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What You're Missing in our subscriber-only CounterPunch newsletter THE INSIDE HISTORY OF THE ISRAEL LOBBY Former top CIA analysts Kathleen and Bill Christison give CounterPunchers the real scoop on the Israel lobby and precisely how powerful it is. Read how US presidents from Wilson, through FDR to Truman were manipulated by the Zionist lobby; how Israel bent LBJ, Reagan and Clinton to its purpose; how Bush's White House has been the West Wing of the Israeli government; how Washington's revolving doors send full-time Israel lobbyists from think-tanks to the National Security Council and the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans. For all who want a true measure of the Lobby's power, the Christisons' 8-page dossier, exclusive to CounterPunch newsletter subscribers, is a MUST read. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! Get CounterPunch By Email for Only $35 a Year St. Clair and Lindorff in New York

Today's Stories June 15, 2006 Gabriel Kolko Why a Global Economic Deluge Looms June 14, 2006 Nicole Colson "They Want the Fear Level at a High Pitch": An Interview with Lawyer Lynne Stewart Jonathan Cook Israeli Law and Order Joseph Schechla Bulldozing Palestine: an Open Letter to Caterpillar, Inc. Michael Carmichael Bolton at Oxford: Jeered and Taunted Evelyn Pringle Karl and George, the Teflon Partnership Ward Churchill My Trial By Media: Turning Quibbles Over Footnotes into Felonies Rev. William E. Alberts Decoding the Coders of Christ: Jesus the Political Insurgent? Website of the Day Marines Iraq Snuff Film   June 13, 2006 Medea Benjamin Take Back America Suppresses Anti-War Dissenters at HRC Speech Anthony Alessandrini The Evil of Banality: the General, the New York Times and the Gitmo Suicides Paul D'Amato The Meaning of Haditha Dave Lindorff The Strange Death of Zarqawi: Was He Killed So He Wouldn't Talk? John Ross Elections and the World Cup: If Team Mexico Advances, Will Anyone Show Up to Vote for Lopez Obrador? Gabriel Garcia Venezuela and Drug Trafficking: Bush Bashes Chavez Despite Positive Results Hilton Obenzinger DIvestment is a Stand for Equality in Israel Yitzhak Laor The Secret of Authority Juan Antonio Ocasio Rivera Puerto Rico at the UN Jennifer Van Bergen The Story Behind Zarqawi's Death: What's the Legality of the Assassination? Website of the Day Paul Wright: a Real American Freedom Fighter   June 12, 2006 Paul Craig Roberts Bush's Armageddon Wish: a Final End to History? Patrick Cockburn The US Already Misses Zarqawi Mike Marqusee Rebranding a Team: English Nationalism and the World Cup Lee Sustar "I Never Had the American Dream:" Left with No Future by GM and Delphi Robert Fisk Has Racism Invaded Canada? Michael J. Smith Enter Sandman; Exit Kosland Felice Pace NPR's Warped Covereage of the MIddle East Jennifer Loewenstein Setting the Record Straight on Hamas Website of the Day Our Way Home   June 10 / 11, 2006 Weekend Edition Robert Fisk Zarqawi's End is not a Famous Victory Diane Christian Zarqawi's Face Joe Allen The American Way of Atrocities: Marine Corps' Killer Virtues Ralph Nader Let Us All Praise the Dixie Chicks Fred Gardner Tylenol Toxicity Terror Dave Lindorff Nothing New About Haditha Dave Zirin / John Cox Will Racism Spoil the World Cup? Dennis Perrin Death is Patriotic: Necro-Porn, Live on CNN Greg Moses Militarizing the Border: Why Operation Jump Start Worries Me John Chuckman Terror in Toronto or Tempest in a Teapot? Michael J. Smith Babes in Kosland: Dem Blogfest, Day Two Roger Burbach Bachelet in DC: Chilean President Refuses to Back Down to Bush Ira Moskowitz Israeli Court Finds Mad-Dog US Prof Libeled CounterPuncher Neve Gordon Sam Bahour The Gaza Air Strikes: Begging for a Response Seth Sandronsky Grocery Chains and Bush's Ownership Society: Profits Fall, Stores Close Michael Berg A Father's Day Message: Both Parties Have Betrayed America Kirsten Roberts Desmond Dekker and the Music of the Shantytowns Ron Jacobs Who's Fooling Who? Jeffrey St. Clair Playlist: What I'm Listening to This Week Poets' Basement Jones, Davies, Engel and Louise Website of the Weekend Miles and Trane, So What?   