Israeli Press Mum on Murdoch
Heartlessly shoddy (and illegal) journalistic practices at his news sites? Who cares, as long as Rupert Murdoch is “good for Israel”? Continue Reading
Author: Marsha B. Cohen
Victoria’s Secret: Israel’s High Hand on the High Seas
Victoria’s secret is that, like the previous interceptions like those of and the Karine A, its interception comes at a time when Israel is being urged to move forward in the peace process and doesn’t want to. But it is also radically reinterpreting international law, particularly the Laws of Armed Conflict and the Law of the Sea. Continue Reading
New BBC Poll: Iran Unloved, But Not Isolated
BBC poll data indicates that 25% percent of Egyptian respondents view Iran favorably, nearly the same number as view U.S. influence as positive (26%). Nearly equal numbers of Turkish respondents approve of the influence of the U.S. (35%) and Iran (36%). Half of those polled, in countries long regarded as the staunchest Middle East allies of both the U.S. and of Israel–50% in Egypt, 49% in Turkey– expressed negativity about U.S. influence, with only 32% of Egyptians and 45% of Turks worried about Iran. Continue Reading
Recess Appointments and The Politics of Diplomacy
All four of the ambassadors who received recess appointments from President Obama were considered fully qualified by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who approved their nominations and sent them to the full Senate for confirmation. All have been kept from taking up their diplomatic posts on by unilateral actions on the part of one or two senators, who prevented their appointments from reaching the Senate floor for the votes that almost certainly would have confirmed them. Continue Reading
The Theopolitics of Disaster: Sex, the Sabbath and the Occupation
When a Shiite prayer leader blames earthquakes in Iran on immodestly dressed and promiscuous women, neocons like Michael Ledeen snicker.
When a prominent ultra-orthodox Jewish spiritual and political leader–and former Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel–agrees with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that the fire that’s been destroying Israel’s Carmel Forest is a punishment from God, there’s stunned silence. Continue Reading