students Who Confronted the Minutemen
October 10,
2006
Paul Craig
Roberts
Lost
Wars and a Lost Economy
Robert Robideau
The
Myth Keepers of Columbus
Joshua Frank
The
Democrats and the War on Civil Liberties
Dave Lindorff
Free the Press Free Linda Greenhouse
Dave Zirin
Brother of the Fist
Heather Gray
Where Votes Matter: My Experience in South Africa
James Knotwell
Big Ag in the Heartland: the Future of Nebraska's Family Farms
Missy Beattie
The Return of James Baker, III
Mike Whitney
Bush and North Korea: Bumbling Toward Disaster
David Rosen
Sex Panic on Capitol Hill: Mark Foley and the Politics of Sex
in America
Website of the Day
Eno / Byrne: Music to Enjoy the Foley Scandal By
October 9. 2006
Robert Fisk
The
Age of Terror
Norman Solomon
Welcome to the Nuclear Club
Ron Jacobs
The
Boom Heard Around the World
Gideon Levy
The Mystery of America
Walter Brasch
Their Back Pages: Sex, Lies and Family Values
Mickey Z.
Who Killed Michael Moore?
John Holt
Grizzlies in Our Midst: Can Humans and Bears Coexist?
Lucinda Marshall
Not So Pretty in Pink: Profits and Breast Cancer
Saul Landau
Post-Castro
Cuba
Website of the Day
War, Inc.
October 7 /
8, 2006
Weekend Edition
Alexander Cockburn
Wargasms
and Orgasms
Peter Kwong
The Chinese Face of Neoliberalism
Ralph Nader
Revolt of the Generals
Mark Donham
What Cynthia McKinney Means to Me
Dave Lindorff
Philly's Police Snoops
Peter Bosshard
World Bank Shuts Out Dissident Voices: Big Dams, Huge Profits
& Political Corruption
Ron Jacobs
Evil Hour in Colombia
Lawrence R.
Velvel
Governmental Derelicts: Moral Meltdown in America
Fred Gardner
Arnold Vetoes Hemp Bill
David Green
The US, Israel and the Invasion of Lebanon
Jim B.
Activism, Incorporated: Outsourcing Grassroots Politics?
Missy Beattie
Prayers for Peace at the Edge of the Abyss
Michael Donnelly
Blame the Page: Grand Old Perverts Go on Offensive
Jackson Thoreau
Enter Newt
Jon Hung
Revisiting Korematsu: Denying Civil Rights Based on National
Origin
CounterPunch
News Service
Why We Confronted the Minutemen at Columbia
Tom D'Antoni
Playlist
Poets' Basement
Orloski, Davies, Tirado, Gaffney and Ford
Website of the Weekend
Reagan Gone Wild
October 6, 2006
Alison Weir
Just
Another Mother Murdered
Tiffany Ten
Eyck / Mark Brenner
Made
in (DeUnionized) America
Corporate Crime Reporter
Look Who's Behind "37 Reasons" to Vote for Big Business:
Former Clinton PR Flak Mike McCurry
Juan Antonio
Montecino
Cleaving a False Divide in Latin America
Walden Bello
A Siamese Tragedy
Christopher
Brauchli
Rank Invitations: Dining with Bush
Brynne Keith-Jennings
Dan Burton in Nicaragua: the Congressman, His Stick and the Elections
Jonathan Cook
The Struggle for Palestine's Soul
Website of the Day
Fighting Hog Farms and Clearcuts in the Heartland
October 5, 2006
John Walsh
Turn
the Page
Carol Norris
The
Radical Right, the Myth of the Gay Child Abuser and You: a Psychotherapist
on the Hysteria Over Foley
Paul Craig Roberts
Will November Bring Hope or Another Stolen Election?
Ricardo Alarcón
The
Truth About the Embargo of Cuba
James Abourezk
Waterboarding the Constitution: After Torture, What's Next?
Nicola Nasser
Removing Hamas: Brinksmanship or Coup d'Etat?
