December 2011

Hamas’s Haniya applauds, Israel denounces PLO unity moves

by News Sources 12.24.2011

AFP reports: The Hamas premier of Gaza, Ismail Haniya, praised steps toward reconciliation taken by the Islamist group and its former rival Fatah, which were angrily denounced in Israel. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal took steps in Cairo on Thursday towards reforming the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organisation, such that Hamas could [...]

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Targeting Iran

by News Sources 12.24.2011

I’m not a fan of Rick Steves’ PBS travelogues, but superficial as it might be, seeing a tourist eye’s view of Iran isn’t such a bad way of normalizing perceptions of this endlessly demonized country. Share

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Iraq’s fractures widen

by News Sources 12.24.2011

Jack Healy reports from Baquba: The governor has fled this uneasy city. Half the members of the provincial council are camped out in northern Iraq, afraid to return to their offices. Peaceful protesters fill the dusty streets, though just days ago angrier crowds blockaded the highways with burning tires and shattered glass. All of this [...]

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Lawrence Wilkerson on the strategic implications of the ‘end’ of the war in Iraq

by News Sources 12.24.2011

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From Pakistan to Afghanistan, U.S. finds convoy of chaos

by News Sources 12.24.2011

Bloomberg Businessweek reports: Like a broker tracking the dips and spikes of a volatile but lucrative stock, Mohammad Shakir Afridi has kept a close eye on U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan since the first Americans landed in the country 10 years ago. As president of the Khyber Transport Assn., one of the largest associations of [...]

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Pakistan army wants Zardari out but not a coup

by News Sources 12.24.2011

Reuters reports: Pakistan’s powerful army is fed up with unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari and wants him out of office, but through legal means and without a repeat of the coups that are a hallmark of the country’s 64 years of independence, military sources said. Tensions are rising between Pakistan’s civilian leaders and its generals [...]

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The Zionist story

by News Sources 12.24.2011

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Why anti-government Americans should be pro-Palestinian

by News Sources 12.24.2011

On the right in the U.S., nothing garners political support as easily as preaching the evils of Big Government. But if someone wants to observe big government in one of its most tyrannical expressions, there’s probably no place better to go than the West Bank where Palestinians live under Israeli military rule. Haaretz reports on [...]

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‘If Jesus were to come this year, Bethlehem would be closed’

by News Sources 12.23.2011

The Guardian reports: If Joseph and Mary were making their way to Bethlehem today, the Christmas story would be a little different, says Father Ibrahim Shomali, a parish priest in the town. The couple would struggle to get into the city, let alone find a hotel room. “If Jesus were to come this year, Bethlehem [...]

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Israeli sniper shoots unarmed protester in Nabi Saleh

by News Sources 12.23.2011

The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee reports: Earlier today, an Israeli military sniper opened fire at demonstrators in the village of Nabi Saleh, injuring one in the thigh. The wounded protester was evacuated by a Red Crescent ambulance to the Salfit hospital. The incident takes place only two weeks after the fatal shooting of Mustafa Tamimi [...]

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Revolution through banking?

by News Sources 12.23.2011

Carne Ross writes: It has been clear for some time that the conduct of the banking and financial industry is one very important cause of the 2008 credit crunch. Moreover, for-profit banks by and large fail to deliver services to the poor, deepening poor people’s marginalization from the mainstream economy. The banks relentless pursuit of [...]

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Should Bradley Manning be on trial?

by News Sources 12.23.2011

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Did Israel knowlingly supply Iran with internet monitoring equipment?

by News Sources 12.23.2011

Bloomberg reports: The clandestine arrangement worked smoothly for years. The Israeli company shipped its Internet- monitoring equipment to a distributor in Denmark. Once there, workers stripped away the packaging and removed the labels. Then they sent it to a man named “Hossein” in Iran, an amiable technology distributor known to them only by his first [...]

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The growing militarisation of police

by News Sources 12.23.2011

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Is Assad’s regime behind the Damascus suicide bombings?

by News Sources 12.23.2011

The anonymous Arab journalist who blogs at The Arab Digest examines those reasons that support the idea that the Assad regime is behind these bombings, versus those reasons suggesting Free Syrian Army or Islamist involvement. In his view, the regime itself is more suspect. One could say the regime is behind it for the following [...]

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Gaddafi: the endgame – state of denial

by News Sources 12.23.2011

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Iraqi vice president: Maliki is becoming a new Saddam

by News Sources 12.22.2011

Foreign Policy reports: Shortly before a wave of 15 bombings ripped through Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing more than 60 people, Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi warned that a simultaneous political crisis in the country could spiral “beyond control.” In an interview with Foreign Policy on Wednesday from Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region where [...]

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With indefinite detention bill, has Congress also expanded rendition of U.S. citizens abroad?

by News Sources 12.22.2011

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Why did Lacoste try to suppress a Palestinian artist’s science fictional art project?

by News Sources 12.22.2011

io9.com reports: Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour uses science fictional imagery to discuss her people’s stateless condition, so her work was always bound to cause some controversy. She’s done a host of short films playing with science fiction movie themes, and commenting on Middle Eastern politics. But after Sansour’s “sci-fi photo series” Nation Estate became one [...]

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Drone warfare and the stress induced by premeditated murder

by Paul Woodward 12.22.2011

A recent study by the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine assessed the level of stress involved in remote warfare being conducted by Air Force drone operators. The New York Times reports: 4 percent or less of operators were at high risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, the severe anxiety disorder that can include [...]

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Don’t stop at Iraq: Why the U.S. should withdraw from the entire Persian Gulf

by News Sources 12.22.2011

Toby C. Jones writes: The U.S. is finally drawing down its military presence from Iraq, but why stop there? Why not reduce or outright remove our military presence from the entire Persian Gulf? The U.S. has been waging war in the Gulf for more than two and a half decades, since it took up arms [...]

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Pity the elf slaves of online shipping

by News Sources 12.22.2011

Mac McClelland writes: Since June, I’ve been ruining my friends’ online-shopping lives. Back then, I reported on a vast warehouse in Ohio where goods bought from online retailers are sorted, boxed, and shipped to consumers. Unsurprisingly, this job does not pay well. A little more surprisingly, this job seems designed to crush employees’ spirits. During [...]

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Hamas responds to the Arab Spring

by News Sources 12.22.2011

The Washington Post reports: Buoyed by the success of Islamist movements in countries swept by the Arab Spring, Hamas, the militant Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, is showing signs of pragmatism as its sense of isolation fades. The organization is jockeying to reposition itself amid shifting terrain in the Arab world. It is [...]

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