The DISH

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Vol. 14 No. 39…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…September 26, 2011

Bit of History

The Deir Yassin Massacre (1948)

Named in honor of Sheikh Yassin, whose tomb is in a mosque located outside the village, Deir Yassin in the late 19th century had houses built of stone and two springs that provided the village with water. All of its inhabitants were Muslims. In 1906, a Jewish suburb of Jerusalem, Givat Shaul, was built across the valley from Deir Yassin. The secondary road linking the village to Jerusalem and the road to Jaffa ran through the suburb.

During WWI, the Ottomans fortified the hilltop of Deir Yassin as part of the Jerusalem defense system. On December 8, 1917, these fortifications were stormed by the Allied Forces under Edmund Allenby. The following day Jerusalem fell to the British. Until the 1920s, Deir Yassin's inhabitants depended mainly on agriculture and livestock for income. Extensive building projects in Jerusalem during the British Mandate period transformed Deir Yassin's economy as residents began to excavate large quarries of limestone.

By the late 1940s, in addition to stone-cutting and processing, Deir Yassin had four stone crushers, which encouraged investment in the transportation of people and products. A local bus company was established in a joint venture with the neighboring Arab village of Lifta. As Deir Yassin prospered, houses radiated from the Hara uphill and eastward, towards Jerusalem.

By 1943, two elementary schools were built--one for boys and one for girls. Deir Yassin also had a bakery, two guesthouses, a social club--the "Renaissance Club", a thrift fund, three shops, four wells and a second mosque built by Mahmud Salah, an affluent resident. Many inhabitants were employed outside the village in the nearby British Army camps as waiters, carpenters, and foremen; others as clerks and teachers in the mandatory civil service. By this time, no more than 15% of the population was engaged in agriculture.

Relations between Deir Yassin and its Jewish neighbors had started reasonably well under the Ottomans, particularly early on when Arabic-speaking Sephardic Yemenite Jews comprised much of the surrounding population. Relations rapidly deteriorated with the growth of Zionism in Palestine and reached their apex during the Arab revolt in 1936-1939. Relations picked up again during the economic boom years of full employment of World War II.

By 1948, Deir Yassin was prosperous and at relative peace with its Jewish neighbors. Its population had increased from 428 in 1931 to 750 in 1948 and its houses from 91 in the former year to 144 in the latter. Deir Yassin's hamulas (clans) were the Shahada, 'Aql, Hamidad, Jabir and Jundi.

Despite Deir Yassin's peaceful reputation and location outside the area recommended by the United Nations for the future Jewish State, it was located on high ground in the corridor between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. One plan, kept secret until years afterwards, called for it to be destroyed and the residents evacuated to make way for an airfield that would supply Jewish residents of Jerusalem.

Early on the morning of Friday, April 9, 1948, Irgun commandos, headed by Menachem Begin, and the Stern Gang, which operated in the United States under the title of "American Friends of the Fighters for the Freedom of Israel," attacked Deir Yassin. By noon more than 100 people, half of them women and children, had been murdered. Four commandos were killed in the operation by resisting Palestinians using old Mausers and muskets. Of about 144 houses, 10 were dynamited. Fifty-three orphaned children were literally dumped along the wall of the Old City, where they were found by Miss Hind Husseini and brought behind the American Colony Hotel to her home, which was to become the Dar El-Tifl El-Arabi orphanage. The incident became known as the Deir Yassin massacre.

On April 10, 1948, one day after the Deir Yassin massacre, Albert Einstein wrote a critical letter to the American Friends of Fighters for the Freedom of Israel refusing to assist them with aid or support to raise money for their cause in Palestine. On December 2, 1948, many prominent American Jews signed and published an op-ed article in the New York Times that was critical of Menachem Begin and the massacre at Deir Yassin.

In 1951, construction of the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center, an Israeli public psychiatric hospital, began using the village buildings as part of its operations. The cemetery was bulldozed and, like hundreds of other Palestinian villages to follow, Deir Yassin was wiped off the map. Jewish immigrants from Poland, Rumania, and Slovakia were settled there over the objections of Martin Buber, Cecil Roth and other Jewish leaders, who believed the massacre site should be left uninhabited. The center of the village was renamed Givat Shaul Bet. As Jerusalem expanded, the land of Deir Yassin became part of the city.

