Phyllis Bennis

From Venezuela to Iran, Wash­ing­ton’s il­le­gal and in­hu­mane eco­nom­ic sanc­tions are putting mil­lions of lives at risk.

Raji Sourani is known for be­ing fair and un­bi­ased in high­light­ing abus­es of Pales­tini­ans by gov­ern­ments and oth­ers.

What­ev­er Con­gress may de­cide, a US mil­i­tary strike against Syr­ia would be a reck­less and coun­ter­pro­duc­tive move.

The re­moval from of­fice of Pres­i­dent Mo­hammed Mor­si por­tends great ex­cite­ment but even greater threats to democ­ra­cy.

The US must op­pose the oc­cu­pa­tion and set­tle­ments, and sup­port a Pales­tin­ian right to free­dom, equal­i­ty and state­hood.

Our com­mit­ment as a “sec­ond su­per-pow­er” re­mains, and we must show the same de­fi­ance as we did ten years ago.

It is dis­ap­point­ing to see HRW’s un­will­ing­ness to stand with those who are work­ing to pro­mote and de­fend hu­man rights.

Out­side pow­ers should stop mil­i­tary in­volve­ment and sup­port new diplo­mat­ic ini­tia­tive.

Al­though po­lit­i­cal brinkman­ship with Iran is noth­ing new, es­ca­lat­ing ten­sions do not bode well for the re­gion.

The deal has been dis­cussed since Shalit was cap­tured in 2006, now the time has come for 1028 fam­i­lies to be re­unit­ed.