Steven D speaks for me. We don’t do much Israel/Palestine posting here, not for lack of interest so much as the need to write about things happening right here and not enough time to cover all of it. Let this story be an example to all those who believe that walling up America will help anything or anyone other than the wall-builders.

I found the story of the “breakout” particularly tragic and heartbreaking. Women and children, desperate for food and water…a real “Wailing Wall,” no? How they “deserved” this “collective punishment” is beyond the comprehension of decent people. I imagine good people in Israel are as ashamed of their government today as I have been of mine. But I will only reserve contempt and anger for American politicians too cowardly to stand up to the Likudnik lobby. Israel is our friend, and funding this kind of oppression to the tune of billions annually is not the act of a friend. There is no freedom for anyone, not on any side of any Ghetto wall.

Just got in from the Mesopotamian Archaeology section of this year’s American Schools for Oriental Research (ASOR) conference. All the news isn’t bad, I’m happy to report, when it comes to the area of study that has the most political significance: Iraqi archeology. I also got some notes on a panel discussing the state of Palestinian archaeology, which is actually more interesting than it may sound.  Read more