Portside

Once again, R2P - responsibility to protect - is being used as a pretext for attacking Syria. The propaganda that continues to flourish for war on Syria shows many Americans fail to understand the problems posed by "US Empire-building" believing it to be an altruistic force, toppling other governments and starting wars for the good of all mankind.

Under Secretary of State Sherman also suggested at one point that there would be no real need to prohibit any Iranian missile if the negotiations on the nuclear programme were successful. “Not having a nuclear weapon,” she said, “makes delivery systems almost — not wholly, but almost — irrelevant.” That admission underlined the wholly political purpose of the administration’s apparent embrace of the Israeli demand that Iran negotiate limits on its ballistic missiles.

Women in the image machine; Arab idol gets the boot; French cultural workers throw down; Civil rights heroes digitized; AIPAC takes a blow

For more than 66 years, Palestinian refugees have been languishing in squalid conditions across camps in the Middle East. But do all of them agree that a return to Palestine is necessarily the best solution? Through her extensive research, Paula Schmitt finds that while different refugees may have different desires, hopelessness remains everyone's worst enemy.

Last month, a small delegation of African American artists traveled through Israel and Palestine to get a firsthand look at the daily lives of Palestinians. What they saw shocked and angered them, and their eyewitness accounts are sure to spark debate here as heated as any confrontation in the Middle East. Bill Fletcher Jr., senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, led the delegation and shares his perspective on the region.

Say what you will about the boycotting, divesting from and sanctioning Israel. The tactical brilliance of BDS becomes clearer with every passing month. Amid faltering peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Israeli politicians and business leaders are forced to consider a host of international boycotts that threaten to damage the economy of the Jewish state.

Doesn't the NFL Pay Taxes?; Haven't the Redskins Changed their Name Yet?; Scarlett Johansson Turns Her Back on Human Rights, Takes the $$ Instead; Irish Should Defend Undocumented Latinos; Bronco chooses Chomsky over NFL; Cheerios Family in New Ad

Open letter to Mayor de Blasio from prominent New York City Jewish leaders" "the needs and concerns of many of your constituents - U.S. Jews like us among them - are not aligned with those of AIPAC, and that no, your job is not to do AIPAC's bidding when they call you to do so. AIPAC speaks for Israel's hard-line government and its right-wing supporters, and for them alone; it does not speak for us." (The following letter was shared with Mondoweiss)

Reader Comments - Pete Seeger; Harry Belafonte Tribute to Seeger; Seeger before HUAC; Seeger - a life-long socialist; Costs of Privatization; Adjunct Professors; Scarlett Johansson and Israeli Occupation; Fracking; Net Neutrality; Radical Art in History; Arlo Guthrie; Solidarity with Russian airline pilots; Today in History

Leaders from Israel's tech and banking industries will fly to Davos economic forum to support Kerry's peace effort, urge Israel and Palestinians to reach deal to save Israel's economy from looming boycott