Paul Craig Roberts

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell

There was a time when the pen was mightier than the sword. That was a time when people believed in truth and regarded truth as an independent power and not as an auxiliary for government, class, race, ideological, personal, or financial interest.

Today Americans are ruled by propaganda. Americans have little regard for truth, little access to it, and little ability to recognize it.

Truth is an unwelcome entity. It is disturbing. It is off limits. Those who speak it run the risk of being branded "anti-American," "anti-Semite" or "conspiracy theorist."

Truth is an inconvenience for government and for the interest groups whose campaign contributions control government.

Truth is an inconvenience for prosecutors who want convictions, not the discovery of innocence or guilt.

Truth is inconvenient for ideologues.

Today many whose goal once was the discovery of truth are now paid handsomely to hide it. "Free market economists" are paid to sell offshoring to the American people. High-productivity, high value-added American jobs are denigrated as dirty, old industrial jobs. Relicts from long ago, we are best shed of them. Their place has been taken by "the New Economy," a mythical economy that allegedly consists of high-tech white collar jobs in which Americans innovate and finance activities that occur offshore. All Americans need in order to participate in this "new economy" are finance degrees from Ivy League universities, and then they will work on Wall Street at million dollar jobs. Economists who were once respectable took money to contribute to this myth of "the New Economy."

More »

Stephen Lendman

Millions worldwide demand it. So does the Arab League, according to an Al Jazeera June 13 report quoting Amr Moussa, Arab League secretary-general, saying:

"This blockade....must be lifted and must be broken and the Arab League decision is very clear in this regard."

On June 13, Moussa commented after visiting Gaza for talks with Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, Haaretz reporting he's the highest Arab official to do so since Hamas' 2006 election, after which an Israeli/West embargo followed, then the June 2007 siege.

Moussa entered through Rafah after Egypt reopened it following the Freedom Flotilla massacre, saying it will continue indefinitely.

According to Haaretz:

"Palestinian and Arab League officials said (his) visit (aimed to give) momentum to reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah."

Hamas Health Minister Basim Naeem said it indicated that

"the boycott between Gaza and the Arab nation was broken, (and that the trip would) be the start of a practical plan to lift the blockade....once and for all, in a complete and comprehensive way."

Moussa said he didn't come to support one political faction over the other, but to meet Palestinians and end their suffering, conditions in what UNRWA Commissioner General, Filippo Grandi, calls the "largest open-air prison in the world."

An outrageously different view came from New York Times writer Ethan Bronner in his June 11 article, headlined "Gaza Through Fresh Eyes," saying:

"For some, it's the relative modernity....For others, it's the endless beaches with children whooping it up. But for nearly everyone who visits Gaza, often with worry of danger and hostility, what's surprising is the fact that daily life, while troubled, often has the staggering quality of the very ordinary."

Human rights activists and 1.5 million Gazans know otherwise - decades of occupation misery, worsened by the humanitarian crisis under siege, what none of them call "ordinary," what no legitimate journalist would ever say. None report for the major media, specializing in disinformation and "junk food news," why Project Censored highlights a "truth emergency," especially about Occupied Palestine or Israeli criticism, censored and not allowed.

More »

Gilad Atzmon

Those who are engaged in the Palestinian solidarity discourse are familiar with two visions of conflict resolution: the ‘Two State Solution’ and the ‘One State Solution’. This week we have learned about a third possible resolution that seems to me the most reasonable and ethical considering the circumstances. Helen Thomas, the 89 years old doyenne of the White House press corps, sketched it in one sentence. When asked by a Rabbi holding a camera: "where should Israelis go", she said Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine”. When the Rabbi challenged her, she made it plainly clear: “they should go home to Poland, Germany, America and elsewhere”

Thomas was quick to be reminded who runs Capitol Hill. A global war was declared against her. She had to resign and to apologise. However, her brief yet transparently clear solution is sound and should be elaborated upon.

It is an obvious fact that the Israelis do not belong to the region. The Jewish claim for Zion i.e. Palestine is beyond pathetic. It is in fact as ridiculous as a bunch of Italian settlers invading London's Piccadilly Circus claiming their right to return to a land once occupied by their Roman forefathers. Obviously Italians would not get away with it, Zionists, on the other hand, have managed to fool the nations for more than a while.

More »

Patrick O’Connor
WSWS

One of Israel's tribalist killers incapacitated and receiving medical
care from the humanitarian aid activists.

The Israeli government’s announcement yesterday of a so-called Independent Public Commission into last month’s bloody Israeli commando raid on a Gaza aid flotilla underscores the Zionist state’s contempt for international law and world opinion. Rejecting calls for an independent and international inquiry into the incident, which saw nine Turkish activists killed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instead created a mechanism to exonerate the Israeli military and blame the victims of the illegal attack on the MV Mavi Marmara on May 31.

Senior government and military figures have made little pretence that the inquiry will be anything other than a whitewash of the Israeli massacre. According to the Israeli Ynetnews website, Netanyahu told his cabinet yesterday:

“Two principles guided us [in forming the inquiry]: first, maintaining the freedom of IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers to act and the credibility of the IDF investigation, and second, giving a credible and convincing response [for] the responsible states in the international community.”

Netanyahu’s communications minister Moshe Kahlon added:

“The [inquiry] decision will create a balance between the international demand for a committee and the Israeli government’s obligation to protect the IDF.”

The prime minister and his colleagues could not have put the matter more clearly—the inquiry is to counter demands for a proper investigation, also ensuring the Israeli military retains its free hand in maintaining the illegal blockade on the 1.5 million Palestinian residents of Gaza. An Israeli inquiry was never going to be anything but a cynical farce. The Netanyahu government is comprised of senior figures who ought to be facing war crimes charges for their various roles in previous Israeli military assaults on Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. The Zionist state is now internationally notorious for its brazen provocations, military attacks, cover-ups and disinformation campaigns.

More »