Author Archives: Paul Woodward

It’s up to Obama whether the siege of Gaza continues

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Paul Woodward

After the flotilla massacre committed by Israeli forces, Turkey’s call for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday was to be expected. Turks are assumed to be among the dead — whose names and nationalities have still not … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, US Politics | 9 Comments

Israel apologists and the Israeli national will

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Depending on ones view of Israel, the deaths that occurred on the decks of the Mavi Marmara early today are either reprehensible, tragic, regrettable, or — a cause for celebration. Someone just wrote to me: “Too bad you weren’t on … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel/Palestine | 53 Comments

Facing armed attack in international waters

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Paul Woodward

When a civilian passenger ship comes under military attack in international waters, should we be surprised — or even critical — when some of the passengers mount a defense? According to CNN, which has made itself into a mouthpiece for … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel/Palestine | 193 Comments

A message to America about dignity from Khalid Meshaal

Posted on May 30, 2010 by Paul Woodward

When Israeli officials are pressed to justify the fact that Israel has prevented the reconstruction of thousands of homes it destroyed during the war on Gaza, they say that if construction materials were allowed into Gaza, these would be commandeered … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza | 28 Comments

EU calls for immediate end to Israel’s siege of Gaza

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Paul Woodward

AFP reports: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Friday called for an immediate end to Israel’s Gaza blockade, as an aid flotilla prepared to set sail for the enclave despite the embargo. “The continued policy of closure is unacceptable … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza | 25 Comments

Democrats afraid of Jewish donor ‘revenge’ in midterms

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Paul Woodward

The niceties of America’s often straightlaced political discourse generally preclude the use of a phrase as provocative as this: Jewish revenge. One of the virtues of the Israeli press, however, is that it can be refreshingly blunt. “Officials in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine | 22 Comments

The thrilla in the Mediterranean won’t be coopted

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Paul Woodward

As the Freedom Flotilla sails towards Gaza, the Israeli propaganda machine is working at full bore. In its frenzied effort, message discipline seems to have gone out of the window. 10,000 tons of supplies being carried in the nine-ship flotilla … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza | 73 Comments

Chomsky is not aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Paul Woodward

I checked with Paul McGeough, who’s on the Flotilla covering it for the Sydney Morning Herald and who reported the possibility, and he was just told by the chairwoman of the Free Gaza Movement that Noam Chomsky is not on … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza | 33 Comments

Freedom Flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of aid to Gaza, and maybe Chomsky

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Paul Woodward

“We recommend the world send ships to the shores of Gaza, and we believe that Israel would not stop these vessels because the sea is open, and many human rights organizations have been successful in previous similar steps, and proved … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza | 72 Comments

It’s hard to blame your uncle when you’re 62

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Yonatan Touval, one of the Israelis behind the Geneva Initiative, clearly articulates the degree and ways in which Israel has suffered as a result of its special relationship with the United States. His hope is that Obama might correct the … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, US Policy in the Middle East | 9 Comments

Israelis have an un-American view of democracy

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Imagine reading this report in an American newspaper: More than half of white Americans think human rights organizations that expose immoral behavior by the United States should not be allowed to operate freely, and think there is too much freedom … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 9 Comments

Assessing Iran’s nuclear intentions

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Thomas Schelling, a Nobel laureate and an expert in nuclear strategy, spoke at the New America Foundation in Washington last week. Having recently attended the highly influential Herzliya Conference in Israel, Schelling said: I was impressed with how many Israelis … Continue reading →

Posted in Iran, Israel/Palestine | 33 Comments

The nuclear paradox

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Here’s how President Obama states the nuclear paradox: The risk of a nuclear confrontation between nations has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up. Here’s how I define it: Hypothetical nuclear threats provoke more fear … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, US Politics | 22 Comments

Reflections on the value of respect

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Four years ago, Rory Stewart wrote: A great many of the failures in Afghanistan and Iraq arise from a single problem: the American-led coalitions’ lack of trust in local politicians. Repeatedly the Western powers, irritated by a lack of progress, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 88 Comments

Is the US getting ready to push Israel to declare its nuclear status?

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Whatever else can be said about the strained relationship between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu, one thing is clear: Obama seems intent on keeping Netanyahu off balance. On Tuesday, Netanyahu announced he would be returning to Washington next week to … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 206 Comments

A presidential death warrant

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Paul Woodward

American soldiers have to be trained how to kill, but for American presidents killing comes naturally. Anyone who aspires to become president must surely ask themselves: am I willing to end someone else’s life, be that an individual or perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in US Policy in the Middle East | 64 Comments

Look in the mirror Avigdor

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Paul Woodward

 “The problem is not Turkey, the problem is Erdogan,” Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told Ynet on Monday. Sorry Mr Lieberman: it’s you — not Turkey’s prime minister — who has a serious image problem. How many other countries in … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 12 Comments

The Israel lobby’s curious defense of an alleged Somali war criminal

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Yousuf v. Samantar is the first human rights suit arising from abuses committed in Somalia under the brutal regime of Siad Barre. It is currently pending before the Supreme Court, where an odd coalition of defenders has filed briefs on … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel Lobby | 9 Comments

Britain kicks out Mossad chief

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Paul Woodward

After a recent warning from US military leaders that Israel is putting at risk the lives of American soldiers in the Middle East, the British government has warned that actions by Israel present “a hazard for the safety of British … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 62 Comments

No nation can endure when built on hatred

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Writing from Jerusalem on Tuesday as rioting left dozens injured, Bradley Burston said: Hamas has designated this day, in this place, its Day of Rage. Why, then, the smiles on the faces of Mahmoud Zahar and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Perhaps it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 13 Comments

Where’s Joe Biden?

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Has the vice president gone missing? Or is he hiding in a secure undisclosed location? Strong words delivered by Joe Biden during his visit to Israel were widely reported last week. “This is starting to get dangerous for us,” Biden … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 24 Comments

(Sometimes the news takes 9 years) Petraeus says lack of progress for Palestinians is ‘root cause’ of Arab anger

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Paul Woodward

As erupting violence in Jerusalem suggests a third intifada may soon take hold, the CENTCOM commander Gen David Petraeus, testifying before the US Senate Armed Services Committee today, gave a grave warning about the wider impact of a conflict that … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 21 Comments

Unending myth of two-state solution has helped to destroy two-state-solution

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Paul Woodward

Isn’t it time that the “two-state solution” be regarded as an object of the imagination no more real than the Tibetan kingdom of Shambala? At the heart of this Middle Eastern fable is another Shangri-La: Jerusalem, capital of the Jewish … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 42 Comments

The price tag for Israeli intransigence

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Paul Woodward

The day before Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Israel — supposedly on a mission to help kick-start peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians — the Netanyahu government made its contempt for the Obama administration clear by approving new settlement … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine | 19 Comments

Tzipi Livni won’t be visiting the UK any time soon

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Paul Woodward

To hear it from the Israeli press you’d think that the British government can now makes changes to the law simply by having the prime minister write an op-ed. Last December an arrest warrant was issued for former Israeli foreign … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Israel/Palestine | 10 Comments