Archive | Commentary

Emily Dickinson once advised: “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.”  Evidently the New York Times‘ headline writers are taking advice from the enigmatic poet.  The headline on the story on how the Obama administration will be going easy on banks and bankers getting bailout money blamed it all on the Treasury Secretary: “Geithner […]

  “Supporting the Palestinian people’s struggle for self-determination is a duty of Israeli communists.” The Communist Party of Israel (CPI) and its front Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) were the only political forces in Israel that confronted the massacre perpetrated by the Tzahal (IDF), the Israeli armed forces, in Gaza last January.  Regrettably, […]

Fatah and Hamas The results of the public opinion poll conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC) during the period 29-31 January 2009 show that the majority of respondents (46.7%) believed that Hamas came out of the war victorious compared with only 9.8% who said that Israel won the war.  Over one-third, 37.4%, […]

  After a decade of political polarization and international standoff, the debate on Zimbabwe has finally been opened up to a wider reading public, thanks to Mahmood Mamdani’s “Lessons of Zimbabwe,” appearing in the London Review of Books (04/12/2008).  Renowned scholars, within and without Africa, have broken their silence and have taken public positions.  The […]

  CP: After twenty-five years of sporadic growth and extreme polarization of income and life conditions around the world, actually existing neoliberalism seems to be on the verge of collapse.  Where do you situate the current crisis in the history of the development of global capitalism? JBF: Neoliberalism has clearly collapsed.  But as Fred Magdoff […]

February 3, 2009 Dear All, Last week, with initial hesitation but finally strong conviction, I endorsed the Call for a U.S. Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel.   I’d like to offer my reasons to friends, family and comrades.  I have tried in fullest conscience to think this through. My hesitation: I profoundly believe in […]

Fog covered El Alto, Bolivia on Saturday morning as social movements from around the country marched into the city to mark the official passage of Bolivia’s new constitution.  “This is the second independence, the true liberation of Bolivia,” Bolivian President Evo Morales said as he signed the new constitution. The new constitution was approved by […]

  The parliament broadened by the Djibouti peace process elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, chairman of the executive council of the Islamic Courts Union, as President of Somalia.  The Ethiopian occupation alone had failed to shore up the Transitional Federal Government, so Washington had to try a new tack.  Al Jazeera’s report, however, indicates trouble […]

Granted, the Somali political conundrum is multifaceted in nature.  And, one of these facets, indeed the most frequently cited element perpetuating Somalia’s violence and anarchy, is the lack of good leadership capable of ensuring good governance.  According to the official account, this very element is what toppled the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The indicators of […]

  6 February 2009 The Congress of South African Trade Union is pleased to announce that its members, dock workers belonging to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), achieved a victory last night when they stood firm by their decision not to offload the Johanna Russ, a ship that was carrying Israeli […]

34 year-old Kashif ul-Huda runs TwoCircles.net, the leading Indian Muslim news and features web site.  In this interview with Yoginder Sikand he talks about his work and reflects on Indian Muslims and the media. Q: What made you set up TwoCircles.net?  What was your source of inspiration? A: I come from a working class family […]

What is the story American Jews have been told about Israel and Zionism, and how does it differ from the reality of what happened in Palestine?  Like many American Jews, I was told by my teachers at Hebrew School and in the Jewish Day School I attended that the creation of Israel meant that Jews […]

In the last few weeks, following the recent military attack on Gaza, we have seen an increase in calls for boycott of Israeli institutions in general, and academic institutions in particular.  A general boycott strategy can be useful indeed in mobilizing solidarity with Palestinians and undermining support for Israeli war crimes internationally and within the […]

Now, more then ever, Israeli activists need a powerful global movement to help us build a just peace in Israel/Palestine.  Looking for effective tools for ending the occupation, we have launched a new website WhoProfits.org listing companies directly involved in the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.  […]

As economists in the US warn against the potential for double-digit unemployment, much of the world is already experiencing that reality.  In Spain, 200,000 workers lost their jobs in January alone, the most for a single month on record, pushing that country’s unemployment rate to over 14%.  Over 9% of workers in the Republic of […]

TERMINÓ EL RECESO Y EL SABADO 7 DE FEBRERO VUELVE “LEÑA AL FUEGO” CON UN DEBATE “LEÑA AL FUEGO”: Programa semanal que desde hace nueve años y diez meses se viene emitiendo los sábados de 18 a 20 por Radio de la Ciudad, AM 1110, bajo la conducción del periodista HERMAN SCHILLER.  Este programa se […]

  “In Tunisia, the youth have lost hope and prospects.  The movement of Gafsa is a matter of the whole society.”  So says Tunisian biologist Maya Jribi, the leader of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), which strongly supports the struggle of miners in Gafsa.  The PDP is one of the main opposition parties against President […]

First they rammed the Dignity.  Then they harassed the Spirit of Humanity into turning back to its berth.  Now 18 corsair ships from the Israeli Navy have surrounded the Al-Ikhwa (The Brotherhood) ship, out of Lebanon, and boarded it, ransacking the boat and assaulting its passengers.  The ship was plainly up to no good: it […]

The Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) will soon be no more.  On Thursday, 5 February, its activists will vote for its self-dissolution to create the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA).  Some seven hundred delegates are expected at a four-day conference, 5-8 February, in la Plaine-Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), to launch the new party of Olivier Besancenot. The death certificate […]

  Hadash released a great set of four election commercials today, which feature conversations between a supporter of Meretz and a supporter of Hadash, “The Left vs. the New Left.”  You can see the clips here. My favorite is the one on the Gaza war, which you can watch here in Hebrew.  The Leftie stutters […]