The massacre at Deir Yassin is regarded as one of two pivotal events that led to the exodus of around 700,000 Palestinians from their towns and villages in 1948, along with the defeat of the Palestinians in Haifa. News of the killings, amplified by Arab media broadcasts of atrocity, triggered fear and panic among Palestinians, who in turn increasingly evacuated their homes. (Sources: www.palestineremembered.com, www.deiryassin.org/mas.html, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin)

Hood Notes

Gaza Children's Images Censored (Excerpts)

By Nora Barrows-Friedman

A Bay Area children's museum shut down a planned exhibition of Gaza children's drawings. Pro-Israel organizations pressured an Oakland children's museum to cancel an upcoming exhibition of drawings by Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. Community leaders say the shutting down of the exhibition is the result of a disturbing -- and well-funded -- campaign to silence Palestinian voices across the US.

On September 8, just two weeks before the exhibition was set to open to the public, the board of directors of the Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA) announced that they had canceled "A Child's View of Gaza." The board shut down the show due to pressure from "constituents," according to a statement made by Randolph Bell, the board's chairman, in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The show was curated in partnership with the Berkeley-based non-profit group Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA), which has been working for 23 years to advocate for Palestinian, Iraqi and Lebanese children's rights. Barbara Lubin, MECA's executive director, told The Electronic Intifada that it was "upsetting and infuriating" that the show was canceled, but she wasn't surprised.

"Anybody who knows this issue knows that the Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs have launched a multi-million dollar project to combat what they call the `delegitmization' of Israel. They try and suffocate the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and censor Palestinian cultural initiatives. What they're doing is financing the work of silencing and shutting down anyone who wants to talk about what's really happening to Palestinians."

The Chronicle also reported that the board of directors at MOCHA vaguely cited the "inappropriate nature" of the content of the children's drawings in their decision to shut down the exhibit. Some of the Palestinian children's illustrations show tanks, guns and explosions, but the board's assertion that these images are "inappropriate" enough to censor is clearly selective.

In years past, MOCHA had successfully exhibited strikingly similar artwork by children in Iraq who drew from their personal experiences of war following the 2003 US-led invasion and subsequent occupation. Another exhibition several years ago showed artwork by children made during the Second World War that "featured images of Hitler, burning airplanes, sinking battleships, empty houses and a sad girl next to a Star of David," the Chronicle added.

Lubin said that the difference in this context is simple: "The pro-Israel groups are afraid that people will start understanding what's really going on with Israeli policy through seeing exhibits like the one we put together. They don't want people to know that Palestinian children are suffering. They're afraid of us hearing that other side. For 63 years we've heard one side in this country and around the world, and it's time for the other side to be heard."

Following the announcement by the MOCHA board of directors, MECA has been flooded with phone calls and emails from supporters not only just across the Bay Area but worldwide who are appalled at the shutting down of the children's art show. And Lubin said that while outrage at the museum is understandable, the institution is not the enemy.

MECA has started an email action campaign in an effort to counter-pressure the board of directors with support and gratitude for hosting the Palestinian children's artwork. They are also asking people to come to the gallery on 24 September, on the planned opening day of the exhibition, in a show of support for the show even if it remains canceled.

Meanwhile, Lubin and the MECA staff are busy figuring out alternative venues for the exhibition. "We're not sure where the show will be yet, but we'll continue to work on seeing that these voices are heard and that these pictures are shown. People want to do something, and have been offering space in their homes, shops and even in schools," Abbas said. "They won't shut down these children's voices."

Read this article in its entirety at http://electronicintifada.net/content/gaza-childrens-images-war-censored-under-pressure-us-israel-lobby/10373

Intuit's Vibe

Obama at AIPAC Conference 2011 (Excerpts)

Now, I'm not here to subject you to a long policy speech. I gave one on Thursday in which I said that the United States sees the historic changes sweeping the Middle East and North Africa as a moment of great challenge, but also a moment of opportunity for greater peace and security for the entire region, including the State of Israel.

On Friday, I was joined at the White House by Prime Minister Netanyahu, and we reaffirmed that fundamental truth that has guided our presidents and prime ministers for more than 60 years -- that even while we may at times disagree, as friends sometimes will, the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable -- and the commitment of the United States to the security of Israel is ironclad.

A strong and secure Israel is in the national security interest of the United States not simply because we share strategic interests, although we do both seek a region where families and children can live free from the threat of violence. It's not simply because we face common dangers, although there can be no denying that terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons are grave threats to both our nations.

