no empires goes to washington and yonkers

from practice, and from the June 10 rally to protest the 40th birthday of the Israeli occupation.

Alistair Crooke on the future of Palestine

The current situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has been treated with (characteristic) obfuscation, over-simplification, and all-round poor analysis in the Western media. No Empires would like desperately to direct your attention to an article by former UN envoy Alastair Crooke in the most recent edition of the London Review of Books. In a timely and sober analysis, Crooke not only hits precisely on the ways in which the governments of Europe, Israel, and the United States have, since January 2006, created the conditions for recent developments; he also, accurately, characterizes Hamas and Hezbollah as "moderate Islamist groups," with specific and local political aims, and broad grass-roots popularity--a welcome respite from the blanket treatment of these movements in the Western press as "terrorist organizations" or "militant Islamist groups," or any similarly inappropriate ideological description. No Empires implores you to read Crooke's piece.

Well-Made World 16

Near East

• In a terrifying development, Alan Johnston--now held captive in Gaza for 105 days--has appeared in a new video wearing what is purported to be a bomb-belt, which he says would be detonated if there is any attempt made, either by Hamas or the British, to free him by force. In the video, Johnston is quoted as saying that his "Captors tell me that very promising negotiations were ruined when the Hamas movement and the British government decided to press for a military solution to this kidnapping." This comes as Hamas, trying to show itself capable of exercising a less violent form of control in Gaza, has taken it upon itself to secure Johnston's release. Something No Empires finds interesting is the attempt being made to discredit Hamas both by Fatah capitulationists (backed, of course, by America, Europe, and Israel) and extreme Islamist elements hoping, it would appear, to outflank it.
• No Empires wants to drive home the (obvious) fact that the Hamas government must still be considered to represent the political will of the occupied Palestinian population. Here, Saree Makdisi explains why the "relief" felt in the halls of Western power at the removal of the elected government by "presidential fiat" is certainly not shared by people who once again have, as their "legitimate" leaders, corrupted careerists who have consistently watered-down (if not abandoned wholesale, under American and Israeli pressure) any truly just political solution in Israel/Palestine.
• Despite UN pressure, Israel continues to resist opening the Karni crossing to allow passage of vital supplies. As No Empires readers will recall, Israel has pledged, certainly half-heartedly, to do all it can to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza; but not Karni, not yet--despite its being an economic lifeline for Gaza, Israel, true to form, vaguely invokes security concerns. Israel has promised to allow passage of supplies through smaller border crossings instead.

US

• DePaul's Matthew Abraham marvels at his colleagues' deafening silence surrounding the denial of tenure to Norman Finkelstein and Mehren Larudee.
• Last week, both The New York Times and The Washington Post featured op-ed letters by Ahmed Yousef, political adviser to Ismail Haniya. In the Times, Yousef focuses on Hamas' reasons for taking control of Gaza. In the Post, Yousef urges the ever-intractable Bush administration to reverse its policies in Israel/Palestine, noting that "Hamas has a world in common with Fatah and other parties, and they all share the same goals." No Empires thinks these articles might be the most worthwhile op-eds to come out both papers in quite a while, though they have prompted much outrage from authoritarians and fascists who think that "terrorists" should not have a place on the opinion pages of a newspaper.

Europe

• Robert Fisk, in vintage form, absolutely skewers Tony Blair's visit with the Pope, as well as his new job prospect as the Quartet's Middle East peace envoy. Sadly for Mr. Blair, Catholic-in-training or not, no poorly-timed pangs of conscience can undo 10+ years of ignorance, unbridled militarism, and Washington-teat-sucking. A disclaimer: No Empires finds the second article on Blair linked to above, from the Guardian, a journalistic embarrassment and further evidence of the Guardian's noted slide toward liberal apology. However, we do learn that Blair was encouraged to seek out his future role by none other than George W. Bush, who then passed along his suggestions to the UN, without even the slightest regard for the other members of the illustrious "Quartet." We are also told that, though Mr. Blair's popularity may be lacking in the streets of the Arab world--we can only wonder why!--he is held in high esteem by the "Arab political elites": i.e., those like Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah II, and Abu Mazen, who are currently hammering more nails into the coffin of the Palestinian cause, with the help of Ehud Olmert, at Sharm el-Sheikh. Sadly, despite fresh Russian objections, it does appear that Blair's future is certain. Also see Soumaya Ghannoushi on this veritable slap in the face to both justice and sense.
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Israeli government today that Russia, which has not ruled out dealing with Hamas, does not support an Israeli "divide and conquer plan" of isolating Haniya's government and eventually invading Gaza.
• No Empires was not quite surprised to hear that the Indian-born writer Salman Rushie was knighted last week, considering his heart-warming transition from apparent anti-imperialist to UK lapdog in the past six years or so. Following Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa that called for the Rushdie's death, "Sir Salman" railed against "Islamists," backed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and supported House of Commons leader Jack Straw in the face of his memorable comments on the Niqab. See Mahir Ali and Priyamvada Gopal on the ridiculousness of "Sir Salman."
  

