Friday, December 2, 2016

Now that SecDef thinks Israeli Occupation is Apartheid, will the Lobby Blackballing Fail?

http://www.juancole.com/2016/12/occupation-apartheid-blackballing.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Now that SecDef thinks Israeli Occupation is Apartheid, will the Lobby Blackballing Fail?

By Juan Cole | Dec. 2, 2016

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – –
The interview of Gen. James Mattis by Wolf Blitzer at Aspen in 2013, in which the recently-retired former CENTCOM commander spoke freely on Middle East policy, has come back to haunt him now that Donald Trump has put him forward as the next Secretary of Defense. At a time when the US has ground troops in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, however, it is not his position on those conflicts that is controversial. It is his remarks on Secretary of State John Kerry’s attempts at peace talks between Israel and Palestine . Alternet quoted him as saying:

“So we’ve got to work on [peace talks] with a sense of urgency. I paid a military security price every day as a commander of CENTCOM because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel, and [because of this] moderate Arabs couldn’t be with us because they couldn’t publicly support those who don’t show respect for Arab Palestinians.”

http://www.juancole.com/2016/12/occupation-apartheid-blackballing.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

A multitude of rivals

http://www.newstatesman.com/world/2016/11/multitude-rivals

A multitude of rivals

Unless Donald Trump is able to master geopolitical complexity, the trouble in the Middle East will get far worse.

By John Jenkins

Well, who’d have thought it? Another popular insurgency in the series that started in Tunis in late 2010. The gift that keeps on giving. Only this time it has hit the United States, to the bemusement of those who like their liberal internationalism neat and any populist revolutions a long way from home. The same people who misread the Arab uprisings of 2011 and continue to believe magically that movements based on the word of God will embrace tolerance and inclusivity seem shocked that some Americans have decided to have an uprising of their own.

None of this will be lost on the leaders or people of the Middle East. My guess is they will be a lot less shocked than commentators in the US and Europe are. After all, the blurring of business and politics, the instrumentalisation of identity, ambiguity about where the public good ends and personal advantage begins and an often casual attitude to facts are characteristic of the politics of the region. More fundamentally, relations between states in the Middle East and North Africa are transactional; most significant trade flows are in commodities; and conflict within and between states is endemic. The region politically looks far more like the Hobbesian world of early-modern Europe than it does the Kantian dream of the European Union. Donald Trump talks like a mercantilist: Barack Obama talks like a Rawlsian idealist. Most Arab, Israeli or Iranian leaders are more comfortable with the former than the latter. http://www.newstatesman.com/world/2016/11/multitude-rivals

Deluged Immigration Courts, Where Cases Stall for Years, Begin to Buckle - The New York Times

Senate votes unanimously to extend Iran sanctions - POLITICO

Senate votes unanimously to extend Iran sanctions

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/senate-iran-sanctions-vote-232061

Egypt and Saudi Arabia: Marriage on the Rocks? « LobeLog

Egypt and Saudi Arabia: Marriage on the Rocks?

http://lobelog.com/egypt-and-saudi-arabia-marriage-on-the-rocks/#more-36960

Egypt and Saudi Arabia: Marriage on the Rocks?

by Cinzia Bianco and Giorgio Cafiero

For several decades, the alliance between Egypt and Saudi Arabia has served as an anchor of a pro-Western geopolitical order in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Dating back to the 1970s, Cairo and Riyadh’s mutual interests and concerns about common threats and shared opportunities have fostered strong ties between the Arab world’s most populous state and its wealthiest one.
Egypt, which has faced major security, political, and economic challenges in recent years, has grown quite dependent on the oil-rich kingdom for financial aid. The Saudis, long reliant on external support for defense, have counted on Egypt as a strong and experienced military force to confront what they perceive to be Iran’s expansionist and “aggressive” operations throughout the region.
Recently, however, the Cairo-Riyadh relationship has significantly deteriorated. In October, Egypt sided with Russia in yet another clash within the United Nations Security Council over Syria by voting with Moscow in favor of a Russian resolution that argued for a ceasefire in Syria excluding Aleppo. The move felt like an unexpected betrayal for Saudi Arabia, which for years has strongly opposed the axis crafted in Syria among Moscow, Tehran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Damascus. Abdullah al-Muallami, Riyadh’s envoy to the U.N., called Cairo’s vote “painful,” Just a few days later, Saudi Aramco announced its intention to suspend deliveries of petroleum to Egypt, a country that is constantly at risk of energy crises. http://lobelog.com/egypt-and-saudi-arabia-marriage-on-the-rocks/#more-36960

Getting God Out of Washington - WSJ

[Letter from Washington] | The New Red Scare, by Andrew Cockburn | Harper's Magazine

The Orwellian War on Skepticism – Consortiumnews

Washington Post Reporter Spreads Blacklist of Independent Journalist Sites

Amazon's Growing Power In The U.S. Economy

Obama Poised to Block Chinese Takeover of Germany’s Aixtron - Bloomberg

Vice President-elect Mike Pence Says Trump Administration Plans Ambitious Agenda - WSJ

Bernie Sanders: Carrier just showed corporations how to beat Donald Trump - The Washington Post

