Category: Source
The U.S. and the Rise of ISIS
National Catholic Reporter December 7, 2015
[and republished in Tikkun] The rise of ISIS (also known as Daesh, ISIL, or the “Islamic State”) is a direct consequence of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. While there are a number of other contributing factors as well, that fateful decision is paramount…
What We Can Expect From Hillary Clinton on Israel/Palestine
Truthout December 5, 2015 and republished in FreeList.org: Hillary Clinton’s support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq (a flagrant violation of the UN Charter) and Morocco’s illegal annexation of occupied Western Sahara, as well as her hostility toward the International Criminal Court and attacks against the UN and key agencies, raise concerns her election would bring a return to the Bush administration’s neoconservative rejection of longstanding international legal principles…
Chancellor’s opposition to student resolution problematic
Santa Cruz Sentinel December 4, 2015: UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal, in an all-campus mailing sent out Nov. 19, expressed his opposition to a recently passed resolution by the Student Union Assembly in a manner which has raised serious concerns among supporters of corporate responsibility and academic freedom.
Nobel Peace Prize spotlights National Dialogue Quartet
National Catholic Reporter November 20, 2015 [Also in the Free Library]
The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize December 10 to a group of four Tunisian civil society groups that played a key role in their country’s transition to democracy is a reminder of how Arab peoples are quite capable of the difficult work of navigating their nation from dictatorship to democracy…
Obama’s Escalation in Syria
The Progressive November 5, 2015 [and the Huffington Post]
Obama’s plan to send up to 50 U.S. Special Forces to “train, advise and assist” armed militia fighting forces of the so-called “Islamic State” in Syria marks an escalation in U.S. military involvement and raises serious legal, political, strategic, ethical, and constitutional questions and may open the way to a far larger and dangerous military entanglements.
Netanyahu’s Incendiary Speech Blames Palestinians for Holocaust (audio)
October 27, 2015, Uprising Radio, since renamed Rising Up With Sonali.
[The recording is no longer available.]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he supports revoking the travel rights of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. The announcement came amid furor over comments he made recently over who was really responsible for the Holocaust. [Find best related links.]
Why Netanyahu Needs Holocaust Revisionism and Israeli-Palestinian Violence
The Progressive October 27, 2015 [Also by the Huffington Post]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s October 20 speech claiming Hitler had not planned to exterminate Jews until a prominent Palestinian cleric pressured him to do so, while outrageous, is consistent with the longstanding narrative of the right-wing government and its U.S. supporters.
Bipartisan Attacks Against Anti-occupation Divestment Campaigns
National Catholic Reporter September 8, 2015
[Republished by the Huffington Post & PeaceandJustice.org]
In April, the student senate at Earlham College, a Quaker liberal arts institution in Indiana, approved a resolution by consensus recommending the college endowment divest from three U.S. companies (Motorola, Hewlett Packard and Caterpillar) which directly support the Israeli occupation in violation of international law. The resolution (thus far ignored by the college’s board of trustees) follows decisions by a number of Quaker-affiliated organizations — as well as the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, and other nonprofit groups — to divest from these companies. The response was swift…
Support for Iraq War Still Haunts Hillary Clinton’s Candidacy
National Catholic Reporter August 3, 2015
[Republished by the Huffington Post & TheFreeLibrary.com]
The Troubling Implications of Hillary’s Anti-BDS Letter
Foreign Policy In Focus July 10, 2015
[Republished by Arab America, Common Dreams, Counterpunch, Groupe Gaulliste Sceaux, the Huffington Post, Tablet Magazine, Truthout, and ZNetwork.org] On July 2, Hillary Clinton wrote a letter to Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban, a strong supporter of the right-wing Netanyahu government, denouncing human rights activists who support boycott/divestment/sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli occupation.
The Democrats and the Wasserman Schultz problem
National Catholic Reporter July 6, 2015: As chair of the Democratic National Committee since 2011, Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz… has engendered questions about her integrity and advocacy [as] one of the 46 current House members of the New Democratic Coalition, representing the party’s more conservative “pro-business” wing…
Hillary Clinton, phosphates, and the Western Sahara
National Catholic Reporter May 12, 2015 [Also by the Huffington Post]
For more than a half-century, a series of UN resolutions and rulings by the International Court of Justice have underscored the rights of inhabitants of countries under colonial rule or foreign military occupation. Among these is the right to “freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources,” which “must be based on the principles of equality and of the right of peoples and nations to self-determination”…
The contrasting fates of Tunisia and Libya
National Catholic Reporter June 8, 2015 [and Common Dreams]
The people of Libya and Tunisia both overthrew long-standing dictatorships in popular uprisings in 2011. Four years later, the political situation in these neighboring states could not be more different. The reason has much to do with how their regimes were overthrown…
How U.S. Contributed to Yemen Crisis
Santa Cruz Sentinel April 17, 2015 [Also Antiwar.com, Common Dreams, Lobe Lob, Reddit, Transcend.org and Transnational.org]
As civilian casualties mount, with U.S. logistical support the Saudis are attempting to re-instate Yemen’s exiled government — backed by the West and the Sunni Gulf monarchies — in the face of a military offensive by Houthi rebels. None of this had to be…
Obama administration undermines UN disarmament efforts
National Catholic Reporter April 13, 2015
Though the United States may have taken the lead in the international diplomatic initiative against Iran’s nuclear program, the Obama administration has also taken the lead in undermining the United Nations’ efforts to promote nuclear arms control and disarmament elsewhere…
Powerful nonviolent resistance to armed conflict in Yemen
Open Democracy April 11, 2015
[Also Common Dreams, Rotarian Action Group for Peace, Rulac, Satyagraha Foundation, Transnational.org, ZNetwork.org]
While media coverage of the tragic situation unfolding in Yemen in recent months has focused on armed clashes and other violence, there has also been widespread and ongoing unarmed nonviolent civil resistance employed by a number of different actors.
Hardliners on All Sides Undermining Iran’s Nuclear Talks
Interview: KPFA’s “Up Front” on Netanyahu’s speech before Congress and U.S.-Israeli relations (Audio)
KPFA March 4, 2015: Dr. Stephen Zunes’ segment begins at 36 minutes.
Netanyahu Still Swaying U.S. Congress
The Progressive, March 4, 2015: Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress on March 3 was rare and unprecedented in many ways.
• It constituted a major breach of protocol
• It took place just two weeks prior to national elections in the foreign leader’s home country
• Most strikingly, Netanyahu is the only foreign leader to have been invited to address a joint session of Congress with the express purpose of undermining U.S. foreign policy…