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Continue readingTag: Middle East
Molly'sBlog: Syria- A Short History
SYRIA – A SHORT HISTORY By Phillip K. Hitti, Colier Books, New York 1961 This book is an abridgement of the author’s previous work ‘History of Syria Including Lebanon and Palestine’ (1951). Before the present ‘Arab Spring’ and the subsequent civil war in Syria this country wasn’t
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Syria- A Short History
SYRIA – A SHORT HISTORY By Phillip K. Hitti, Colier Books, New York 1961 This book is an abridgement of the author’s previous work ‘History of Syria Including Lebanon and Palestine’ (1951). Before the present ‘Arab Spring’ and the subsequent civil war in Syria this country wasn’t
Continue readingwRanter.com: A clear message to the world
Share this: Regardless of one’s political predilections, one’s attitude toward the policies of Israel’s current government, or one’s view of Benjamin Netanyahu’s strengths and weaknesses as a retail politician, one has to admire the Israeli prime minister’s ability to make his point. His speech before the United Nations General Assembly
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The deeper reasons for the “war on drugs”
There is a deeper reason for the war on drugs, which is the central reason for the policy, even outweighing profits from private prisons and seizure of property by law enforcement officers, both of which no doubt are also significant and strong motivations for keeping the “war on drugs” going.
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Democracy Now interview with Noam Chomsky on Syria and related matters: U.S. ‘torturing’ Iran for 60 years
In this talk hosted by Democracy Now, Noam Chomsky raises a number of key points with respect to the U.S. government’s approach to Syria and Iran. He also addresses the self-serving attitude of the U.S. with respect to international law. The spectacle of Barack Obama, a president known for his
Continue readingwRanter.com: Preparing for the unlikely
Share this: A version of this post appeared as a signed editorial in The Canadian Jewish News on Sept. 12. As a new Jewish year begins, renewed U.S.-led peace talks continue between Israel and the Palestinians. Much has been written about the low expectations surrounding these negotiations on both sides. Certainly,
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: A Q&A on Syria and the “Responsibility to Protect”
What is “Responsibility to Protect”? “Responsibility to Protect,” or R2P, is a doctrine that grew out of a 2001 report by the Canadian-established International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS). Unanimously endorsed as a general principle by the UN General Assembly four years later, R2P carries a hefty moral
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Vancouver Sun Letter
A letter of mine in the Vancouver Sun today, this one about the “Disappearing Palestine” ads on public transit here in the city. I try to defend the ads against the absurd charge that they target Jews. Click here to read it. Filed under: Ethnicity, Letters to the Editor, Middle
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: An Open Letter to TransLink Regarding the “Disappearing Palestine” Ads
Dear TransLink: I am writing to express my wholehearted support for your decision to display the pro-Palestinian transit ads recently unveiled at the Vancouver City Centre Skytrain station and on several buses. The ads offer an important perspective that needs to be heard as part of any informed debate on
Continue readingcmkl: On Syria: dear world, please listen to Robert Fisk
Despite the odd title and even stranger subtitle the editors have given it, Robert Fisk has a good take on how things are lining up now that the US, France and apparently Al Qaeda have decided that the Syrian regime has to go.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Alice Walker Disinvited By Top US University Over Israel Criticism
The University of Michigan has disinvited Pulitzer-prize winning African-American author Alice Walker as punishment for her progressive views on Israel. The post Alice Walker Disinvited By Top US University Over Israel Criticism appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingLeDaro: Egypt and ongoing turmoil
Mostafa Darwish / EPA, Egyptian security forces move in to clear one of the two sit-in sites of supporters of ousted president Morsi, Wednesday. It is sad to read about the turmoil in Egypt. People gave their lives to get rid of a military dictator. There was an election and
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Thoughts on the Coup in Egypt
Tahrir Square in 2011 In the early hours of 12 April 2002, with massive anti-government protests filling the streets, members of the Venezuelan military abducted President Hugo Chávez and, promising new elections, installed an interim leader of their own choosing in his place. Large swaths of respectable international opinion praised
Continue readingdrive-by planet: George Galloway warns against western intervention in Syria: speech on video
In this speech George Galloway is in top rhetorical form. He takes a few well aimed shots at western hypocrisy, pointing out that while the U.S. et al are allied with some of the most reactionary and undemocratic regimes in the region they nevertheless talk about bringing democracy to Syria.
Continue readingArt Threat: Syrian president Bashar al-Assad mocked in satirical finger puppet performance
From The Guardian: Anonymous Syrian art group Masasit Mati launched the online finger-puppet show Top Goon: Diaries of a Little Dictator in 2011 to lampoon Bashar al-Assad’s oppressive rule. Amid escalating violence, in January 2013 the group secretly travelled to the town of Manbij, north of Aleppo to perform episodes
Continue readingdrive-by planet: U.S. arms for Syrian rebels: inflaming Sunni-Shia sectarianism
The Obama administration’s decision to authorize the arming of the Syrian rebels is opposed by a large majority of Americans. A recent Pew poll indicates that 74 percent of independents, 71 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of Democrats are opposed to the U.S. and its allies sending arms to
Continue readingArt Threat: Fearless photography explores the Egyption women of the revolution
The woman in a red dress being blasted by pepper spray in Gezi Park, Istanbul, is not an anomaly. Women are on the front lines of Turkey’s protest movement and were also well represented in the series of upheavals that was dubbed the Arab Spring. But to gain a full
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Smuggled samples from Syria test positive for sarin claim UK, France
According to a Guardian report “medical samples smuggled out of Syria have tested positive for the nerve agent sarin.“: The Foreign Office confirmed that body fluids collected from victims of one or more attacks in the country were found to contain a chemical fingerprint of sarin at the Ministry of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: Why Palestine is different
Secretary of State John Kerry is making an all-out effort to restart peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Many well-intentioned, highly intelligent people from around the world have engaged in some way, shape, or form in the Palestinian-Israeli issue and many of thesepeople have had hands-on experience in resolving other
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