Bad Week for Palestinians and Those Who Support their Struggle
I am sorry to those who regularly read the blog and my entries for my lack of entries. As you know I was injured 2 weeks ago and have had little ability to write, let alone research, what to write about. I was shuffling through the news articles before going to bed at 3am (part … Read more
Obama Still Does Not Understand the Middle East Part II
As I mentioned in the first installment of this blog piece, given Obama’s Middle East speech it is more than evident by more than just timing he does not understand the Arab World. His inability to go past generic US slogans of freedom, human rights, and economic opportunity shows his sticking to the status quo … Read more
Obama Still Does Not Understand the Middle East Part I
I did not watch the Obama speech regarding the Middle East as I do not watch many of his speeches when they air. This is not exclusive to him, I simply do not enjoy listening to American leaders way of talk since the “war on terrorism” began. It has filled with buzz words with minimal meaning, … Read more
Is the Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation as threatening as the Israeli Government makes it out to be?
With the buzzing news surrounding the reconciliation deal struck between Fatah and Hamas there seems to be the usual nay-sayers to a just peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. These nay-sayers include the US Congress, Lieberman, Netanyahu, and Barak, or simply the US and Israeli governments. After the signing of the unity agreement Lieberman pronounced … Read more
Peres’ Peace Plan
Shimon Peres came out today with a proposal that Israel comes out with its own Peace Initiative. Shimon Peres is considered by most within Israel and the mainstream media as the Israeli man of peace. This image came about for a handful of reasons. The first is he was paired Shamir in a unity government in the 1980s … Read more
Book Review “Gaza in Crisis” by Ilan Pappe and Noam Chomsky
I completed this book yesterday so I figured I would give a review to people who like to read books about the Middle East and Palestine in particular. It takes two prominent authors Ilan Pappe (author of A History of Modern Palestine, the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, etc) and Noam Chomsky (Hegemony or Survival, Manufacturing Consent, … Read more
Cafes Bloom in Ramallah…Just Ramallah
The Baltimore Sun (how did I every find this story?) ran an article yesterday detailing the rapid rise of the cafe culture in Ramallah. Comparing th West Bank to Paris’ Left Bank, the article describes the explosion in cafes ans restaurants in Palestine’s de facto capital: Until recently a small town in the occupied West … Read more
What American Aid to Israel Buys
It is no secret that Israel receives substantial aid from the United States. The country receives more aid from the US per year than any other country, totally more than $3 billion per year. For the past 20 years, the US has changed most of its aid from economic to military – in 2008, Israel … Read more
Did The Intervention Work, Part 2
The other day I conceded that the US-led intervention in Libya had worked better than I had imagined. Rebels are pushing back out of Benghazi and retaking areas that were once loyalist strongholds. So far the intervention has achieved its aims: Benghazi is no longer threatened and the people of eastern Libya are safe from … Read more
Why Do People Like Hamas
A while back a commenter Tom and I had a little discussion about why the popularity of Hamas rose so much during the past decade. I put more emphasis on the corruption of the ruling Fatah party whereas Tom stressed a growing belief in the political Islam espoused by Hamas. Of course, the answer is … Read more
