Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah secretary general of Hezbollah in a speech in Baalbek – Lebanon on Saturday January 14th declared that he would like to thank Mr. Ban Ki Moon Secretary General of the United Nations for worrying about Hezbollah’s growing military strength. Sayyed Nasrallah on Arbaeen: "Our Certainty of this... » read this article

"Farewell, my library! Farewell, the house of wisdom, the abode of philosophers, a house and witness for literature! How many sleepless nights I spent there, reading and writing, the night is silent and the people asleep… goodbye, my books!... I know not what has become of you after we left:... » read this article

... » read this article

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is... » read this article

While the history of the world is moving decisively toward a culture of inclusion, diversity and pluralism, Israeli politics seems to challenge history by moving in the opposite direction of exclusion and unilateral self - righteous monopoly of geography, demography, history, archeology and culture, especially in Jerusalem, where Israelis are... » read this article

Claire Anastas is standing outside her gift shop on Rachel's Tomb Street in Bethlehem. A Christian, she has lived all her life in this city where she runs a gift shop selling hand-carved olive wood products to sell to the throngs of visitors from all over the world who come... » read this article

William James Martin interviewed by Iranian journalist Sohrab Bohan President of the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, said Palestinians cannot not join UN ranks as a member state without confirmation by the Security Council, and the US is set to veto such an initiative. How do... » read this article

JERUSALEM—Major offshore gas strikes in 2009 and 2010 may soon convert Israel into a gas exporting country with self-sufficient energy. But perhaps more important than the gas under the sea is the mock crude trapped in husk dry sands and rock hard shale, reserves which could push Israel into the... » read this article

A German Submarine Defends Palestine On October 31, 2011, Palestine was accepted as full member by UNESCO, which became the first UN agency to recognize it as an independent country. Several other agencies are expected to take a similar decision in following month. The US entered UN Alley, by opposing... » read this article

Editor's Note: The title of this essay/report could be misunderstood. Egypt is anything but "free" after Egyptians Spring 2011 revolt was co-opted by the Egyptian military who are now conducting a violent counter-revolution against their own people. But the author places emphasis on Israel's violations of their 1979 peace treaty... » read this article

Washington responded to the admission of the Palestinian Authority to UNESCO by pulling out of the organization, but without leaving it formally. This is what the Reagan administration had done in 1984 for similar reasons. But this reflex response poses unexpected problems to the State Department. First, it is difficult... » read this article

Introduction There are two views of Obama’s speech to the General Assembly on September 21, 2011, and his opposition to the recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state and its admission to the UN. The common opinion of foreign policy experts was that Obama led the US to an ignominious... » read this article

In his September 21 speech to the United Nations, President Obama announced that he would veto UN recognition of a Palestinian state, because its independence was not a result of a negotiated settlement with Israel. He said that "peace depends upon compromise among people who must live together long after... » read this article

Venezuela Ratifies Sovereignty of Palestinian State Editor's Note: On September 17, 2011 Hugo Chávez Frias, President of The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela sent the following letter to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, to confirm the Venezuelan government's support for the establishment of the State of Palestine. The Venezuelan president... » read this article

This week at the UN - if the U.S. push to disable the process does not succeed - a vote will be taken on Palestinian statehood. The U.S. has already stated that it will veto any vote that supports Palestinian statehood. So why take the vote if that is the... » read this article

Virginia Tilley, writing in the Electronic Intifada, under the title, "Bantustans and the unilateral declaration of statehood" has argued that the Palestinian Authority's move toward a UN resolution declaring statehood is destructive of Palestinian aspiration for statehood.   Unfortunately, Ms Tilley's grasp of the Palestinian situation is distorted by her... » read this article

Editor's Note: It seems obvious that Israel coordinated this massive attack in Gaza with the final attack on Tripoli by the NATO Mafia. With the eyes of the fixed on NATO's killing in Libya, Israel was getting away with another murderous rampage in Gaza. - LMB Sunday, 21 August 2011 12:00    In conjunction with the... » read this article

Refusing to be Enemies - Palestinian and Israeli Nonviolent Resistance to the Israeli Occupation. Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta. Ithaca Press (Garnet Publishing, Reading, UK), 2011. Israel has always indicated that there is no partner for peace in its relationships with the Palestinian people. Refusing to be Enemies refutes that idea solidly through... » read this article

There is much angst among people of conscience over the fate of Freedom Flotilla II, but by effectively scuttling it, Israel is really just hammering more nails in its own coffin. The efforts by Israel to prevent Freedom Flotilla II from leaving Greece have been largely successful. Of the original... » read this article

Sometimes the timing is flagrant, like the recent commotion in Greece. In the very hours of forbidding the passage1 of the aid flotilla to Gaza, the financially strapped Greek government welcomed the approval of an €8.7 billion2 aid payment from the European Union. With Israels' position as an EU-groupie, even... » read this article