The question Israelis should be asking themselves about the attack on the aid flotilla on 31 May shouldn’t be why their navy failed to plan for a scenario of violent resistance by individuals on the vessel, says Hagai El-Ad, it should be why Israel’s naval forces were defending the blockade on Gaza in the first place. While most Israelis feel no responsibility for the fate of Gaza’s inhabitants, El-Ad writes, the siege ‘represents a blatant violation of Gazan civilians' human rights’. ‘If not for the siege of Gaza's population, there would be no need for an international humanitarian mission – genuine or provocative.’

This AGRA Watch position paper takes a closer look at the Lugar-Casey bill, ‘a case study in the interlocking interests of big business, big philanthropy, US foreign policy and US aid’. It also highlights new developments, both in Kenyan legislation and in the international political economy that ‘threaten to use the global food crisis as an opening to solidify genetic engineering as a necessary part of food security strategies.’

With the launch of yet another advisory council for the continent, the Africa Progress Panel (APP), Carol Tabu takes a look at preceding initiatives and asks whether the APP brings anything new to the table, or is simply a rhetorical exercise in the diplomatic art of ‘saying everything and nothing at the same time’.

In the wake of Israel’s attack on aid ships bound for Gaza on 31 May, Natasha Shivji contrasts the oceanic activities of Somali pirates with the recent measures taken by Israeli security forces in maintaining Israel's siege of Gaza. East Africa ‘must straighten the international law that has been manipulated to condemn our people’, writes Shivji.

As debates rage over the proposed new Kenyan constitution, the dichotomy of ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ is being forged amongst referendum voters, writes Samuel N. Omwenga. Omwenga critiques the ‘No’ camp’s motivation for rejecting the new proposals – does it have the interest of Kenyan society in mind, or simply that of a select few?

The issues of Kadhi’s courts and abortion are being presented as issues central to the debate on Kenya’s Proposed Constitution, writes Cyprian Nyamwamu, but in reality there are several others. Nyamwamu compiles a list of 36 reasons why Kenyans supported the draft of a new constitution.

Every year billions of dollars of potential development capital are drained from Africa through holes in the continent’s ‘bottomless bucket’ as a result of illicit financial outflows, writes Karley Curcio. Greater transparency and oversight of financial dealings is the only way to curb this monetary drain, which restricts the majority of ordinary people’s access to capital, Curcio argues.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Indonesia is working alongside its partner organisations to ensure the wellbeing of African refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia, write Savitri Taylor and Brynna Rafferty-Brown. But do the displaced receive the support they need and do they have reason to be optimistic about their future stability?

Before Canada considers sending troops to the UN’s military mission in the DRC, it should first engage in serious debate about its international role and ‘the usefulness of a serious Canadian military presence’, argues Gerald Caplan. ‘With a disturbing presence of Western – including Canadian – resource giants and a history of “white” interference, social responsibility is an essential part of the discussion that must happen before any decision is made to dispatch troops to another conflict zone,’ Caplan writes.

Home-bound money transfers from the African diaspora in Europe and the US are increasing in terms of their developmental contribution to African economies, writes Sanou Mbaye. Mbaye affirms 'the social, economic and financial importance of migrant remittances in recipient countries' and calls for a more advanced facilitation of money transfers.

South Africa’s ANC has spent hundreds of billions of rand in preparation for the World Cup, writes Nicholas Tucker, with ‘almost none of it’ improving the lives of the millions of citizens struggling with unemployment, reduced wages, poor housing, lowered education outcomes and failing health systems. Will ‘the hard-pressed working class of this country realise how they have been short-changed by the ruling party’, asks Tucker, and if so, how will they ‘express their displeasure'? It ‘may well be too late’ for the ANC ‘to do anything other than to apply force in quelling the rising dissent’, Tucker warns.

Under its AFRICOM (African Command) initiative, the US Army is becoming ever more deeply involved in African military affairs across the continent, encroaching on the military autonomy of an increasing number of African nations, writes Rick Rozoff. Pulling African countries' militaries into its network is not based on altruism, Rozoff contends, but simply reflects the concerns of every military power: 'The threat and use of armed violence to gain economic and geopolitical advantages.'

Reflecting on Kwame Nkrumah's pan-African ideas around the necessity of continental integration to enable Africa to move forward on its own terms, Sehlare Makgetlaneng stresses the need for African leaders to demonstrate commitment to a development agenda that is genuinely rooted in their peoples' own interests.

Writing in response to Wole Soyinka’s Distinguished Nyerere Annual Lecture on ‘New imperialisms’, Chambi Chachage unpacks the notion that 'empire building' and a universal move towards imperialism have been the motor of history.

The world's growing population is putting ever more strain on food production, which inevitably exacerbates the situation of the world's poor and hungry, writes Hans Herren. However, Herren insists that the world has the potential to respond to this pressing demand through measures which nurture and enhance 'the link between farming and a wide range of other development sectors'.

The role of human rights defenders as witnesses in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into Kenya’s post-election violence of 2007-08 is critical to any hope of ultimate prosecution, but protection of those witnesses has not been treated with corresponding gravity, writes Tennille Duffy. Recent violence against human rights defenders combined with the expected political fallout of the ICC prosecutor’s allegations underscore the serious need for an effective witness protection plan. Such a plan has not been realised, despite reforms to the Witness Protection Act. Government failure to act threatens to undermine the ICC investigation because witness risk could deter testimony.

Earlier this year, Moeletsi Mbeki, brother of the former president of South Africa, was invited to speak to staff at AFRICOM, the US Africa Command, about the institution’s role in security and development issues on the continent. Riaz Tayob provides an overview of the key points in Mbeki’s speech and offers an assessment of his arguments.

Biofuels policies and the 2008 financial and food crisis ignited a worldwide 'land rush' that is increasing world hunger without addressing the underlying long-term threats to world food security, writes Mae-Wan Ho.

With the Merowe dam project in northern Sudan having caused the displacement of many thousands of people, Peter Bosshard writes on efforts to bring German company Lahmeyer International to justice.

For all its rhetoric on atrocities and democracy in Africa, the US government's support for authoritarian regimes on the continent paints a different picture, write Kevin Funk and Steven Fake.