June 9, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Make-Up for a Corpse!: In a Month Zarqawi will be Forgotten and the War Will Rage On Paul Craig Roberts War Criminal Nation: You'd Better Shut Up! Gary Leupp The Iran Deal: Come Down or Set Up? Eric Ruder Police Torture in America: the Chicago Files Evelyn Pringle The Noe Drama: Was the Ohio Vote Rigged? Mickey Z. America: Land of Denial Michael J. Smith Our Man in Kos; They're Not in Kansas, Anymore Patrick Cockburn The Short, Strange Career of Abu Masab al-Zarqawi Website of the Day Georgia ... Bush   June 8, 2006 Chris Floyd Hubub in Hibhib: the Timely Death of al-Zarqawi Michael Dickinson Criminal Collage: the Bush Dog Case Ron Jacobs You Can't Call Me Zarqawi, Any More William S. Lind The Power of Weakness, Again: Haditha, 4GW and the Abu Ghraib Precedent Joshua Frank From Bush to Hillary: Holding the War Parties Accountable Missy Comley Beattie Ann Coulter and Rev. Fred Phelps: a Romance Lloyd Williams Ann Coulter's Blood Lust Bill Christison Proviing the Case: What Bush Wants is More War Website of the Day Bedtime for Bono?   June 7, 2006 Dave Lindorff The Iraq Money Trail: the Case of the Missing $21 Billion Sunsara Taylor CDC to Women: Prepare to Give Birth! John Walsh Flunking the Art of War: Master Sun-Tzu, President Hu and Bush David MacMichael No More Hadithas Mickey Z. Haditha and Rumsfeld's Ratio Evelyn Pringle Gagging Public Employees Myles Palmer Dark Star Chasm: a Sneak Peak at Roger Waters' Dark Side of the Moon Tour Laura Ribeiro The Israeli Boycott of Palestinian Education Website of the Day Thank You, Lt. Ehren Watada   June 6, 2006 Diane Christian Negatives: Torture, Massacres and Denial Paul Craig Roberts Outsourcing Smarts: the Death of US Engineering Ralph Nader The Battle for South Central Farm Norman Solomon The Urbanity of Evil: Tariq Aziz and Bush's Enablers Darmont / Genovali Wolf Sterilization Scheme Backfires Manuel Garcia, Jr. Blacks, Hispanics and Immigrant Bashing for Colonial Control Subcomandante Marcos The Other Campaign: a Plan for Action on June 11, 2006 Patrick Cockburn Bloodbath Beyond the Green Zone Website of the Day Greatest Music Video?   June 5, 2006 Bruce Jackson Why Haditha Happened Chris Floyd Return to Ishaqi: the Pentagon's Shaky Self-Exoneration Michael Neumann Jewish Opposition to Zionism Heather Gray War in the 20th Century: a Canadian Family's Experience William Hughes Bipartisan War Profiteers David Swanson Should We Stay or Should We Go Now? Alexander Cockburn Palestine: It's All Over Website of the Day Klamath Spring   June 3 / 4, 2006 Weekend Edition Robert Fisk Liberators as Murderers James Petras Is Latin America Really Turning Left? Rosemary Radford Ruether "We Have No One to Talk To:" Israel's Targeted Assassination Policy Harry Clark Truman and Israel: How It All Began Jeffrey St. Clair What a Miner's Life is Worth Ron Ridenour Return to Cuba Ron Jacobs Hand Wringing and Warfare: What Do Owe Iraq Fred Gardner Dr. Tashkin Makes the News Peter Montague The System in Crisis John Walsh MoveOn Rigs Its Own Vote; Betrays Its Membership Greg Moses Eyes of Texas: Neocon Border with Mexico Begins Next Week Sean Donahue Atlantica: Mainer's Won't Be Fooled Again Mike Whitney Swan Song for the Greenback? Dave Patten Final Examination Ali Khan Story of the Two Kings Robert Dotson, MD Couch Time for America Hammond Guthrie Revisiting Mondo Hollywood St. Clair / D'Antoni Playlists: What We're Listening to This Week Poets' Basement Bina, Engel, Ford and Landau Website of the Day Send Dr. Suzy Your Love   June 2, 2006 Kathy Kelly Right Livelihood Alan Maass "A Mercenary Army": an Interview with Jeremy Scahill on Blackwater in New Orleans Mickey Z. Haditha Massacre was Inevitable Dave Lindorff Don't Think Twice: Bush and Rumsfeld as Ethics Advisers Chris Kutalik Troqueros Flex Muscles at Long Beach Sunsara Taylor Countdown to a Betrayal: Making Change Without Democrats Sam Husseini Can Pacifica Live Up to Its Promise? Mike Ferner More, Lots More Website of the Day Free Daniel McGowan!   