Kirkpatrick Sale
Breaking Away: the First North American Secessionist Conference
Uri Avnery
Peace
with Syria: Lunch in Damascus
Website of the Day
More Naughty GOP Messages
October 4, 2006
Elizabeth Terzakis
The
Walls That Racism Built: Blood Revenge, the Death Penalty and
Kevin Cooper
Paul Wolf
The
Mushy Rebellion: Pakistan Under Musharraf
Sean Penn
The
Arrogant, the Misguided and the Cowards
Dave Lindorff
Outrage as Misdirection: The Real Scandal isn't Foley
Diane Farsetta
For Sale: Iraqi Kurdistan
Sharon Smith
Democrats:
Yes to War, No to Pedophilia
Felice Pace
Revoking 1776
Sara Roy
The Economy of Gaza
Website of
the Day
Alexander Cockburn: the Video Interview (Part Two)
October 3, 2006
Jennifer Van
Bergen
Compassionate
Conservative Pedophiles
Greg Moses
The Infallible Empire: Junking Habeas Corpus
Stan Cox
Real Bad ID: a National Driver's License and the Fading Right
of Anonymity
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
How Empires Die
Evelyn Pringle
Big Pharma Takes a Hit: Alaska's Supreme Court Outlaws Forced
Drugging
Fred Wilhelms
SoundExchange and Unpaid Music Artists: Help Us Find These Musicians
and Get Them Paid
Michael Abelman
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food: the Risks of Convenience and
Consolidation
Gary Leupp
The Foley Follies
Website of the Day
Bush and Blair: Endless Love
October 2,
2006
Eric Hazan
Roadmap
to Nowhere: an Interview with Tanya Reinhart on Israel/Palestine
Since 2003
Mike Whitney
Bloodbath on 60 Minutes: Court
Stenographer Finally Comes Clean
Norman Solomon
American Narcissism and Iraq
Assaf Kfoury
Meeting Nasrallah
Missy Beattie
The Meaning of "ummmm": Speaker Hasert and the Over-Friendly
Congressman
Arthur Neslen
Lie Less in Gaza
Paula J. Caplan
How
the Supreme Court Mangled My Research
Website of the Day
Predator Drones Target Bechtel
|
November
22, 2006
What is to be Done?
Palestinian
Solidarity in a Time of Massacres
By GILAD ATZMON
Let's face it; while the Palestinian
and Arab resistance evolves into an absolute example of the ultimate
heroism and collective patriotism, the Palestinian solidarity
movement in the UK and around the world is not exactly what could
be called a profound success story. In fact, it would be erroneous
to state that this is really the fault of those who dedicate
their time and energy to it. Supporting the Palestinians is a
complicated subject. Though the crimes against the Palestinians
have taken place in broad daylight and are not some well-kept
secret, the priorities of the solidarity movement are far from
being clear.
When thinking about Palestinian
society we are basically used to thinking of some sharp ideological
and cultural disputes between the Hamas and PLO. Not that I wish
to undermine that staunch disagreement, but I am here to suggest
an alternative perspective that perhaps could lead towards a
different understanding of the notion of Palestinian activism
and solidarity both ideologically and pragmatically.
I maintain that Palestinian
people are largely divided into three main groups and it is actually
this division that dictates three different political narratives,
with three different political discourses and agendas to consider:
The three groups can be described
as follows:
1. The Palestinians who happen
to live within the Israeli State and possess Israeli citizenship
- The Israelis have a name for them; they call them 'Israeli
Arabs'. These Palestinians are largely discriminated by Israeli
law in all aspects of their lives; their struggle is for civil
rights and civil equality.
2. The Palestinians who live
in the Occupied Territories - In most cases those Palestinians
are locked behind walls and barbed wire in Bantustans and concentration
camps in the so-called 'Palestinian Authority Controlled Area'
(PA). Practically speaking, those people live under a criminal
occupation. For three decades these people have been terrorised
on a daily basis by Israeli soldiers in roadblocks and incursions,
they are subject to air raids and artillery bombardments. Their
civil system is shattered, their educational system is falling
apart, their health system is extinct. These Palestinian people
are craving for a single day with no casualties.
3. The Diaspora Palestinians
- Palestinians who were ethnically cleansed over the course of
the years and denied return to their homes by the racially orientated
Israeli legal system (the Law of Return and Absentee Laws). The
Israelis do not have a name for them, they simply deny their
existence. The Diaspora Palestinians live all over around the
world. According to the UN statistics every third refugee is
a Palestinian. Millions of exiled Palestinians live in the region
in refugee camps, the others can be found in every corner of
the globe. The Diaspora Palestinians know their rights and they
want to be able to come home if they so choose, they demand their
right of return.
Confronting very different
realities, the three groups above have managed to develop three
competing political discourses: The 1st group, the so-called
'Israeli Arabs', struggle for equality. The means they have to
achieve their goals are largely political. They search for a
voice within the racially orientated Israeli society.
The 2nd group, namely the 'PA
inhabitants', battle against the occupation. They fight for liberation.
Their means are political, civil resistance as well as armed
struggle (in fact it is within the 2nd group where the bitter
struggle for hegemony between the PLO and the Hamas is taking
place).
Being out of Israel and lacking
international support as well as adequate political representation,
the 3rd group is still ignored by the entire Israeli political
system and even by major players within the international community.
The exiled Palestinians are largely neglected and their demand
for the right of return is yet to be addressed properly.
Apparently, the Palestinian
discourse is fragmented. It is divided into at least three different,
sometimes opposing discourses. Cleverly, not to mention mercilessly,
on their behalf, it is the Israelis who maintain this very state
of fragmentation. It is the Israelis who manage to stop the Palestinian
political and cultural discourse from integrating into a single
grand solid narrative. How do they do it? They apply different
tactics that maintain the isolation and conflict between the
three distinct groups. Within the State of Israel the Israelis
maintain a racially orientated legal system that turns the Israeli
Palestinians into 10th class citizens. When PA inhabitants are
concerned, the Israeli military maintains solid and constant
pressure on the civilian population. Gaza is kept starving, it
is bombed on a daily basis. Some of it is flattened. More than
a few observers regard the situation in the PA as nothing but
slow extermination and genocide.
In order to humiliate the 3rd
group, the Israelis enforce a racist legislation that welcomes
Jews to the country but rejects others (Law of Return). In practice
it is a racially orientated system that stops exiled Palestinians
from returning to their land.
Paradoxically enough, the more
pain the Israelis inflict on any of the groups, the further the
Palestinians get from establishing a grand narrative of resistance.
Similarly, the more vicious the Israelis are, the further the
Palestinian Solidarity movement is getting from establishing
a unified agenda of activism. Indeed the Palestinian solidarity
campaigner is confused and asks himself what campaign to choose.
Who should be supported? The division of the Palestinian discourse
into three conflicting narratives makes the issue of solidarity
rather complicated.
Seemingly, different Palestinian
solidarity groups follow different political calls and Palestinian
causes. Some call for an end to the Israeli occupation, others
call for the right of return. Some call for equality. Many of
the solidarity campaigners are divided amongst themselves. Those
who call for the right of return and 'one State' are totally
unhappy with what they regard as a watery and limited demand
for the 'end of occupation'. Seemingly, Palestinian solidarity
is trapped.
Joining one call and not another
is actually surrendering to a discourse that is violently and
criminally imposed by the Israelis.
This is exactly where Zionism
is maintaining its hegemony within the Palestinian solidarity
discourse. It is Israeli brutality that dictates a state of ideological
fragmentation upon the Palestinian solidarity discourse. Whatever
decision the Palestinian activist is willing to make is set a
priori to dismiss a certain notion of the Palestinian cause.
It is indeed painful to admit that it is the Israelis who have
set us into this trap. Our work, discourse and terminology as
activists are totally shaped by Israeli aggression.
The Battle
Is Not Lost
However, there is a way around
that complexity. Rather than surrendering to the Zionist practice
which splits the Palestinian solidarity discourse, we can simply
redefine the core of the Palestinian tragedy, which is now turning
into a global crisis.
Once we manage to internalise
that the discourse of solidarity with Palestinians is dominated
by the malicious and brutal Israeli practices, we are more or
less ready to admit: it is the Jewish State: a racist nationalist
ideology that we must oppose primarily. It is Jewish State and
its supporters around the world that we must tackle. It is Zionism
and global Zionism that we must confront immediately.
