"The day Israel completely gives up on the idea of Greater Israel and the day it begins treating its neighbors with respect as human beings is the day we will see the foundations of peace. It truly is that simple"

"The urgent need for a global alternative is therefore not up for debate. But we should hold no illusions. Things will get far, far worse, before they get better. This is not yet the end of capitalism. On the contrary, the biggest financial players, like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and others, have used their power over states to secure massive bailouts using public funds, allowing them to prevail while hundreds of other financial institutions have fallen like dominos. As the collapse of the financial system pulls down the real economy, shares in giant corporations which actually produce tangible goods and services have plummeted as consumers are clinging to their increasingly empty wallets."

"The only just course of action is for the United States to adopt a balanced approach to the Middle East conflict and to end decades of support for the most extreme wing of the Israeli political spectrum. Our foreign policy must be based on what is best for America, not on the demands of extremists in Israel."

"On January 20th, Barack Obama will inherit all this - with a choice to make. He can either repeat the failed patterns of the past, or learn its lessons and provide the needed leadership that can pull Israelis and Palestinians back from the precipice, and provide them a way forward."

"A visit to Google News to read headlines on the Gaza slaughter reveals the same distorted picture. Even "neutral" headlines and stories promote the twisted reality that Palestinians and Israelis share responsibility for the darkness. An endless stream of lies fills the air waves and Zionist apologists engage prejudices to promote their agenda."

"Few Israelis and Arabs hold out the hope that Operation Cast Lead will actually lead to the elimination of Hamas, whose true leadership is in Damascus and whose Palestinian supporters easily number in the hundreds of thousands. If Hamas' Gaza-based leadership and armed cadres can be significantly weakened and a blow struck against one of Iran's two Mediterranean bases, this operation will have to be considered a moderate success but not a decisive victory."

"The main losers will be the civilians of Gaza, in addition to the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. Apparently, the civilian casualties, almost exclusively on the Palestinian side, are a price both Hamas and Israel are willing to pay to achieve their respective victories. Tragically, this is possible only because influential governments, particularly the United States' and those of the EU, by condoning Israel's aggression as "defensive", are closing their eyes to the unfolding war crimes that are being committed. This makes them indirectly responsible."

Article II of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide does not make exceptions for motive. In other words, using Hamas as an excuse is unacceptable. The Convention discusses “Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy a group includes the deliberate deprivation of resources needed for the group’s physical survival, such as clean water, food, clothing, shelter or medical services. Deprivation of the means to sustain life can be imposed through confiscation of harvests, blockade of foodstuffs, detention in camps, forcible relocation or expulsion into deserts.”