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SHOULD SCOOTER LIBBY'S LAWYER BE DISBARRED? Law school dean Lawrence Velvel says, Maybe he should, if he sat idly by while client Libby spouted lies. What lies at the core of Zionism? Michael Neumann tortures Alan Dershowitz, without a warrant! "Sex-mad adulterer from British aristocracy claims to have 'revolutionized' philosophy." Yes, Bertrand Russell, they mean you! Alexander Cockburn on Smearing 101 in the British press. Get the answers you're looking for in the subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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November 26 / 27, 2005 Alexander Cockburn November 25, 2005 David Price Brian McKenna Jeff Halper Ray McGovern Leigh Saavedra Ingmar Lee Website of the Day
November 24, 2005 James Petras Bob Shirley Mike Fox Niranjan Ramakrishnan Greg Moses Alexander Cockburn
November 23, 2005 Ramzy Baroud Mike Whitney Stan Cox Linda S. Heard November 22, 2005 Kevin Gray
/ Mike Hersh Ralph Nader Michael Donnelly Mike Ferner Pierre Tristam Marshall Auerback Website of
the Day
November 21, 2005 Mike Marqusee Josh Frank Mike Whitney Norman Solomon Russ Baker Robert Jensen Paul Craig
Roberts
November 19 / 20, 2005 Fred Gardner Rep. Cynthia McKinney Ron Jacobs David Vest J.L. Chestnut,
Jr. John R. Bomar John Ross Phillip Cryan Dave Lindorff Dick J. Reavis Jeremy Scahill Dan Wright John Stanton St. Clair / Vest / Walker Phyllis Pollack Dr. Susan Block Poets Basement
November 18, 2005 Michael Neumann Dave Lindorff Michael Donnelly Mark Chmiel
/ Andrew Wimmer Don Monkerud Tom Kerr Trish Schuh
November 17, 2005 John Walsh Rep. John Murtha Brian J. Foley CounterPunch
News Service Dave Lindorff Mark T. Harris Cockburn /
St. Clair
November 16, 2005 John F. Sugg Noam Chomsky Dave Lindorff Evelyn Pringle Sam Husseini Pierre Tristam Greg Bates Farrah Hassen Bill Christison Website of
the Day
November 15, 2005 Todd Chretien Leah Caldwell Frederick Hudson Harry Browne Jason Leopold Ingmar Lee Diana Barahona Tom Andre Website of the Weekend
November 14, 2005 Diana Johnstone Paul Craig Roberts Conn Hallinan Joshua Frank Christopher
Reed
November 11 / 13, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Gwyneth Leech Elmas Mallo Michael Neumann Saul Landau Sam Husseini Brian Cloughley Ron Jacobs Lila Rajiva Michael Donnelly Joe Allen Roland Sheppard Justin E.H.
Smith Ben Tripp St. Clair /
Vest Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
November 10, 2005 Peterside,
Ogon, Watts and Zalik Pat Williams Steve Higgs Jimmy Massey Lucson Pierre-Charles Anthony Newkirk Lawrence R.
Velvel Website of the Day November 9, 2005 Gary Leupp Tariq Ali Chris Floyd Elaine Cassel Joshua Frank Alison Weir Diana Johnstone
Paul Craig
Roberts Roger Burbach Ron Jacobs Ralph Nader Jim McGrath David Bloom Stan Goff
November 7, 2005 Dick Reavis Jason Leopold Dave Lindorff Eli Stephens David Swanson M. Junaid Alam Matt Reichel Naima Bouteldja Jeff Halper Website of the Day
November 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Lawrence R.
Velvel Diana Johnstone Roosa / Nevins Niranjan Ramakrishnan John Ross Mike Whitney Mark Engler Juliano Mer-Khamis Ron Jacobs Jill S. Farrell Missy Comley
Beattie Mitchel Cohen Evelyn J. Pringle Reza Fiyouzat Charles Sullivan Zachary Richard Ben Tripp St. Clair / Vest
November 4, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Dave Lindorff Phillip Cryan Christopher Brauchli William S.
Lind Daryl G. Kimball George Beres Peter Montague
November 3, 2005 James Petras Saul Landau Rep. Cynthia McKinney Michael Dickinson Joshua Frank Remi Kanazi Reza Fiyouzat Website of the Day
November 2, 2005 Cockburn /
St. Clair Robert Oscar Lopez John Walsh Brian J. Foley Ramzy Baroud M. Junaid Alam Todd Chretien Bruce K. Gagnon Website of the Day
November 1, 2005 Ron Jacobs Gary Leupp John Ross Bill Quigley Joseph Nevins Dave Lindorff Linda S. Heard Heather Gray Michael Dickinson Jeffrey St. Clair
October 31, 2005 Elaine Cassel Mark Weisbrot Mike Whitney Norman Solomon Farooq Sulehria Nicole Colson Madis Senner Paul Craig
Roberts
Cockburn /
St. Clair Peter Linebaugh Tim Wise John Chuckman Steven Higgs Brian Cloughley M. Shahid Alam Nikki Robinson Ralph Nader Joe DeRaymond Joshua Frank Laura Santina Fred Gardner Michael Dickinson Ron Jacobs Dr. Susan Block Vanessa S. Jones Jeffrey St.