Yet, this is exactly where
the solidarity campaigner loses his grip. To identify the Palestinian
disaster with the concept of 'Jews Only State' is a leap not
many activists are capable to do for the time being. To admit
that the Jewish State is the core of the problem implies that
there may be something slightly more fundamental in the conflict
than merely colonial interests or an ethnic dispute over land.
To identify the 'Jews Only State' as the core of the problem
is to admit that peace is not necessarily an option. The reason
is rather simple: the 'Jews Only State' follows an expansionist
and racially orientated philosophy. It leaves no room for other
people as a matter of fact and principle.
Yet, once we come to grips
with this very understanding, once we are enlightened and realise
that something here is slightly more fundamental than merely
a battle between an invader facing some indigenous counter freedom
fighting. We are probably more or less ready to engage in a critical
enquiry into the notion of Zionism. We are more or less ready
to grasp the notion of the emerging secular emancipated Jewish
collective identity. We are ready to confront the modern notion
of Jewishness (rather than Judaism).
Once we are brave enough to
admit that Zionism is a continuation of Jewishness (rather than
Judaism), once we admit that Israel draws its force from a racist
ideology, harboured in national chauvinism and blatant expansionism,
once we admit that Zionism, which was once a marginal Jewish
ideology, has become the voice of world Jewry, once we accept
it all, we may be ready to defeat the Zionist disease. We do
it for the sake of the Palestinians but as well for the sake
of world peace.
The Gatekeepers
Let's try to think of an imaginary
situation in which a dozen exiled German dissident intellectuals
insist upon monitoring and controlling Churchill's addresses
to the British public at the peak of the Blitz. Every time Churchill
speaks his heart calling the British people to stand firm against
Germany and its military might, the exiled dissident Germans
raise their voice: "It isn't Germany, Mr Prime Minister,
it is the Nazi party, the German people and the German spirit
are innocent." Churchill obviously apologises immediately.
I assume that you all realise
that such a scene is totally surreal. Britain would never allow
a bunch of German exiles to control its rhetoric at the time
of a war against Germany. Moreover, dissident German intellectuals
would not have the Chutzpah to even consider telling the British
what should or what shouldn't be the appropriate rhetoric to
use at time of a war with Germany.
However, when it comes to the
Palestinian solidarity discourse, we are somehow far more tolerant.
In spite of the fact that it is the 'Jews Only State' that we
struggle against, we allow a bunch of self-appointed Jewish leaders
and activists to become our gatekeepers. As soon as anyone identifies
the symptoms of Zionism with some fundamental or essential Jewish
precepts a smear campaign is launched against that person.
I have been closely monitoring
the Jewish left discourse for more than a few years now. I might
as well admit that I can think of at least one good reason behind
Jewish anti-Zionist activism. I do understand the need of some
humanist Jews to stand up and say, 'I am a Jew and I find Zionism
disgusting.' At a certain stage of my life I myself was saying
just that. As some of you know, I totally admire Torah Jews for
doing just that. However, when it comes to predominantly Jewish
socialist and secular left groups, I am slightly confused.
Moshe Machover, a legendary
Israeli dissident and a Jewish Marxist who happens to be the
intellectual mentor of the British progressive Jewish activists,
expressed the following view just a few days ago when he stated
a complaint he had with a
petition:
"anti-Semitism is a Palestinian
problem, as it pushes Jews into the arms of Zionism. This has
long been understood by all progressive Palestinians. Anti-semitism
is an objective ally of Zionism, and the common enemy of Palestinians,
Jews, and all humankind."
Indeed anti-Semitism may be
a problem, yet, is it really a Palestinian problem? Should the
Palestinian solidarity campaign engage in fighting anti-Semitism?
Shouldn't we leave it to ADL and Abe Foxman? I think that we
better try to do whatever we can to save the people of Beit Hanoun.
This is where we are needed. I am certain that the vast majority
of the Palestinian activists know that I am right.
Every PSC campaigner I have
ever spoken to admits to me that only very few Palestinians find
interest in the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign. In fact, the
statement by Machover provides the reason. According to Machover,
those amongst the Palestinians who fail to see that anti-Semitism
is the problem are nothing but reactionary, as only the 'Progressive'
Palestinians acknowledge that anti-Semitism is indeed a problem.
