Just as Obama was getting his presidential teeth into the Israel-Palestine issue – with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last week and Obama’s Middle East tour next – North Korea goes and finds a window in his crowded timetable, forcing itself on his attention with a nuclear test and missile firings. But, although things can go horribly wrong, North Korea presents a much more straightforward problem than Israel-Palestine and the wider Middle East. Continue reading
Middle East
Obama in power (6):policies clarifying, pattern still hazy
By the time Obama was inaugurated, he had promised so much, there was a risk that he could only disappoint. Let’s not get too carried away in these tough times, but there is some much needed good news: perfect his administration is not, but the first signs in foreign policy are far from negative. This extended post surveys the key issues. Continue reading
Obama in power (3): Iraq – not as clear as it first seems
Speaking last Friday at the US Marine Corps Camp Lejeune base in North Carolina President Obama announced a big reduction in US troop numbers in Iraq from 142,000 down to 50,000 by August next year, with all US forces out by the end of 2011. So he has made his intentions clear. Or has he?
The special significance of the Israel-Palestine conflict
Why is it that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians generates such intense feelings among so many people? It goes deeper and spreads more widely than virtually any other current political issue. People who have no personal stake – no relatives in any part of Israel and Palestine, for example – express themselves on this conflict with genuine feelings of grief and anger, where other conflicts provoke only a more general humanitarian response or concern for the unjustly treated. What’s special about Israel-Palestine? Continue reading
Gaza, criticising Israel and Howard Jacobson
The three-week offensive Israel launched on Gaza on 27 December has predictably led to a re-airing of the argument about whether and to what degree it is possible to criticise Israel without being anti-Semitic. This is the conflict that receives more coverage and more passion than any other in today’s world and how the arguments about it are handled is important in the evolution of our political culture. This post goes into this treacherous subject at some length.
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Israel’s motives in Gaza
Why did Israel launch its offensive on Gaza on 27 December? Little is clear and as always there are competing accounts and interpretations, with even more confusion and argument over its degree of success or failure. Continue reading
Obama in power
So how do the first two weeks of the Obama administration’s international policies look? Too soon to pass judgement on the administration and its approach, too soon to tell very much, but not too soon for opinions and the commentariat is already full of them. In a provisional sort of way, let’s join in. Continue reading
Gaza
Others are writing with wisdom, evidence and pain on the current events in Gaza and right now I have nothing to add. But I do recommend two web-sites for a human rights perspective from within Israel: one is a coalition of human rights groups, specifically on Gaza, and the other is B’Tselem‘s (both their “Gaza strip” summary and “Statistics” drop-down are especially useful).
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