By Gilad Atzmon

In his speech to the nation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged yesterday that the war on Gaza is a battle for the existence of the Jewish State. Netanyahu is correct. And Israel cannot win this battle; it cannot even define what a victory might entail. Surely the battle is not about the tunnels or the militants’ underground operation, the tunnels are just weapons of resistance rather than the resistance itself. The Hamas and Gaza militants lured Israel into a battle zone in which it could never succeed and Hamas set the conditions, chose the ground and has written the terms required to conclude this cycle of violence.

For ten days Netanyahu did all he could to prevent an IDF ground operation. He was facing the reality that Israel lacks a military answer to Palestinian resistance. Netanyahu knew that a defeat on the ground would eradicate the little that remains of IDF’s power of deterrence.

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James Petras

Introduction

Empires are not easy to sustain given the multiple enemies that they provoke: at the international level (imperial rivals and emerging new powers), at the national level (national resistance movements, unreliable clients and untrustworthy ‘Sepoy’ armies) and at the local level (boycotts, sabotage and strikes). Imperial difficulties are multiplied when an empire is in economic decline, (loss of market shares with growing debt), facing domestic unrest as the economic costs to the taxpayers exceed the returns by a substantial margin; and when the political elite is internally divided between ‘militarists’ and ‘free market’ advocates.

The US Empire today is in the midst of a long-term decline, during which it has suffered a series of costly defeats. In addition, Washington has assumed long-term burdensome commitments to allies who have imposed their own ambitions of seeking ‘mini empires’ (Israel, Turkey and Saudi Arabia).

The US White House has increasingly adopted a military definition of ‘imperial leadership’ at the expense of reconfiguring imperial relations to accommodate potential new political and economic partners.

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Kevin Zeese

The people of the United States must work to end the interventionist violence of the U.S. Empire

This is Part I of a two part series on American Empire. Part II will focus on the Empire Economy and how it is failing to work for most Americans as well as most people of the world.

The historian who chronicles US Empire,William Blum, issued his 130th Anti-Empire Report this week. In it he notes that the US, by far, is seen by the people of the world as “the greatest threat to peace in the world today” with 24% taking that view. Only 2% see Russia as such a threat, and 6% see China.

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Mohammed Mesbahi

How can we bring about an awareness that sharing is the solution to a planetary crisis, and our last remaining hope for rehabilitating a divided world? Central to this question is the problem of 'isms', in which our complacency has intellectualised itself in order to justify its existence as being normal.

The problems of humanity have reached such an apex that it is now critical for governments to implement the principle of sharing within and between every single country. It is critical on several counts: firstly, to release the joy and creativity that is inherent in every human being but widely suppressed through economic hardship and social breakdown, with levels of depression throughout the world now reaching epidemic proportions. Secondly, it is critical in a literal sense for the millions of men, women and children who live without adequate means for survival, and who are needlessly dying from poverty and disease with each passing day. Furthermore, it is vital that we integrate the principle of sharing into inter-governmental policies if we are to stand a chance of averting environmental catastrophe, for the necessary time for transforming our societies is fast running out. The world itself is sick and in a state of emergency, for which only sharing can provide the necessary healing and remedy. But on all these counts we are left in a quandary, because the crucial missing factor is a collective understanding that sharing is verily the solution to our problems, and our last remaining hope. Without an all-embracing public awareness that sharing is the only way out, it is impossible that this neglected principle can be implemented into world affairs.

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By Khalid Amayreh

Three children of one family killed in an Israeli raid

The title of this brief article is not a hyperbole or a dramatic overstatement meant to attract attention or gain sympathy. It is rather a reflection of reality.

Indeed, if a holocaust is about annihilating people, especially civilians, the Israeli army, the Wehrmacht of our time, has been exterminating entire Palestinian families-the father, the mother and all the children.

We are not speaking about one isolated incident or a few incidents where one stray missile hit a home inadvertently or children killed as a result of collateral damage. We are rather talking about an official policy endorsed and pursued by the government of Israel to wipe out numerous Palestinian households for the purpose of bringing the Palestinians to their knees.

