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Bush's Worst Appointment Yet? Read Jeffrey St Clair's blazing expose of the new Interior Secretary nominee , Dirk Kempthorne, and make up your own mind. Even in the dingy history of Idaho's predators, Kempthorne stood proud as the dingiest of them all. Now he's poised to seize his place in history. Will he be the sleaziest Interior Secretary in history, sleazier than Watt, fouler than Fall? More on the great Israel Lobby debate! Norman Finkelstein cuts a new path, asks "Are the Neo-Cons really committed Zionists?" "Bliss was it in that dawn" Not in Michigan! Raymond Garcia describes Dem governor's appalling plan to scapegoat youth and teachers. Plus the full print version of Virginia Tilley's savage dissection on this website of the double-standard onslaught on Hamas by the US and EU. 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! |
Today's Stories May 22, 2006 Chris Floyd Alan Maass
May 20 / 21, 2006 Patrick Cockburn Kathy Kelly Ralph Nader Hugh O'Shaughnessy Greg Grandin P. Sainath Greg Moses Stephen Philion Landau / Hassen Fred Gardner Missy Comley
Beattie Michael Dickinson Seth Sandronsky Luke Young John Zavesky Ben Tripp Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement
May 19, 2006 Winslow T. Wheeler José Pertierra John Ross Dave Lindorff Jeff Juel Alan Farago Eric Johnson-DeBaufre José Martî Jonathan Cook Website of the
Day
May 18, 2006 Bill Simpich Patrick Cockburn Christopher Brauchli Nora Barrows-Friedman Victoria Buch Eric Ruder George Wuerthner Juan Santos Website of the Day
May 17, 2006 Lenni Brenner Carlos Villarreal Larry Everest CounterPunch News Service Lee Sustar Anthony Papa William S. Lind Bruce K. Gagnon JoAnn Wypijewski Website of the Day
May 16, 2006 Ward Churchill Ted Honderich Paul Craig Roberts Annie Nocenti Charles V. Peña Ron Jacobs Norman Solomon Harvey Wasserman Michael George
Smith Harry Browne Website of the
Day
May 15, 2006 Alexander Cockburn William Blum Tanya Golash-Boza
and Douglas A. Parker Dave Lindorff Debra Schaffer
Hubert Patrick Cockburn Tom Turnipseed Ken Livingstone Gideon Levy Mickey Z. Jeff Faux Website of the Day
May 13 / 14, 2006 Vijay Prashad Joan Roelofs Kathy Kelly Michael Neumann Dr. Susan Block Daniel Cassidy Christopher Reed Mike Roselle Saul Landau Robert Fisk Ralph Nader Evelyn Pringle Fred Gardner Stanley Heller Conn Hallinan Valentina Palma Novoa David Krieger Col. Dan Smith Christopher Brauchli Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
May 12, 2006 Michael Snedeker Dave Lindorff Leah Fishbein
/ RJ Schinner Brian Kwoba Chris Kromm Kai Diekmann David Swanson Virginia Tilley Website of the
Day
May 11, 2006 Sunsara Taylor Jonathan Cook Tariq Ali Wayne S. Smith Mike Whitney Pratyush Chandra Joshua Frank Mickey Z. Francis Boyle Edward S. Herman
/ David Peterson Website of the
Day
May 10, 2006 Werther Larry Birns / Michael Lettieri Ramzy Baroud Kevin Zeese Evelyn Pringle Amira Hass Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Sharon Smith Website of the Day
May 9, 2006 Ray McGovern M. Shahid Alam Moshe Adler Walter MIgnolo Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor William S. Lind Todd Chretien Dave Lindorff Ishmael Reed Website of the
Day
May 8, 2006 Kate McCabe Paul Craig Roberts Col. Dan Smith Norman Solomon Ingmar Lee Robert Jensen Ricardo Alarcon Will Youmans / M. Kay Siblani Alexander Cockburn Website of the
Day
May 6 / 7, 2006 Jeffrey St. Clair Ariel Dorfman Joe Allen Fred Gardner Jeff Taylor Saul Landau Stephen Philion Trish Schuh Ralph Nader Robert Fisk Paul Cantor John Holt James Ryan Lawrence R. Velvel Greg Moses Laray Polk Ron Jacobs Ben Tripp Mickey Z. Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Week
May 5, 2006 Vijay Prashad Robert Fisk David Swanson Mearsheimer / Walt Dave Lindorff Sarah Ferguson CounterPunch
News Service Corporate Crime Reporter Website of the
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May 4, 2006 John F. Sugg Jonathan Cook Roger Burbach Chris Dols Christopher Brauchli Tony Swindell Website of the Day
May 3, 2006 Robert Bryce Paul Craig Roberts James Petras Lee Sustar David Bolton Joshua Frank Jeffery R. Webber Website of the
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May 2, 2006 Evelyn Pringle Tariq Ali Saul Landau Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Sen. Russell
