Stephen Lendman

Fadwa Barghouti, the wife of jailed Palestinian leader
Marwan Barghouti, stands in front of a big poster with
her husband's portrait at the offices of the "Campaign
to free Marwan Barghouti" in Ramallah. (J. Hill/NYT)

"From the beginning of the investigations until the final day of the trial, the prosecution put almost as much effort into staging a media event as it did into working on the legal aspects."

From March 29 - May 3, 2002, during the second Intifada, Israel conducted Operation Defensive Shield. Before Cast Lead, it was its largest military operation since June 1967 when Israel occupied Palestine.

On September 23, 2001, a warrant was issued for Barghouti's arrest. On April 14, 2002, he was arrested on spurious charges of murder, aiding and abetting murder, promoting murder, criminal conspiracy, and being an active member of a terrorist organization. At the time he said:

"I am a political leader, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, elected by my people. Israel has no right to try me, to accuse me, to judge me. This is a violation of international law. I have a (legal) right to resist occupation."

On September 5, his trial began. Barghouti disputed its legitimacy under international law. On December 12, Judge Zvi Gurfinkel ruled as follows:

"I reject the argument at this stage of the proceeding regarding the Court's authority in the context of the petition for the detention pending completion of proceedings filed by the State against the Defendant."

"Ultimately, the State of Israel has the right and the authority to judge the Defendant," according to Israeli and international law.

On May 20, 2004, Barghouti was convicted of involvement in three terrorist attacks killing five people. Acquitted on 33 other charges, he received five consecutive life sentences plus 40 years.

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Bill Van Auken

Barack Obama meets with China's president Hu Jintao as
part of the G20 meeting in Seoul: fears of a currency war
between the US and China have dominated the summit.

The military strategy unveiled by President Barack Obama Thursday keeps massive spending on the US war machine largely intact, while shifting its focus decisively toward China.

Obama made an unprecedented appearance at the Pentagon Thursday, marking the first time that a US president has personally participated in the presentation of such a defense strategic guidance document, which presents in broad strokes the priorities and direction for the US armed forces.

In presenting the document, entitled “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense,” Obama insisted that the US military budget would remain higher than those of the next 10 military powers combined. Preemptively responding to right-wing claims he was “cutting” military spending, he pointed out, “The growth in the defense budget will slow, but the fact of the matter is this: It will still grow.”

The guidance calls for a fundamental re-orientation of American military power toward the Asia-Pacific region, while affirming its commitment to maintaining US military control over the oil-rich Persian Gulf. “All trends are shifting to the Pacific,” stressed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey. “Our strategic challenges will largely emanate out of the Pacific region.”

In its blunt and provocative portrayal of China as an enemy, the document reflects the steady buildup toward a confrontation over dominance of the Asia Pacific region, the scene of the world’s greatest economic growth.

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Kourosh Ziabari

2011 was a turbulent year for the world. With chained revolutions in the Arab world, mounting financial crisis in Europe and the unprecedented wave of protests and mass demonstrations in the U.S. against the corporate system of the government which has long swallowed the rights of the defenseless majority of the people voraciously, one can call 2011 the year of global unrest and tumult.

For Iran, 2011 was also a challenging year. Benefiting from the all-out backing of the Western mainstream media, the apartheid regime of Israel for several times renewed its hawkish war threats against the Islamic Republic and repeatedly used an aggressive rhetoric against the people of Iran, threatening them with various military options which the United States and certain European governments embraced willingly and enthusiastically.

It would not be an exaggeration to claim that the Arab Spring was a legacy of Mohamed Bouazizi who with his painful self-immolation before a municipality office in Tunis in protest at the ill treatment and corruption of the police, sparked the rage and irritation of the Arab nations in the Middle East and North Africa and somehow invited them to rise up and stand against their corrupt, authoritarian governments which were mostly equipped and supported by the U.S. and its European allies.

In Tunisia and after Bouazizi burnt himself before the mayor's office, people started to sympathize with him and his family and held funeral processions for him. These small gatherings began to expand explosively and after a short time, turned into massive demonstrations against the uncontested 23-year rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali whose accumulation of illegitimate wealth and what his opponents called his family's Mafia rule had infuriated the oppressed, pauperized people.

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Adnan Al-Daini

Edmund Burke, the Irish political philosopher, wrote: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Or if one prefers the popular version: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  Either way the sentiment is clear.

Looking at today’s Iraq, I could think of no better advice than that uttered by Edmund Burke in 1770.  The chaos, the sectarianism, and the terrorism engulfing the country is causing good men and women to leave if they have the resources to do so, or to keep their heads down and hope that somehow things will change. 

I was talking to an Iraqi friend the other day who is living in Iraq, and has experienced the full horror of wars, sanctions, and more wars that have blighted the country of my birth for decades.  He told me the situation is hopeless; the corruption, the violence, the criminality is overwhelming.  Add to that the lack of basic services, and you begin to imagine the depths of despair to which ordinary people have descended. 

When you are confronted with such a catastrophe, one reaction is to feel hopelessness and paralysis; simply existing from one day to the next and thanking God that you and your family have survived another day is just about all you can manage.  Understandable, but is there a better way?

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Stephen Lendman

Settlers regularly intimidate and assault Palestinians and their property with impunity. Nearby security forces don't intervene. Often they commit violence. Investigations seldom follow. Those done are whitewashed. World leaders turn a blind eye. As a result, Palestinians are denied protection and justice.

B'Tselem's been on the story for years. Settler violence is longstanding, troubling, and largely without accountability.

Since September 2000 alone (the beginning of the second Intifada), the toll includes 50 Palestinians killed. Since December 1987 (the first Intifada's onset), it's 115, besides many more injured, including children.

With few exceptions, settlers initiate unprovoked violence. More recently, those under the "Price Tag" slogan rampage out-of-control.

B'Tselem documented numerous incidents, including blocking roads, stoning cars and homes, torching fields, uprooting trees and other crops, as well as other forms of violence and damage.

In response, Israeli security forces do little despite a High Court ruling that "protecting the security and property of the local residents is one of the most basic obligations placed upon the military commander in the field."

Moreover, Justices said Israeli authorities must "give unequivocal instructions to the forces that are deployed in the field." They must also "allocate forces to protect the property of the Palestinian residents." More on the most recent incidents below.

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