Clair Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
October 28, 2005 Jared Bernstein Virginia Tilley Phil Gasper Jennifer Matsui Manual Garcia,
Jr. Monica Benderman Jason Leopold Dave Lindorff
Saul Landau Stuart Hodkinson Ingmar Lee Lila Rajiva Ilan Pappe Niranjan Ramakrishnan Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Cockburn / St. Clair
October 26, 2005 Kathy Kelly Gary Leupp Mike Marqusee Eric Ruder Patrick Cockburn Joshua Frank J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Website of
the Day
October 25, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Ken Sengupta / Patrick Cockburn Conn Hallinan Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Jackie Corr Robert Day John Sugg
October 24, 2005 Dave Lindorff Michael Donnelly Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Norman Solomon Bill and Kathleen
Christison
October 22 / 23, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Billy Sothern Saul Landau Ralph Nader Behrooz Ghamari Brian Cloughley Diana Barahona Fred Gardner Lee Sustar Patrick Cockburn Laura Carlsen James Petras Joshua Frank Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Michelle Bollinger Missy Comley
Beattie Kona Lowell Ben Tripp Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of
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October 21, 2005 Dave Lindorff Winslow T. Wheeler Col. Dan Smith Norman Solomon Madis Senner Michael Donnelly
Dave Lindorff Ray McGovern Jeremy Brecher
/ Patrick Cockburn Kevin Zeese Ross Eisenbrey Randy Shields Justine Davidson After Lucas
Cranach Joe Allen
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Weekend Edition A Review of "Paradise Now"In Search of ParadiseBy WILL YOUMANS The average movie going experience these days goes something like this. Plop down ten dollars for a ticket, another ten for popcorn and a drink, then sit through two hours of things blowing up, juvenile humor, or cheap sentimentality. You escape your job, family, and so-called social life by staring at screens depicting star-studded mindlessness. Then head back to your car to re-join the rat race. How often do you ponder anything presented in a movie? Did "Saw II" or "The Legend of Zorro" force you to think about the challenging issues of the day? A rare gem of a film is one that forces the wheels in your brain to inch forward by presenting compelling characters in interesting moral dilemmas. They make choices you are forced to consider. As people, they are uniquely human as complex as we are. Most of what we see coming out of Hollywood features super-human mega-stars playing stale cardboard cutouts in highly formulaic ways. They have as much to do with us as do the lives of the celebrities playing them. Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad's new release, 'Paradise Now,' is exactly the kind of movie worth seeing. It forces any viewer to grapple with it, and is far from predictable. It is not simple; it is not cut-and-dry. It takes place in one of the most complex pieces of real estate in the world, occupied Palestine. Like the political context, the story bounces between the absurd and the deadly. Israel steals Palestinian land to build a wall around the Palestinians. It calls it a "security fence." It is neither a fence, nor about security. The wall, which is mostly concrete, has as its main purpose the oppression and control of people. Similarly, Israel claims its military occupation is out of the need for defense. In the same logic of pre-emptive war, offense is defense. Like Orwell wrote, war is peace, as well. And freedom is slavery. Approached by a militant group, the two protagonists, Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), gladly accept the invitation to detonate themselves and others in Tel Aviv. Friends since childhood, they mix their rationales between the religious and the secular. On one hand, they think they might get to heaven, though Khaled expresses doubt. They naively ask a militant activist what happens when one dies. On the other, they want to be remembered as heroes, martyrs for the cause of freedom. Politically, they reason, they have no equality in life. This gives them equality in death and the freedom to choose their own fate, rather than letting Israel choose it for them. The decision is not taken up with consistent enthusiasm. At first, Said is hesitant, and Khaled persists. After their effort to sneak into Israel proper is botched, a series of events leads to a reversal in their views. Central to this plot twist is the role of the militant organization itself. Run more like a modern corporation, they are presented advanced designs of their own martyr posters. Even the recording of their suicide videos is business as usual. Their recruiter munches on a Laban sandwich as the guy with the video camera fumbles to get the recorder working after several takes. Beyond arranging the logistics, they ultimately have little to do with the choices Said and Khaled make. Though initially they refer to fate after they are asked, it becomes about free will. They have their own reasons for their decisions. On the surface, the film is about one of the most controversial elements of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. However, if you think that is really what it is about, you are not getting deep enough. Without giving away too much about the film, it is quite easy to say that the most important themes are the same ones behind every great story. Abu-Assad confessed that he borrowed these themes from millennia of literature, including Shakespeare plays and ancient mythology. Stylistically, he also adapted the trademarks of the Western cowboy genre: the liberal use of close-ups, slow pacing, and wide shots of terrain. As the plot moved towards the climax, he depended more on the tools of the action thriller. The shots shortened in length and quickened in pace. The camera itself became more energized. To escape the lure of the overuse of music to manipulate the audience's emotions, Abu-Assad had no music in the soundtrack. There was no pouring of Celine Dion's whining or fast paced techno music to bolster the action. Because the plot, character development and camera work kept me involved, I did not even notice the lack of music. It needed none at all. I found 'Paradise Now' so artistic that overemphasizing the politics of the film sucks the creative life out of it. Politics is only part of the film's equation. That is strange for me to say since most of the time I tend to dissect Hollywood's products for their political assumptions and ramifications. I need to in order to stay interested. Mainstream movies are important to understand because they resonate with the public. They reflect the public's views or actually inform them. Pop culture can be a barometer of society in large. 'Paradise Now' has been critiqued for failing to directly show the most brutal aspects of the occupation. While it depicts checkpoints and Israel's military presence, its more violent aspects are mostly left out or referred to in dialogue. However, this criticism is actually the film's strength. If it sought to convince the public that Israel mistreats the Palestinians, it would fail to be a good, nuanced story and likely not be convincing. It would be bound and dogged by an overt agenda. Since it takes the obvious fact of Israel's oppression for granted, as the film's background, it is even more powerful. Average viewers will have to accept the sub-text in order to get the story. That is worth a hundred documentaries. Will Youmans has a blog: www.kabobfest.com
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from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann ![]() Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |