Israel

The Tragedy of Ehud Olmert

Hillel Schenker : Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

The fall of Ehud Olmert is a tragedy for Israel and the world--squandering a genuine opportunity for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab relations.
Israel, Iran and the Bomb

Jonathan Schell & Martin J. Sherwin : Iran

Israel and the Mideast are approaching a stark choice: nuclear holocaust or a nuclear-free region.
Obama in Israel: One Tough Audience

Hillel Schenker : Presidential Election 2008

The media was enthused, but ordinary Israelis, cynical about their own political leaders, gave Obama a muted reception. The refrain here is "No, they can't," not "Yes, he can."
The End of History: With a Period, Not a Question Mark

Phyllis Bennis : Middle East

Palestinians lament the Israeli-built wall and life under occupation, and fear permanent restricted access to the holy city of Jerusalem.
Obama's Blind Spot on Israel

Nadia Hijab : Presidential Election 2008

Why is Barack Obama courting right-wing groups like AIPAC and steering clear of the American Jewish left and center?
Bush's Islamist Enemies List

Mohamad Bazzi : Middle East

By conflating Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah, the President displays his ignorance--and could be laying the groundwork for attacks by Israel on Hamas and Hezbollah.
On Not Passing Israel's 'Lynch Test'

Akiva Eldar : Middle East

On the sixtieth anniversary of Israel's founding, one of the country's leading journalists reflects on history, the occupation and the duties of conscience.
Israel's Struggle for Social Justice

Neve Gordon

Despite conflict and contradictions, what is precious and beautiful about Israel is its ongoing struggle for social justice.
The Strangulation of Gaza

Saree Makdisi : Occupation & Occupied Territories

The breach in the wall at Rafah dramatized the fact that an imprisoned population is at the point of starvation.

2007

Israel Turns its Back on Sudanese Refugees

Ben Lynfield : Migration & Immigration

Abandoning Israel's longstanding commitment to those fleeing persecution, the Olmert government is deporting refugees back to Sudan, where they may face torture and death.
The Optimist

Eyal Press : Yasir Arafat

To those who follow the Israeli-Palestinian conflict closely, the prospects for a two-state solution have never seemed dimmer. So why does veteran peacenik Uri Avnery remain so hopeful?
Lobbying Degree Zero

Daniel Lazare : Non-Fiction

Moral mudslinging has stifled debate over the Israel lobby.
Ha'aretz, Israel's Liberal Beacon

Stephen Glain : Alternative & Independent Media

A spirited daily paper is the last remaining defender of Israel's tradition of dissent.
Israel's Intrepid Peacemakers

Neve Gordon : Peace Activism

Their numbers are dwindling, they're low on money and face potential violence and certain prosecution. But Israeli anarchists continue to stand with embattled Palestinians.
Laboratory for a Fortressed World

Naomi Klein : War on Terrorism

Gaza is in chaos, but Israel's economy is booming as high-tech entrepreneurs scramble to meet the post-9/11 world's hunger for spy tools and containment walls.
Silencing New Voices

Eyal Press : Student Movements

What happens when a student magazine committed to fostering dialogue opens its pages to critical views on Israel?
Israel's Strategic Threat

Neve Gordon

Azmi Bishara, a member of the Knesset, has been charged with treason for speaking out against injustices committed by Israel.
In Gaza, Circles of Hell

Jen Marlowe : Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Dante's circles of hell provide an apt metaphor for the Palestinian experience in Gaza. And it can only get worse.
Get Carter! Iran, Too!

Alexander Cockburn : Jimmy Carter

The Israel lobby retains its grip inside the Beltway, but it's starting to lose its hold on the broader public debate.

