Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania is the latest to take heat from the Israel Lobby, mainly because he once attended a meeting with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and also refused to sign a letter written by AIPAC. So they created a TV ad that tries to tie him to terrorism. Never mind the fact that Sestak acted on his conscience in both instances - anybody who flaunts the dictates of the Israel Lobby has to be punished.

The people who are promoting this latest experiment in intimidation are pretty open about what they're doing, and why. "We're the pro-Israel wing of the pro-Israel community," exults neo-con godfather William Kristol. So here's the crazy part - we're not supposed to acknowledge that there's an Israel Lobby, even though its main players talk openly about their activities! No, as Abraham Foxman pointed out in his book "The Deadliest Lies," the existence of an Israel Lobby is a scurrilous falsehood made up by anti-Semites.

Got that? There's no Lobby, but you'd better do what the Lobby says.

The "Middle East" invented by British and French colonial powers almost a century ago is fast dissolving as ISIS carves a vast piece of real estate from the suburbs of Aleppo to Tikrit and from Mosul to the Jordanian/Iraqi border.

Artificial geography, established in the midst of World War I, via the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement, is at risk; and it's no accident the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) itself, although dreaming of a Caliphate, is also graphically emphasizing the point. Those states carved out of the fragmented Ottoman Empire are all at risk. In this geopolitical vortex the ultimate free electron is definitely the notion of a Greater Kurdistan.

"Iraq is breaking up before our eyes and it would appear that the creation of an independent Kurdish state is a foregone conclusion." The analysis might have come straight from ISIS - but in fact came from none other than former bouncer and unreformed Zionist, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

What the invariably truculent Lieberman told US Secretary of State John Kerry this week pertained mostly to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, an autonomous region that - quite handily - is also exporting oil to Israel (the KRG angrily denies it.)

Russia's president has blamed the turmoil in Ukraine on the country's newly-elected leader Petro Poroshenko. Vladimir Putin also criticized the West for its intention to turn the planet into a "global barracks."

Russia's president has laid the blame for the ongoing turmoil between Kiev and south-eastern regions squarely at the feet of Petro Poroshenko, after the Ukrainian leader terminated the ceasefire.

He has stressed that Russia and European partners could not convince Poroshenko to not take the path of violence, which can't lead to peace.

Massive artillery shelling and airstrikes have resumed in Eastern Ukraine after Kiev terminated a shaky ceasefire with local militias. There are reports of yet another Ukrainian bomber jet downed.

"Starting this morning the active phase of the antiterrorist operation has resumed. Our forces are conducting strikes," announced Aleksandr Turchinov, Ukrainian parliament speaker and former acting president.

Reports of night gunfight and explosions came Tuesday morning from Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk Region.

There were also causalities in Kramatorsk, where a bus was fired at early in the morning, with four people reported killed by militia sources. Five people were reportedly injured in the incident.

Meanwhile near the village Snezhnoye one of Ukrainian bomber jets was shot down by an anti-aircraft cannon, militia claimed.

The incident was not immediately confirmed by Kiev, but the militia has a record of taking down Ukrainian military aircraft.

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" - Patrick Henry

Imagine living in a country where armed soldiers crash through doors to arrest and imprison citizens merely for criticizing government officials. Imagine that in this very same country, you're watched all the time, and if you look even a little bit suspicious, the police stop and frisk you or pull you over to search you on the off chance you're doing something illegal. Keep in mind that if you have a firearm of any kind while in this country, it may get you arrested and, in some circumstances, shot by police.

If you're thinking this sounds like America today, you wouldn't be far wrong. However, the scenario described above took place more than 200 years ago, when American colonists suffered under Great Britain's version of an early police state. It was only when the colonists finally got fed up with being silenced, censored, searched, frisked, threatened, and arrested that they finally revolted against the tyrant's fetters.

No document better states their grievances than the Declaration of Independence. A document seething with outrage over a government which had betrayed its citizens, the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, by 56 men who laid everything on the line, pledged it all - "our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" - because they believed in a radical idea: that all people are created to be free.

Labeled traitors, these men were charged with treason, a crime punishable by death. For some, their acts of rebellion would cost them their homes and their fortunes. For others, it would be the ultimate price - their lives. Yet even knowing the heavy price they might have to pay, these men dared to speak up when silence could not be tolerated. Even after they had won their independence from Great Britain, these new Americans worked to ensure that the rights they had risked their lives to secure would remain secure for future generations. The result: our Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

Putin's economic advisor reveals the massive militarization of Ukraine, intended not only to crush Donbass, but to re-take Crimea, and be the puppets to start another world war for further consolidation of U.S. hegemony over Eurasia.

