The so-called “cease-fire” between Israel and Hamas which began on June 19 is officially holding, with both sides saying they are sticking to it, but the facts on the ground tell a different story. Israel assassinated a leader of Islamic Jihad on June 24 in the West Bank. The group…
Israel has agreed to a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. Israel is seeking to obtain the bodies of two soldiers presumed dead, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, who were captured in 2006, precipitating an invasion of Lebanon by Israel and war with Hezbollah. 159 Israelis were killed during that war, and…
A report recently published by Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) “reveals the widespread phenomenon of violence against bound Palestinian detainees by IDF soldiers and the almost absolute indifference to the IDF, the Ministry of Defense and the Knesset towards the existence of this phenomenon and the need to…
The New York Times reports on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s statements over the weekend on her visit to Israel with regard to Israel’s continued settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. “Ms. Rice was more explicit than usual in asserting that the construction was reducing confidence in the talks.”…
Der Spiegel reports that “The Israeli government no longer believes that sanctions can prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. A broad consensus in favor of a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities — without the Americans, if necessary — is beginning to take shape.” In a standard line, Spiegel reports…
The EU offered incentives to Iran this week in an effort to convince it to stop enriching uranium. Iran responded by once again declaring that it had no intention of stopping enrichment and that its right to do so for nuclear power was guaranteed as a member of the NPT…
The threat of military attack against Iran has continued to escalate as the European Union this week conceded to pressure from the US to implement stricter sanctions against Iran for refusing to cease from enriching uranium for its nuclear program. Earlier this week, Israeli transport minister Shaul Mofaz threatened, “If…
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned that Israel is planning a large scale invasion of the Gaza Strip. The purpose would be to put a stop to rocket attacks that have killed a number of Israelis recently, and wrest away control of the territory from Hamas and hand it…
Israel once again threatened to attack Iran over its nuclear program this week. Speaking to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, transport minister Shaul Mofaz threatened, “If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective. Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear…
Israel has yet again announced further plans to continue construction of settlements in the occupied territories, declaring its intentions to build 900 new homes in or near East Jerusalem. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas protested the announcement and continued illegal settlement activity, saying, “If Israel does not halt these activities, it…
A recent op-ed in the Washington Post offers an instructive example of elite opinion towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the kind of logic, or lack thereof, which guides U.S. policy. Richard Cohen, in an article entitled, “They Honor Us With Their Hate”, begins by reminding his readers of news that…
There is no great lack of ignorance about the religion of Islam in the United States. In a recent New York Times editorial, entitled “Can You Tell a Sunni From a Shiite”, Jeff Stein relates having asked intelligence and law enforcement officials, as well as members of Congress, what the…
U.S. intelligence analysts, in a recent National Intelligence Estimate, have once again reiterated that “The war in Iraq has become a primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers may be increasing faster than the United States and its…
During President Bush’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, he referred to the recent conflict in Lebanon, saying, a “group of extremists deliberately provoked a terrible conflict in Lebanon.” He was referring to the abduction of Israeli soldiers by Hamas and then again by Hezbollah. Irrelevant is the…
A principle obstacle to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we are frequently told, is Palestinian rejection of Israel’s “right to exist”. Recently, for example, this matter has reared its head as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called for a referendum calling for a “two-state solution” to the conflict, while…
Last week, Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said, “Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation’s fury. Any who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world…As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map.”[1] British…
Jeremy R. Hammond is an independent political analyst and a recipient of the Project Censored Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. He is the founding editor of Foreign Policy Journal (www.foreignpolicyjournal.com) and can also be found on the web at JeremyRHammond.com. His new book, "Ron Paul vs. Paul Krugman: Austrian vs. Keynesian economics in the financial crisis", is now available at Amazon.com.
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