Israel Archives - Page 31 of 78 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Inching toward Compromise in the Middle East

by Ira Chernus, John Feffer | Aug 10, 2009

I was gliding along the Massachusetts Turnpike, enjoying a summer Sunday in the Berkshires, thinking I was on vacation, when I got an urgent cell phone call from a news anchor at one of the nation’s most progressive radio stations. "Will you comment on today’s news from Israel?" he asked.

"What news?" I was on vacation from the world and its problems.
"The Israelis have just announced that they will expand some settlements," he explained breathlessly, with obvious pain in his voice. "They’re just ignoring Obama’s demands completely."

‘Palestinians’ without ‘Palestine’

by Ira Chernus, John Feffer | Jun 16, 2009

"Obama welcomes Netanyahu acceptance of Palestinian state," the headlines blared. Well, at least that’s settled. With the U.S. president having shown the Israeli prime minister who is boss, both are headed toward the same long-term goal of a two-state solution — or so it seems.

Defending Israeli War Crimes

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes | May 28, 2009

In response to a series of reports by human rights organizations and international legal scholars documenting serious large-scale violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli armed forces in its recent war on the Gaza Strip, 10 U.S. state attorneys general sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defending the Israeli action. It is virtually unprecedented for state attorneys general — whose mandates focus on enforcement of state law — to weigh in on questions regarding the laws of war, particularly in a conflict on the far side of the world. More significantly, their statement runs directly counter to a broad consensus of international legal opinion that recognizes that Israel, as well as Hamas, engaged in war crimes.

Postcard From…Bi’lin

by Vanessa Ortiz, Emira Woods | May 4, 2009

The ritual occurs every Friday in Bi’lin, occupied West Bank.
Palestinian protestors — community members and activists — gather around the mosque following midday prayers to march against the construction of the separation wall and the proliferation of Israeli settlements.

What made last week’s march different was the overwhelming presence of foreigners. The fourth Bi’lin International Conference on Popular Resistance, a three-day conference that I attended from April 22-24, was intended to build solidarity and support for the Palestinian nonviolent struggle. Conference participants included Palestinian political leaders and community members, delegations from South Africa and Italy, and European Parliament Vice President Luisa Morgantini. The closing activity was a larger-than-usual protest against the construction of a wall that will arbitrarily cut across large parts of the village, separating families from each other and villagers from their land.

Missing an Anti-Racism Moment

by John Feffer, Stephen Zunes | Apr 22, 2009

In boycotting the United Nations conference on racism, the Obama administration demonstrated that just because an African American can be elected president doesn’t mean the United States will be any more committed than the Bush administration in fighting global racism. Rejecting calls by liberal Democratic members of Congress, leading human rights groups, Pope Benedict XVI, and most of the international community to participate, the Obama administration instead gave into pressure by Congressional hawks and other anti-UN forces by joining a handful of other nations refusing to participate in the historic gathering.

Gaza: Laboratory for the Power-Hungry

by William deB. Mills, Erik Leaver | Jan 29, 2009

Unfortunately for the people of Gaza, all the bloodshed there wasn’t really about Gaza. Despite the tenuous ceasefire, the issue of Gaza remains unresolved not because the sides disagree but because all sorts of external actors find the dispute useful. The larger reality is that Gaza serves as a cold-hearted laboratory for these external actors for testing dangerous hypotheses about far greater global political issues.

The VP Debate: Dishonest Foreign Policies

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes | Oct 3, 2008

The October 3 debate between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Delaware Senator Joe Biden was disturbing for those of us hoping for a more enlightened and honest foreign policy during the next four years. In its aftermath, pundits mainly focused on Palin’s failure to self-destruct and Biden’s relatively cogent arguments. Here’s an annotation of the foreign policy issues raised during the vice-presidential debate, which was packed with demonstrably false and misleading statements.

On the Brink of Peace in the Middle East?

by John Feffer, Benjamin Tua | Aug 21, 2008

Over the past half decade a broad consensus has emerged among informed observers in the Middle East that recent U.S. policies in the region – from Iraq and Iran to our approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Syria, Hamas, and Hezbollah – have been ill-conceived and executed, and have damaged both America’s standing in the region and prospects for peace and stability in the area. Yet a series of local initiatives this year suggests that an important restructuring of relationships across the region might lead to some resolution to a number of the region’s thorniest problems.

Playing Games with Iran

by William O. Beeman, John Feffer | Jul 21, 2008

By now the structure of the U.S. game with Iran is clear. In the first move, the United States and Iran make some small progress toward improved relations. In the counter move, hardliners in the United States and Israel launch attacks against Iran in order to sabotage these improving relations.

Obama’s Right Turn?

by John Feffer, Stephen Zunes | Jun 11, 2008

In many respects, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has played right into the hands of cynics who have long doubted his promises to create a new and more progressive role for the United States in the world. The very morning after the last primaries, in which he finally received a sufficient number of pledged delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination and no longer needed to win over voters from the progressive base of his own party, Obama – in a Clinton-style effort at triangulation – gave a major policy speech before the national convention of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Embracing policies which largely backed those of the more hawkish voices concerned with Middle Eastern affairs, he received a standing ovation for his efforts.