2006

Get Carter

Chris Hedges : Jimmy Carter

The flap over Jimmy Carter's new book underscores that the Israel lobby in the United States exists to serve only the interests of the Israeli right wing.
The Rise of Avigdor Lieberman

Ben Lynfield

Many Israelis and their American allies are sleeping through the rise of the virulently anti-Arab Avigdor Lieberman.
The Other Lieberman

Ben Lynfield : Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Many Israelis and their US supporters are sleeping through the rise of the virulently anti-Arab Avigdor Lieberman, seen as a threat to democracy itself.
Gaza and Darfur

Alexander Cockburn : Occupation & Occupied Territories

There's no political risk for US media to sound off over genocide in Darfur, but challenging Israel's shameful seige of Gaza is quite a different story.
Dems Rebut Carter on Israeli 'Apartheid'

Michael F. Brown : Democratic Party

Jimmy Carter's bold new book on the plight of Palestinians has piqued Congressional Democrats who tailor their views to the Israel lobby.
Israel's Cassandra

Arno Mayer

If Israel is to fulfill the Zionist vision of being a state like any other, it must take responsibility for the ever-more explosive Middle East.
Israel Lobby Watch

Philip Weiss : Human Rights

The Human Rights Watch reports that were sharply critical of Israel's killing of civilians in Lebanon represent the latest battle for Jewish hearts and minds in the ideological war over the Middle East.
Israel on the Slide: Who's to Blame?

Alexander Cockburn : Media Analysis

The Israeli press has criticized the Lebanon disaster from all political angles. The American press chooses to cheerlead instead, while liberal Jewry remains silent.
Cedar Devolution

Joseph Logan : Lebanon

The UN cease-fire in Lebanon demands the impossible: a Lebanese state capable of both disarming Hezbollah and protecting the south from renewed Israeli attacks.
Fallout in Israel

Eyal Press : Lebanon

Israel's war with Hezbollah may have strengthened the hand of the Israeli right, which has forgotten that peace comes only by negotiating with those you do not trust.
Lessons Learned

Saree Makdisi : Lebanon

As a tentative ceasefire takes hold between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the world--and the United States in particular--should ponder lessons learned and the price we will pay for our role in the conflict.
A Letter from 18 Writers

Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, Toni Morrison and other luminaries call to resist Israel's undeclared political aim: the liquidation of the Palestinian state.
Cease-Fire and Frustration

Ian Williams : United Nations

After thirty-one days of war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and more than 1,000 dead, the United Nations has finally passed a cease-fire. Now what?
Crisis in Lebanon

: Lebanon

The inactivity of the Bush Administration on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is armchair warfare against the interests of all. For peace, we must press for an immediate cease-fire.
Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism

Max Blumenthal : Zionism

Rapture-ready Christian Zionists have hired their first full-time Washington lobbyist. He's experienced, connected--and, oy vey, he's Jewish.
Israeli Doves Challenge the War

Jon Wiener : Lebanon

According to the Western media, most Israelis, including leading peace advocates, support the ongoing war in Lebanon. But Israeli doves are beginning to speak out. Will it make a difference?
Is Israel Good for the Jews?

Norman Birnbaum : US Foreign Policy

An American Jewish identity that centers on unconditional defense of Israel is not healthy--for either American Jews or Israel.
AIPAC's Hold

Ari Berman : Middle East

The Congressional reaction to Hezbollah's attack on Israel and Israel's bombing of Lebanon provide the latest example of the lobby's grip on US foreign policy.
Dreams Deferred in Lebanon

Annia Ciezadlo : Lebanon

The wounds of the country's long civil war and Israeli occupation were gradually healing. That fragile recovery now lies buried under the rubble of renewed fighting.
Israel's Dependency on the Drug of Militarism

Robert Scheer : Middle East

The Jewish state's diehard supporters in the White House, Congress and the media seem unable to understand Israel can't bomb its way to security.
Anger in the Arab World

Rashid I. Khalidi : Middle East

At best, war in Gaza and Lebanon will weaken pro-American regimes without destroying Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran or Syria. At worst, it will plunge the region into catastrophe.
The Fractured Mideast

: Middle East

Bush's Mideast strategy of inaction is a dangerous failure. He must act diplomatically to achieve a cease-fire, prisoner exchange and Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands.
Nasrallah's Game

