|
|
home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events
|
SHOULD SCOOTER LIBBY'S LAWYER BE DISBARRED? Law school dean Lawrence Velvel says, Maybe he should, if he sat idly by while client Libby spouted lies. What lies at the core of Zionism? Michael Neumann tortures Alan Dershowitz, without a warrant! "Sex-mad adulterer from British aristocracy claims to have 'revolutionized' philosophy." Yes, Bertrand Russell, they mean you! Alexander Cockburn on Smearing 101 in the British press. Get the answers you're looking for in the subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... 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! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
|
November 25, 2005 Ray McGovern Leigh Saavedra Jeff Halper
November 24, 2005 James Petras Bob Shirley Mike Fox Niranjan Ramakrishnan Greg Moses Alexander Cockburn
November 23, 2005 Ramzy Baroud Mike Whitney Stan Cox Linda S. Heard November 22, 2005 Kevin Gray
/ Mike Hersh Ralph Nader Michael Donnelly Mike Ferner Pierre Tristam Marshall Auerback Website of
the Day
November 21, 2005 Mike Marqusee Josh Frank Mike Whitney Norman Solomon Russ Baker Robert Jensen Paul Craig
Roberts
November 19 / 20, 2005 Fred Gardner Rep. Cynthia McKinney Ron Jacobs David Vest J.L. Chestnut,
Jr. John R. Bomar John Ross Phillip Cryan Dave Lindorff Dick J. Reavis Jeremy Scahill Dan Wright John Stanton St. Clair / Vest / Walker Phyllis Pollack Dr. Susan Block Poets Basement
November 18, 2005 Michael Neumann Dave Lindorff Michael Donnelly Mark Chmiel
/ Andrew Wimmer Don Monkerud Tom Kerr Trish Schuh
November 17, 2005 John Walsh Rep. John Murtha Brian J. Foley CounterPunch
News Service Dave Lindorff Mark T. Harris Cockburn /
St. Clair
November 16, 2005 John F. Sugg Noam Chomsky Dave Lindorff Evelyn Pringle Sam Husseini Pierre Tristam Greg Bates Farrah Hassen Bill Christison Website of
the Day
November 15, 2005 Todd Chretien Leah Caldwell Frederick Hudson Harry Browne Jason Leopold Ingmar Lee Diana Barahona Tom Andre Website of the Weekend
November 14, 2005 Diana Johnstone Paul Craig Roberts Conn Hallinan Joshua Frank Christopher
Reed
November 11 / 13, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Gwyneth Leech Elmas Mallo Michael Neumann Saul Landau Sam Husseini Brian Cloughley Ron Jacobs Lila Rajiva Michael Donnelly Joe Allen Roland Sheppard Justin E.H.
Smith Ben Tripp St. Clair /
Vest Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
November 10, 2005 Peterside,
Ogon, Watts and Zalik Pat Williams Steve Higgs Jimmy Massey Lucson Pierre-Charles Anthony Newkirk Lawrence R.
Velvel Website of the Day November 9, 2005 Gary Leupp Tariq Ali Chris Floyd Elaine Cassel Joshua Frank Alison Weir Diana Johnstone
Paul Craig
Roberts Roger Burbach Ron Jacobs Ralph Nader Jim McGrath David Bloom Stan Goff
November 7, 2005 Dick Reavis Jason Leopold Dave Lindorff Eli Stephens David Swanson M. Junaid Alam Matt Reichel Naima Bouteldja Jeff Halper Website of the Day
November 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Lawrence R.
Velvel Diana Johnstone Roosa / Nevins Niranjan Ramakrishnan John Ross Mike Whitney Mark Engler Juliano Mer-Khamis Ron Jacobs Jill S. Farrell Missy Comley
Beattie Mitchel Cohen Evelyn J. Pringle Reza Fiyouzat Charles Sullivan Zachary Richard Ben Tripp St. Clair / Vest
November 4, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Dave Lindorff Phillip Cryan Christopher Brauchli William S.
Lind Daryl G. Kimball George Beres Peter Montague
November 3, 2005 James Petras Saul Landau Rep. Cynthia McKinney Michael Dickinson Joshua Frank Remi Kanazi Reza Fiyouzat Website of the Day
November 2, 2005 Cockburn /
St. Clair Robert Oscar Lopez John Walsh Brian J. Foley Ramzy Baroud M. Junaid Alam Todd Chretien Bruce K. Gagnon Website of the Day
November 1, 2005 Ron Jacobs Gary Leupp John Ross Bill Quigley Joseph Nevins Dave Lindorff Linda S. Heard Heather Gray Michael Dickinson Jeffrey St. Clair
October 31, 2005 Elaine Cassel Mark Weisbrot Mike Whitney Norman Solomon Farooq Sulehria Nicole Colson Madis Senner Paul Craig
Roberts
Cockburn /
St. Clair Peter Linebaugh Tim Wise John Chuckman Steven Higgs Brian Cloughley M. Shahid Alam Nikki Robinson Ralph Nader Joe DeRaymond Joshua Frank Laura Santina Fred Gardner Michael Dickinson Ron Jacobs Dr. Susan Block Vanessa S. Jones Jeffrey St.
