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Humanitarian Disaster And News Blackout In Gaza
By Cherrie Heywood
www.countercurrents.org/heywood181108.htm
Israel has imposed a virtual news blackout on the Gaza Strip. For the last ten days no foreign journalists have been able to enter the besieged territory to report on the escalating humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s complete closure of Gaza’s borders for the last two weeks

The Real Goal Of Israel’s Blockade
By Jonathan Cook
www.countercurrents.org/cook171108.htm
The latest tightening of Israel’s chokehold on Gaza – ending all supplies into the Strip for more than a week – has produced immediate and shocking consequences for Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants.The refusal to allow in fuel has forced the shutting down of Gaza’s only power station, creating a blackout that pushed Palestinians bearing candles on to the streets in protest last week. A water and sanitation crisis are expected to follow

Obama And The Prospects For Israeli-Palestinian Peace
By Ali Abunimah
www.countercurrents.org/abunimah181108.htm
United States President-elect Barack Obama’s election victory has revived hopes that stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations could finally lead to a two-state solution. Few new presidents have been greeted with such optimism and associated high expectations

Completing The Task Of Evicting Israel From Lebanon
By Franklin Lamb
www.countercurrents.org/lamb181108.htm
Under pressure from the lame duck Bush Administration to withdraw from territory that the Lebanese Resistance (moukawamah Lubnaniyah) did not liberate during its May 2000 rout of the Israel army and its surrogate SLA militia, Israel to date remains unwilling to budge. One reason is that it claims the Bush Administration reneged on secret pledges to bomb Iran

Real Hope: Facing Difficult Truths About An Uncertain Future
By Robert Jensen
www.countercurrents.org/jensen181108.htm
With much talk of change and hope in the air, now is the time to articulate an authentic sense of hope, one that is realistic. If there is to be a decent future for humanity — indeed, any future at all — we must face painful realities with intellectual honesty and moral strength. We can celebrate the victories we achieve along the way but it’s just as crucial that we stay focused on what remains to be understood and accomplished

Pacifica Radio: What Went Wrong?
By Greg Guma
www.countercurrents.org/guma181108.htm
Faced with layoffs, a crash crunch, lawsuits, and a long-term decline in listenership, the National Board of Pacifica Radio, the original listener-supported network, has decided to seek a $1 million dollar loan, reportedly using station assets as collateral

News Flash: Obama Hypnotizes Zinn
By Mickey Z.
www.countercurrents.org/mickeyz181108.htm
Well, Howard Zinn has written an article (”Obama’s Historic Victory,” Nov. 12, 2008) but is anyone calling him delusional and ridiculing him for even suggesting such insane expectations? The tens of thousands of readers who look to Zinn as a trusted voice of wisdom and reason are being dangerously misled by an article that omits the reality that every indication points to Barack Obama doing the exact opposite of what Zinn writes

James Zogby And The Politics Of Perception
By Remi Kanazi
www.countercurrents.org/kanazi181108.htm
James Zogby’s latest article, “Rahm Emanuel and Arab Perceptions” is disturbing. In the piece, Zogby tries to calm the fears of Arab Americans about Barack Obama’s first appointment, Rahm Emanuel, to White House Chief of Staff. Zogby expressed shock and dismay that his constituency, once euphoric over the election of Obama, was now sending him angry and cynical letters. Zogby described the emails and calls to his office as “troubled and troubling—because much of the reaction was based on misinformation and because of what the entire episode reveals about the larger political dynamic.”

Ending Poverty: Moving Beyond More Aid And Fair Trade
By Davinder Kaur
www.countercurrents.org/kaur181108.htm
As the United Nations seeks increased financial assistance from donor countries to help meet the flagging Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the inadequacy of international aid and fairer trade agreements has never been so clear

Who Changes The Name Of Persian Gulf?
By Kourosh Ziabari
www.countercurrents.org/ziabari181108.htm
Why is the Persian Gulf region so important that Arab states and Israel agreed to lobby for dominance over and distort its name? How much is the distortion project linked to the political purposes and who is really charging and backing this project from outside?

Obama Owes Diamond Real Change Not Perfection
By Robert Weitzel
www.countercurrents.org/weitzel181108.htm
Over two million more young people voted in this election than in 2004; 18-year-old Diamond, a first-time voter from Harlem, was one of them. She supported Obama because she thinks he is “going to cure everything [and] make everything perfect.” While her enthusiasm is reassuring, her blind faith in Obama is unsettling. If she and millions like her do not make their voices heard above the whispers of Wall Street and K Street on the issues of war, the Middle East, and the economy, their “perfect president” will be just another politician for the well-heeled and connected, and these young voters will turn up their ipods and flip open their cell phones and lose interest in the 2012 election

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