The Oakland Press tortures the truth
One of the gratifying things about the Fair of Shame protest on August 21st was the response of so many of the Israeli youth. As we stood outside the Jewish Federation's celebration of Israel's creation, dozens of big, yellow school buses passed by. Because traffic was backed up the teens inside had a chance to read our anti-Zionist,...Neither respected nor feared
In an exalted phrase, the keynote speaker at the Republican convention reviewed the record of the administration, and asked, "When have we rested more secure in friendship with all mankind?" That wasn't in St. Paul, where the Republicans are gathered this week, but at the 1904 Republican convention in Chicago, when the speaker was Elihu...My response to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit
In a press release issued August 27, 2008, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit (JCRC) criticized my article "Detroit Jewish Federation: Celebrating racism and making money at it" as "despicable." The article was published in the August 9-15, 2008, edition of The Arab American News and is available on the...The audacity of critique
African Americans should pressure Senator and Democratic presidential nominee Barak Obama to change U.S. policy toward the occupation of Palestine. Despite the warm response Obama enjoys from American Muslim and Arab American voters, we should stand for the right of our Muslim and Arab brothers and sisters to critique Obama. We should in...Collapse of the Middle East peace process
Political turmoil and uncertainty in both Israel and the United States have now brought an end to the grim farce of Middle East peace-making. Under the faltering sponsorship of U.S. President George W. Bush, no discernable progress has been achieved since the Annapolis summit of November 2007, and no progress can be expected for...Rethinking Afghanistan
If elected, Senator Barack Obama has the possibility of reengaging a world which seeks an America not defined by Abu Ghraib or Guantánamo — but a familiar America that is defined by the democratic ideals to which we aspire. His election, allied with smart and humane policies, could help restore this country's global reputation — and...Imperialism, Islamophobia and the “war on terror”
The events of Sept. 11 have to be seen in two ways — as the predictable and inevitable consequence of our unchecked imperial policies and as the growth of Islamism as the only popular alternative to the status quo. The irony is that these aren't mutually exclusive forces; in fact, more than anything, they reinforce each other....Militance and defiance in the Middle East
WASHINGTON — One of the frightening lessons one learns from spending time in Washington, DC is that most of the men and women who make or influence American policy in the Middle East actually have little or no first-hand experience in the region. They know very little about its people, or its political trends at the grassroots level...Credit Card Fair Fee Act unfair to consumers
Americans hold nearly $1 trillion in credit-card debt, according to data just released by the Federal Reserve. Now Congress wants to make that burden even heavier. Some misguided lawmakers are pushing legislation that would saddle consumers with fees that retailers don't want to pay. Under the deceptively named "Credit Card Fair Fee...Vertical ID makes underage drinking harder
Five years ago, Michigan began to approach the problem of underage drinking in a different way — vertically rather than horizontally. A law went into effect on July 1, 2003, requiring the issuance of vertical (portrait) style driver's licenses or personal identification cards to individuals under the age of 21. As a result...The alternative to an Israeli attack on Iran
Is war between Israel and Iran inevitable? To listen to Iran's radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or Israel's Iranian-born transportation minister Shaul Mofaz, or even recent reports that Israel carried out a major military training mission over the Mediterranean to rehearse an attack on Iran, you might be left with that...U.S. trying to “legalize” permanent occupation of Iraq
In recent weeks the Bush administration has intensified its longstanding effort to make the U.S. occupation of Iraq permanent. First choice is to coerce the U.S.-backed Iraqi government to sign an ostensibly "bilateral" agreement — what the White House would like to call a "status of forces agreement" (SOFA). The administration is...Sarkozy’s straight talk is promising
President Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to Israel on 22-24 June was striking for the candor with which he addressed his hosts. He spoke as an intimate friend — certainly Israel's best friend in Europe — but he did not mince his words, both on his arrival at Ben Gurion airport and a day later in the Knesset. "The time to make peace...The fittest survive in Lebanon
BEIRUT -- My fellow Lebanese, come pick up your Medals of Immunity, since nothing seems to shake you anymore. There was a bomb, you say? We still don't have a president? Another leader just got assassinated? There are clashes in parts of Beirut? Gunshots were heard? So then, what's the safest route to go to the bar tonight?...Six days of war, 41 years of hell
Regardless of which side one supports in the Arab-Israel conflict, the 41 years since the Six Day War has been a disastrous period of time that has gone well beyond a chalk mark in the win/loss column. Of course, there's still a propaganda war over it, although there is no reason for disagreement. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe......
How the senator won the war of words in Iraq (again and again and again…)
The Iraq war was a disaster for Iraq, a disaster for the United States, a disaster for the Middle East, a disaster for the world community, but most of all, it was a disaster for the experts. They were wrong about its difficulty. (It was to be either "a cakewalk" or "a walk in the park" — take your pick). They were wrong about how...Obstacles to an Israeli-Syrian deal
One would need to be an incurable optimist to expect real progress from the indirect talks that Syria and Israel have begun in Ankara under Turkish mediation. The obstacles to peace between the two long-time adversaries are so formidable as to rule out any realistic possibility of a deal in the near or medium-term future.......
The U.S. war on journalists
Sami al-Haj is a free man today, after having been imprisoned by the U.S. military for more than six years. His crime: journalism. Targeting journalists, the Bush administration has engaged in direct assault, intimidation, imprisonment and information blackouts to limit the ability of journalists to do their jobs. The principal...Let’s hope Bush does no more damage
In the troubled, conflict-ridden Middle East, President George W Bush has done everything wrong. But his mandate still has half a year to run and, unless restrained, he can do a lot more damage — to the region and to America — before he retires to his ranch at Crawford, Texas, and to the obscurity he amply deserves. At the heart...Arabs not worried about Iranian nukes
To make its case against Iran's right as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop nuclear capabilities, the U.S. government has tried to claim that the people of the region, in U.S.-allied countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf states, are concerned about Iran's nuclear developments. Yet,...Conquering the land: Why one Israeli writer isn’t celebrating
As I write this, I can only guess how all the various media outlets will mark Israel's birthday. As much as I love nostalgia, the compulsive reading of the weekend papers and obsessive watching of old people singing on television — I have no intention of taking part in the celebrations this time. Because I know the naked truth about......
Anniversary should be turning point
As Israelis finalize preparations for their momentous 60th anniversary — a date marking 10 years of consistent economic growth and industrious expansion — there remains the underlying question that will go unanswered yet another decade: What will be done with the West Bank and the Golan Heights? Despite all of its considerable...When will Israel learn?
In present form, it looks as if Israel might need another six decades to grasp that Middle East security is indivisible — in other words, that its own security cannot be won at the cost of the insecurity of its neighbors. For all its achievements over the past six decades, Israel has failed one crucial test:......
Diamonds in Dubai and Israeli settlements
Dubai is known as both a wonderland of exuberance and a stopping point for tourists, travelers and international businessmen. Unimpressed by its display of wealth and luxury, activists are rallying against Dubai's decision to allow an Israeli businessman and active builder of Israeli settlements to set up shop there. He...MIT of Middle East should include Saudi people’s welfare
American universities in need of funding may find an unlikely ally in the Middle East, as Saudi Arabia prepares to launch an international, graduate level research university. Already, Berkeley and Stanford have signed millon dollar contracts with the university. The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), set......