Feingold Anthony Papa Website of the
Day
May Day, 2006 Norman Finkelstein Christopher Reed Michael Donnelly Dave Zirin Mike Whitney Gilad Atzmon Missy Comley Beattie Alexander Cockburn Website of the
Day
April 29 / 30, 2006 Peter Linebaugh Ralph Nader Robert Bryce Rev. William
Alberts Lee Sustar John Chuckman Eric Ruder Seth Sandronsky Ron Jacobs Ben Tripp Fred Gardner Don Monkerud Tommy Stevenson Lettrist International Contratiempo St. Clair, Vest
and D'Antoni Poets' Basement Website of the
Weekend
April 28, 2006 James Ridgeway Ramzy Baroud Sarah Knopp William S. Lind Werther April 27, 2006 Winslow T. Wheeler Robert Fisk Juan Santos Robert Jensen Dave Lindorff Jose Pertierra
April 26,2006 Robin Philpot Sherry Wolf Pratyush Chandra Joshua Frank Gary
Leupp Bill
Quigley
April 25, 2006 Gary
Leupp Paul
Craig Roberts Linda
S. Heard Ralph
Nader Mike
Whitney Michael
Donnelly Sharon
Smith Website
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Stanton Dave
Lindorff Steve
Shore Amadou
Deme Mickey
Z. Ralph Nader Alexander
Cockburn Website
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May 22, 2006 The 1988 Compromise RevisitedIt's Not Hamas Terror Israel FearsBy ELAINE C. HAGOPIAN A political bombshell was unloaded on Israel and the U.S. on November 15, 1988 by the Palestine National Council (PNC), the PLO's legislative body. That "bombshell" has now been resurrected by the Hamas Government. It was the famous Palestinian historic compromise embodied in the Palestinian Declaration of Independence announced publicly on that November day in Algiers. What was that historic compromise? Its two main features were:
The latter action was intended to thwart the deficiency of 242 regarding Palestinian statehood. However, the PNC/PLO explicitly accepted the 1967 Israeli-occupied territories of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem (22% of pre-1948 Palestine) as the territorial limit of the state instead of the 45% allocated under the 1947 partition plan. These two features: recognition of Israel on 78% of historic Palestine and acceptance of the territories for Palestinian statehood constituted the essence of the historic compromise. Although the PNC/PLO never gave up the Palestinian refugee right of return after the 1988 Declaration and throughout the Madrid/Oslo process (1991- 1993), they downplayed that right. Therefore, from 1988 on, and specifically during the Madrid and Oslo negotiations, Israel had a golden opportunity to resolve its conflict with the Palestinians by a two-state solution on terms favorable to itself. The 1949 cease fire lines drawn after the 1948 war which encompassed the Israeli conquered 78% of Palestine would have basically become Israel's borders; and the 1967 Israeli occupied Palestinian territories would have become a Palestinian state. It became clear after the 1967 war that Israel had no intention of surrendering the occupied territories. This was made evident by the internal Israeli debate which ensued after the war. The Whole Land of Israel Movement representing the left/right spectrum of Israeli political views insisted on keeping the territories as part of Eretz Israel. Others toyed with keeping strategic areas while working out an arrangement with their sometime collaborator, Jordan. The immediate transformation and unification of East Jerusalem with Israeli West Jerusalem boded ill for any withdrawal. Thereafter, Israeli colonization of Palestinian territories commenced. Israeli settlers now number more than 400,000 in East Jerusalem (annexed earlier) and the West Bank. How was Israel able to ignore international law, the Geneva conventions, and U.N. Resolutions on Palestinian rights? In large part it was both U.S. tacit support and the way in which Israel interpreted the post-1967 war UNSC Resolution 242. The resolution was written in such a way as to ignore and provide the basis for ultimately expunging the extant 1947 partition plan. UNSC 242 became the only "legal" framework for negotiations. In effect, 242 offered Israel the opportunity to expand territorially and institutionalize itself in the region in spite of its colonial/occupier character without having to address Palestinian national and refugee rights. The resolution called for
