US-Supported Egyptian Military Dictatorship Imprisons Egyptian Bloggers and Activists

Clearly, the US has decided that stability is more important than democracy and human rights in Egypt. For decades we’ve been very close with the corrupt, elite Egyptian defense forces all the while turning our backs while they entrenched themselves in every aspect of civil and economic society. That they detained, tortured and killed anyone […]

Israel LOVES Obama’s Speech at the United Nations

And well they should. After all, the ultimate goal of perpetual occupation, circular negotiations, continued settlement expansion and American protectionism has been achieved. To hear President Obama speak about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one could be forgiven for thinking that Obama has adopted the philosophy of right-wing Likud. Israel’s far, far, far-right racist Foreign Minister, Avigdor […]

US Brags About Denying Palestinians Legal Redress for Israel’s Human Rights Violations

I just got an email from the White House with bullet-points highlighting all the wonderful things the U.S. has done at the United Nations. There was a section on Israel. Here it is: Defending Israel Standing up for Israel at the UN: The Obama Administration has consistently and forcefully opposed unbalanced and biased actions against […]

Call Senator Leahy to Thank Him for Taking a Stand on the IDF’s Human Rights Abuses

Finally, someone in Congress who is willing to take a stand: U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy is promoting a bill to suspend U.S. assistance to three elite Israel Defense Forces units, alleging they are involved in human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Leahy, a Democrat and senior member of the U.S. Senate, […]

The National Security State: If We Keep This Up The Terrorists Win

The events of 9/11 have spawned an understandable focus on security, however, the extent of fear-mongering, Islamophobia and ongoing curtailment of civil liberties, along with the meteoric rise of an unwieldy national security state which operates like a secret government within a government, is at odds with the principles and values of representative democracy. The […]

IDF Harasses Palestinian American

A Palestinian American and a friend who were trying to attend a peaceful protest against the Israel Occupation in Nabi Saleh, was preventing from doing so by IDF soldiers who detained them prior to entering the village for no reason, took their phones and hacked their twitter account and sent out tweets pretending to be […]

Video: Palestinian Youths in E. Jerusalem Abducted by IDF While Playing Soccer

I’m sorry, but this is not how a democracy acts: Some are saying they might have been abducted on suspicion of throwing stones. Or not. Not that it matters. Once a Palestinian is accused of stone-throwing they usually end up in jail even if they are not guilty and even if they are as young […]

Why the Israeli Anti-Boycott Law is a Slap in the Face to Democracy

Israel’s right-wing government passed a law which penalizes any Israeli who engages in, or speaks about, boycotting Israel or the Occupied Territories. For example, if an Israeli urges artists to not have a concert in Jerusalem, that individual could be sued in civil court and under the law, the person bringing the suit does not […]

A Great Example of How the NYT Shapes the Debate About Israel

Someone just passed on this link on Twitter and although it’s a few days old, it’s really a perfect example of how the NYT’ Jerusalem bureau tilts it’s coverage towards Israel, even if only in very subtle ways. This is important because most people have only the most basic knowledge of the conflict. I’m not […]

Wanna Rent an Apartment in East Jerusalem?

Here’s the translation of the highlighted portion: “Beautiful apartment including table and chairs. Wall closets. Breathtaking view. For Jews.” [h/t Mondoweiss]

Obama Administration Opposes Leak of Classified Information…Unless It’s Them Doing the Leaking

The Obama administration has waged a full-scale war against whistle-blowers. As a Presidential candidate, Barack Obama seemed to understand the importance of not only having people willing to speak out and expose government wrongdoing, but of also protecting those people. Here is what he said in 2008: “Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy […]

If This is Not Ethnic Cleansing, Then What is It?

I’d be curious to know what people think of this story that appeared, much to my surprise, in the Washington Post. Thain brought up an issue in the comments the other day, that the official U.S. and European definition of anti-Semitism includes references to Israeli policies as “racist” or “ethnic cleansing.” That’s why I ask, […]

How Israel Uses It’s Total Control of Access Points to Prevent Palestinian Rallies

We’ve often discussed the impact it would have if Israeli Arabs began to rally in support of their rights in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. I’ve asked some Palestinians about this and their general sense is that this doesn’t happen for several reasons including a) more than 10 Arabs standing in a group will get arrested […]

U.S. Militarism and Women’s Rights

This is a subject that I’ve been interested in for a long time. I’ve always had a hard time rationalizing certain feminist principles with the United States’ hawkish foreign policy. How can we as a country proclaim our unyielding support for women around the world while at the same time advocating military solutions to almost […]

Obama Administration Refuses to Allow Pakistani Attorney Into the U.S. to Attend Legal Conference at Columbia U.

The Bush administration used to play these games but I’d like to believe the Obama administration is above this sort of thing: I am a Pakistani lawyer who is suing the CIA for killing innocent civilians through drone strikes in my home country. This month, the US state department prevented me from travelling to the […]