Category: Gaza
Scholars Weigh in on Gaza-Israel Conflict
Counterpunch interview of Professors Zunes and international legal scholar Professor Richard Falk [Princeton] on Israel, Gaza, and U.S. policy [source]
U.S. policy resulted in current ongoing tragedy
Video: Dec. 4 lecture at the University of San Francisco [source link is no longer available]
Interviews: Al Jazeera on Trump and Biden support for Israel’s war on Gaza
Al-Jazeera Video: Biden’s policy supports Israel’s war on Gaza (Feb. 2024; Dr. Zunes begins at the four-minute mark.) Three more quoting Dr. Zunes November 2023: For 20 years, this AIDS relief plan enjoyed broad US support. What changed? Nov. 14,…
Middle East Crisis Webinar
Middle East Crisis Webinar with Dr. Stephen Zunes,Steve Chase and Michael Beer Dec. 6, 2023 [or Audio] Sponsor: Movement for a New Society
Interview: Two-State Solution, Pacifica
KPFA and Pacifica affiliates, Nov. 17, 2023 [45 mins. Note Zunes’s segment starts at 9:50, interrupted by a ten-minute Internet gap, after which Zunes returns.]
When a Ceasefire is Not Enough
THE WAR BETWEEN Armenia and Azerbaijan this past autumn was an avoidable tragedy.
The disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region has been populated since at least the second century B.C.E. by Armenians, one of the world’s oldest Christian civilizations. The Muslim Azeris and others have lived there and in neighboring areas for centuries as well, and the region was ethnically mixed (albeit majority Armenian) when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Abetting the Carnage in Gaza
The November 22 ceasefire between Israeli and Hamas forces is a huge relief for the civilian population on both sides—the primary victims of the conflict. But the Obama administration’s unconscionable decision the previous week to block a ceasefire effort by the UN Security Council not only resulted in additional civilian deaths but also serves as an indication that, despite the president owing his re-election to the hard work of his progressive base, his foreign policy will continue to lean to the right.
Will the Flotilla Attack Be Our “Kent State” Moment?
The offensive by the Congressional Democratic leadership against the Gaza humanitarian aid flotilla has now moved beyond just rhetorical support for the Israeli attack on the unarmed convoy. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee’s subcommittee on terrorism, nonproliferation and trade, has called upon U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to prosecute U.S. citizens who were involved or on board the flotilla. Given the very real threat of terrorism from Al-Qaeda and other groups against the United States, it is very odd that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic Party leaders would choose — out of 255 Democrats in the House of Representatives — a paranoid right-winger like Sherman to chair the critically important terrorism subcommittee. Rather than focus on the real threats from Al-Qaeda and other dangerous organizations, it appears that Sherman is putting his energy into going after the motley group of Quaker pacifists, left-wing Jews, and other like-minded activists who boarded the ships attempted to bring medicines, school supplies, toys and other humanitarian aid to children of the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Support for Israel Mirrors 80s Support for El Salvador Junta
It’s like the 1980s all over again. During that decade, the Reagan administration – with the support of Congress – sent billions of dollars worth of unconditional military and other support to the right wing-junta in El Salvador, just as the Obama administration is today with the right-wing government in Israel.
Israel’s Latest Violation
Every time Israel’s right-wing government engages in yet another outrageous violation of international legal norms, it is easy to think, “No way are they going to get away with it this time!” And yet, thanks to the White House, Congress and leading American pundits, somehow, they do.
Debate: Israel’s War on Gaza (audio)
Shared Sacrifice
Professor Jason Steck, Department of Political Science, Creighton University, will debate Professor Stephen Zunes, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of San Francisco, on the topic of Israel’s recent military actions in Gaza.