America's commitment to Israel's security flows from a deeper place -- and that's the values we share. As two people who struggled to win our freedom against overwhelming odds, we understand that preserving the security for which our forefathers -- and foremothers -- fought must be the work of every generation. As two vibrant democracies, we recognize that the liberties and freedoms we cherish must be constantly nurtured. And as the nation that recognized the State of Israel moments after its independence, we have a profound commitment to its survival as a strong, secure homeland for the Jewish people.

We also know how difficult that search for security can be, especially for a small nation like Israel living in a very tough neighborhood. I've seen it firsthand. When I touched my hand against the Western Wall and placed my prayer between its ancient stones, I thought of all the centuries that the children of Israel had longed to return to their ancient homeland. When I went to Sderot and saw the daily struggle to survive in the eyes of an eight-year-old boy who lost his leg to a Hamas rocket, and when I walked among the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem, I was reminded of the existential fear of Israelis when a modern dictator seeks nuclear weapons and threatens to wipe Israel off the face of the map -- face of the Earth.

Because we understand the challenges Israel faces, I and my administration have made the security of Israel a priority. It's why we've increased cooperation between our militaries to unprecedented levels. It's why we're making our most advanced technologies available to our Israeli allies. It's why, despite tough fiscal times, we've increased foreign military financing to record levels. And that includes additional support -- beyond regular military aid -- for the Iron Dome anti-rocket system. A powerful example of American-Israeli cooperation -- a powerful example of American-Israeli cooperation which has already intercepted rockets from Gaza and helped saved Israeli lives. So make no mistake, we will maintain Israel's qualitative military edge.

You also see our commitment to Israel's security in our steadfast opposition to any attempt to de-legitimize the State of Israel. As I said at the United Nations last year, "Israel's existence must not be a subject for debate," and "efforts to chip away at Israel's legitimacy will only be met by the unshakeable opposition of the United States."

So when the Durban Review Conference advanced anti-Israel sentiment, we withdrew. In the wake of the Goldstone Report, we stood up strongly for Israel's right to defend itself. When an effort was made to insert the United Nations into matters that should be resolved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, we vetoed it.

And so, in both word and deed, we have been unwavering in our support of Israel's security. And it is precisely because of our commitment to Israel's long-term security that we have worked to advance peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Now, I have said repeatedly that core issues can only be negotiated in direct talks between the parties. And I indicated the recent agreement between Fatah and Hamas poses an enormous obstacle to peace. No country can be expected to negotiate with a terrorist organization sworn to its destruction. And we will continue to demand that Hamas accept the basic responsibilities of peace, including recognizing Israel's right to exist and rejecting violence and adhering to all existing agreements. And we once again call on Hamas to release Gilad Shalit, who has been kept from his family for five long years.

I said that the United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps -- so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.

As for security, every state has the right to self-defense, and Israel must be able to defend itself -- by itself -- against any threat. Provisions must also be robust enough to prevent a resurgence of terrorism, to stop the infiltration of weapons, and to provide effective border security. And a full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with the assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a sovereign and non-militarized state. And the duration of this transition period must be agreed, and the effectiveness of security arrangements must be demonstrated.

Venue for an Artist

The Dis-United Nations

By Dr. Lal Khan

As Barack Obama took the podium to speak at the annual session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, his speech seemed to be coming from another planet, about another planet. His posture and sophistry of oration had waned. He was saying things he did not really believe in. His references to wars and conditions in different regions and the prospects of the world capitalist economy were analogous to Orwell's 'newspeak'. The visibly atrophied confidence he was futilely trying to muster with frantic effort exposed above all the decline and decay of the mightiest imperialist power in history.

Obama's insistence on withdrawal of US troops and vague promises of a peaceful era were being refuted by the events taking place at that very time. The Afghanistan aggression has gone very wrong. The contradictions with the Pakistan Army are now unraveling to dangerous levels. It is doubtful whether the Pakistani generals would heed US ultimatums or the diplomatic browbeating. According to the Washington Post, "now many senior American officials are at the end of their tether". But it would be hard to contemplate the scenario of attacking a nuclear-armed country of 180 million with a standing army of three quarters of a million, even for the American generals.

