An international convoy of ships, dubbed the 'Freedom Flotilla', carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza was intercepted and stormed in international waters by the Israeli Defence Force. It is confirmed that nine of the 600 activists, parliamentarians and media representatives aboard the flotilla were killed by Israeli soldiers. Israel claims it opened fire on the activists in self-defence. However, this Al Jazeera report, which shows live footage of the attack, contends that those aboard the...
Jewish-American intellectual, Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was denied entry into Israel on Sunday. Chomsky was due to deliver a lecture at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah. Chomsky's lecture would have covered American foreign and domestic policy. He spoke with Al Jazeera about the reasons Israel denied him entry. In his words, there were two reasons: 1) "The government of Israel does not like the kind of...
Mats Svensson - Most surfaces are covered with post-its, yellow, green and pink. Each post-it has its place, not randomly dotted on the wall, but consciously placed with an exact distance to the rest. I look around and see a pattern, but don’t understand all the codes: countries, persons, events, years, money… The shelves are covered with books and folders; alphabetized and based on a library structure, but with the artist’s own codes. Everything is in its place, always in the right...
Noam Chomsky - The fact that the Israel-Palestine conflict grinds on without resolution might appear to be rather strange. For many of the world’s conflicts, it is difficult even to conjure up a feasible settlement. In this case, it is not only possible, but there is near universal agreement on its basic contours: a two-state settlement along the internationally recognized (pre-June 1967) borders -- with “minor and mutual modifications,” to adopt official U.S. terminology...
William Pfaff - The meeting on nuclear security convoked by Barack Obama this week was meant to prevent nuclear proliferation. This is a worthy cause, but -- while I am writing before the meeting closes -- I would assume that it will at best produce empty promises, as the meeting itself is fatally flawed. Its conceptual basis is that the United States is a disinterested world leader, calling on others to do what is self-evidently in the general interest. This is not true. The underlying incitement to...
In this, part two of an interview, Paul Jay of the Real News Network, reports from Jerusalem, Israel. Jay interviews Israeli journalist and peace activist, Michel Warschawski, a critic of the Israeli government's Zionist policies. Warschawski is the founder of the Alternative Information Center in Jersalem and author of the book 'On the Border'. Jay speaks with him about the demobilization of the Israeli peace movement. Warschawski contends that the Israeli peace movement...