James M. Wall
Gaza turmoil
 James M. Wall, Christian Century, discusses White House Middle East policy chief Elliott Abrams'alleged plan, contained within a leaked 16-page document, to "arm and train Fatah loyalists" so that they might "topple the Hamas government" (tonykaron.com).He concludes that "The realities of U.S. military funding of Fatah and U.S. training of Fatah troops leave little doubt that the U.S. is once again choosing sides in another country's internal conflict, and once again displaying the arrogance that led to disasters in Vietnam, El Salvador, Guatemala and Iraq." |
Give hudna a chance
by James M. Wall
Election season 2006 is over, and we can say goodbye to the negative media ads and stories. Opposing sides fought one another with reckless abandon. Yet they never once thought of turning their struggle into a civil war. So why is the Bush administration claiming that it's pushing for democracy in the Middle East while it is taking steps that encourage a civil war between Hamas and Fatah?
In their January 2006 elections, the Palestinians emerged as a potential democracy-limited, to be sure, by the absence of sovereignty and by uncertain borders and a destitute economy under Israeli control. Hamas won the internationally monitored election. There was just one problem. As far as Israel and the United States were concerned, Palestinian voters chose the wrong party.
War plan
 On July 12, Hezbollah fighters crossed the border separating Israel from Lebanon. They killed several Israeli soldiers and captured two others, spiriting them across the border into Lebanon. Those who want to believe the best about Israel will say that this single action started this summer's war between Hezbollah and Israel.But a closer look reveals that it is not that simple. by James M. Wall |
Under the influence
John Mearsheimer, an expert in international relations at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, academic dean of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, have issued what United Press International calls "a searing attack on the role and power of Washington's pro-Israel lobby." Their study, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," argues that Israel played a major role in pushing the U.S. into the war in Iraq, and it concludes that the Israel lobby's influence on U.S. foreign policy is bad both for Israel and for the U.S.
by James M. Wall
Port paranoia
The negative responses to the DPW deal are an excuse to curry favor with a public that has been persuaded that the world is locked in a clash of civilizations. This clash theory has lost favor in some intellectual circles now that Iraq has become such a political and human disaster. But although it's a simplistic and incorrect response to the horrors of 9/11, some politicians and journalists still find the clash to be a convenient theory, one that hides other motives.
by James M. Wall
Talk Is Cheap: 'Dialogue' vs. Divestment In the Struggle for Justice in Palestine
 THE GENERAL Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is the governing body of a Protestant denomination of 2.4 million members, 11,100 congregations and 14,000 ordained and active ministers. At its last meeting in the summer of 2004, already on record opposing the occupation policies of the Israeli government and prodded by a proposal from a local Presbyterian group in Florida, the Presbyterians voted to begin a process to withdraw their investment funds from U.S. corporations that support Israel's occupation.by James M. Wall |
Bubble-wrapped
 Newsweek magazine's cover story "Bush in the Bubble" (December 10) features an image of the president trapped inside a bubble. It's an insightful story that does not go far enough. It is not just the president who is in a bubble: a substantial number of Americans are floating in a bubble too. For that we can thank the establishment media, including Newsweek.by James M. Wall |
