Two occupations: Occupy London and PalestineAs someone who has witnessed the humiliations daily endured by Palestinians living decade after decade under ‘occupation’ the word occupation was for Richard A. Falk an inalterably dirty word. That is until he visited the Occupy London protests.
Palestine
Obama’s best strategy for the Middle East? Do nothing
Those pushing Barack Obama to act on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking should quiet down and remember there is little or nothing he can do. Obama’s top priority needs to be re-election, writes Aaron David Miller.
Palestine’s UN bin: a time of great opportunity
The longstanding situation between Palestine and Israel has become untenable, but Palestine’s bid to join the United Nations may turn a crisis into an opportunity, writes James L. Richardson.
Richardson: opportunity abounds for the Palestinians
The Middle East has unexpectedly become the land of opportunity, and attention is starting to be drawn to whether the Palestinians can take advantage of some of it, or will miss out again.
Guy Rundle: Extreme, maybe, but how much can the Greens stand for?
The ethical core of Green politics is that collectively and democratically, people should have control over those parts of human existence that are intrinsically shared and universal.
Political snippets: Richard Farmer’s chunky bits: Ordinary folk ignored by foreign affairs
Australians think that the government paid too little attention to the opinions of ordinary people when making foreign policy, according to the last annual Lowy Institute survey.
Chewing up the Greens — the Israel boycott backlash
The Greens have been labelled, in media and political discourse, as “extremists” for the NSW arm’s position on BDS. But how reasonable and representative is the mainstream debate on this issue, asks Associate Professor Jake Lynch?
It’s all about Israel, and other Arabian tales from the Right
The Egyptian revolution has sent conservatives into a spin. Fortunately everything makes sense when viewed through Israeli eyes.
Why the Palestine Papers matter to the peace process
Why do al-Jazeera’s Palestine Papers matter so much? Well, because they puncture the central fictions upon which the so-called peace process has always depended.
The Al Jazeera leaks that will bury the Middle East peace process
Al Jazeera’s Palestine Papers seriously damage the Palestinian Authority — but also wreck Israel’s long-running tactic of blaming the Palestinians.
The Palestine Papers: inside the peace process
Secret Palestinian documents reveal insights into Israel-Palestine peace meetings, including news that Palestinian negotiators would concede all but one of the East Jerusalem contested settlements. Al-Jazeera and The Guardian share the scoop.
Funding illegal Israeli settlements?
Priceless.
Visa, Mastercard and PayPal have all blacklisted Wikileaks, but they enable donations to West Bank settlements that breach both international and in some cases Israeli law - and worse.
Howes on being a ‘critical friend of Israel’ and union embrace of boycott
The Middle East “quagmire” is largely “the fault of Israel”, according to Paul Howes, national secretary of the Australian Workers Union (AWU).
Scramble to save Middle East peace talks
Despite the US proudly launching peace talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders just a month ago, no resolution could be reached before the end of Israel’s freeze on West Bank settlement construction. What will Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas do now?
Still no peace in sight for Israel-Palestine
Only a fortnight remains of Israel’s settlement freeze, but despite days of intense peace talks brokered by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, no resolution was reached.
Chomsky: Why the US won’t allow peace in the Middle East
Israel and Palestine could reach a settlement, but the United States is unwilling to agree to it. It is the US who are continuing to fuel the Gaza war, writes Noam Chomsky.
Headbanging against oppression
Forget hip hop or folk, the latest protest songs from Morocco, China and Palestine are coming from an active, underground heavy metal scene. But what happens when metal goes mainstream? asks James M. Dorsey.
rumour 
Obama’s next project: peace in the Middle East?
Washington Post columnist David Ignatius claims Obama is “seriously considering” proposing a peace plan for the Middle East. Ditto the NYT. As Politico says: it may be BS, but it’s clearly what the White House wants Netanyahu to think.
Defeat terrorism with good old fashioned family values
Young men with strong social and family supports are far more likely to drop-out of terrorist organisations, says Michael Jacobson… before less-helpfully suggesting Israel should therefore recruit terrorists from good homes as spies.
“My father founded Hamas; now I work for Israel”
A fascinating interview with Mosab Yousef, the Christian, former Israeli spy son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, who has just released a tell-all book about growing up in the world of Islamic extremism.
Meet the “Palestinian Nelson Mandela”
Israel is willing to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return for the return of kidnapped Israeli sodiler soldier Gilad Shalit, but there’s one they won’t give up: Marwan Barghouti, the man many Palestinians see him as the leader who can finally reunite them.
revealed 
The Israeli organ harvesters: stealing body parts from Palestinians
In a move likely to throw fuel on an already volatile fire, Israel has admitted it harvested organs from dead Palestinians without permission. But, despite claims to the contrary, there is no evidence of Palestinians being killed for their organs.
