Adnan Al-Bursh was intelligent, humane, and committed. He could speak multiple languages. He saw and could explain the ravages of the occupation and the horrors of the war. He was exactly the kind of person, like the still imprisoned Marwan Barghouti, Israel has always feared might become a leader of the Palestinian people. For that reason, he was also exactly the kind of person Israel has been targeting for elimination under the cover of its bombardment and invasion of Gaza. More
A discussion of the origins of urbanization may provide some insight into the character of modern social problems by highlighting the long historical dynamic at work. It may not be out of place here to point out that anti‑states are well known in the modern world, above all in what the U.S. Federal Reserve Board classifies as eleven offshore banking centers. Five such enclaves are in the Caribbean: Panama, the Netherlands Antilles (Curacao), Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the British West Indies (Cayman Islands). Three enclaves—Hong Kong, Macao, and Singapore—were founded to conduct the China trade. The remaining three are Liberia, Lebanon, and Bahrain at the mouth of the Persian Gulf—the island which Bronze Age Sumerians called Dilmun when they used it to trade with the Indus valley and the Iranian shore. More
The UAW is on a roll. After winning stupendous contracts at the Big Three automakers this past year, the union then organized Volkswagen in Tennessee April 20. What’s eye-popping about this is that the UAW succeeded not only in the South, but also with a foreign car manufacturer – a twofer. Now as the union zooms in on a May vote by 5000 workers at Mercedes in Alabama, the larger implications of Shawn Fain’s still relatively new union presidency have become clear, namely, a change in workers’ culture in the anti-union, right-to-work South; because if the UAW racks up more wins in the region, that will alter the local political ecosystem. Politicos will find themselves in an environment that includes a growing union presence, something they have sought to extirpate for generations. More
It’s difficult to imagine an Israeli war in the Middle East that allowed any Arab country to claim victory. The history of the Middle East over the past 75 years has been a history of war, and the Israelis have been the overwhelming victor in each and every one of them. Israel’s War of Independence in 1948 marked an overwhelming victory for the Israelis; it created the profound antagonisms that have marked Israeli relations with the Arab states over the past 75 years. The United States and Israel over the years have indulged in a dialogue about a “peace process,” but Arab refugees have known neither “peace” nor “process.” More
