Archive for the 'Illegal Occupation' Category

Sep 27 2007

David and Goliath: Palestinian Artist Spreads Hope

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

david-goliath-rana-ghassan

Rana Ghassan’s “David and Goliath”

By Ramzy Baroud

9/27/07

When one commits to the life of an active citizen, spending their hours days and years reading and writing about current events, it becomes a daily struggle to overcome the cynicism that chases after you with the despairing headlines marking each newspaper or magazine. Rare is it when someone or something comes along to revive the feelings of courage, tenacity and wilfulness of the young and hopeful activist.

In my office, hanging above the fireplace in conspicuous view from any part of the room is a large print of Rana Ghassan’s “David and Goliath”. It has been placed in a strategic location, where beholding it daily is unavoidable. I am forced to study the foreboding danger portrayed as soldiers gather in the distant dust. I must consider that the young faceless boy in the work stands with no barricade to protect him, no riot gear, armoured vehicle, just a worn-out cotton t-shirt and a steadfastness that can move mountains.

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Sep 16 2007

Greenspan admits Iraq was about oil, as deaths put at 1.2m

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

greenspan

By Peter Beaumont and Joanna Walters in New York

Sunday September 16, 2007

The Observer | GUARDIAN Unlimited [U.K.]

The man once regarded as the world’s most powerful banker has bluntly declared that the Iraq war was ‘largely’ about oil.

Appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1987 and retired last year after serving four presidents, Alan Greenspan has been the leading Republican economist for a generation and his utterings instantly moved world markets.

In his long-awaited memoir - out tomorrow in the US - Greenspan, 81, who served as chairman of the US Federal Reserve for almost two decades, writes: ‘I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.’

In The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, he is also crystal clear on his opinion of his last two bosses, harshly criticising George W Bush for ‘abandoning fiscal constraint’ and praising Bill Clinton’s anti-deficit policies during the Nineties as ‘an act of political courage’. He also speaks of Clinton’s sharp and ‘curious’ mind, and ‘old-fashioned’ caution about the dangers of debt.

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Sep 15 2007

Vancouver Jewish Group Supports Norman Finkelstein

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

finkel

Reacting to the decision, Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, said, “They can deny me tenure, deny me the right to teach. But they will never stop me from saying what I believe.”

[NOTICE TO OUR ESTEEMED READERS: Cyrano’s Journal Online/Thomas Paine’s Corner has weathered numerous contradictory and false accusations concerning our stance on Israel and Zionism. Some assert that we are “Jewish conspirators”; others contend we are “anti-Semitic”; and there are even those who characterize us as “Zionists.” Guess what, folks? We are none of the above!

As a declaration of our position on the highly contentious subject of Israel and the Palestinians, we are throwing our full support behind people of all races, religions, ethnicities, nationalities, and political stripes who oppose Zionism and the myriad miseries it has rained down upon the Palestinian people. We salute bold groups like Jews for a Just Peace, intrepid Jewish American academics like Norman Finkelstein, and many courageous Jewish people within the state of Israel (including much-decorated members of the IDF and Israel’s brave peace movement) who vehemently oppose the horrific crimes their state commits against the Palestinians (with the full approval and financial backing of the filthy plutocracy ruling the United States)—The editors]

06.21.2007 | www.mostlywater.org

By Yom Shamash, on behalf of
Jews for a Just Peace, Vancouver, B.C.

Vancouver, British Columbia – On the eighth of June, DePaul University in Chicago denied tenure to one of the world experts on the Israel/Palestine conflict, Norman G. Finkelstein. There’s been a great uproar on campus and worldwide because it is well known that Prof. Finkelstein’s contract was terminated as a result of intervention from outside the university, and ultimately because of the power of his ideas. In a book entitled The Holocaust Industry, Dr. Finkelstein argues that since 1967 Zionist organizations and certain Jewish leaders have capitalized on the memory of the Holocaust to generate wealth and power for themselves and to silence criticism of Israel’s [war] crimes against Palestinians. Professor Finkelstein’s ideas are dangerous, and he has paid the price, losing his position in academia despite his tremendous intellectual productivity – 5 books in 12 years.

We, Jews for a Just Peace, write this statement because we are disturbed by the events at DePaul. We have been impressed by Dr. Finkelstein’s incisive analysis and passionate defense of human rights and international law in the context of Israel/Palestine. We take this opportunity to share our thoughts about the relationship between his dismissal and the struggle to which we are committed.

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Sep 08 2007

The Shiite Power Struggle: Hardly Good News for the US in Iraq

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

muqtada-al-sadr

By Ramzy Baroud

9/8/07

The decision made by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to halt his Mahdi Army’s attacks on occupation forces and Iraqi security is likely to be considered the single most promising breakthrough for the US military in Iraq. Although the move comes ahead of several reports to be presented to the US Congress later this month, the decision was ultimately an outcome of a long-brewing intersectarian conflict between Shiite Iraqis, which will further complicate the devastating American failure in Iraq,

Al-Sadr’s decision followed the widespread clashes at Karbala on August 26, during one of the holiest Shiite festivals. Despite various accusations of outside involvement, the clashes were apparently Shiite through and through, involving militant members of the Badr Brigade of the Islamic Supreme Council (led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a duel ally of the US and Iran) and al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.

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