Counter Hegemony

Why the US supports Israel

Israel is the most important US ally in the Middle East. For decades, US governments have funded Israel's military and political regime and provided financial, intelligence and diplomatic support. Israel is the largest recipient of US military aid. Over the past several decades, Israel has played a crucial role in defending US imperial interests in the Middle East. It has helped the US dominate the region, thus reducing, but not eliminating, the need for direct US military involvement. Israel has served as a quasi-US military outpost in the world's most important geopolitical region. It has helped the US control the global oil spigot in the Middle East, on which the American Empire remains dependent.On the other hand, the US has been a critical sponsor of Israel's settler-colonial project. Over the past decades, US administrations have been fully complicit in Israel's occupation and apartheid regime, as well as in the dispossession, displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Is Israel's assault on Gaza about gas?

There are several videos floating around the Internet claiming that Israel's assault on Gaza has to do with the natural gas reserves located off the Gazan coast. In 1999, the Palestinian National Authority signed a gas exploration contract with the company British Gas. The following year, two wells were drilled, Gaza Marine I and II. In response, Israel began blocking any development of the gas fields. In 2008, Israel went even further by taking full control of Gaza Marine, in clear violation of international law. In 2019, the UN published a study that estimated the net value of Gaza Marine at $4.6 billion. In October 2022, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and the PA agreed on developing the gas fields. First, Hamas rejected the deal. But then, a few days later, the group reportedly agreed to the project in exchange for a share of the revenues. Then came October 7, followed by Israel's genocidal attack on Gaza. With the new reality on the ground, it is unclear whether the gas deal still stands. The war could give Israel an excuse to block all Palestinians from participating in the gas deal. Netanyahu could also cancel it altogether or simply expropriate Gaza Marine.

Argentina election: Why Milei really won On November 19th political outsider and self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei had convincingly won the Argentine presidential election against current Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the ruling Peronist coalition. The podcast analyses three key factors that help understand Milei's victory.

Israel's assault on Gaza: UN Director resigns citing "genocide"

In late October, Craig Mokhiber, the Director of the New York Office for Human Rights resigned in protest against the UN’s response to Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. Mokhiber's public resignation letter contains a scathing critique of the UN. Most of the Western mainstream media ignored it.

Is another Argentina possible? (Interview with Maristella Svampa)

On November 19th, Argentine voters will choose their new president in a runoff election. Sergio Massa of the ruling Peronist coalition will face right-wing libertarian candidate Javier Milei. Today we continue our Argentina Special with an interview with Maristella Svampa, sociologist, activist, writer and professor at the National University of La Plata.

Why are settler attacks increasing in the West Bank?

The whole world is currently watching Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, armed Israeli settlers and soldiers are taking revenge for the Hamas attacks of October 7. In recent weeks, there has been a marked increase in ethnic cleansing, harassment, attacks, and forced displacement of Palestinians from their villages. According to B'Tselem, an Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories, at least 13 Palestinians communities have been displaced as a result of settler violence. There are also reports of torture, abuse and humiliation. The Netanyahu government has vowed to actively support the settler rampage, not only under the security cover of the Israeli army. Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir of the racist, Jewish supremacist and anti-Arab Jewish Power Party, announced that the government would provide 10,000 free weapons to settlers in the occupied West Bank. These weapons will be used primarily to evict Palestinians from their homes. With the government's decision to further arm civilians, the line between soldier and settler is becoming increasingly blurred.

Israel-Gaza war: Is a regional conflict immanent?Two days after the Hamas attacks of October 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s military operations in Gaza will “change the Middle East” and that “Israel is mobilizing for war, precisely as the United States mobilized after 9/11.” Regional tensions have been on the rise over the past three weeks. The U.S. deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Israel. Many observers interpreted this move as a blunt message to Hezbollah and Iran. If Israel’s ground invasion in Gaza continues and intensifies, Hezbollah is likely to respond by opening a second front on Israel’s northern border. In such a scenario, the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, which has been taking place for several weeks now, could easily spiral out of control. Much of northern Israel could come under intense fire. For Lebanon, a new war with its southern neighbor could have devastating economic and political consequences. But if we take Netanyahu at his word, the stakes are much higher. What we are currently witnessing may well go far beyond Gaza. Israel's military assault and ethnic cleansing may well be the first stage of a regional campaign aimed at Iran and its allies.