Clair Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
October 28, 2005 Jared Bernstein Virginia Tilley Phil Gasper Jennifer Matsui Manual Garcia,
Jr. Monica Benderman Jason Leopold Dave Lindorff
Saul Landau Stuart Hodkinson Ingmar Lee Lila Rajiva Ilan Pappe Niranjan Ramakrishnan Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Cockburn / St. Clair
October 26, 2005 Kathy Kelly Gary Leupp Mike Marqusee Eric Ruder Patrick Cockburn Joshua Frank J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Website of
the Day
October 25, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Ken Sengupta / Patrick Cockburn Conn Hallinan Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Jackie Corr Robert Day John Sugg
October 24, 2005 Dave Lindorff Michael Donnelly Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Norman Solomon Bill and Kathleen
Christison
October 22 / 23, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Billy Sothern Saul Landau Ralph Nader Behrooz Ghamari Brian Cloughley Diana Barahona Fred Gardner Lee Sustar Patrick Cockburn Laura Carlsen James Petras Joshua Frank Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Michelle Bollinger Missy Comley
Beattie Kona Lowell Ben Tripp Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of
the Day
October 21, 2005 Dave Lindorff Winslow T. Wheeler Col. Dan Smith Norman Solomon Madis Senner Michael Donnelly
Dave Lindorff Ray McGovern Jeremy Brecher
/ Patrick Cockburn Kevin Zeese Ross Eisenbrey Randy Shields Justine Davidson After Lucas
Cranach Joe Allen
Subscribe Online
|
November 25, 2005 "Optimism of the Will"Peretz or Bust?By JEFF HALPER Until November 10, my prognosis of the progress of apartheid in Israel/Palestine was right on track. Sharon was on a tight time-table. With a stable government that would last until the elections in November 2006, he would move quickly to nail down the last elements of his life's work: determining Israel's final borders (marked by the settlements and the route of the "Separation Barrier" to the west and by the Jordan River and Dead Sea to the east) and confining the Palestinians to a truncated mini-state comprised of five or so cantons with no unsupervised borders. This would have to be done unilaterally, since Israel has absolutely nothing to offer the Palestinians that they could conceivably accept. Sharon had completed his 28-year project of establishing irreversible "facts on the ground" in the West Bank and "greater" Jerusalem. He enjoyed the support of the Bush administration and, even more important, of both parties of both houses of Congress which, in June, 2004, endorsed almost unanimously the Bush-Sharon exchange of letters that recognized Israel's de facto annexation of its major settlement blocs. The Road Map, the only diplomatic initiative that could have salvaged the two-state solution, had become a dead letter. Within six months, I predicted, apartheid would be a done deal. Israel would officially expand to 85-90% of the country west of the Jordan, the Palestinians would be granted their cantonized (Sharon's term) state on the remaining 10-15% and Israel's version of the "two-state solution," shared by Likud and Labour alike, would come to fruition. Sharon could retire to his farm, having no more reason to run for a third term. The election of Amir Peretz to head to the Labour Party changed the time-table; it remains to be seen whether it will really alter the prognosis. Not because of Peretz himself. I have no doubt that he understands the importance of a just peace for everyone concerned, the working classes of Israel first and foremost. His stated desire to resolve the conflict stems not only from a commitment to peace with the Palestinians, but arises from an understanding that the resources, distorted priorities and social polarization demanded by the Occupation cannot be reconciled with social and economic justice. "I have no intention," he stated in an interview for the Hebrew newspaper Yediot Akhronot on November 18, "of continuing the mad and fanciful campaign of massive investment in the settlements, of constructing thousands of housing units that will remain empty and highways that no one travels on, only later to have to invest additional billions to demolish them as happened with the disengagement. For years the fanciful dream of the Greater Land of Israel drained all the budgets that could have been used to close the social gaps, for health, for education, for welfare, for culture, for infrastructure. I will tell the residents of Yeruham and Kiryat Shmonei [two depressed towns in the Israeli "periphery"] that the heart-rendering drama they witnessed in Gush Katif [in Gaza, during the disengagement] when the bulldozers demolished the villas with their red-tile roofs that buried their educational and health budgets ended the era of the settlements." This is a message the Israeli peace camp has long tried to convey to the working classes. Coming from Peretz it might actually be received and make a difference. Peretz's election has generated great hope among many Israelis of all persuasions who have had to hunker down in sullenness over the past decade. One overriding question is, however, if Peretz is too good to be true. He is a breath of fresh air but in a party reeking of putrification. Labour has long ceased to be an alternative to the Likud; Peretz had to pry the Labour ministers out of their ministerial chairs by