By Farrah Hassen | – ( Otherwords.org ) – “If I must die, you must live to tell my story,” wrote Dr. Refaat Alareer, a 44-year-old Gazan poet and literature professor. A few weeks later, Alareer was killed while sheltering in his sister’s apartment, along with six family members. In the densely populated Gaza Strip, […]
Archives for December 2023
“Tell me how this ends” – Gaza Edition
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – General David Petraeus, as he prepared to help lead an invasion of Iraq, famously asked journalist Rick Atkinson, “Tell me how this ends.” No one doubted that the US could invade and occupy Iraq. It just wasn’t clear even to insiders what the US could possibly do to get back […]
US must Back UN Protection of Gaza’s Civilians, not Veto Resolutions to halt Mass Atrocities
By Louis Charbonneau | – United Nations Director @loucharbon ( Human Rights Watch) – This week, US President Joe Biden warned Israel it was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza, which are laws-of-war violations. The United States should now back those words by acting at the United Nations Security Council to […]
Is Hamas the same as ISIL (the so-called ‘Islamic State Group’)? No . . . and Yes
( The Conversation ) – In the aftermath of Hamas’ bloody raid into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, many Israelis and people around the world equated the newly ultraviolent and audacious Palestinian militant organization with the world’s deadliest terrorist group, ISIL or ISIS – the so-called “Islamic State group” in Iraq and Syria. Israeli Prime […]
The Plague as Life: 327,000 Stricken with Infectious Diseases in Gaza
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In Albert Camus’ novel The Plague, a character at one point asks, “But what does it mean, the plague? It’s life, that’s all.” The plague has come to Gaza. What happens when you force 1.8 million people into a postage-stamp-sized territory and destroy or damage half of their dwelling places, […]
The Doomsday Machine is Still On: Nothing Can Be Changed until it is Faced
By Norman Solomon | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Top American officials in the “national security” establishment are notably good at smooth rhetoric and convenient silences. Their scant regard for truth or human life has changed remarkably little since 1971 when Daniel Ellsberg risked decades in prison to leak the Pentagon Papers to the world. During the […]
In the Caucasus, the US Priority is Fossil Fuels, not Armenians
By Edward Hunt | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Officials in Washington are doubling down on their efforts to create a new energy corridor that runs through the Caucasus, a major transit route for trade and energy that connects Europe and Asia. Focusing on Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries at odds over […]
Why did Biden suddenly accuse Israel of War Crimes in Gaza?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Tuesday, President Joe Biden de facto accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza. He said at a donor event, “Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of […]
Getting Serious about Halting Israeli Genocide
( Code Pink ) – On Friday, December 8, the UN Security Council met under Article 99 for only the fourth time in the UN’s history. Article 99 is an emergency provision that allows the Secretary General to summon the Council to respond to a crisis that “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security.” […]