Give hudna a chance
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- Written by James M. Wall. The Christian Century Magazine James M. Wall. The Christian Century Magazine
- Published: 26 November 2006 26 November 2006
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Election season 2006 is over, and we can say goodbye to the negative media ads and stories. Opposing sides fought one another with reckless abandon. Yet they never once thought of turning their struggle into a civil war. So why is the Bush administration claiming that it's pushing for democracy in the Middle East while it is taking steps that encourage a civil war between Hamas and Fatah?
Arab Winter
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- Written by Matthew Yglesias, American Prospect Matthew Yglesias, American Prospect
- Published: 22 November 2006 22 November 2006
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The failure of last year's so-called Arab Spring underscores the broader failure of U.S. policy in the Mid-East.
. . . Krauthammer is very possibly the worst journalist working in America today, a relentlessly pernicious force, never right about anything, who feels his commentary should not be shackled by the small-minded bonds of accuracy or logic. He was, however, hardly alone in his unabashed enthusiasm for Bush's Arab Spring.
. . . , the point is that, whatever we hope to accomplish, the only way we can do anything constructive is to begin draining from the American approach to the Middle East the overwhelming stench of imperialism that's surrounded it for decades. We need to operate through legitimate mechanisms, establish rules of the road that we and our allies will actually follow and, most of all, operate with a sensitivity to the actual desires and priorities of people who live in the region. Faced with a disaster the scale of our current policies, saying "sorry" and then trying the same thing over again isn't good enough.
"Democrats Ignore Subjugation of Palestinians in Vilifying Carter’s Book"
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- Written by Michael F. Brown Michael F. Brown
- Published: 22 November 2006 22 November 2006
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President Jimmy Carter’s courageous new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, is due on bookstore shelves tomorrow (November 14, 2006). In it, Carter reportedly states, “Israel’s continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement.” As a result of such excerpts – and the title itself – Democrats in the U.S. Congress made significant efforts in October to distance themselves from their former leader who nevertheless maintains his standing as the conscience of the party. Several have publicly lambasted him and in doing so shown a profound disregard for basic facts pertaining to Israel’s subjugation of millions of Palestinians.
Read more: "Democrats Ignore Subjugation of Palestinians in Vilifying Carter’s Book"
Iraqi death toll hits record high
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 22 November 2006 22 November 2006
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The Iraqi death toll hit a record high in October, with more than 3,700 people losing their lives in the ongoing violence, according to a UN report.
The majority of the 3,709 people who died were killed in sectarian attacks - nearly 200 more than in the previous record month of July.
The brunt of the violence was borne in Baghdad, while the report also noted that women were increasingly victims.
Chris Hedges: Bring Down That Wall
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- Written by Chris Hedges Chris Hedges
- Published: 21 November 2006 21 November 2006
- Hits: 4867 4867
The last hope of halting Israel’s steady ghettoization of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and calculated destruction of the Palestinian economy is the imposition of sanctions against Israel, especially the revoking of the $9 billion in U.S. loan guarantees. If we allow Israel to complete its massive $2-billion project to ring Palestinians in militarized, pod-like encampments in Gaza and the West Bank with security barriers, walls and electric fences, we will condemn Israel and the Palestinians to endless cycles of violence that could ultimately, given the mounting rage and despair that grip the Middle East, doom the Jewish state.