The Israeli Air Force struck 34 targets in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, carrying out "precision strikes" against Hamas and Islamic Jihad structures, the IDF said in a statement early Tuesday.

According to reports, sites in Khan Younes, Rafah and Beit lahia were hit.

"Following over 18 rockets which were fired at Israel since Sunday evening, IAF aircraft carried out a precision strike against 34 targets in the Gaza Strip," the IDF said.

Four people were injured, according to Israel Radio citing Palestinian sources.

"The IDF will continue to act in order to restore the peaceful living to the civilians of the state of Israel. The Hamas terror organization and its extensions are solely responsible for any terror activities emanating from the Gaza Strip," IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip early Tuesday landed in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing damage to several cars and a fire close to a packaging plant, which was quickly put out by emergency services.

Another rocket landed in the Sdot Negev region, causing no damage or injuries.

Israel on Monday confirmed finding the bodies of three settlers who disappeared in the occupied southern West Bank on June 12, blaming Hamas for their kidnapping and murder despite showing any evidence that the Islamist movement was behind it.

"During the search for Eyal Ifrach, Gilad Shaer and Naftali Frankel, the IDF discovered 3 bodies near Hebron," the Israeli army said in a statement on Twitter.

It was not immediately clear how they died.

Deputy defense minister Danny Danon also confirmed their bodies had been discovered, saying they had been murdered by "Hamas terrorists" and calling for a widespread operation to "eradicate" the Islamist movement.

Public radio said the bodies were discovered in a field near Halhul, a town north of Hebron, about 10 minutes from the roadside in the southern West Bank where they were last seen.

The Ynet news website said the bodies were found by soldiers and civilian volunteers.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is, at its heart, a story of two peoples and one land. Both see history as their justification. Which means a historian who appears to change sides inevitably becomes a figure of enormous controversy. HARDtalk speaks to Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe who says the record shows that the Jewish state is racist; born of a deliberate program of ethnic cleansing.

Not surprisingly he's widely reviled in his home country. His work has been both supported and criticized by other historians. Before he left Israel in 2008, he had been condemned in the Knesset, Israel's parliament; a minister of education had called for him to be sacked; his photograph had appeared in a newspaper at the centre of a target; and he had received several death threats.

Not long ago, I was handed the most outrageous, vile, dishonest and slanderous calumny uttered against the people of Canada. It was contained in a full-page advertisement in the National Post (founder, Conrad Black), a newspaper handed out - free, I'm happy to say - on my Air France flight out of Toronto. Here is the headline: "Almost 4 million Canadians are afflicted by this disease." Beneath this title is a half-page, very blurred and uncaptioned colour photo of a large crowd - they could be football supporters, rush-hour commuters in Vancouver, you name it; they are mostly white males but include women and with at least one dark-skinned man close to the camera. Beneath the picture, this incredible ad continues: "Left unchecked, it [the disease] can result in violence tendencies. Many times, those infected haven't been diagnosed and may pass it on to their children, grandchildren, colleagues or friends. Please help stop the spread of this disease before it contaminates your community."

This is frightening stuff, of course. Could this refer to some of the six million Canadians who may be living with HIV/Aids? Or the 4.5 million Canadians affected by arthritis? Or the 2.5 million Canadians believed to have diabetes? Or even some of the estimated 7.8 million Canadians treated for depression each year? Nope. This is far more serious. For the "disease" afflicting "almost 4 million Canadians" is "anti-Semitism" and this disgusting advertisement - published without comment by one of Canada's leading right-wing newspapers - was produced by B'nai Brith Canada and the "Jewish Christian Alliance".

"At the first sign of anti-Semitism," this appalling ad concludes, "call the B'nai Brith Canada Anti-Hate Hotline..." In other words, this pro-Israeli Jewish group - whose exaggerations and hateful propaganda have been rightly condemned by Jewish Canadians - claims that four million of their fellow-countrymen and women are sick, racist neo-Nazis. What other conclusion are we supposed to draw if almost 9 per cent of the Canadian population is "diseased", "infected" and "contaminated".