https://znetwork.org/author/phyllisbennis/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Thu, 13 Jun 2024 03:51:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/author/phyllisbennis/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/uncommitted-voters-sending-a-clear-message-to-biden-about-slaughter-in-gaza/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/uncommitted-voters-sending-a-clear-message-to-biden-about-slaughter-in-gaza/#respond Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:50:00 +0000 Almost 13,000 people – just under 10% of Democratic voters – across New Mexico cast their primary election votes last Tuesday for “uncommitted.” They weren’t just refusing to choose a candidate – they were sending a clear message to President Joe Biden: we won’t vote for someone who is funding, arming and protecting Israel’s slaughter [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/uncommitted-voters-sending-a-clear-message-to-biden-about-slaughter-in-gaza/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-left-internationalism-mean-in-the-21st-century/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-left-internationalism-mean-in-the-21st-century/#respond Thu, 30 May 2024 15:50:00 +0000 Israel’s genocide in Gaza has put international concerns front and center for the US left today. Jacobin spoke with three leading internationalist organizers about how leftists should think about international solidarity in the 21st century. The new US socialist movement that sprung from the 2016 presidential campaign was, in a certain sense, an “America First” left. Not [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-left-internationalism-mean-in-the-21st-century/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/stopping-the-dance-of-death-building-a-21st-century-anti-war-movement/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/stopping-the-dance-of-death-building-a-21st-century-anti-war-movement/#respond Sat, 13 Apr 2024 14:01:00 +0000 With Israel carrying out a U.S.-armed and funded genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, tensions in the South China Sea, and the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight, abandoning militarism has perhaps never been more urgent. In this thoughtful roundtable, Institute for Policy Studies fellow Phyllis Bennis, Rutgers University professor Jackson Lears, and Columbia University professor [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/stopping-the-dance-of-death-building-a-21st-century-anti-war-movement/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/roundtable-on-current-u-s-foreign-policy-militarism-unhinged/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/roundtable-on-current-u-s-foreign-policy-militarism-unhinged/#respond Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:54:00 +0000 I invited three insightful analysts of present-day U.S. foreign policy to share their thoughts in a roundtable discussion. Here are excerpts from Phyllis Bennis, Jackson Lears and Jeffrey Sachs. — Norman Solomon Question: How would you assess the most important aspects of current U.S. foreign policy? Phyllis Bennis: I think the most important aspects are the most problematic ones. The [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/roundtable-on-current-u-s-foreign-policy-militarism-unhinged/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/un-security-councils-gaza-cease-fire-resolution-is-not-enough-but-its-a-start/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/un-security-councils-gaza-cease-fire-resolution-is-not-enough-but-its-a-start/#respond Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:50:00 +0000 Despite weaknesses and false U.S. claims that the resolution is nonbinding, it demands an end to the bombing and a massive influx of humanitarian aid. And that means the possibility of saving lives. Five and half months into Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza with more than 32,000 Palestinians already killed, six weeks after the International [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/un-security-councils-gaza-cease-fire-resolution-is-not-enough-but-its-a-start/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazans-are-starving-dont-cut-aid-now/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazans-are-starving-dont-cut-aid-now/#respond Thu, 29 Feb 2024 16:55:00 +0000 Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza plausibly constitute genocide. The world’s most influential judicial body ordered Israel to stop killing civilians and to admit more humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, Israel was having none of it. Israel’s killings have continued, with over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza now dead and [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazans-are-starving-dont-cut-aid-now/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/icj-ruling-on-israel-crimes-poses-the-greatest-political-dilemma-for-the-biden-presidency/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/icj-ruling-on-israel-crimes-poses-the-greatest-political-dilemma-for-the-biden-presidency/#respond Sat, 27 Jan 2024 15:35:58 +0000 Friday morning’s much-anticipated decision by the International Court of Justice ​“marks the greatest moment in the history of the [court],” says Richard Falk, a noted international law professor and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “It strengthens the claims of international law to be respected by all sovereign states — not just some,” Falk [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/icj-ruling-on-israel-crimes-poses-the-greatest-political-dilemma-for-the-biden-presidency/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-only-solution-to-the-violence-in-yemen-and-the-red-sea-is-a-cease-fire-in-gaza/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-only-solution-to-the-violence-in-yemen-and-the-red-sea-is-a-cease-fire-in-gaza/#respond Thu, 18 Jan 2024 16:52:00 +0000 As Washington continues to help arm and finance the Israeli government’s genocidal assault on Gaza, White House rhetoric has increasingly centered on preventing the war from expanding across the region. But the Biden administration’s actions in Yemen and the Red Sea are having exactly the opposite effect. Beginning shortly after the Israeli assault on Gaza started [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-only-solution-to-the-violence-in-yemen-and-the-red-sea-is-a-cease-fire-in-gaza/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/un-security-council-caves-to-us-pressure-to-prevent-a-gaza-cease-fire/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/un-security-council-caves-to-us-pressure-to-prevent-a-gaza-cease-fire/#respond Sun, 24 Dec 2023 16:43:35 +0000 The bottom line of the just-passed resolution at the UN Security Council is that it is NOT a cease-fire resolution. It is not even a “suspension of hostilities” resolution, which reflected the first major concession to Washington’s demands. That would have turned the resolution into a repeat of last month’s temporary pause – potentially useful [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/un-security-council-caves-to-us-pressure-to-prevent-a-gaza-cease-fire/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ending-cycles-of-violence-israel-palestine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ending-cycles-of-violence-israel-palestine/#respond Sun, 05 Nov 2023 16:15:52 +0000 Phyllis Bennis, a Middle East expert, is a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and directs its New Internationalism Project. She has appeared on PBS, NPR, BBC, and CBC. She is the author of many books including Before & After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis and Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today’s UN. Her [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ending-cycles-of-violence-israel-palestine/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-gaza-we-have-to-do-the-hard-work-of-looking-at-context/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-gaza-we-have-to-do-the-hard-work-of-looking-at-context/#respond Thu, 19 Oct 2023 15:48:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1255983 Janine Jackson: As we record on October 11, headlines tell of horror and misery across Gaza as Israel rains airstrikes on hospitals, mosques and refugee camps; declares a complete siege blocking access to electricity, food and fuel; and musters for a possible ground offensive. An Israeli Defense Force spokesman is being quoted warning that scenes [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-gaza-we-have-to-do-the-hard-work-of-looking-at-context/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-israel-and-gaza-erupt-the-us-must-commit-to-ending-the-violence-all-the-violence/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-israel-and-gaza-erupt-the-us-must-commit-to-ending-the-violence-all-the-violence/#respond Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1255578 The most recent eruption of violence in Gaza and Israel is a tragic reminder of the human consequences of decades of oppression. The human toll – hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis killed so far – tells that appalling story. Many of the targets, and many of those killed, on both sides, were civilians. And, as [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-israel-and-gaza-erupt-the-us-must-commit-to-ending-the-violence-all-the-violence/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beware-the-anti-china-sentiment-pushing-us-towards-another-cold-war/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beware-the-anti-china-sentiment-pushing-us-towards-another-cold-war/#respond Sun, 17 Sep 2023 14:07:22 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1254229 Whenever the threat of war against a new enemy abroad rises, attacks at home erupt first against those who are perceived to have ties to that so-called enemy—and then against those who stand against war and call instead for diplomacy and engagement. The new Cold War comes home with a rise in anti-Asian racism, including [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beware-the-anti-china-sentiment-pushing-us-towards-another-cold-war/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sanctions-are-an-act-of-war/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sanctions-are-an-act-of-war/#respond Fri, 21 Jul 2023 14:02:07 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1249790 Economic sanctions have a long and brutal history, almost as long as the history of war itself. What they don’t have— especially in recent memory— is a history of accomplishing their ostensible goal of changing governments’ behavior. Over the past 30-plus years, roughly beginning with the 1990 – 1991 Gulf crisis and U.S.-led war against Iraq, Washington’s imposition of harsh economic sanctions has vastly [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sanctions-are-an-act-of-war/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-tale-of-two-tragedies-at-sea/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-tale-of-two-tragedies-at-sea/#respond Thu, 29 Jun 2023 15:54:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1248630 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-tale-of-two-tragedies-at-sea/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/phyllis-bennis-on-ukraine-war-why-a-ceasefire-is-the-first-step-toward-lasting-peace/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/phyllis-bennis-on-ukraine-war-why-a-ceasefire-is-the-first-step-toward-lasting-peace/#respond Wed, 10 May 2023 15:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1245839   Transcript   This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of unleashing a war against Russia during a Victory Day celebration in Moscow marking the Soviet defeat of the Nazis 78 years ago. Putin’s remarks came over 14 months after Russia [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/phyllis-bennis-on-ukraine-war-why-a-ceasefire-is-the-first-step-toward-lasting-peace/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-shouldnt-need-an-earthquake-to-know-sanctions-dont-work/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-shouldnt-need-an-earthquake-to-know-sanctions-dont-work/#respond Sat, 04 Mar 2023 15:26:02 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1240609 In the face of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria on February 6 — claiming the lives of more than 50,000 people — the Biden administration took a symbolically important but thoroughly insufficient step toward doing the right thing: It temporarily eased certain economic sanctions to allow humanitarian support into a ravaged Syria.  