Iran and Israel: Reining in ‘rogue states’
February 13th, 20100 For two decades, the world has been counting on diplomacy to stop Iran's apparent quest for nuclear weapons – a diplomacy shot through, however, with the menace of ultimate recourse to the military alternative. Now, a more serious stage has been reached with the passing of the year-end deadline that President Obama had set for the...Is Obama prepared to exert pressure on Israel?
The recent concerted push to restart the stalled peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis has been complicated by Israel's continual construction of settlements in the West Bank and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand that Israel maintain a military presence along the West Bank's border with...Sanctions, regime change take center stage
WASHINGTON (IPS) — With the United States Senate set to take up major sanctions legislation against Iran by mid-February, neo-conservatives and other hawks are calling on the administration of President Barack Obama to pursue a more aggressive course of "regime change" in Tehran. In recent days, their call was unexpectedly...Control of terrorism is most effective at the grassroots
The Christmas day terrorist has shaken the confidence of the public in airline safety and aroused worldwide attention. As of January 4, air passengers originating from or passing through terror-suspect countries will be subjected to special measures of security checks. The new security rules will cause anger in the Muslim world. Of...Why is the American press silent on the Israeli role in NW Flight 253?
On January 10, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz carried a news article by correspondent Yossi Melman pointing out the role of an Israeli security firm, International Consultants on Targeted Security (ICTS), in the failed attempt to detonate a bomb on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253. ICTS subsidiaries I-SEC and PI are...Only psychiatrists can explain Israel’s behavior
Our wild world of crime has recently been sent for observation. From the bodyguard of the IDF Chief of Staff to the killers of their own children - all have been sent for observation. The time has come, as is the custom around here, to send the country for observation, too. Maybe with ongoing treatment from specialists, the diagnosis...We need a new flight plan
Nothing sums up the pointlessness, the prejudice and the unfairness behind profiling better than the following incident, which the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported in an action alert: "A Muslim woman traveler taking a flight Tuesday from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Los Angeles (LAX) reported that...An odyssey for justice in Gaza
The recent actions of people from around the world in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza have arguably represented the closest manifestation of international solidarity since the International Brigades against fascism during the Spanish Civil War. A bold assertion? Palestinian children stand in an abandoned car in the...
675 million added to terrorism list
January 9th, 20100 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) undated handout image shows a composite of 4 separate scans, a female in the left two and a male in the right two, from a whole body scan machine, or millimeter wave machine. REUTERS/TSA (Transportation Security...Muslim scholars: Seek Islamic spirit, not state
The Islamic state is a controversial issue in the West, as recent news confirms. Last October, an imam was killed by the FBI in Detroit, seemingly for allegedly conspiring to establish an Islamic state in the United States. In the United Kingdom, government officials worry that extremist groups like Hizb-ut-Tahrir have...New revelations tear holes in nuclear trigger story
WASHINGTON (IPS) - New revelations about two documents leaked to The Times of London to show that Iran is working on a "nuclear trigger" mechanism have further undermined the credibility of the document the newspaper had presented as evidence of a continuing Iranian nuclear weapons program. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...Israel’s fictional undivided Jerusalem
Israel's near hysterical reaction to a Swedish proposal to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, their stubborn refusal to include East Jerusalem in their questionable "settlement freeze" and their defense of repressive policies imposed on Palestinians in that holy city are framed in language that masks...Minaret ban indicates evolving fascism
There are many reasons to be worried about the Swiss minaret ban, but one of the most important – and least discussed – is the fact that a far right party was successful in mobilizing people to institutionalize racism. The success of the Swiss People's Party in this endeavor points to the dark truth that fascism isn't dead, but...The lobby within dictates policy
A just and peaceful solution to the protracted Palestinian-Israeli conflict is only possible if the U.S. ceases to block every attempt made towards it. This assertion might raise many questions. For example, just how is one to define a just and peaceful resolution? And for what reasons would the U.S. obstruct such a possibility,...Old ways of fighting for rights must change
This week, we've seen a perfect example of how the rejectionists over-press their support for Palestinian rights in Europe and end up creating disasters that harm the Palestinian cause. The activists have been pressing European Union officials to declare that Jerusalem is to be a shared city. A proposal condemning Israel's expulsion of......
Israel’s illegal settlements in America
U.S. Envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, was highly enthusiastic about Israel's partial, temporary illegal settlement freeze stating "it is more than any Israeli government has done before and can help move toward agreement between the parties." In fact, Israel has done more. In 2005 Israel reversed settlement construction...My compatriots’ vote to ban minarets is fueled by fear
(Editor's note: A referendum banning the construction of minarets in Switzerland was endorsed by 57.5 percent of voters on Sunday, November 29, 2009. The referendum was sponsored by the extreme rightwing Swiss People's Party This is a response to the surprise vote by Swiss citizen and Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan.). It wasn't meant to...Zionism’s un-Christian Bible
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign should widen its scope to target non-Israeli companies who contribute significantly to the oppression of Palestinians. As part of this broader strategy, priority should be given to one of the most egregious offenders, the prestigious British publisher, Oxford University Press. As...Attacks on Iran are attacks on Obama
In the last few weeks, there has been a flurry of unsubstantiated accusations against Iran. These accusations may seem to be aimed at Iran but, in fact, a pattern is emerging, which suggests that the attacks are really directed at destroying the Obama administration by discrediting its goodwill gesture toward Iran, which is a sharp......
Wahabism is the greatest challenge of the 21st century
September 11, 2001, forced us to look into the dark and mysterious world of Islamic militants. It seems that they emerged from the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, fully grown, already angry, and holding a Kalashnikov. Recently, Major Nidal Malik Hasan went on a shooting spree, which left 12 soldiers and one civilian dead and...Need for U.S.-sponsored Arab-Israeli deal
Palestinians and Israelis are locked in a relationship of deep mistrust. A credible outside force must intervene to break an enduring cycle of despair. A Palestinian boy sits outside a tent near his house, which was destroyed during the three-week offensive Israel launched last December, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza......
No emergency summits for Arab human development crisis
When the first Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) was published in 2002, a star glistened in a vast, gloomy sky. The fact that a UN-sponsored report, authored by independent Arab scholars, would receive so much attention in Arab media, was in itself a promising start. The fact that such terminology as human security, personal...Another war in the works
Does anyone remember all the lies they were told by President Bush and the "mainstream media" about the grave threat to America from weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? These lies were repeated endlessly in the print and TV media despite the reports from the weapons inspectors, who had been sent to Iraq, that no such weapons existed.......
