America’s enforcer in the Middle East
Stephen Gowans is an independent Canadian political analyst. His writings, which appear on his What’s Left blog have been reproduced widely in online and print media in many languages and…
Middle East
How much crap should Iran be expected to take from the U.S.?
Iran under the Ayatollahs is hardly a model nation. Domestically, it is repressive and, due largely to sanctions imposed by the United States, impoverished. Its foreign policy is aggressive. It…
Canada gets cozy with repressive Middle East monarchies
Photo by U.S. Department of State While Justin Trudeau’s government embraces repressive Middle East monarchies, they want us to believe their campaign to oust Venezuela’s government is motivated by support…
Art of the Smear: the Israel Lobby Busted
In 2016 and 2017 Al Jazeera produced a program that unmistakenly documents the Israel government and U.S. Israel lobby’s all-out effort to spy on, smear, and disrupt American students and…
Israel’s Mockery of Security: 101 Actions Israel Could Take
Photo by U.S. Embassy Jerusalem Israel has made a colossal mockery of the concept of security. In debating an Israeli friend from Jerusalem, I challenged him that Israel consciously plans…
Israel’s Anti-Semitism Smear Campaign
Photo by U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv Donald Trump is devoted to his bottom line and to a belief in his own greatness. Beyond that, he has no fixed convictions. He…
Israeli Peace Activist Uri Avnery Dead at 94
Photo by Michael F. Mehnert Veteran left-wing journalist, lawmaker and peace activist Uri Avnery died Monday at age 94 in Tel Aviv. A founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement,…
The Two-State Solution: An Autopsy
During the latest outbreak of violence in Gaza, Israeli security forces, using high-powered rifles and live ammunition, have killed forty Palestinians (and counting), and wounded more than five thousand. B’Tselem,…
The movement for Black lives stands with the Palestinian people
Since the Great March of Return began on March 30th, 2018, 111 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and more than 10,000 have been injured. These Palestinians were courageously…
Western Leaders Betrayed Palestinians 70 Years Ago. There is no sign that’s about to change
Palestine Nakba Day demonstration in Berlin • Photo by Libertinus Israel has been crafting a dishonest counter-narrative ever since the Nakba, one that historians scouring the archives have exploded. On…
The ‘New Anti-Semitism’
Illustration by The Forward Not long after the eruption of the Second Intifada in September 2000, I became active in a Jewish-Palestinian political movement called Ta’ayush, which conducts non-violent direct…
Iran and the Left: a Dissenting View
Photo by Ben Stansall/AFP Starting on Thursday, December 28, spontaneous demonstrations broke out in different towns and cities across Iran. The protests broke out over economic issues such as high…
Where is Zionism Taking Us?
Photo by gnuckx Part I – The Inevitable Apartheid Nation We know where Zionism has taken Israel. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 led the way. In that imperial and colonial…
Hopelessly Criminalizing BDS Only Augments Its Impact
Photo by Jonny White Imagine a natural disaster in Israel, after which city officials demand that victims sign a form swearing never to boycott Iceland before they can receive aid.…
Balfour at 100: A Legacy of Racism and Propaganda
The coming months mark the centennial of Palestine’s forcible incorporation into the British Empire. In November 1917, British foreign secretary Lord Arthur Balfour declared his government’s support for “the establishment…
What Is Behind the Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation?
Photo from thenation.com.pk Egypt’s enthusiasm to arbitrate between feuding Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, is not the outcome of a sudden awakening of conscience. Cairo has, in fact, played a…
Evangelical Christians Head to Jerusalem to Rally Behind Israel
Photo by zeevveez As the Jewish High Holiday season moves in, Israel is getting set to welcome a throng of religious visitors – evangelical Christians. Thousands will pour in from…
The Qatar Crisis
The June 5 decision by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Egypt to suspend diplomatic ties with Qatar has sent shockwaves through the Middle East. The ensuing…
Hersh’s New Syria Revelations Buried From View
Veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, the man who exposed the Mai Lai massacre during the Vietnam War and the US military’s abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in 2004,…