Adam Shatz : Lebanon

To some observers, the attacks orchestrated by Sheik Sayed Hassan Nasrallah that detonated Israel's ruthless assault on Lebanon look like a death wish--but it's almost impossible to defeat someone who has no fear of death.
The UN's Mideast Mission

Ian Williams : United Nations

The United Nations can be a useful tool in settling the current crisis in Lebanon and Gaza, but only with US support. It is up to President Bush to get on the phone to Ehud Olmert and tell him to stop.
Open Mike, Closed Mind

Robert Scheer : George W. Bush

Bush's boorish comments at the G-8 summit revealed more than his ignorance of the Mideast: His policies have made the US a helpless bystander as the entire region burns.
Fear and Shopping in Beirut

Annia Ciezadlo : Lebanon

As Lebanon braces for a descent into an all-too-familiar chaos, fear, anger and the quest for comfort have sent Beirutis to the streets in search of bread and someone to blame for destroying their hope for a sane future.
Too High a Price

: Lebanon

The spreading violence in Lebanon and Gaza demonstrate that the collective punishment of the Palestinian and Lebanese people is not only inhumane and should be condemned but also leads to more radicalization and to more chaos.
The Zionist Imagination

Jacqueline Rose : Fiction

As the founding father of the Zionist right, Vladimir Jabotinsky rejected Diaspora existence. Yet in his 1935 novel The Five he tenderly evoked it, offering a glimpse of something darker.
Bitter Wine for Israel's Bedouins

Neve Gordon

Israel's plans for a series of farms and wineries designed to draw tourists to the Negev Desert is the latest insult to its marginalized Bedouin population.
Ferment Over 'The Israel Lobby'

Philip Weiss : US Foreign Policy

Criticisms of the Israel lobby have circulated for years, but it took two professors and the Iraq War to inject realist ideas into the debate.
The Israel Divestment Debate

Hasdai Westbrook : Protestantism & Protestants

Traditional bonds between Jews and mainline Christians are strained as a concern for Palestinian rights spurs churches to consider divesting from Israeli companies.
AIPAC's Complaint

Eric Alterman : US Foreign Policy

Analytical weaknesses in a controversial academic paper on the impact of the "Israel lobby" on US Mideast policy hinder its authors' attempt to pierce the wall of ignorance and intimidation erected around the debate.
'The Lobby'

: US Foreign Policy

The recent furor over a scholarly article suggesting that the "Israel lobby" drives US Mideast policy presents an opportunity for vigorous open debate on a volatile subject.
Israel's Backward March

Neve Gordon

If Israel's Kadima Party prevails at the polls as expected, its policies will effectively take Israelis several steps backward.
Too Hot for New York

Philip Weiss : Theater

My Name Is Rachel Corrie was a big hit in London, but the New York Theatre Workshop backed off from producing the play. Why is it so hard for Americans to have a healthy debate about Palestinian human rights?
The Hamas Triumph

Graham Usher

What if the West responded to Hamas's victory not with sanctions but with a commitment to resume negotiations from where they left off in 2000?
Storm Clouds Over Iran

Richard Falk : Nuclear Arms & Proliferation

The confrontation with Iran is a wakeup call to states that possess nuclear weapons: In a world of nuclear apartheid, multilateral disarmament is the only course of action that can succeed.
Israel After Sharon

Hillel Schenker : Ariel Sharon

Suddenly, the Sharon era is over. And Sharon's centrist Kadima Party may emerge as the dominant force after the March 28 elections.

2005

A History of Violence

Stuart Klawans : Sports

Munich is a first-rate spy thriller featuring an assassin who reveals his soul. Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain gives two extraordinary actors time and space to develop a rare emotional interplay. Match Point puzzles with a dirty-minded energy. And Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong is true to the Depression-era original.
After Gaza: Back to Sanity?

Hillel Schenker : Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Ordinary Israelis have run out of tears for the former settlers of Gaza and an outbreak of political sanity may be at hand.