Palestine was/is not a state. When asked about its intent to abolish the partition plan that called for two states and to give leeway to Israeli goals, the author of 242, Lord Carradon, struggled with a non-convincing disclaimer although admitting 242 was intended to allow Israel to extend its 1967 "borders" into the occupied territories to establish "secure boundaries". Since then, U.S. and Israeli diplomats have tried repeatedly to cancel U.N. resolutions regarding Palestine except for 242. Although 242 provided great leeway for Israeli interests, it did affirm "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war". It also called for "Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories [not 'the' territories] occupied in the recent conflict." UNSC 242 was written under Chapter VI (Pacific Settlement of Disputes) of the U.N. Charter and was therefore without formal means of any withdrawal implementation. Only Chapter VII (Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression) includes mechanisms of implementation. In any case, Israel did not view the Palestinian territories as occupied since they were never recognized as a state before the 1967 war. Jordan had absorbed East Jerusalem and the West Bank into the Hashemite Kingdom after the 1948 war, but Jordan's action was not recognized internationally. Egypt administered Gaza but did not absorb it. Hence, if the Palestinian territories were not part of any state, Israel claimed that it was occupying no one's territory. As such, Israel maintained that it was not required to withdraw except by choice and voluntary agreements. The argument collapses on the obvious illegality of Israeli annexation (1981) of the occupied and colonized Syrian Golan Heights. During the Oslo process, Arafat conceded much to Israel, allowing it to set terms regarding areas it would withdraw from and the "powers" it would allow the Palestinian Authority. Arafat thought that in the end he would get the historic compromise with minor adjustments. He was mistaken; his concessions eroded the terms of the compromise. He kept conceding land and power until July 2000 at Camp David when he realized he was set up to close out all legal files--including the right of return of Palestinian refugees - on Palestine and accept a truncated and fragmented state. Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen) succeeded Arafat and has been basically ignored by the Israelis. There are and have been no "peace" negotiations since July 2000, only Israeli unilateral actions admitted as means to safeguard Jewish demographic majority in an enlarged Israel. In the meantime, the Palestinians in the territories are being walled in and economically and socially suffocated. What is the Israeli gripe with Hamas? It is not terrorism. Israel knows, as did white South Africans, French Algerians, British Kenyans, that terror tactics are part of anti-colonial, anti-occupation resistance. When there is a will to resolve the conflict, terrorism--resistance and state--are eventually abandoned. What bothers Israel about Hamas is that Hamas wants to turn the clock back to the 1988 historic compromise. For more than fifteen years of the "peace process", Israel has succeeded in preventing the emergence of a viable Palestinian state based on the compromise. Hamas has brought the focus back to the compromise--a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the occupied territories free of settlements and military occupation. It is also affirming the never abandoned legal and inalienable right of the refugees to return to their original homes in historic Palestine. By demonizing Hamas and starving Palestinians, Israel hopes to destroy Hamas as the elected party representative of the Palestinian will. Israel is again ignoring the opportunity to have a viable two-state solution and is de facto laying the groundwork for greater chaos and violence. Trying to prop up Mahmoud Abbas who has little or no credibility among his people to oppose Hamas will fail. Israel will then have to take responsibility for the Palestinian population which ultimately, far down the line, will lead to one state in Israel and the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories based on equal citizenship for both peoples. Too bad that can't happen now. Elaine C. Hagopian is Professor Emerita of Sociology at Simmons College.
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