June 1, 2006 Brian Cloughley Haditha and the Farrago of Lies: War Crimes Start at the Top David Peterson Iran: a Manufactured Crisis Lee Ballinger Media Myths About the South: What Backlash Against the Dixie Chicks? Jonathan Cook Olmbert in DC: Bold Ideas and Ugly Intentions Mike Whitney Offers and Ultimatums: Endgaming Iran Paul Rockwell Smearing Ron Dellums Clifton Ross Millennium Blues Kevin Zeese Return of the Petri Dish Warriors: a New Biowar Arms Race Begins in Maryland Website of the Day The Monkees and Johnny Cash   May 31, 2006 Dave Lindorff DNC Death Wish 2006: the Do Nothing Party Joshua Frank Al Gore, Environmental Titan?: Some Inconvenient Truths About the Ozone Man Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz Stop Saying This is a Nation of Immigrants! P. Sainath Three Weddings and Funeral: Farmer Suicides in Vidharbha Ramzy Baroud On Palestinian Violence Seth Sandronsky The War on Nurses: a Joint Attack by US Senate and NLRB Mickey Z. Scapegoating Mexicans is an American Tradition Ralph Nader Breakaway Bases: Keeping LIttle Leaguers Safe Jeffrey St. Clair Dirk's Dirty Money: Gale Norton in Slacks Website of the Day Storm Cloud Over New Orleans   May 30, 2006 Lee Ballinger The Real Reason Rock the Vote is Falling Apart Jonathan Cook Shin Bet and the Israeli Academy: Partners in Human Rights Abuses? Gary Leupp Now Introducing, the Office of Iranian Affairs John Ross Disappearing the Disappeared Robert Jensen The Four Fundamentalisms Michael Dickinson Silencing the Peace Protester of Parliament Square Michael Carmichael Zionist Democrats: the DLC and Israel Tim Wise Of Immigrants and "Real Amurkans" Harry Browne Ken Loach's History Lesson Website of the Day Louisiana   May 27 / 29, 2006 Weekend Edition Paul Craig Roberts The Evil Within Kathleen Christison Surrender vs. the Right to Exist Kathy Kelly Fear of Flowers in Iraq: a Report from Sulaymaniyah Christopher Reed The Abominable Dr. Ishii: the Pentagon and the Japanese Mengele Lawrence R. Velvel The Moral Rot in Congress: a Constitutional Right to Graft? Tom Barry The Politics of Tom Tancredo Gary Leupp The Latest Neocon Lies About Iran Col. Dan Smith Freezing History: Iran and the Uses of "Preventive" War Ron Jacobs Blocking Military Ports: One, Two, Three Many Olympians Don Fitz EPA Goes Lead Wild: Acceptable Levels of Poisoning Fred Gardner What's the Matter with Oregon? Peter Montague Radioactive Troika: Bush, the Nuclear Power Industry and the New York Times Raymond Garcia Teens as Political Scapegoats John Farley Euston Manifesto: the Latest Gameplan from the Pro-Imperialist Left Seth Sandronsky Mexico After NAFTA: the Washington Post's Trouble with Numbers Tia Steele A Gold Star Mother's Memorial Day Plea Lenni Brenner "Howl", 50 Years Later: Allen Ginsberg's Silly Liberal Politics Dr. Susan Block God Has Sex, Makes Big Box Office Scott Michael Perey An Open Letter to Bono: Why are You Financing a Video Game Promoting the Invasion of Venezuela? Jeffrey St. Clair Playlist: Please Help Hilton Ruiz Poets' Basement Davies, Smith-Ferri, Mickey Z,, Buknatski, and Engel Recipe of the Weekend Impeach-Mint Punch Website of the Weekend Trojan Syndrome   May 26, 2006 Col. Douglas MacGregor Fire the Generals!: the Failure of Military Leadership in Iraq Brian J. Foley Who Will Stand Up to Bush's Drive to Attack Iran? Michael Dickinson Mining Glaciers: Water or Gold? Missy Comley Beattie Stuck in a Cake-Walk War Pierre Tristam The Few, the Proud, the Murderers Joe Allen Put a Disclaimer on the Bible, Not the Da Vinci Code Kona Lowell Thank You, Fox News Roger Burbach Bush Targets Chavez and Morales Website of the Day Women Resisting War from Within   May 25, 2006 Les AuCoin Faith-Based Missile Defense: the Folly of Star Wars Jeff Halper Countdown to Apartheid Dave Lindorff Bombing Without Regrets Ron Jacobs Voting Rights and Multilingual Ballots Bob Wing Finding Common Ground in New Orleans: an Interview with Malik Rahim Elise Gould College Grads Face Weak Labor Market Robert Bryce Iraq's Fuel Crisis Website of the Day Oh Lay!   May 24, 2006 Michael Donnelly Operation Backfire: Criminalizing Eco-Dissent Patrick Cockburn Why the US May Have to Quit Iraq Sooner Than It Planned Lucinda Marshall Involuntary Motherhood: the Cacophony Over RU 486 Dave Lindorff A Winning Impeachment Argument Shmuel Rosner Israeli Advice on Wall-Building: Be Ruthless Moshe Adler The Promised Land: Immigration, Israeli Style Heather Gray Land Reform and American Agriculture Pratyush Chandra Angels and Demons in Nepal Paul Craig Roberts In Memoriam: Lloyd Bentsen Floyd Rudmin Why Does the NSA Engage in Mass Surveillanc of Americans? Website of the Day Presentensing the Future   May 23, 2006 Paul Craig Roberts Paranoia as Policy: How Bush Brewed the Iran Crisis Sharon Smith Shooting to Kill on the Border Sunsara Taylor Meet the New Christian Conquistadors: Ron Luce's Holy Warriors Joel Whitney The Most Tenacious Man on Capitol Hill?: an Interview with John Conyers Alice Cherbonnier Total Information Awareness for Whom? FOIA, the Press and the Spooks Ron Jacobs Optimism of the Will Kristen Ess The Crisis for Palestinian Political Prisoners Patrick Cockburn Which is the Real Iraq? Website of the Day Pearl Jam: Life Wasted     Subscribe Online