After years of crippling sanctions and efforts to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-shouldnt-need-an-earthquake-to-know-sanctions-dont-work/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-to-cut-the-military-budget-but-dont-trust-the-far-right-to-do-it/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-to-cut-the-military-budget-but-dont-trust-the-far-right-to-do-it/#respond Wed, 01 Mar 2023 14:18:52 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1240371 This article was jointly produced by Foreign Policy In Focus and InTheseTimes.com. Since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives earlier this year, the so-called ​“Freedom Caucus” — the badly misnamed right-fringe of the congressional GOP — has been flexing its influence. Caucus members are deeply invested in an agenda that would increase inequality and enrich corporations and billionaires, strip hard-won rights from people of color, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-to-cut-the-military-budget-but-dont-trust-the-far-right-to-do-it/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/20-years-ago-the-world-said-no-to-war/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/20-years-ago-the-world-said-no-to-war/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:40:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1239552 Twenty years ago — on February 15, 2003 — the world said no to war. People rose up in almost 800 cities around the world in an unprecedented movement for peace. The world stood on the precipice of war. U.S. and U.K. warplanes and warships — filled with soldiers and sailors and armed with the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/20-years-ago-the-world-said-no-to-war/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-time-for-a-ceasefire-in-ukraine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-time-for-a-ceasefire-in-ukraine/#respond Fri, 11 Nov 2022 14:44:22 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1231509 In some ways ceasefires can seem complicated — by themselves they don’t solve the problems that led to armed conflict in the first place. By themselves they don’t hold the perpetrators accountable. By themselves they don’t change the balance of forces on the ground when they go into effect. In short, by themselves, ceasefires are never enough. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-time-for-a-ceasefire-in-ukraine/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-killing-of-al-qaeda-chief-ayman-al-zawahiri-will-not-make-us-safer/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-killing-of-al-qaeda-chief-ayman-al-zawahiri-will-not-make-us-safer/#respond Wed, 03 Aug 2022 15:53:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1198064 President Joe Biden, to his credit, did not come out swaggering at his press conference announcing that the CIA had just killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri. But he did make the dubious assertation that the assassination somehow “made us all safer.” In reality, this killing will not end the war on terror, and is [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-killing-of-al-qaeda-chief-ayman-al-zawahiri-will-not-make-us-safer/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-u-s-is-complicit-in-shireen-abu-aklehs-killing/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-u-s-is-complicit-in-shireen-abu-aklehs-killing/#respond Thu, 26 May 2022 10:39:20 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1058615 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-u-s-is-complicit-in-shireen-abu-aklehs-killing/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/say-no-to-a-no-fly-zone-in-ukraine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/say-no-to-a-no-fly-zone-in-ukraine/#respond Fri, 01 Apr 2022 11:54:07 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1056694 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/say-no-to-a-no-fly-zone-in-ukraine/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-best-way-to-help-ukraine-is-diplomacy/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-best-way-to-help-ukraine-is-diplomacy/#respond Fri, 18 Mar 2022 13:56:31 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1056236 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-best-way-to-help-ukraine-is-diplomacy/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/respond-to-putins-illegal-invasion-of-ukraine-with-diplomacy-not-war/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/respond-to-putins-illegal-invasion-of-ukraine-with-diplomacy-not-war/#respond Sat, 26 Feb 2022 12:23:23 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1055477 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/respond-to-putins-illegal-invasion-of-ukraine-with-diplomacy-not-war/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washingtons-war-in-afghanistan-is-over-what-happens-now/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washingtons-war-in-afghanistan-is-over-what-happens-now/#respond Wed, 18 Aug 2021 09:05:20 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1049399 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washingtons-war-in-afghanistan-is-over-what-happens-now/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-the-olympic-refugee-team/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-the-olympic-refugee-team/#respond Fri, 06 Aug 2021 09:04:28 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1049002 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-the-olympic-refugee-team/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/war-criminal-found-dead-at-88/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/war-criminal-found-dead-at-88/#respond Thu, 08 Jul 2021 09:00:58 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1048137 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/war-criminal-found-dead-at-88/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-real-danger-of-israels-new-government/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-real-danger-of-israels-new-government/#respond Fri, 18 Jun 2021 09:02:34 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1047679 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-real-danger-of-israels-new-government/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/to-end-poverty-in-the-united-states-end-militarism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/to-end-poverty-in-the-united-states-end-militarism/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2021 09:04:31 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1047468 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/to-end-poverty-in-the-united-states-end-militarism/feed/ 1