Category: Middle East
Middle East Overview
Trump’s Far-Right Israel Stance Creates an Opening for the Left
But congressional Democrats won’t act without a push.
In These Times & The Huffington Post February 17, 2017
Fordham ban of Palestine group contradicts free speech, Jesuit values
Possible Iraqi retaliation to Trump immigration restrictions
[This item’s no longer available.]
Iraq’s parliament has voted in favor of demanding the government respond in kind to the US visa ban on Iraqi nationals.
Panetta’s first foreign policy vote sides with Trump
Once Again, Democrats Blow It on Middle East Peace
Foreign Policy In Focus January 11, 2017: In the first major foreign policy vote of the new Congress, most Democrats sided with Trump — and against international law — on Israeli settlements.
Hope fades for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
National Catholic Reporter January 10, 2017 The election of Donald Trump may mark the end of any realistic hope of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And don’t expect the Democratic Party to try to save it, it appears.
Obama’s Support for International Law Draws Bipartisan Ire
The Progressive December 29 2016
Here’s one way to look at it: The United States was the only country in the fifteen-member U.N. Security Council that did not support a resolution passed last week criticizing Israel for continuing to expand illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
Trump’s Frightening Picks for U.S. Policy in the Middle East
The Progressive December 22, 2016
Among the many disturbing appointments by President-elect Donald Trump are the people charged with conducting U.S. policy in the Middle East. Trump’s ignorance of the region will make him even more dependent on his advisers than most Presidents. And that’s not good news.
New Lebanese president’s career highlights US inconsistencies
National Catholic Reporter November 28, 2016
There are more than a few ironies regarding the Oct. 31 election by the Lebanese parliament of former Gen. Michel Aoun, a Maronite Catholic who received his military training in the United States, as the country’s new president. One of the most striking is his shifting allegiances and the inconsistencies of U.S. policy toward Lebanon.
Anti-war movement must listen to voices within Syria’s civil war
From Gaza to Aleppo: A Handy Guide for Defending War Crimes
In These Times, Huffington Post and ZNetwork.org Oct. 7, 2016
Given the United States’ disastrous record in the Middle East—most critically the invasion and occupation of Iraq—and the manifold lies coming out of Washington to justify its policies, many Americans are understandably skeptical about U.S. interventions and the rationalizations used to defend them. This leads many Americans to oppose both direct intervention in Syria and the arming of rebel factions—and rightly so.
Republicans, Democrats alike still level threats at Iran
National Catholic Reporter, August 15, 2016
(Also in the Huffington Post and Common Dreams)
The 2015 Iran nuclear deal should have curbed the longstanding bellicose rhetoric coming from Republican and Democratic political leaders toward the Muslim country. Signed by Iran, the U.S. and five other nations and ratified by the UN Security Council, the comprehensive agreement strictly limits Iran’s nuclear capabilities and subjects Iran to the most rigorous inspection regime in history. The result has been dramatically reduced regional tensions and the elimination of any potential threat to U.S. national security.
Interview: ‘Most Progressive Dem Platform in History’ Hawkish on Foreign Policy
The Progressive, Reddit, BillMoyers.com, July 27, 2016.
Also on WORTFM.org, August 4, 2016
(40-min., Zunes’s analysis segment begins at 11:00)
The Good News and the Bad News About Turkey’s Attempted Coup
Huffington Post & CommonDreams.org July 19, 2016
The survival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Welfare Party of an attempted coup last week is a mixed blessing. Despite the ultra-conservative policies and creeping authoritarianism of the Erdogan regime, Turks from across the political spectrum opposed the coup, which was attempted by a faction of the Turkish military… The good news is the coup’s failure may be a sign that, for the first time in history, Turkey’s elected government has successfully imposed civilian rule over the military… The bad news is that the apparent success in resisting the military may not be used for democratic ends…
Discerning Real from False Claims of Anti-Semitism in the Pro-Palestinian Movement
We Know They Lied about Iraq’s WMDs, but It Gets Worse
The Progressive July 13, 2016: The thousands of American casualties, trillions of dollars of expenditures, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi casualties, and the rise of sectarianism, terrorism, Islamist extremism, and the other negative consequences have been disastrous. But even worse, even if Iraq really did have the proscribed “WMDs”, delivery systems, and weapons programs, the war would have still been illegal and unnecessary. Here’s why…
Defending Israel’s Attacks on Civilians—A Harbinger for Clinton’s Presidency?
The Progressive May 26, 2016 and his May 29 Tikkun column:
Bernie Sanders’ appointees to the platform committee, Cornel West and James Zogby, plan to challenge the party establishment’s uncritical support for an increasingly aggressive, right wing Israeli government… Hillary Clinton has repeatedly gone on record defending the IDF’s conduct.
Turkey’s Creeping Authoritarianism: Is the Resistance Enough?
The Progressive May 13, 2016: Turkey’s march towards authoritarianism took another dangerous turn with the forced resignation of moderate Islamist Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, apparently at the insistence of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan… And he is becoming ever more autocratic.
Hillary and Bernie Part Ways on Israel
The Progressive April 18, 2016: In last week’s debate… Bernie Sanders reiterated both his longstanding position condemning Hamas rocket attacks on Israel and supporting Israel’s right to self-defense. But he also declared that the killing of nearly 1,500 Palestinian civilians by Israel during that fifty-day conflict represented a “disproportionate” use of force… But Hillary Clinton refused to acknowledge Israel had done anything wrong.