National Post Letter
Should any readers take a look inside today’s National Post, they might find a letter of mine defending Canada’s United Church and its boycott of goods from Israeli settlements on…
Middle East
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…