No Empires Goes Missing

You may have noticed that No Empires has been MIA for the past week or so. Our apologies. No Empires was in New Hampshire. We will be back with more updates (including posts about our trip and the recent Fucked Up/Career Suicide/Dustheads show) by the end of the day.

Fucked Up and No Empires--Summer 2007

No Empires missed Fucked Up in New York last summer (one half of NE was in Italy, the other half was late to the game). Happily, the Canadian hardcore outfit will be back in NY about 50 or 60 times this summer, so No Empires will have a chance to see them, um, 50 or 60 times--starting next Friday in Bushwick, with Dustheads. They are sure to be great, so No Empires hopes you come too. Though No Empires is not quite sure how they feel about this, we feel obligated to tell you that like another No Empires favorite, Mika Miko (who will be in New York in August), Fucked Up has some real universal appeal, with releases on Deranged Records (Canadian punks), Vice Records (hipsters), Jade Tree (emo kids), and an upcoming 7" on Whats Your Rupture? (indie-rockers? indie-pop lovers?).

Well-Made World 15

US

• Gilbert Achcar, a favorite of No Empires, provides a balance sheet on Washington's surge, as George Bush announces that all additional US troops mandated by the surge are in place. A writer for the Socialist Resistance website is Achcar's interlocutor, and while the questions asked may leave one wanting, Achcar's responses are illuminating, particularly as he traces shifts in the strategic/political thinking of Moqtada al-Sadr and Hassan Nasrallah.
• The Israeli paper Haaretz features a section called "The Israeli Factor: Ranking the presidential candidates," which ranks the American presidential candidates by how Israel would fare should he/she be elected. Unsurprisingly, front-runners Clinton and Giuliani are at the top of the list, Giuliani for turning down a $10 million donation from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, after the prince suggested US policies in the Middle East (and Palestine in particular) might have played a factor in the attacks. (We're surprised someone from the Saudi monarchy was allowed to insinuate even THAT much.) You may recall Giuliani's much-lauded outburst at the second Republican debate not long again after Ron Paul (not included in the Haaretz list) suggested that a cause for 9/11 might have been the fact "we've been bombing Iraq for 10 years." "That's really an extraordinary statement," Giuliani shot back. "As someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq; I don't think I've ever heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11." No Empires cannot help but be blown away by the fact our fellow New Yorker gets away with this shit. Notably, Barack Obama sits at the low end of the scale--despite his recent overtures toward AIPAC-- but the lowest rating went to Republican Chuck Hagel, who called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon last summer.

Middle East

• Just sworn in as the head of a Palestinian emergency cabinet, Salam Fayyad is already telling Palestinians in Gaza, "'You are in our hearts, and the top of our agenda." No complaints from him, however, when Israel cut off fuel supplies to Gaza gas stations, and not a peep in the face of reports that Ehud Barak--he who, as prime minister, gave the go-ahead to Ariel Sharon's "right-of-ownership walk-about" (the phrase is David Hirst's) on the Temple Mount, accompanied by scores of Israeli security forces, sparking the (ongoing) second Intifada--now, as defense minister, plans to launch a military operation in Gaza within weeks.
• Ilan Pappe, in a piece for the Electronic Intifada, decries the Western media's abandonment of any historical context in its coverage of recent events in Gaza, and calls for an explicit rejection of any framing of these events under the auspices of a "global war on terror." He also reminds us that the Strip--not just since last week, but since Oslo--has been conceived of as a completely separate "geo-political entity" by Israel, the United States, and the capitulationist Palestinian "leadership."
  

