KATHY KELLY JOSHUA BROLLIER Kelly and Brollier are with the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence. They are just back from over a month in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several articles they have written are on the group’s web page. Kelly said today: “As violence escalates and the war prolongs, the question isn’t what does the U.S.…

HANEEN ZOABI, via Shada Zoabi A member of the Israeli Knesset, Zoabi, who was born in Nazareth, is a board member and co-founder of the I’lam Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel. She was aboard the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship in the Gaza flotilla where nine activists were killed, and she witnessed some…

Over the weekend, President Obama nominated James Clapper to replace Dennis C. Blair as U.S. Director of National Intelligence. MELVIN A. GOODMAN Goodman just wrote the piece “Pentagon Tightens Grip on the Obama Administration and the Intelligence Community.” Now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, Goodman was with the CIA for 41…

JOHN QUIGLEY Professor of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley said today: “Contrary to what many are claiming, including the New York Times in a front-page article on the Gaza flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, the vessel on which deaths occurred, is not Turkish-flagged. Although formerly Turkish-flagged, the Mavi Marmara was Comoros-flagged by the time…

NORMAN FINKELSTEIN Author of “This Time We Went Too Far”: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion, Finkelstein said today: “It’s important to understand that the Israeli cabinet deliberated before deciding on a nighttime commando raid [against the Free Gaza ships]. This wasn’t a rash decision by low-level people. Last week, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference…

CINDY and CRAIG CORRIE Cindy and Craig Corrie are the parents of Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip on March 16, 2003, while trying to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian pharmacist, his wife and three young children. A Free Gaza boat that is…

JO COMERFORD Comerford is executive director of the National Priorities Project, which analyzes budget choices. She said today: “Over the weekend, the National Priorities Project Cost of War counter — designed to count the total money appropriated for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — passed the $1 trillion mark. “Taxpayers in Natick, Massachusetts have paid…

RICHARD FALK Falk is professor of international law emeritus, Princeton University and Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories for the United Nations Human Rights Council. He said today: “The Israeli naval and helicopter lethal attack on the Freedom Flotilla bringing needed humanitarian relief to the civilian population of Gaza is a shocking crime against humanity.…

The British Guardian reports: “A flotilla of eight boats carrying thousands of tons of construction materials, medical equipment and other aid is [sailing to] Gaza … setting the scene for a confrontation with Israel which has vowed to prevent the ships [from] breaking the blockade on the Palestinian territory.” See “Gaza aid flotilla to set…

CORRECTION: In the news release sent out this morning titled “A Drilling Moratorium That Isn’t,” the phrase “as deep at” should have been “as deep as.” The full correct sentence is: “At least four of those are for wells in water over 9,000 feet deep — nearly twice as deep as the Deepwater Horizon well…