new poll from Bloomberg Politics contains a finding that, if you really think about it, is quite remarkable: Almost half of all Americans want to support Israel even if its interests diverge from the interests of their own country. Only a minority of Americans (47 percent) say that their country should pursue their own interests over supporting Israel’s when the two choices collide. It’s the ultimate violation …
Palestinian Children Pass Out, Vomit, From Farming With Illegal Pesticides on Israeli Settlements – Allison Deger
Bad pay, hard labor, nasty skin rashes, and poor sleep in constructions sites are just the tip of work conditions found in Israeli agricultural settlements, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report released Monday. The 74-page “Israel: Settlement Agriculture Harms Palestinian Children” is a devastating look into underage Palestinian laborers farming for Israeli companies. Minors as young as 11 are interviewed …
Saudis Pour Oil on the Mideast Fire – Anthony F. Shaker
While denouncing Iran and its supposed Yemeni “Shi’a” allies in a recent speech, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s eastern province, Saud ibn Nayyef bin Abdel Aziz, put his country’s Shi’a community — fellow citizens — squarely in his sights. “While our country is going through what it is going through and standing together as one bloc,” he ranted, “we find …
International aid agencies call for sanctions on Israel over Gaza “stalemate” – Ali Abunimah
Dozens of aid agencies have called for international sanctions on Israel over its continued illegal blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip and the fact that six months after its deadly and devastating assault, there has been virtually no reconstruction in the territory. The report, “Charting a New Course: Overcoming the stalemate in Gaza,” signed by 46 international nongovernmental organizations working in Palestine, says that …
President Hillary Clinton’s Middle East Policy: Interventions, Wars, More of Same – Juan Cole
illary Clinton announced her bid for the presidency Sunday, prompting another of these attempts at IC to do a quick overview of what we can expect from the candidates with regard to Middle East policy. Clinton supported Israel’s attack on defenseless Gaza last summer, which left about 2000 Palestinians dead and wiped entire civilian neighborhoods off the map. She blamed …
The Video That Could Indict the Pentagon for Murder
As Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting points out, until a video surfaced of South Carolina policeman Michael Slager murdering Walter Scott, the media was reporting a package of lies manufactured by the police: a fight that never occurred, witnesses who didn’t exist, the victim taking the policeman’s taser, etc. The lies collapsed because the video appeared. I find myself asking why …
Hyping the Iranian ‘Threat’
The idea of Iran as a regional marauder that is gobbling up other countries in the Middle East and against which pressure must therefore be unrelenting has become one of the favorite themes of those determined to kill the nuclear agreement with Tehran. As an argument for rejecting the nuclear deal, this approach has always suffered from major factual and …
The Mark Riley Show – 04.09.15
South Carolina officer charged with murder in man’s death. This one’s on video for all to see. And in this case, the judicial system acted swiftly in arresting and charging the cop. So many questions….why shoot the man 8 times in the back? Why did system in North Charleston work so differently than on Staten Island and in Ferguson?
So, what did the Muslims do for the Jews?
Islam saved Jewry. This is an unpopular, discomforting claim in the modern world. But it is a historical truth. The argument for it is double. First, in 570 CE, when the Prophet Mohammad was born, the Jews and Judaism were on the way to oblivion. And second, the coming of Islam saved them, providing a new context in which they …
Boycott, Divest and Sanction Corporations That Feed on Prisons
All attempts to reform mass incarceration through the traditional mechanisms of electoral politics, the courts and state and federal legislatures are useless. Corporations, which have turned mass incarceration into a huge revenue stream and which have unchecked political and economic power, have no intention of diminishing their profits. And in a system where money has replaced the vote, where corporate …