June 15, 2006 Time is Running Out Palestine on the Brink By RAMZY BAROUD The political and ideological division separating Palestinian society in the Occupied Territories has metamorphosed into a formidable chasm, despite the urgent need to consolidate Palestinian national unity in this current crisis. And a time of crisis it is. Never since the concoction of the Israeli state and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of nearly one million Palestinians in 1947-48, has an Israeli government been as determined as that of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to settle its account with the Palestinians, in so vile and careless a way. There is a growing realization among Israeli politicians that mirrors a sense of fear and anxiety from a possible relegation of the political hegemony and import of the United States. The US has served--and paradoxically inconsistently with its own interests--the role of the protector and provider, leaving Israel emancipated of any regional and international accountability, free to pursue its own agenda--imperialistic and violently racist, as it were--at the expense of the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors. The Israeli heyday may be over soon, due to growing predictions that the American project--for various reasons, notwithstanding the disaster-prone Iraq war ­is likely to diminish in coming years. And without US patronage, Israel is much less capable of serving as the region's bully. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon seemed fully aware of such a reality. As one of Israel's last pioneers and also the last of its great Zionist elks, he wished to 'secure' Israel, by unilaterally claiming whichever territories he found strategic - based on military logic, access to water aquifers and fertile lands--and ditching smaller pockets of land that were a demographic liability and were strategically irrelevant. Sharon's unexpected incapacitation didn't mean the end of his historic mission. To the contrary, his sudden absence helped his successor, Olmert to rally overwhelmed Israelis around Sharon's Kadima party--established precisely to carry out Sharon's vision of a secured Israel. Olmert has acquired three significant mandates to follow with what Sharon has already started in his 'disengagement' from the Gaza Strip: that of the Israeli voters through the country's recent elections, another of a subtle understanding among the Knesset's major political parties, not withstanding his Labor partners and a less convincing nod from President George W. Bush, which was understood by the Israeli media as a 'green light' to carry out his 'convergence' plan. The term 'convergence' is another Israeli newspeak and is as deceiving as Sharon's 'disengagement'. It's aimed at usurping the West Bank's most fertile land in the west and the inclusion of major Jewish settlements blocks--all illegal under international law--to become part of so-called 'Israel proper'. Moreover, Olmert's plan also intends to seize large swathes of Palestinian land in the east--parallel to the fertile Jordan valley--estimated by some 40 percent of the total size of the West Bank. The remaining Palestinian 'controlled' territories of the West Bank will be carved up into several major pockets, very populated, some completely fenced and movement in and out of such enclaves necessitates an Israeli permit. Such a system has already been put into practice, especially between Occupied East Jerusalem and surrounding areas. With the conversion of the Israeli military check point at Qalandia--adjacent to Jerusalem--into an 'international border' point, Palestinians in the West Bank are treated like foreigners wishing to enter alien territories. In other areas, Palestinian farmers are urged to acquire permits to farm their own land, as school kids queue up everyday, sometimes for hours in front of Israeli fences, walls, and checkpoints just to be allowed passage to their schools and back. One need not be a world-class economist to deduce that such physical restrictions will make it impossible for any economy to thrive in the Palestinian territories, even