George Salzman

Straight talk 3, overcoming being Jewish, no joke

by George Salzman

Yet another truth-teller. James Petras is one of the most prolific, straightforward analysts I'm aware of. His sharp, critical, widely informed mind and his unwillingness to say gently what he thinks should be screamed makes him particularly useful to me, even when I don't totally agree with him. His range is truly global, and although I can't read everything he publishes -- there's just too much for me -- I rely heavily on his work.

 

James Petras
Photo: Reseau Voltaire

Straight talk 2, with Shamir and others

by George Salzman

The e-mails have been coming in like crazy -- I haven't even been able to sort them, let alone respond and prepare this follow-up post. But it's clear there's lots of interest. Many people who want to fix the world. And who are fed up with all the lying and cover-up efforts of the Israeli and U.S. governments. Not to speak of other governments and of course of so-called 'international organizations', like the United Nations, which was set up to be dominated by the 'big powers'.

On 8 June 1967, the USS Liberty, a high tech spy ship, was attacked and almost sunk by the Israeli air force. It was during the Six-Day War that Israel planned and was executing against Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War]. Israel's pretext for war was Egyptian president Nasser's closing of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships. The Liberty was monitoring the conflict.

Straight talk with Israel Shamir

Some things can't be fixed. Here in Oaxaca there are endless demands for 'justice' for people who we all know have been disappeared by government thugs, undoubtedly killed, most likely after having been brutally, excruciatingly tortured. Such victims are beyond justice. All we can do is try to prevent the continuation of such inhumane actions. This frightful photo is from an article by Nidal Sakr. It should be unthinkable that other human beings -- and they are always 'other', not infrequently with darker skins -- are starved, if not to death to a state of severely stunted development, prevented, at the least, from ever experiencing a healthy existence.

by George Salzman

A few weeks ago I'd never heard of Israel Shamir. Somehow or other his name came up, prompting a Google search. It quickly became clear that he was reviled by some of the most despicable of Israel's apologists. Which whetted my interest in learning more about him. So I wrote a letter, the first one, which follows the figure caption, on 24 May 2009. Much to my surprise, and pleasure, Shamir wrote back the same day (the 25th in Israel-Palestine), and so our exchange was under way.