By MIKE WHITNEY - January 6, 2009

In a rare moment of honesty, the New York Times divulged the real motive behind the bombardment and invasion of Gaza. In [an] article...Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon said, "We need to reach a situation in which we do not allow Hamas to govern. That is the most important thing. If the war ends in a draw, as expected, and Israel refrains from reoccupying Gaza, Hamas will gain diplomatic recognition...No matter what you call it, Hamas will obtain legitimacy.”

"Those who are familiar intimately with Israeli people realise that they are completely uninformed (though not as bad as Canadians) about the roots of the conflict that dominates their lives..."

By JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN - January 1, 2009

The state terror unleashed from the skies and on the ground against the Gaza Strip as we speak has nothing to do with Hamas. It has nothing to do with “Terror”. It has nothing to do with the long-term “security” of the Jewish State or with Hizbullah or Syria or Iran except insofar as it is aggravating the conditions that have led up to this crisis today...Israel will accept no authority in the Palestinian territories that it does not ultimately control. Any individual, leader, faction or movement that fails to accede to Israel’s demands or that seeks genuine sovereignty and the equality of all nations in the region...will be unacceptable for the Jewish State.

There will be a Rally in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Saturday January 3rd, 2009 from 1:45-4:00 pm at Dundas square, which is at the intersection of Yonge & Dundas, in front of the Eaton's Centre.

This will be to show our support and solidarity with Gaza and its inhabitants at this time of great peril. Israel is murdering civilians, with so far 400+ dead Gazan's.

By Nir Rosen - Znet

Just as the traditional American cowboy film presented white Americans under siege, with Indians as the aggressors, which was the opposite of reality, so, too, have Palestinians become the aggressors and not the victims...Every day, more of Palestine is stolen, more Palestinians are killed. To call oneself an Israeli Zionist is to engage in the dispossession of entire people...The Palestinians would not have ever bombed cafes or used home-made missiles if they had tanks and airplanes. It is only in the current context that their actions are justified...

By Ali Abunimah - December 28, 2008

The rationalization for Israel's massacres, already being faithfully transmitted by the English-language media, is that Israel is acting in "retaliation" for Palestinian rockets fired with increasing intensity ever since the six-month truce expired on 19 December...But today's horrific attacks mark only a change in Israel's method of killing Palestinians...In recent months they died mostly silent deaths...deprived of food and necessary medicine by the two year-old Israeli blockade calculated and intended to cause suffering and deprivation to 1.5 million Palestinians...

Israel has launched a massive bombardment of Gaza. Please email your outrage and protest to your representatives and Israel...Officially Canada supports Israeli actions in your name!

Healing the Earth Radio explores the connections between many social and ecological issues. Motivated by a desire to foster more understanding, alliances, and effective action, the show interviews Native people defending their land and culture, environmental, local food, and peak oil activists, writers, lawyers, supporters of political prisoners, scientists, whistle-blowers, tree sitters, and many others who devote their lives to making things better.

"Israel cannot expect security for its people and political normalcy as long as it occupies Palestinian lands and continues its attempt to impose its permanent rule over the Palestinians by military force. We call on the Israeli government to end its aggression immediately and enter into genuine political negotiations with a united Palestinian leadership. We call on the international community to end its sanctions on Gaza immediately in accordance with international law..."

-Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions

Can it really be that the nonsense that has been force-fed us about "Genocide" in Rwanda, isn't true? So says Peter Erlinder and he ought to know.

By HANNAH MERMELSTEIN - December 25, 2008

When settlers attack, Palestinians get punished /sent home/ re routed. It is as though the settlers are a natural phenomenon. They could place a sign in the road saying, "Caution: Settlers Ahead" and it would seem as natural to the soldiers as a sign saying "Caution: Storm Conditions Ahead" or "Caution: Road Curves Ahead." It is as though the condition of settler attacks is unpreventable.

By Cyril Mychalejko - December 25, 2008

A Canadian mining company intends to sue El Salvador's government for several hundred million dollars if it is not granted permission to open a widely unpopular gold and silver mine that scientists warn would have devastating effects on local water supplies.

By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Jerusalem - The Palestinian Information Centre

Calling [Moshe] Feiglin a “Hitler” is not an exaggeration at all. The man stands for and advocates all the fascist ideas and ideals that made Hitler [and] Nazism evil. In fact, whatever differences there may be between people like Feiglin and the hated Nazi hierarchy have more to do with form rather than substance...Despite his manifestly Nazi-like ideology, Feiglin is by no means a “black sheep” within the Likud, an increasingly fascist party in light of the stridently-fascist views held by the bulk of its leaders and members.

By Mahmood Mamdani - December 23, 2008

There is no denying Mugabe's authoritarianism, or his willingness to tolerate and even encourage the violent behaviour of his supporters. His policies have helped lay waste the country's economy, though sanctions have played no small part, while his refusal to share power with the country's growing opposition movement, much of it based in the trade unions, has led to a bitter impasse...[Mugabe] has ruled not only by coercion but by consent, and his land reform measures, however harsh, have won him considerable popularity, not just in Zimbabwe but throughout southern Africa.

By JEFF HALPER - Counterpunch

The Israeli Occupation fuels anger and alienation among Muslims – as well as among peoples beyond the Muslim world, including in Europe – towards the US and its European allies. And the Palestinians are the gatekeepers that cannot be by-passed. No matter what peace plan is devised or how much pressure is exerted on the Palestinian leadership to accept it, until the Palestinian people everywhere, including the refugee camps, say that the conflict is in fact over, it's not over.