after the Israeli unilateral disengagement from the West Bank, expected within two years. Needless to say, the Israeli scheme in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is a violation of international law and represents the most obscene disregard for human rights, as it aims to imprison an entire population, holding its hopes and aspirations hostage to the decisions of some Israeli boy soldiers manning hundreds of checkpoints dotting the West Bank. To achieve its grand design, Israel needs time and money; the latter has been provided with enthusiasm and in abundance - courtesy of Uncle Sam, who is, ironically broke. But to acquire time, Israel is relying more than ever on Palestinian divisions and infighting. The internal Palestinian strife preceding the advent of Hamas' rise to power, resulted in numerous gangs uniting under the Fatah party umbrella. The gangs are largely managed by rich war profiteers, who were affiliated with the PA and served as Israel's allies in the region. (Through their VIP cards, they traveled around, in and out the Occupied Territories without any hindrances.) Neither the profiteers, nor their clan-based gangs held to any ideological preference, nor did they seem wary of the encroaching Israeli danger and what it means to the Palestinian people and their enduring struggle for freedom. Through their privileges--with the Israelis, the PA and outside 'donors' ­they knitted an intricate system that is based on nepotism and corruption. While the PA's top echelons turned a blind eye to the belligerence of this crowd, both Israel and the US fully supported them: Israel with free travel access and often weapons, and the US with political validation and cash. The results were devastating and pushed ordinary Palestinians to the brink. The March Parliamentary elections in Palestine were a reflection of the bitterness that followed. Palestinians from all walks of life voted for what they perceived as the only viable political alternative: Hamas. They did not vote for Islamic governance, nor did they wish to see a rise in suicide bombings. (It's unfortunate that the media's inane understanding of the conflict insists on seeing Palestinian politics within these unrepresentative parameters). The Hamas win was perceived as dangerous, yet embodied an opportunity of sorts for Israel. It was an opportunity in the sense that it would absolve Israeli completely from ever engaging in any sort of dialogue with Palestinians; it was dangerous, because if the elected Palestinian government managed to moderate its position, it would heap pressure on Israel to engage Palestinians, which could slow down the ultimate Israeli project in the Occupied Territories. To use the opportunities and avoid any possible repercussions, Israel schemed to isolate the Palestinian government internationally--through cutting funds and any diplomatic contacts--and internally, by using its Palestinian allies to create wide disturbances, instability and a state of chaos. Ironically, Palestinian security forces have been sent on a mission aimed at ensuring the opposite of both. The fact that a wider conflict has been averted thus far is, in my opinion, a wonder. Time is running out. Palestinians are under total isolation, aside from friendly but superficial gestures from some Arab and Muslim countries. Coupled with their failure to transcend above factional divides and, pitiful and untimely quarrels, Palestinians are allowing Israel the time and the pretense to carry out Sharon's racist vision to the last letter. The Israeli wall--in its most literal and figurative senses--is closing in, and ordinary, defenseless Palestinians are feeling the brunt of the siege and the inhumanity of the Israeli occupation more than ever before. It's time fore Palestinian factions, and those who still posses the wisdom and the courage to unite, to speak out and to divert their energies to serve their nation's honorable fight for freedom. Indeed, Palestinians are living in one of the most critical and historic times. Let it not be the most shameful as well. Ramzy Baroud teaches mass communication at Curtin University of Technology and is the author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle. He is also the editor-in-chief of PalestineChronicle.com. He can be contacted at: editor@palestinechronicle.com

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