January 2009

OBAMA’S “NEW” APPROACH TO THE MIDDLE EAST: Bring in a “dead-hand on the wheel peacemaker”

by Paul Woodward 01.08.2009

Obama picks Ross as Mideast envoy By Daniel Dombey, Financial Times, January 8, 2009 Dennis Ross, a former top diplomat for the George H W Bush and Clinton administrations, will become the Obama administration’s top envoy on the Middle East, an internal email from Mr Ross’s current employer has revealed. Mr Ross, who previously served [...]

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MUST READ: Avi Shlaim puts the Gaza catastrophe in its historical context

by Paul Woodward 01.07.2009

How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe By Avi Shlaim, The Guardian, January 7, 2009 The only way to make sense of Israel’s senseless war in Gaza is through understanding the historical context. Establishing the state of Israel in May 1948 involved a monumental injustice to the Palestinians. British officials bitterly resented [...]

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NEWS & VIEWS ROUNDUP & EDITOR’S COMMENT: January 7

by Paul Woodward 01.07.2009

Israel provides Palestinians with snacks as it takes massacre rest breaks By Craig Whitlock, Griff Witte and Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, January 7, 2009 Israel briefly paused its military operations in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and said it planned to do so for three hours each day to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid, [...]

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“This is an all out war against the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza”

by Paul Woodward 01.06.2009

“This is an all out war against the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza” A Norwegian doctor — one of only two Western doctors working in Gaza City’s Sifa hospital — exposes Israel’s lies about minimizing civilian casualties in Gaza. Dr Mads Gilbert on Sky Television (via CBS) Dr Gilbert on BBC News Share

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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: OBAMA MUST BREAK HIS SILENCE

by Paul Woodward 01.06.2009

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: OBAMA MUST BREAK HIS SILENCE 40 Palestinians killed in IDF strike on UN school Haaretz, January 6, 2009 Israel Defense Forces tank fire killed up to 40 Palestinians at a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources at two hospitals said. The attack brought the Palestinian death toll [...]

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NEWS & VIEWS ROUNDUP & EDITOR’S COMMENT: January 6

by Paul Woodward 01.06.2009

This brutality will never break our will to be free By Khalid Meshaal, The Guardian, January 6, 2009 For 18 months my people in Gaza have been under siege, incarcerated inside the world’s biggest prison, sealed off from land, air and sea, caged and starved, denied even medication for our sick. After the slow death [...]

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EDITORIAL: Wars against ideas always fail

by Paul Woodward 01.05.2009

Wars against ideas always fail By Paul Woodward, War in Context, January 5, 2009 Israel will lose its war against Hamas. How do I know? Because Hamas is a movement which even if it has highly destructible physical nodes is nevertheless tied together within a missile-proof conceptual space. The only things that bombs and bullets [...]

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MONOGRAPH: Hamas and Israel: Conflicting strategies of group-based politics

by Paul Woodward 01.05.2009

Hamas and Israel: Conflicting strategies of group-based politics By Dr. Sherifa D. Zuhur, United States Army War College, December 23, 2008 Summary The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis has heightened since 2001, even as any perceived threat to Israel from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, or even Syria, has declined. Israel, according to Chaim Herzog, Israel’s sixth [...]

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NEWS & VIEWS ROUNDUP & EDITOR’S COMMENT: January 5

by Paul Woodward 01.05.2009

Qatar calls for an emergency Arab summit on Gaza By Paul Woodward, The National, January 5, 2009 In an appeal to Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit and take a stance to stop Israel’s assault on Gaza, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani said: “Once again, we see that the [...]

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EDITORIAL: Israeli propaganda campaign downplays the success of the truce – UPDATED

by Paul Woodward 01.04.2009

Israeli propaganda campaign downplays the success of the truce By Paul Woodward, War in Context, January 4, 2009 (UPDATE: Since the graphs appearing below have been removed from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) website, some readers might have doubts about there authenticity. However, Jeffrey Goldberg who blogs at the Atlantic, has kindly alerted [...]

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NEWS & VIEWS ROUNDUP: January 4

by Paul Woodward 01.04.2009

Why Israel went to war in Gaza By Chris McGreal, The Observer, January 4, 2009 After the debacle of its 2006 invasion of Lebanon – not only a military disaster for Israel, but also a political and diplomatic one – the government in Tel Aviv spent months laying the groundwork at home and abroad for [...]

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NEWS & VIEWS ROUNDUP & EDITOR’S COMMENTS: January 3

by Paul Woodward 01.03.2009

Barack Obama’s silence on Gaza bombings is galling to Arabs By Liz Sly, Chicago Tribune, January 4, 2009 President-elect Barack Obama’s silence on the weeklong conflict in Gaza is drawing criticism among Arabs who have grown skeptical about hopes that his administration will break with the Mideast policies of the Bush era. Obama, who is [...]

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NEWS & VIEWS ROUNDUP: January 2

by Paul Woodward 01.02.2009

Israel launches fresh attacks in seventh day of fighting By Griff Witte, Washington Post, January 2, 2008 Israel bombed a mosque and the homes of at least half a dozen Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip on Friday and allowed foreign passport holders to leave the ravaged territory, as speculation rose that a ground assault [...]

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OPINION & EDITOR’S COMMENT: Time for engagement in a new political process

by Paul Woodward 01.01.2009

Israel can’t bomb its way to peace By Rosa Brooks, Los Angeles Times, January 1, 2008 Israel has no viable political endgame here: There’s just no clear route from bombardment to a sustainable peace. But the damage caused by this new conflagration won’t be limited to the Israelis and Palestinians. Israel’s military offensive already has [...]

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Regional impact of the war on Gaza

by Paul Woodward 01.01.2009

Gaza attack strengthens Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood By Joseph Mayton, The Media Line, January 1, 2008 Rarely do Egyptian demonstrations see thousands of people take to the streets. But, put together anti-Israeli and anti-government sentiments spearheaded by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, and the result is the country’s largest street action since the first anniversary of the [...]

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NEWS & VIEWS ROUNDUP: January 1

by Paul Woodward 01.01.2009

Al Jazeera: Gazans live in fear of further attacks New Year in Gaza: “Our fireworks are the Israeli missiles” By Rami Almeghari, Electronic Intifada, December 31, 2008 “Look outside, F-16 jet fighters are smiling for you, missiles are dancing for you, zannana [the Palestinian name for pilotless drones] are singing for you. I requested them [...]

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