Trump’s Win is a Warning: Europe Urgently Needs a New Deal | naked capitalism

The Electoral Consequences of Globalization | naked capitalism

The Week With IPS 12/2/2016

2016/12/2	Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter


	UN “Profoundly Sorry” for Haiti Cholera Outbreak Tharanga Yakupitiyage For the first time, the United Nations issued a formal apology for their role in the cholera outbreak in Haiti and announced new steps to alleviate the ongoing health crisis. Speaking to the members of the UN General Assembly, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made an emotional statement, ... MORE > >

	ISDS Corporate Rule of Law Jomo Kwame Sundaram Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in ostensible free trade agreements (FTAs) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have effectively created a powerful, privileged system of protections for foreign investors that undermine national law and institutions. ISDS allows foreign ... MORE > >

	Fidel Castro, a Larger-than-Life Leader in Tumultuous Times Mario Osava Among the many leaders who left their mark on history in the 20th century, Fidel Castro - who died Nov. 25 at the age of 90 - stood out for propelling Cuba into a global role that was unexpectedly prominent for a small country, in an era when arms were frequently taken up to settle national and ... MORE > >

	Ending AIDS Needs Both Prevention and a Cure Lyndal Rowlands Eighteen million people, just slightly under half of the people living with HIV and AIDS globally, are now taking life-saving medication, but global efforts to end the disease still largely depend on prevention. While efforts to expand antiretroviral treatment have been relatively ... MORE > >

	Pervez Musharraf Sets out ‘Higher’ Comeback Plans David White Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf says he intends to make a second bid for a political comeback next year, aiming to return from self-imposed exile to forge a new party that would bridge ethnic and sectarian divides. In an exclusive interview with IPS in London, Musharraf said he ... MORE > >

	Subway Will Modernise – and Further Gentrify – Historic Centre of Quito Mario Osava Success can kill, when it comes to cities. Spain’s Barcelona is facing problems due to the number of tourists that it attracts. And the historic centre of Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, a specially preserved architectural jewel, is losing its local residents as it gentrifies. This paradox was ... MORE > >

	Journalists Honoured for their Courage, Resolve Tharanga Yakupitiyage Journalism has become one of the world's most dangerous professions, making the courageous achievements of this year's four International Press Freedom Award winners particularly meaningful. The four winners from El Salvador, India, Turkey and Egypt were honoured for their courageous ... MORE > >

	Debate Roils India Over Family Planning Method Neeta Lal The Indian government's decision to make injectable contraceptives available to the public for free under the national family planning programme (FPP) has stirred debate about women's choices in the world's largest democracy and second most populous country. The controversial contraceptive ... MORE > >

	“Bonn Has Become an Insider Tip on the International Stage” Baher Kamal With around 320,000 inhabitants on 141 square kilometres, no other relatively small city has played such a historically critical role like the City of Bonn. Founded 2,100 years ago by the Romans, from being the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven to being the capital of Germany for over 50 years ... MORE > >

	Journalism in Honduras Trapped in Violence Thelma Mejía It was in the wee hours of the morning on October 19 when journalist Ricardo Matute, from Corporación Televicentro’s morning newscast, was out on the beat in San Pedro Sula, one of the most violent cities in Honduras. He heard about a vehicle that had rolled and was the first on the scene of the ... MORE > >

	Selling Their Bodies for Fish and a Handful of Shillings Diana Wanyonyi It's Saturday morning and Hafsa Juma* is seated on a traditional mat known locally as a mkeka under the scorching sun outside her homestead, located near Gasi Beach on the Kenyan coast. Clad in a traditional Swahili dress known as a dera, complemented by a mtandio wrapped around her head, Hafsa, ... MORE > >

Donald Trump's Biggest Headache: Russia's Nuclear Weapons

Misconceived actions and emotional reactions have brought us to the brink of another senseless nuclear arms race.

Jack Matlock, Jr.

November 29, 2016 | http://nationalinterest.org/feature/donald-trumps-biggest-headache-russias-nuclear-weapons-18545

Editor’s Note: The following is part of a multi-part symposium commissioned by the National Interest and Carnegie Corporation of New York. We asked some of the world’s leading experts about the future of U.S.-Russia relations under President-elect Donald Trump. You can find all of their answers here.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/donald-trumps-biggest-headache-russias-nuclear-weapons-18545

Bishop Barron's Advent Reflections: Active Waiting

Your daily Advent reflection...

First Friday in Advent

Active Waiting

As we’ve already seen, Advent is a time of waiting. But does this mean that we do nothing? That we sit like lumps? No. In fact, there is something very “active” about waiting.

Do you recall how lively and attentive you are when you are eagerly waiting for someone to arrive? When you watch for every car that comes by when you are waiting at the airport? Every sense strains to take in what is happening. Your mind is alive with expectation; your spirit is jumping.

This is what waiting means in the spiritual sense; this is the mood of Advent. We’re invited to actively wait, attuned to the coming Christ, looking for him in the Liturgy, the Scriptures, in prayer, and in all those around us who bear his image.

Pages

Search This Blog

Friday, December 2, 2016