Well-Made World #14

US

• No Empires still hates Lee Bollinger. He was terrible as our university president, and only gets worse when it comes to placating the ADL and friends.
• NE could not pass this one up. Turns out that, since 1994, the US military has been researching the use of, shall we say, "unconventional," non-lethal weaponry. The highlight of this article is the revelation of one US hope to develop a bomb that would cause uncontrollable sexual urges among (male) enemy forces. "Let's watch these men fuck, and then kill them!"--is this how it would have gone? For more on enduring racist assumptions about Arab sexuality, from Andre Gide to Abu Ghraib, as well as an eloquent work of intellectual history, see Joseph Massad, Desiring Arabs, Chicago, 2007.
• Manhattan judge Charles S. Haight Jr. reverses his recent rebuke of NYPD surveillance tactics, dealing a blow to organized dissent in the city No Empires calls home.

Middle East

• Huge developments in Israel/Palestine over the last twenty-four hours. The Western "strategy" of isolating a democratically-elected government is playing out to devastating effect in the Gaza Strip, amid recent intense factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Abu Mazen has, unsurprisingly, dissolved the fragile unity government in Palestine and declared a state of emergency; what is surprising, however, is that Fatah appears to have been so thoroughly routed, given its links to Muhammad Dahlan and his millions in arms, courtesy of Washington. No Empires is prone to believe Hamas spokesmen who say that they were pressed to ensure that Dahlan's thugs (the National Security Forces) did not act as a supra-governmental force--though this, of course, does not mean we condone the violence, which of course plays right into Washington's and Jerusalem's hands.
• The Palestine Center for Human Rights documents, and condemns, the recent violence in the Occupied Territories, going so far as to apologize for their staff's inability to fully cover events as they unfold, given the starkly dangerous atmosphere in which they are working.
• Alvaro de Soto, former UN coordinator for the Middle East (as of yesterday) discusses Palestine/Israel in his End of Mission Report, claiming that the one-state solution is gaining ground, and also that Western refusals to deal with democratically-elected Hamas officials may lead to a weakening of democratic impluses amongst Palestinians. Full text of his speech can be found here.
• Not long after Desmond Tutu compares the situation in Palestine to South African apartheid, Israel walks all over him once again. Despite Tutu's efforts to investigate the carnage wreaked at Beit Hanoun last year, Itzhak Levanon shrugs it off, playing the part of the broken record. As usual, he cites "imbalanced and one-sided resolutions" in the UN council, "which utterly ignores the fact that we live with terrorism every day and that more than 3,000 Qassam rockets have been launched into Israel since we withdrew from Gaza," adding that "a large part of these missiles have been launched precisely from towns such as Beit Hanoun." Towns such as Beit Hanoun, No Empires asks? Cheap rhetorical devices abound.
  
• As you may well know, No Empires loves Ilan Pappe. Thank you JL.
• And finally, Amira Hass on the current situation in Gaza.

Europe

• Simon Kelner, editor of the Independent, responds in full to the exiting Prime Minister's repudiation of his paper, wondering if Blair would have gone so far if the Independent hadn't been so scathingly critical of Blair and Bush's march toward Baghdad.
  

Finkelstein

This is the first in a series of No Empires posts dedicated exclusively to the Norman Finkelstein tenure case.

• Matthew Abraham has written a strong piece in defense of Finkelstein on the Guardian's website.


• Electronic Intifada reports of an ongoing sit-in at the office of DePaul president, Rev. Dennis Holtschneider .


• Columbia's Bruce Robbins is circulating a petition calling for a halt to "business as usual" with DePaul among American academics and their students. No Empires received Robbins' petition in an email, but you can find another letter of support for Finkelstein here.

Well-Made World 13

EUROPE

• No Empires to Albania: Uh, what the fuck?
• Tony Blair, apparently thirsting for (positive) relevance, has lashed out against political reporting in the British media--and by the Independent in particular--for undermining Britons' confidence in their country and their government. Simon Kelner, editor of the Independent, responds, feeling honored at his paper's having been singled out, and even sees Blair's attack as confirming the veracity of the Independent's anti-Iraq war stance.