personally presenting them with letters of resignation they had only to sign. Peres may yet join Sharon's party, as has another senior Labour MP, Haim Ramon, (although Peres' family seems to be prevailing upon him not to). Top-heavy with "centrist" generals, Labour could still do to Peretz what it did to one of their own, Amram Mitzna: leave him isolated so that he loses the election and "returns" the party to them. Already one of the so-called "peace generals," Ami Ayalon, has taken upon himself the task of fashioning an "acceptable" Peretz: shedding the image of a "leftist" and avoiding complimentary comments on the Oslo process or the Geneva Accord ("I am not Geneva!" Peretz shouted repeatedly from the platform at a recent Labour meeting). In a depressing appearance on TV, Ayalon said that Labour-Peretz would insist on Israel retaining the West Bank and East Jerusalem settlement blocs and would never agree to "a single Palestinian returning to Israel proper." Whether he can retain the integrity of his ideas within his own party remains to be seen. The up-coming election in late March is presented as a three way one pitting the left (Peretz) against the center (Sharon) and the right (Netanyahu). But it is actually a two-way race. Peretz, who can truly be called a candidate of the left in both his progressive social views and his commitment to a just peace with Palestinians, is pitted unevenly against an array of three right-wing forces: Netanyahu's Likud which rejects any Palestinian state whatsoever; Sharon's new "center" party which appears to favor a two-state solution but which in fact is heading for unilateral apartheid; and a Labour Party more or less in step with Sharon. Even if Peretz prevails in the election (which is possible, despite initial polls which give Sharon a 37% to 22% lead), he faces daunting challenges. He has many fewer coalition partners than does the right. So even if he increases Labour's share of the seats of Parliament from the present 22 to 30 (or even 35, out of 120), he is left with only tiny Meretz (maybe 5-6 seats) as a partner and perhaps an Arab party or two, making it doubtful if he can put together a government. (Rabin's government, we should recall, suffered delegitimization because it lacked a "Jewish majority.") Sharon and Netanyahu, by contrast, will likely garner more seats separately than the Likud has today (up to 45: 30 for Sharon and 15 for the Likud), and their coalition partners extend from the secular middle-class party Shinui through the ultra-orthodox Sephardi party Shas and into coalition of extreme right-wing factions. Thus with some fence-mending and finessing between secular and religious parties, the right could probably form a government. In fact, Peretz is already under pressure from his Labour colleagues not to close the door on future coalitions with the right - a bad sign. It's hard to decide if the biggest threat to Peretz is the right-wing or his own erstwhile Labour Party. The danger exists that a "packaged" Peretz would lose the charm, spontaneity, sometimes brutal honesty and grassroots instincts that make him - and potentially his message and program - so attractive and different. Today's political cartoon in Ha'aretz shows Sharon, Netanyahu and Peretz all pushing against each other to be in "the center." Can he prevail over the system? It is doubtful, if only because of Israel's proportional system of elections which disenfranchises voters and empowers political parties to form coalition governments that frustrate, at times even defy, the public will. Prognosis? Gramsci speaks of "the pessimism of the intellect, the optimism of the will." If Peretz wins - a not totally impossible proposition - then the forces of peace still have a fighting chance to stave off apartheid and reach an acceptable, if not wholly just, two-state solution with the Palestinians. If Peretz loses or fails to form a stable government, Sharon's march to apartheid will have suffered only a minor snag. Sharon might even return with an enhanced mandate to impose a unilateral "peace." Just today he is quoted in Ha'aretz as telling the first meeting of his new party that his main goal would be "to lay the foundation for a peace in which we set the permanent borders of the state, while insisting on the dismantling of the terror organizations." He would offer the Palestinians "independence" while rejecting the fundamental principle of the two-state solution since 1967: land for peace. What does this mean? An expanded Israel incorporating the settlement blocs and a "greater" Jerusalem; the Palestinians locked into a truncated, non-viable, semi-sovereign Bantustan. The two-state solution will, in my view, have been dealt a death blow. At that stage the international civil society will have to reevaluate the nature of its struggle for a just peace in Israel/Palestine, shifting its efforts from a campaign to end the Occupation (which Sharon will claim he has ended by granting the Palestinians independence) to an anti-apartheid campaign. Since we have defeated one apartheid regime, the "optimism of the will" should sustain us in the dark times we may be about to enter. Peretz, indeed, or bust. Jeff Halper is the Coordinator of the Israeli
Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). He can be reached
at icahd@zahav.net.il.
|
from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.               |
