Resisting the Nakba
Electronic Intifada - 15 May 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOne of the most difficult things to grasp in the modern history of Palestine and the Palestinians is the meaning of the Nakba. Is the Nakba to be seen as a discrete event that took place and ended in 1948, or is it something else? What are the political stakes in reifying the Nakba as a past event, in commemorating it annually, in bowing before its awesome symbolism? What are the effects of making the Nakba a finite historical episode that one bemoans but must ultimately accept as a fact of history? Joseph Massad comments.

U.S. Sergeant Refuses to Go to Iraq: “This Occupation is Unconstitutional and Illegal”
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 15 May 2008
On Capitol Hill yesterday, an American soldier named Matthis Chiroux publicly announced his refusal to deploy to Iraq.

The House Passage of the GI Bill Is a Critical First Victory
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 15 May 2008
We’ve seen enough bumper sticker and lapel pin patriotism; the landmark GI Bill is a major bipartisan commitment to the troops.

Iran embassy staff wounded in Baghdad shooting
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 15 May 2008
Summary: Iran’s embassy in IraqBAGHDAD (AFP) ? Four Iranian embassy staff and their Iraqi driver were wounded when their convoy was shot at in the Iraqi capital, the embassy and Iraqi officials said on Friday. source: AFPread more

Bush attacks Obama in Israel
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 15 May 2008
Summary: Olmert & BushPresident George W. Bush compares those who would talk with Iran to Nazi appeasers: US President George W. Bush launched what many say was a ?political attack” against Democratic front-runner Barack Obama on Thursday when he addressed the Israeli parliament. Though he didn?t name names, the statement seemed to be directed at Senator Obama?s willingness to meet with the leaders of Iran and Syria among others. Bush said that those who would negotiate are like people who said you could negotiate with Hitler. source: The Real Newsread more

Israeli Writer-Activist Tikva Honig-Parnass, Who Fought for Israel’s Founding in 1948, on 60 Years of Palestinian Dispossession and Occupation
Democracy Now - 15 May 2008
We continue our coverage of the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian ?Nakba? and the founding of the state of Israel. We begin with Tikva Honig-Parnass, an Israeli who fought with Jewish paramilitary units and the Israeli army, participating in the military operations that expelled over 750,000 Palestinians. Today, she’s an anti-Zionist leftist writer and activist who has been involved with anti-occupation, women?s, and Mizrahi movements in Israel since the 1960s.

As Israelis Celebrate Independence and Palestinians Mark the “Nakba,” a Debate with Benny Morris, Saree Makdisi and Norman Finkelstein
Democracy Now - 15 May 2008
Sixty years since the creation of Israel and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, we host a debate on the legacy of 1948 and the possibility of a just future for both Israelis and Palestinians with three guests: Benny Morris, seen as one of the most important Israeli historians of the 1948 war and after; Saree Makdisi, UCLA professor and author of Palestine Inside Out; and Norman Finkelstein, author of several books, including Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict and Beyond Chutzpah. [includes rush transcript – partial]

Headlines for May 16, 2008
Democracy Now - 15 May 2008
China Earthquake Toll Tops 21,500, House OKs Iraq Withdrawal Measure, McCain Predicts U.S. in Iraq Until 2013, Palestinians Denounce Bush Visit to Israel, Residents: U.S. Attack Kills 18 in Pakistan, U.S.: 2,500 Youths Jailed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gitmo, CIA Kidnap Trial Begins in Italy, Burger King Fires Exec, Investigator for Targeting Tomato Pickers, HIV-Positive Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Spitting at Officers, Wheelchair-Bound Scholar Dies in U.S. Jail, May 16 is Bike to Work Day, Chiding Obama, Bush Likens Iran Talks to Hitler Appeasement