With the nauseating rhetoric of democracy, Obama praised the demise of the dictators who were toadies of US imperialism right up to the point of their fall. After all, not long ago, it was under Hosni Mubarak when Obama made his 'historic' speech in Cairo. Not one criticism was raised against the despotic regime. The biggest partner of US imperialism in the Arab world is the Saudi monarchy, which has given sanctuary to those very dictators who were overthrown by these mass revolts. The partners he mentioned were the monarchies and repressive regimes of Morocco, Jordan, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar and other reactionary dictatorships. These are still being supported by imperialism. However, all of these brutal regimes are in a crisis and will be swept away by another tide of mass revolt.

But the most pathetic part of Obama's speech was when he rejected the recognition of the Palestinian state by the UN. Even the most savory diplomatic hypocrisy could not conceal his disgraceful retreat in the wake of the onslaught of the reactionary Israeli state. With their strong lobby in Congress, in the White House and in corporate America, the right wing Zionist leaders call the shots when it comes to US Middle East policy. For the first time in its history the Israeli state was confronted with a challenge that shook its foundations. The ruling elite and the Netanyahu regime were rattled. This was not from without. In the last few weeks, the workers and youth in Israel rose against the system and the state for a revolutionary change and social justice, which was supported by 90 percent of Israel's population. It is only this class war where the victory of proletarian unity can decisively defeat the Zionist state and ensure the liberation of Palestine. The process of the creation of a voluntary socialist federation of the Middle East will begin.

The 'two-state solution' always was and is a deceptive utopia. Even some of the serious bourgeoisie analysts accept that reality. Former CIA strategist and veteran US journalist Eric S Margolis wrote recently, "Many outsiders believe a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians is possible provided irksome details can be resolved. This author does not share this rosy view. Israel's elite is determined to retain the entire West Bank and Golan Heights. Israel's strategy has been to hold endless, phony 'peace talks' while rapidly expanding West Bank and Golan settlements. An upgrade of Palestine's orphan UN status won't do anything to address these basic problems."

The Palestinian question, like innumerable disputes around the world, exposes the impotence, deceptiveness and frivolous character of the so-called United Nations. Ever since its inception in 1945 this body has not been able to resolve a single major conflict. Whether it was Kashmir, Congo, the Korean peninsula and the list is long, 218 resolutions have been passed by the UN for the end of the occupation of Palestine by the Israeli imperialist invasion. We all know what has come out of it. Since the Second World War there have been more conflicts, wars, insurgencies that have killed more people than the casualties of the two World Wars combined. And this bloodshed continues to exacerbate. The UN has been the concubine of the imperialist powers and it acts in accordance with the interests of these bosses. It is an incongruous debating club of the elite leaders who oppress billions across the planet. Lenin termed its predecessor, the League of Nations, as a "kitchen of the thieves".

The UN was founded as the result of an agreement between the 'victorious' imperialist powers and the socialist states. The deals in which the world was divided, yet again, were struck during the top summits between Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and Truman in 1944-45 at Yalta, Tehran and Potsdam. Churchill wrote in his book, Triumph and Tragedy, "The moment was apt for business, so I said, 'Let us settle about our affairs...Don't let us get at cross-purposes in small ways'...I pushed this across to Stalin...He took his blue pencil and made a large tick upon it. It was all settled in no more time than it takes to set down...After this there was a long silence. At length I said, 'Might it not be thought rather cynical if it seemed we had disposed of these issues, so fateful to millions of people, in such an offhand manner?'"

The foundation stone of the UN building was laid by President Truman, who had ordered the dropping of two atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki even when the Japanese were ready to surrender. Obama said correctly that no number of UN resolutions can achieve independence for the Palestinians. It is a dis-United Nations that plays on national divisions and conflicts. All serious issues in politics and society are resolved by wars and revolutions. The imperialists are waging those endless harrowing wars. The proletarian vanguard is preparing for a revolution.

About Me: The writer is the editor of Asian Marxist Review and International Secretary of Pakistan Trade Union Defense Campaign. He can be reached at ptudc@hotmail.com.

News You Use

Berkeley GOP Bake Sale Reeks Racism

University of California Berkeley campus Republicans have stirred up controversy with their planned "Increase Diversity" bake sale. The group of young Republicans plans to price their baked goods based on the buyer's race and gender. The plan has been greeted with cries of racism. According to Shawn Lewis, the president of the Berkeley College Republicans, in an interview with KGO-TV, "It certainly is stirring emotions, and that's what we want. The pricing structure is there to bring attention, to cause people to get a little upset. But it's really there to cause people to think more critically about what this kind of policy would do in university admissions."