This is Israel's way of wreaking shock and awe on the defenseless and helpless Palestinians.

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Timothy Gatto

Let's talk about the truth of the situation in Ukraine. Forget about all the talk on the MSM. The real truth is that the United States is taking the position of a nation that is trying to stop a civil war in Ukraine and putting the blame on Vladimir Putin and the Russian separatists for shooting down a Malaysian airliner.

That part is, sadly, the truth. What the Media that fills the homes of American citizen's fails to mention is that we started this conflict by supporting the overthrow of a legitimately elected government (although corrupt and inefficient) by force. It was widely publicized on the internet websites that Victoria Nuland authorized the payment of some 5 billion dollars to support a movement, that by some witnesses said, was shooting people in the Maiden district indiscriminately regardless of what side they were on in order to inflame the populace. This was terrorism. We supported this.

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Allen L Roland, Ph.D

Innocent victim of U.S. condoned and military supported Apartheid in Gaza

The U.S. condoned war zone of Gaza with omnipresent Israeli watchtower

The myth of Israel's right to Palestine as well as their illegal and brutal U.S. supported Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has finally been exposed and shattered by a Zionist Generals' son, Miko Peled ~ who reveals in his book that Israel's rabid Zionists are very similar to America's rabid neo-conservatives and that the only hope for the region depends on a bottom up American public outcry for human rights and democracy to replace the current Israel Garrison state of subjugation and apartheid.

On Wednesday, Gaza's health ministry, which keeps casualty figures, said 209 Palestinians had been killed and 1,560 were injured as the fighting continued for a ninth day. At least 39 children and 24 women were among the dead, officials said. In actuality, 80% of the killed and injured are civilians. Remember, there is no Israeli Iron Dome to protect Palestinian civilians and children ~ this is not war, it's genocide.

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By John Waters

FLASHBACK: July 13-15 2011, New Jerusalem performed live at the Skirball Cultural Center

David Ives’ New Jerusalem stars Tony Award winner Richard Easton and Emmy winner Ed Asner.

The play follows young philosopher Baruch de Spinoza as he faces excommunication from the Jewish community for his provocative, subversive new ideas. With his special blend of cerebral language and wry humor, critically-acclaimed playwright David Ives gives Spinoza a chance to defend himself in a mock trial to the Jewish community and Dutch society.

The 'absolute philosopher', Spinoza, was a passionate advocate of rationalism, the idea that a man's intellect is superior to his senses.  Spinoza is at the center of the 17^th century clash between religion and rationalism.

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By Gilad Atzmon

The IDF launched a vast ground operation in Gaza last night. Until now, Israel has failed to articulate its military objectives. No one in Israel is willing to commit to a definition of what a victory would look like. I am afraid that the military objective is obvious: saving Netanyahu’s political career.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and his defense minister Moshe Ya’alon have no other options. The two have tried to avoid a ground operation. Like most IDF leaders, Netanyahu and Ya’alon know that the Israeli army lacks the capability to counter Gaza’s ballistic defiance. Israel lost its power of deterrence a while ago. Instead, it developed impressive technology to deal with a ballistic threat. The Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile system performed exceptionally well, however, strategically, it proved counter effective. It liberated Hamas and other organisations in Gaza to unleash their rockets arsenal against Israeli cities, putting Israel on the defence while maintaining an ethical position since no one was getting hurt.

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By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Palestine

With characteristic arrogance, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is now demanding the disarming of Hamas, the Palestinian liberation group now defending the Palestinian people against the ongoing Judeo-Nazi onslaught.

Netanyahu knows deep in his heart that disarming Hamas is impossible and unthinkable; at least as far the Palestinian people are concerned since such a measure would be tantamount to inviting Israel to massacre the Palestinians en masse and complete the liquidation of their enduring just cause.

Hence, I really don't know why this racist Nazi-like animal keeps regurgitating his arrogance. Perhaps he thinks that Hamas would budge under international pressure and agree to disarm like Bashar Assad agreed to dispose of his chemical arsenal.

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