Archive | July, 2006

  The Current Crisis in Israel, Lebanon, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories — Bat Shalom Statement We, members of Bat Shalom, an Israeli women’s peace organization, dedicated to ending the occupation and achieving a just, sustainable peace based on a two-state solution, regard the continuously escalating use of violence and force in our region as […]

  Ralph Peters, a columnist of the New York Post (“Israel’s New Wars,” 17 July 2006), takes note of the fact that Israel, preferring to stick to air strikes, has not decisively sent its ground troops into Lebanon and frets that “Israel is signaling its enemies that it’s afraid to risk its soldiers’ lives.”  Besides, […]

  Part 1 Wednesday, 19 July, Afternoon (The local time is six hours behind Japan Time.) After many detours, I arrived at Beirut. Planning to cover Samawa, I left Japan a week ago (on the 12th), and I was making preparations in Amman, but I couldn’t arrange for an entry into and security in Iraq, […]

Click on the cartoon for a larger view. Lebanon Is Burning Carlos Latuff, born in Rio de Janeiro on 30 November 1968, is a political cartoonist.  He is the author of the famous “We Are All Palestinians” series, comparing oppressed peoples at various times and places (Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, Blacks in South Africa, […]

  Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review.   Its July-August 2006 issue features the following editorial on the current situation in Nepal. — ED. In the year since the last monsoon, nothing has held out more hope for humanity than events in Nepal. Last summer Nepal […]

IRAN: A THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES? Issues to be addressed include: The century-long history of big power intervention in Iran. The US-Iran conflict over Iran’s nuclear energy program.  What are the international legal issues?  What do the Iranian people think? Impact of sanctions or US military intervention.  What is the likely impact on Iran […]

At a press conference today, journalist Akbar Ganji had just finished vilifying the “intolerant culture” of non-Europeans when he failed to intervene against Western censorship happening right before his eyes.  He is touring the United States to, in his words, raise awareness about government abuses in Iran, including his six-year imprisonment that ended last March.  […]

Friday, July 14, 2006 Bang?  Blog! 2 years of laziness before starting this blog. i’ll begin then by thanking israel who burned in one night two years of efforts to avoid getting myself trapped in this adventure.  good job guys!  especially the airport party.  and the bridges.  no way to leave the country.  nothing else […]

At a time when the Iraq war continues to be a defining issue on the American scene, it is ironic that the most powerful and uncompromising documentary on the subject remains almost entirely unknown and unseen in this country.  It took Japanese filmmaker Takeharu Watai a year and a half to film more than 123 […]

While much of the media focused in late May on another failed search for Jimmy Hoffa, the long dead former leader of the Teamsters union, the living members of the Teamsters had to contend with a union increasingly in disarray under the leadership of his son — James P. Hoffa, Jr. The current problems center […]

  Statement issued by the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on the Escalation of Zionist Aggression against the Territory of Lebanon and Palestine. Epic steadfastness and resistance — the epic of Ghazza and al-Karama — continue in the land of Palestine and Lebanon.  The Lebanese and Palestinian peoples are […]

Dear President Bush: You have been a weak president, despite your strutting and barking, when it comes to doing the right things for the American people within the Constitution and its rule of law.  This trait is now in bold relief over the Israeli government’s escalating war crimes pulverizing the defenseless people and country of […]

  Israel’s military offensives in Gaza and Lebanon have reenergized the neoconservatives, who see an opportunity to regain influence lost as a result of setbacks in Iraq.  While insisting on unconditional U.S. support for Israel, the neoconservatives are also pushing for possible U.S. attacks on Tehran’s nuclear facilities in retaliation for its support of Hezbollah. […]

Circular of the Political Bureau of the Lebanese Communist Party on Current Developments for Party Organizations and Friends On Current Developments: The Fifth Day of the Aggression Since the start of the aggression, our party has defined its position and stance as being at the head of those opposing with all possible means the aggression […]

Since the commando assault on 25 June 2006 that led to the death of two Israeli soldiers and the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit, Israel has intensified the almost daily bombing of Gaza which it had started six months ago in response to the Qassam missiles launched towards the Israeli town of Sderot and the […]

A series of bomb blasts ripped through packed commuter trains July 11 in Mumbai, India.  Seven bombs exploded one after another during the evening rush hour.  As of this writing, 186 people had died and nearly 800 injured, while hundreds more were still missing. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The […]

  A significant sentence. On the Al Jazeera Web site, there was a report of Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of Hamas’ and  Hizbullah’s “adventurism.”  The Saudis claimed that “gains” made by Arab leaders were being put in danger.  The Al Jazeera report carried the pithy comment to the effect that the Saudi government did not say […]

  When Fabio Grosso placed his penalty kick into the back of the French goal, Italians around the globe erupted into a state of euphoria.  I was one of those Italians, hungrily following every kicked ball throughout Italy’s run to winning its fourth World Cup, which ranks second only to Brazil’s five.  For my brother […]

July 14, 2006 Hon. Peter MacKay Minister of Foreign Affairs Lester B. Pearson Bldg., A-10 125 Sussex Dr. Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2 Dear Minister, I write to express outrage at your government’s response to the destruction levelled by Israel on the innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon. The world has rightly condemned the killings and […]

Click on the cartoon for a larger view. A Lesson of Lidice Carlos Latuff, born in Rio de Janeiro on 30 November 1968, is a political cartoonist.  He is the author of the famous “We Are All Palestinians” series, comparing oppressed peoples at various times and places (Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, Blacks in South […]