actions

Readers of my commentaries know that I usually send one a week. Last week, however, I sent two because the Helen Thomas incident occurred after I had finished my regular weekly article, and I thought the Thomas affair required a response from me. I called for her to step down, which she did.

Professor Gil-White explains who and what influences US actions in an interview with Israel National Radio.

Tony Judt's boldly titled New York Times Op-Ed, "Israel Without Clichés" (June 9, 2010), is a wolf in sheep's clothing if ever there was one.

The essay advertises itself as "cleaning house" with respect to the "tired accusations and ritual defenses" typical of Middle-East discussions, as if, in effect, it will even-handedly take on the "clichés" of both sides. In fact it merely reasserts all the "tired accusations" against Israel and dismisses all the "ritual defenses."

No. 1: Israel is being/should be delegitimized

Originally published on Youthradio.org, the premier source for youth generated news throughout the globe.

By Nora Barrows-Friedman

Why We Barely Know What's Going On

IN WAR AS IN POLITICS AND FINANCE, THE REAL "ACTION" IS NOW COVERT, HIDDEN FROM THE PUBLIC -- DECEPTIVE AND DISHONEST

By Danny Schechter
Author of The Crime Of Our Time

Assume the following hypothetical situation for the purposes of this discussion: One of the violent drug cartels based in Mexico takes over the City of Tijuana. The Mexican government has no apparent ability to change this fact by force or otherwise. Our American government, in an effort to continue its battle to keep drugs out of the United States, takes on this cartel. In return, the cartel begins plotting a series of attacks across the border that land in San Diego. The cartel periodically fires rockets across the border at San Diego.

By Avner Gidron, Senior Policy Adviser at Amnesty International

Cross-posted with Salon http://www.salon.com/news/israel_flotilla_attack/index.html?story=/news/...

Why does Israel continue to act against its own interests?

Last year, Lauren Rosenberg was walking across a four-lane highway in Utah when she was hit by a car. Now she's suing Google for $100,000 in damages because Google Maps told her to take that route.

The lawsuit is patently absurd. If she had come to an edge of a cliff that Google Maps said was the shore of a lake, would she have dived in? Honestly, people will do anything to avoid the difficult task of taking responsibility for their own actions.

What do chocolate, cookies, A4 paper, potato chips, cumin, toys, jelly, nuts, dried fruit, nutmeg, and goats have in common?

It's a tricky one. If you're a moderate, they have absolutely nothing in common. But if you are a hard-line Israeli politician, they are all potentially dangerous goods that could threaten Israel's security. Well, it seems that that side of the political spectrum has won the argument, as all the above are items that the Israeli government has prohibited from entering Gaza.