NEAR EAST

• Flailing around for bedfellows among an Iraqi population it has done everything under the sun to fragment and destroy, the US is giving arms support to Sunni groups for the purpose of fighting their former Shiite allies, who are now accused of representing Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.
• Kevin Zeese picks up where Dennis Kucinich left off on the floor of Congress a week or so back, and updates us on the state of the Iraqi "hydrocarbon law," a privitization law that the United States is desperately clinging to as the "benchmark" by which the puppet government must prove itself. Iraqi oil laborers are on strike and are under constant threat from the Iraqi Army and the Maliki government for "sabotaging the [Iraqi] economy."
• Meanwhile, the Iraqi Parliament has recently passed a resolution calling for an end to the American occupation. Today's New York Times, furthermore reports a closed-door meeting between William Fallon, head of CENTCOM, and Nuri al-Maliki, during which Fallon stresses the need for "public progress" on security in Iraq, and where does the pressure start? With the oil distribution law.
• Loose sends us this piece by Patrick Seale, which reminds us that, in recent weeks, George Bush and Robert Gates have stated that the US aim is an "enduring presence" in Iraq--they cite the post-WWII South Korean and Japanese models, though we all know Bush has never read anything resembling a history book in his life--and also that, of the 110 bases built by the US following the invasion, 14 of these are slated to become permanent bases (including the 100-acre compound on the banks of the Tigris--see Well-Made World 6).
  
  LATIN AMERICA

• Richard Gott, the preeminent journalist of Latin America, writes on Hugo Chavez's recent refusal to renew the charter of RCTV, producers of "colonial" television and proponents of the short-lived, CIA-backed coup against Chavez in 2002. See The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, dir. Kim Bartley & Donnacha O'Briain.

U.S.

• In yet more distressing news for academic freedom in America, Norman Finkelstein has been denied tenure in the political science department at DePaul university in Chicago, even after his departmental colleagues voted 9-3 in favor of tenure. This would usually be the place for some No Empires-style vitriol directed against Alan Fucking Dershowitz, who wielded massive outside pressure against Finkelstein, but we're too disgusted to continue.

NO EMPIRES PRESENTS (#1)

For our first film screening, No Empires will present:

"Zoo Story"
directed by John Loose
after the play by Edward Albee
Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts, Film Division
1971(?)

Time and location to be determined.

Well-Made World #12

Middle East

• On the anniversary of the War of 1967, Jonathan Cook takes a look at Shin Bet and Bizshara, and Saree Makdisi, Edward Said's nephew, eloquently makes the case for one secular state in Israel-Palestine.
• Nizar Latif interviews the elusive Moqtada al-Sadr, who, the article notes, has taken to wearing a white shroud in combination with his usual black turban, "a symbol of his willingness to be martyred, and his belief that death is close at hand."

The US

• Military judges in separate decisions throw out charges against Omar Ahmed Khadr of Canada and Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen, (temporarily) thwarting the US government's system of trying Guantánamo detainees. Classified as "enemy combatants" instead of "unlawful enemy combatants," these men are sure to be charged on different grounds following a re-group on the part of the Pentagon.
• Mit Romney: poised for entry into the White House.
• And thanks to JL, again--No Empires kept meaning to include an article on Cindy Sheehan's disillusionment, and here it is.
• David Vest on the second Democratic debate and the "Democrats War." No Empires supports Dennis Kucinich as a rare politician with a spine in the US.

Europe

• Diana Johnstone explains why Sarko's appointment of "progressive"/opportunist Bernard Kouchner shouldn't surprise anyone.

Well-Made World 11

No Empires was lazy this weekend--

though did manage to take in Garth Jennings' Son of Rambow, Jeoffrey Blitz's Rocket Science, David Gordon Green's Snow Angels, Tom DeCillo's Delirious, and 5 new shorts from Sundance*--and may or may not have been hit on by Kieran Culkin--

so some of this may be "old news."

Middle East

• A recently-made video of Alan Johnston in captivity has been circulating, purportedly leaked by the group "Army of Islam". The video features Johnston half-heartedly running through a list of pro-Palestinian talking points; the BBC, of course, was quick to assume that these couldn't possibly reflect Johnston's own opinions on the conflict in Palestine/Israel.
• Fuoad Siniora is salivating at the chance to "prove himself" to his handlers in Washington and London, and so the Lebanese army is poised to sow further destruction at the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Tripoli, and has taken the time to publicize that they will not be distinguishing between "Islamist" combatants and innocent residents of the camp.
• Patrick Cockburn explores the state of Iraq's militias during Washington's failing "surge."
• In Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has warned her British doppelganger, Margaret Beckett, that calls in the UK for an academic boycott of Israel is in conflict with "good Israeli-British relations." Also, a 20-year old settler from Nahniel, West Bank, has been acquitted of attempted murder charges stemming from his near-lynching of a Palestinian in Gush Katif in 2005.

Europe

• The head of the Church of England's education wing has declared that the teaching of intelligent design "has a place" in British curriculae.
• And here's some coverage of the ongoing debate between Alex Cockburn and George Monbiot on the science behind global warming. No Empires is eagerly keeping an eye on this.

*The only one that didn't disappoint