Israel, like Iran, attacks peaceful protesters

For years, the village of Bil'in has been the scene for weekly peaceful protests against the Israeli apartheid wall depriving Palestinian from their livelihood. And for years the Israeli army has been attacking protesters, killing some of them and intimidating the rest. Now the NYT reports an even more tougher approach from the Israeli army, but nobody is protesting human righs abuse like they do against the Iranian regime...

The Taliban would applaud

At Sarkozy's and France's decision to ban muslim women from wearing Niqab and Burqa in public places in France.

Haiti's suffering is a result of calculated impoverishment

Last week's earthquake was a natural disaster, but the carnage is a result of a punitive relationship with the outside world. Writes Seumas Milne in The Guardian

Gaza residents send aid to Haiti

Israel's showy compassion in Haiti is meant to hide its ugly face in Gaza

From France to Gaza With Love

We were 43 nationalities spread all over Cairo, but the largest group was French. We kept having to change hotels because of the police, and we were followed all the time by plainclothed tourist police, which made it very hard to meet up. Read the rest here...

A War Of Futility

Assessing the war on Al-Qaida

Child's eye in Gaza

One year ago today,Save the Children met a Palestinian boy named Mohammed. He was living in a shelter school after his house was damaged by the Israeli shelling of Gaza. A year later he describes why his family have moved back to their ruined house and how they still live in fear of further attacks.
I think it is Israel who is teaching Palestinian children to hate Jews. Israel should be sued for teaching hate...

Catholic bishops criticize Israel over Palestinians

"For us, this is not merely about politics; it is an issue of basic human rights," the statement said.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the bishops spoke of watching Palestinian children cross Israeli checkpoints to return from school and the humiliation Palestinians say they feel at such places.

Israel to build NIS 1.5b fence along Egypt border

It should be understood as 'Israel to seal off Gaza', after having done the same with the west bank. Look at how Haaretz and its correspondant at no time explain that this scheme is intended to seal off Gaza, keeping close to the official Israeli government's story line.

It is time to organize a world wide boycott of Israel, its institutions and products.

An Update (monday jan. 11th):

From The Guardian: When complete, the new sections of fence will mean Israel will be almost entirely fenced in.  Or more accurately, the Jewish majority in Israel will be fenced in, according to Netanyahu's statement:
''We need a fence, as I said 10 years ago, with all of our neighbours," said Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister. "With the Palestinians we need two states for two people, a fence that will surround a solid Jewish majority, we will be here and they will be there."

The Guardian article has also a map of the new fence sections:

Obama's foreign policy: reality bites

For those of you who might have hoped that Obama would be a departure from Bush it is time to look at reality:

The middle east process is dead. It needs more than hope and speeches...

The US is engaged in a civil war in Yemen,

Afghanistan, not only the Taliban, is chanting 'death to Obama'...

America has lost its leadership in the world while its presidents apply a dumb foreign policy whose only understandable aim is to spread instability in the world while failing on security...

Help Yemen, not its current government

I have always found Brian most Whitaker's middle east analyses very informed and accurate. This article on the current crisis in Yemen is no exception...

Brian Whitaker is the author of an ebook 'The birth of modern Yemen'