Let me tell you, the Palestinians I know do not like it when
Machover or anyone else calls them reactionaries just because
they are not that concerned with anti-Semitism. Reading Machover,
it is rather clear that such views serve as a body shield for
Jewish secular collectivism and the Zio-centric historical narrative.
If to be honest, there is not much reason for any Palestinian
to join a movement predominated by the obsession with anti-Semitism.
May I tell you, I am not an historian. I am academically
trained as a philosopher and particularly as a continental one.
I am interested in the notion of essence. For me to attack Zionism
is to aim towards a thorough realisation of the essence of Zionism.
To a certain extent I am indeed an essentialist. This is pretty
worrying for those who try to reduce the discourse into positivistic
exchange regarding numbers and historical facts. I am interested
in the spirit of Zionism. I'm concerned about that which transforms
the Israelis and their supporters into ethically blind killing
machines.
Beyond Chutzpah
You may have heard of the book
I am holding in my hand. Probably, it's the ultimate Zionist
tract: Alan Dershowitz's The Case For Israel. I don't know whether
any of you have ever considered reading this banal not to say
idiotic text. I did, it fell into my hands a few days ago.
Shockingly enough, this book
is structured as a beginner's guide for the Zionist enthusiast,
a kind of "Israel for Dummies". It teaches the nationalist
Jew how to be an advocate and defend the 'case of Israel'. We
know already that Norman Finkelstein has managed to prove beyond
doubt that the text is academically a farce. Yet, there is something
revealing in this text.
The book is a set of deconstructions
of 'the anti-Zionist argument'. It starts with the heaviest ideological
and moral accusation against Israel and it gets lighter, more
historical and forensic as you progress.
Dershowitz launches with the
'million Shekels' question "Is Israel a Colonial,
Imperialist State?" To a certain degree Dershowitz manages
to tackle the question. He asks, "if it is indeed a colonial
state, what flag does it serve?" Fair enough, I say, he
may be right. I myself do not regard Zionism as a colonial adventure.
However, hang on for a second, Mr. Dershowitz. It seems you might
be getting off the hook easily here. Our problem with Israel
has nothing to do with its colonial characteristics. Our problems
with the 'Jews Only State' have something to do with its racist,
expansionist and nationalist qualities. Our problems with Israel
have something to do with it being a Fascist State supported
by the vast majority of Jewish people around the world.
Now if you, Scottish activists
stop for a second, ask yourselves why Dershowitz starts his book
tackling the colonial aspect of Israel rather than facing its
Fascist characteristics. My answer is simple. We are afraid to
admit that Israel is indeed a Fascist State. It is predominantly
the politically correct groups that furnish Dershowitz with a
Zionist fig leaf. In fact, it is the Jewish gatekeepers on the
left who have managed to reduce Zionism merely into a colonial
adventure. Why did they do it? I can think of two reasons:
1. If Israel, the 'Jews Only
State' is wrong for being a racially orientated adventure, then
'Jews for peace', 'Jews against Zionism', 'Jewish Socialists',
'Jews Sans Frontieres' etc. are all wrong for the very same reason
(being a racially orientated adventure).
2. To regard the Israeli Palestinian
conflict as a colonial dispute is to make sure it fits nicely
into their notion of working class politics. May I suggest that
a universal working class vision of Israel implies that the Jewish
State is nothing but a Fascist experiment.
I would use this opportunity
and appeal to our friends amongst the Jewish socialists and other
Jewish solidarity groups. I would ask them to clear the stage
willingly, and to re-join as ordinary human beings. The Palestinian
Solidarity movement is craving for a change. It needs open gates
rather than gatekeepers. It yearns for an open and dynamic discourse.
The Palestinians on the ground have realised it already. They
democratically elected an alternative vision of their future.
Isn't it about time we support the Palestinians for what they
are rather than expecting them to fit into our worldview?
From a talk for the Scottish
Palestinian Solidarity Campaign in Edinburgh.
Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel and served in the
Israeli military. He is the author of two novels: A
Guide to the Perplexed and the recently released My One
and Only Love. Atzmon is also one of the most accomplished
jazz saxophon |
