Category Archives: US Politics

Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad’s agenda, and Hezbollah’s too

Progressives Avishai and Alterman adopt conservative theories to rationalize the status quo in Israel and Palestine

Posted in Activism, American Jewish Community, Arab Spring, BDS, Egypt, Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Media, US Politics | 27 Comments

Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf

Jeffrey Feltman has supported Israel across the board and faulted Iran; he gets big job at the U.N.

Posted in Arab Spring, Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Middle East | 33 Comments

UN Committee: Israeli system ‘tantamount to apartheid’

Ethnic Cleansing / Land Theft & Destruction / Occupation & Apartheid / Exile & Restriction of Movement / Refugees Report: Israel issued 13,000 demolition orders against Palestinian real estate Haaretz newspaper said the Israeli civil administration issued 13,000 demolition warnings … Continue reading

Posted in Activism, American Jewish Community, Arab Spring, BDS, Egypt, Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Israeli Government, Middle East, Nakba, Neocons, Occupation, On the ground reports, One state/Two states, Settlers/Colonists, Today in Palestine, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics, War on Terror | Leave a comment

Slater on Beinart

Peter Beinart’s call for religious segregation in the Jewish community would empower the most intolerant political elements of that community

Posted in American Jewish Community, BDS, Israel Lobby, Media, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 31 Comments

US official — we went to Israel first

US gov’t negotiators on Iran issue briefed Israel on recent talks before they briefed their own government

Posted in Iran, Israeli Government, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 15 Comments

Israel lobby’s favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions

Senator Mark Kirk (above) of Illinois is leading an effort that would redefine who a Palestinian refugee is. Critics say the move is one step in a larger strategy to take refugee rights for Palestinians off the negotiating table.

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Nakba, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | Tagged , , , , | 54 Comments

Aaron David Miller: After a short ‘peace process,’ look for war with Iran in 2013

Aaron David Miller predicts that there will be neither an agreement nor an attack on Iran in 2012. Instead he sees a “peace process” which will create an illusion of progress then end badly. In 2013, with the failure of negotiations, we could see a war, unless there is an “unexpected breakthrough.”

Posted in Iran, Israel/Palestine, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 41 Comments

Iranian talks fail after neocon ‘blitz’ — as Obama dispatches aide to reassure Tel Aviv

Neocons drove Obama hardline on Iranian sanctions, as Wendy Sherman, former moderate at State, rushes to Israel to assure them of our commitment

Posted in Iran, Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Neocons, US Politics | 29 Comments

Saving Illinois from Senator Kirk

There is no P in Arabic, Israel lobbyist says to justify ethnic cleansing of Palestine

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, US Politics | 9 Comments

Human rights activists will hardnose the highway from Woodstock to Catskill

This weekend activists Laurie Arbeiter and Sarah Wellington, an iconic figures in the Palestine solidarity movement best known for selling their “we will not be silent” t-shirts, are heading upstate to take part in a 22-mile fundraiser trek from Woodstock to Catskill.

Posted in Activism, BDS, US Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

American Zionist responses to Tel Aviv riots– largely indifferent, but some outrage

AIPAC, AJC and Conference of Presidents have nothing to say about anti-African riots in South Tel Aviv

Posted in American Jewish Community, Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine | 46 Comments

Division: Romney supporter puts kibosh on Wasserman Schultz appearance at Miami temple

Romney supporter puts kibosh on Wasserman Schultz appearance at Miami synagogue

Posted in American Jewish Community, Israel Lobby, Media, US Politics | 9 Comments

US to differentiate between ‘personally displaced’ Palestinian refugees and their descendants

Today the U.S. government approved the “Kirk amendment,” a resolution to differentiate between Palestinians “personally displaced” in 1948 and their millions of descendants.

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Nakba, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 154 Comments

Bob Simon misses the story on Tel Aviv

People who are still fuming over Bob Simon’s 60 Minutes piece from last month, which was critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian Christians and called Michael Oren to task for attempting to kill the story before it aired, received a gift last Sunday – a fluffy superficial ode to the city of Tel Aviv’s undeniable awesomeness.

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Media, Nakba | 20 Comments

Senate fight today over the number of Palestinian refugees

Senate fight today over Palestinian ‘refugees’ Thirty U.S. senators will vote today over whether there really are 5 million Palestinian “refugees” or just around 30,000 — a hot-button issue that has already become the subject of a vigorous international debate involving … Continue reading

Posted in Activism, American Jewish Community, Arab Spring, BDS, Egypt, Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Israeli Government, Media, Middle East, Nakba, Occupation, On the ground reports, Settlers/Colonists, Today in Palestine, Turkey, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 23 Comments

Munayyer in the ‘NYT’: ‘For all the talk about shared values between Israel and the United States, democracy is sadly not one of them’

The New York Times has published a succinct and devastating Op-Ed from Yousef Munayyer on the systemic inequality at the root of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Media, One state/Two states, US Politics | 10 Comments

‘Obama will only go as far on Iran as AIPAC permits him to go’

Israel lobby ratchets pressure on Iran, preempting global talks and threatening world peace

Posted in Iran, Israel Lobby, Media, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 32 Comments

Aaron Sorkin’s anachronism

Writer of The Social Network imposed a victimized narrative on Mark Zuckerberg, who’s anything but

Posted in American Jewish Community, Beyondoweiss, Egypt, Israel/Palestine | 27 Comments

Honest broker? Israeli consulate sponsors Obama’s former Middle East peace adviser at Stanford talk!

Dennis Ross worked for Obama for several years on Middle East peace. And before that he worked for Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush too. But he was always accused of bias toward Israel. Aaron David Miller called him Israel’s … Continue reading

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Media, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 13 Comments

Why ‘Brand Israel’ is failing

Ambassador Michael Oren’s recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal is timely – and appropriate. Israel is less popular among young Americans than ever before. And it will only grow more unpopular as more facts about the occupation make their way into the American mainstream.

Posted in Gaza, Israel/Palestine, Israeli Government, Occupation, US Politics | 27 Comments

Philip Roth on the Israel lobby

Philip Roth wrote that Israel was dependent on the Israel lobby in the U.S. for its existence, in 1986

Posted in American Jewish Community, Israel Lobby, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 15 Comments

If Obama really has things under control, then why the loose talk from CentCom’s Mattis?

Obama’s strategy on Iran: keep ratcheting up pressure on Iran with the Israelis, put off military action till after November

Posted in Iran, Israel/Palestine, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 10 Comments

U.S. and Israel coordinate– and signal hard line in Iran talks

Hard line against Iran is reminiscent of the hard lines leading up to the invasion of Iraq

Posted in Iran, Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Media, Neocons, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics | 18 Comments

Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism

Rabbi Brian Walt reflects on his journey from being a progressive Zionist to holding a belief in a Judaism and American Jewish identity that rejects Zionism as its core belief.

Posted in American Jewish Community, Israel/Palestine, Occupation | Tagged | 122 Comments

Bill Clinton’s $80 million swagbag includes some dough from ‘Israel First’ interests

MJ Rosenberg left Media Matters partly because of his use of the term Israel Firster. Well Matt Stoller says Israel Firsters gave Bill Clinton money

Posted in Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, Media, US Politics | 9 Comments