'Just World News' with Helena Cobban

JWN revived; Israel's wars described

My apologies to loyal JWN readers that I haven't posted much recently... Indeed, for most of the past three or four months I have been seriously AWOL as a blogger....

Robinson and Brahimi: Wrong on Hamas and women

Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi have a piece in HuffPo today in which they argue, probably correctly, that it is Gaza's women and children who are paying the highest price...

Powerful rebuke of SA Chief Rabbi over Goldstone

The great, strongly anti-Apartheid South African journo Allister Sparks has penned a powerful rebuke of his country's Chief Rabbi, Warren Goldstein, over the latter's strongly expressed criticism of Constitutional Court...

Great reporting on effects of siege in Gaza

John Lyons of The Australian has a great report in tomorrow's paper about the nuts and bolts of how Israel's siege kills the most vulnerable of Gaza's citizens. He chronicles...

Washington abandons Gaza tunnel-blocking system?

Maan had a little story June 8 noting the departure of what were apparently the last of the US army engineers who've been trying to install a system along Egypt's...

Flotilla: American citizen among fatalities

Reuters and others are now reporting that a U.S. citizen, 19-year-old Furkan Dogan, was among those murdered by Israel during its piratical assault on the Mavi Marmara on Monday. No...

Flotilla: Great piece from M.J. Rosenberg

M.J. writes: The first thing you need to know about the Gaza flotilla disaster is that the intention of the activists on board the ships was to break the Israeli...

How to end the siege of Gaza, addendum

In my earlier post on this topic, I wrote this: Gaza needs to be open for normal commercial and human activity-- not just for the trucking-in of international aid. What...

Flotilla: Ann Telnaes gets it

When you need a moment for light relief watch her short animation, here. HT: Mondoweiss-- who also noted the great detail about the bath-towel stitching....

Caoimhe under attack, appeals for support actions

This just went up on Youtube from Irish ISM activist Caoimhe Butterly. The fact it's now been posted must, according to what she says there, mean that the M/V Rachel...

How to end the siege of Gaza

I've been thinking through some of the challenges any Israeli government would face as it considers ending its four-year-long siege of Gaza. (And that, it is becoming increasingly clear, is...

Turkey shows the way

The Turkish government has successfully persuaded Israel to immediately release all Turkish nationals illegally captured by Israel on the high seas on Monday, and has sent civilian planes and military...

Flotilla: U.S. supports a U.N. enquiry (oops, no?)

I just read the report of the consultations the UNSC held yesterday and in the wee hours of this morning into the flotilla massacre. The presidential statement and most of...

Arabist and others on the flotilla massacre

Issandr el-Amrani of the Arabist has been doing some of the best blogging on today's IDF flotilla massacre. Among his great posts have been these: How Israel sets the TV...

Live-feed from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

I've just been watching the live-stream from the Turkish boat provided here. Participants in the humanitarian-aid venture get the chance to stand up to the camera from time to time....

Support the Free Gaza Flotilla

Follow its progress in near real-time on Twitter, here. Robert Fisk reminded his audience in Qatar yesterday that back in 1948 the democratic nations of the west worked hard together...

IDF planning re-entry, mass detention camps in Gaza?

Amir Buhbut reported in the Israeli daily Ma'ariv on Tuesday that, the IDF and Military Police forces are training for the possibility that the IDF would stage an offensive on...

Testimonies from Gaza children

... aired recently by 'Dispatches' on Britain's Channel 4. 48 minutes of very straightforward testimonies from some of Gaza's child survivors themselves. Appreciation to Channel 4 for airing this. And...

Turkish IHH foundation plans new siege-busting project for Gaza

Turkey's IHH humanitarian-aid foundation has now announced a plan to help lead a 20-ship siege-busting project for Gaza, to take place most likely in April. The project is called Noah's...