The bake sale was planned in reaction to SB 185, a bill currently being considered by Gov. Jerry Brown, which would authorize California public universities to consider race, gender, ethnicity, and national/geographic origin in the admissions process. The price of a baked good is $2 for white men, $1.50 for Asian men, $1 for Latino men, 75 cents for African-American men, 25 cents for Native American men, and women of all races receive a 25 cents discount.

According to the original event page posted on the organizations Facebook page, the pricing structure was put in place "to ensure the fairest distribution, and make sure that there are a DIVERSE population of races of students getting BCR's delicious baked goods. Hope to see you all there! If you don't come, you're a racist!" The page has since been taken down and replaced with less controversial text that reads, "The Berkeley College Republicans firmly believe measuring any admit's merit based on race is intrinsically racist. Our bake sale will be at the same time and location of a phone bank which will be making calls to urge Gov. Brown to sign the bill…The pricing structure of the baked goods is meant to be satirical, while urging students to think more critically about the implications of this policy."

While the young Republicans had hoped to stir emotions, they had not expected a fierce backlash. According to KGO-TV, the reaction has been so negative the group was forced to cancel its customary lunchtime tabling duties. In an interview on CNN with Don Lemon, Lewis said, "We didn't expect the volume, the amount of response that we got. In the first few hours, hundreds of posts on our Facebook page. And the tone of some of the responses -- we expected people to be upset. We didn't expect personal threats to be made. They were implicit and explicit threats made to the organizers of the event, from burning down the table to throwing our baked goods at us and other kinds of physical threats."

In the CNN segment with Lemon and Lewis, Tim Wise, author of the book "White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son," called the bake sale a "sarcastic and rather smarmy slap at people of color." Wise told Lemon, "I get the joke. How very original. It's been done for 15 years. The point that I think needs to be made ... is that by the time anyone steps on a college campus ... there has already been 12- to 13-years of institutionalized affirmative action for white folks, that is to say, racially embedded inequality, which has benefitted those of us who are white. And it's only at the point of college admissions that these folks seem to get concerned with color consciousness."

For Wise's point, Lewis had no comment. Like his parents and theirs, he wants to dismiss the centuries of white privilege to which he feels entitled, including the legacy that white students enjoy, a privilege earned when blacks were not allowed to attend public-financed colleges and universities.

The bake sale is planned for Tuesday in conjunction with other activities, including a phone bank which will be making calls urging Gov. Brown to sign the bill. To view the CNN video, visit www.cnn.com/2011/09/25/us/california-racial-bake-sale/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Disgruntled wants to know: In May, before he clarified, revised and extended his remarks and in general genuflected to AIPAC, President Obama endorsed the key Palestinian demand that the borders of its future state be based on the 1967 borders -- before the Six Day War in which Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Of course, Mr. Obama has now threatened to veto the resolution calling for a Palestinian state in the UN Security Council. He and Israel are demanding that the Palestinians return to peace talks. Have you noticed that only occupied nations, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, are forced to negotiate with their oppressors? Let us be frank, Israel is no more interested or committed to the creation of a viable Palestinian state than it is in acknowledging its nuclear arsenal. If they do not act in their own self-interest and learn from history, Palestinians will become like American Indians, crushed beneath the boot heel of manifest destiny and squeezed onto postage stamp-sized reservations. The Palestinians need to ask Native Americans what they received from continually signing peace treaties. They need to ask, why should the road map for peace be dictated by their oppressor?

Disgruntled feels: Pimp-Slapped! On Saturday, President Obama delivered a rousing speech before the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner. His address before the black tie gala contained no specifics on how he intends to ameliorate the depressing economic condition in the black community. Instead, his speech was essentially a retooling of his recent jobs bill address delivered before the joint session of Congress, a bill that is unlikely to leave Capitol Hill, given the current toxic political environment. As one might expect from a politician addressing a black audience, Mr. Obama invoked MLK and the civil rights movement. Then, he admonished those in attendance to stop complaining and "follow me," even though under his leadership the black community has been driven off the cliff and is now mired in a deep ditch. With the black community in the throes of an economic collapse, much like a bus lying on its back with its wheels spinning, Mr. Obama's fall back position became the classic pimp-slap! Knocked silly for daring to raise the unpleasant issue of a lack of economic welfare in the black community, CBC members laughed and applauded the pimp's re-election rhetoric. The lesson from this event and what lies ahead for the black community are quite simple, being pimp-slapped is the best black folks can expect from the first black president.

