Nonviolence Finally Gets Some Action on American TV

The most important interview on any global affairs issue the Daily Show has ever had happened last night with the appearance of Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Beltzer, both advocates for a nonviolent solution in the Israel Palestine conflict. There are so many great sound bytes in the unedited version that appears on the Daily Show [...]

Opposition in Iran Doesn’t Want Your Money

The Obama administration has come under a lot of fire from people outside of the neo-conservative political spectrum for continuing many of Bush’s foreign policy initiatives. But recently, the administration cut off funding to Iran Democracy Fund conceived by the Bush administration to distribute money to opposition forces in Iran.
Is this a slap in the [...]

Children of Monsters

For those of you who keep track of my discussions on the Arab-Israeli conflict both in and out of the blogosphere, you’ll note that I tend to bring up famous Israeli author Amos Oz. A lot. A whole lot. And I’m about to do it again.
Prime Minister of Israel Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to the UN [...]

Viva la (r)Evolucion!

Although I haven’t yet posted on the situation in Iran, I have been faithfully observing. Its absolutely thrilling and I am so proud of both the Iranian people for their dedication and to President Obama for keeping relatively quiet on the situation while still condemning the Iranian government. I don’t think its necessary for me [...]

Demilitarize This!

Obama’s speech in Cairo threw down the gauntlet for Israeli leaders to respond.  The New York Times observed that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech was as much done for the Israeli evening news as it was for the Obama administration.  I found it boring, infuriating, and tend to agree with Aliyana Traison of Haaretz that it [...]

Obama Talks the Right Talk

Cairo is an ancient city that has become a modern urban hub of the Arab world. It is the primary place to produce Arabic pop music, the favored study abroad location for Americans looking to study the Arab world, and the birth place of Pan Arabism and the Muslim Brotherhood. Ponder all those contradictions for [...]

Zionism and Racism Make For Fun Times in Durban

I’ve gotten some great feedback from my question to y’all about the US boycott of the UN sponsored conference on racism. I’m still welcoming more opinions, but I’m going to go ahead and get started in crafting my own. First, I think we all need a little background information.
The Failed 2001 Conference
This conference was designed [...]

The Bible, The Constitution, and the Treatment of Prisoners of War

This blog post comes to you from a lengthy discussion via Facebook about a chain letter that was sent around. And you know, I just had to comment on it.
When Chain Letters Get Political
The original letter claims to have been written by a Canadian Christian woman. Here are the relevant excerpts from the chain letter [...]

(Re)Discovering Iraq: Restoring Sovereignty or Undermining Security?

Members of Iraq’s 37-member cabinet voted on Sunday to approve a security agreement setting conditions for the U.S. presence in Iraq.

The Latest Deal
The Iraqi Cabinet has agreed to a new pact with the US military. The terms of the pact are an agreement to place US troops in Iraq under the authority of the [...]

Human Rights in Israel: A (Small) Step Forward

As a result of the publicity gained from a video of Israeli soldiers verbally abusing a blindfolded Palestinian man, the Israeli government has chosen to try the soldiers involved by court martial.
The video shows a bearded Palestinian detainee, blindfolded, and apparently kneeling close to a high concrete barrier.
He is seen repeating phases, some of which [...]