Disgruntled says: One must suspend commonsense and drown in a sea of denial to believe for one second that Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and their gal were innocent hikers that mistakenly crossed into Iran while sightseeing in one of the most dangerous regions in the world, along the Iraq and Iran border. Come on people! Can't you tell when you are being brainwashed? Just think for a second about the way mainstream media repeatedly refer to these young Americans as "hikers," drumming home the lie, so that now you only refer to them as "the American hikers." For one brief moment, a bit of truth emerged in the reportage of this saga, and it came from the mouth of one of the "hikers" following their release from prison. In his statement to the press, Shane Bauer said, "Two years in prison is too long, and we sincerely hope for the freedom of other political prisoners and other unjustly imprisoned people in America and Iran." Needless to say, that nugget of truth got buried in a ton of minutia. It is imperative that US mainstream media maintain the American facade as the shining beacon on the hill; the US has no political prisoners. A virtuous icon in the annals of human rights history, where life is accorded the utmost respect, the state sanctioned murder of Troy Davis was merely a figment of our overactive imaginations.

Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls

Email www.haaretz.com...US Republicans submit resolution supporting Israel's right to annex West Bank...By Natasha Mozgovaya...US Representative Joe Walsh (R-IL), introduced on Monday a resolution (with 30 co-sponsors) to support Israel's right to annex the West Bank in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to push for vote at the United Nations. "We've got what I consider to be a potential slap in the face coming up with the vote in the UN, which is absolutely outrageous," Walsh told Politico website last July. He was quoted as saying that "it's clear that the United States needs to make a very strong statement. I would argue that the president should make this statement, but he's not capable of making it. So, the House needs to make this statement, if the [Palestinian Authority] continues down this road of trying to get recognition of statehood, the U.S. will not stand for it. And we will respect Israel's right to annex Judea and Samaria." Meanwhile on Sunday, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) delivered the keynote address at the Jewish National Fund's 2011 National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. Boehner said that it is the U.S.'s duty to stand by Israel "not just as a broker or observer - but as a strong partner and reliable ally." Referring to the Palestinian statehood bid at the UN, Boehner said that "Israel has demonstrated time and again it seeks nothing more than peace … a peace agreed to by the two states and only the two states. Like every prime minister before him, Prime Minister Netanyahu knows peace will require compromise - and he accepts that. He welcomes that."

Email www.theroot.com...Sly Stone Homeless, Living in a Van...By Lynette.Holloway...The New York Post is reporting that Sly Stone, one of the greatest figures in soul music history, is homeless and living in a van. Stone, 68, parks on a residential street in Los Angeles' Crenshaw neighborhood. A retired couple makes sure he eats once a day. He also showers at their home, and their son helps out as his assistant and driver. It is sad to learn that he joins a long line of recording artists who lost their fortunes to financial mismanagement and substance abuse. He still records music with the help of his laptop. A financial dispute over royalties has made him wary of record companies and managers; he did release an album this summer. In his heyday, he lived in a Beverly Hills mansion that once belonged to John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas. The Tudor-style house was tricked out in his signature funky black, white and red color scheme. Shag carpet. Tiffany lamps in every room. A round water bed in the master bedroom. There were parties where Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Miles Davis would drop by, where Etta James would break into "At Last" by the bar. Four years ago, he resided in a Napa Valley house so large it could only be described as a "compound," with a vineyard out back and multiple cars in the driveway. Sly's message to his fans: "Give me a job, play my music!"

Email www.rawstory.com...US tax-evasion probe leads to Israeli banks...By David Ferguson...The U.S. pursuit of offshore tax evaders is widening to include Israel, where US authorities are scrutinizing three of Israel's largest banks over suspicions their Swiss outposts helped American clients evade taxes, people briefed on the matter said. The banks under scrutiny by the US Justice Department's criminal tax division are Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi le-Israel BM and Mizrahi-Tefahot, the sources said. The shift to Israel from Switzerland, for years the main focus of the Justice Department's campaign against offshore private banking secrecy, signals the broadening of a landmark probe by the agency that began in 2007 with UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank. The shift also opens up a potential sore spot in the historically close relationship between the United States and Israel, a key diplomatic and military ally in the Middle East that is the biggest recipient of U.S. aid -- $3.1 billion last year.