Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and serves as international adviser for Jewish Voice for Peace. Her most recent book is the 7th updated edition of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer.

ViewpointIsrael & Palestine
ICJ Ruling on Israel Crimes "Poses the Greatest Political Dilemma for the Biden Presidency"
“I only hope that Biden will, on this occasion, stand up for justice.”
Phyllis Bennis
Viewpoint
The Only Solution to the Violence in Yemen and the Red Sea is a Cease-Fire in Gaza
U.S. strikes on Yemen are threatening a wider regional war. Diplomacy, not bombs, is the way to avoid a dangerous escalation.
Phyllis Bennis
ViewpointIsrael & Palestine
The Christmas Truce of 1914 and the Demand for a Cease-Fire in Gaza
The World War I phenomenon should remind us of the urgency to end the mass killings—and to help us realize that a cease-fire to stop the violence is within reach.
Phyllis Bennis
ViewpointIsrael & Palestine
Israeli Apartheid Is at the Heart of the Brutality in Gaza and Israel
The only answer to the horrifying violence is to change the conditions from which it sprang. The first step is an immediate cease-fire.
Phyllis Bennis
Women, including those with hijabs, shouting and making peace signs.
Viewpoint
Sanctions Are an Act of War
Economic sanctions which claim to target authoritarian governments and wealthy profiteers of global conflicts only hurt innocent civilian populations.
Phyllis Bennis
Viewpoint
We Shouldn’t Need an Earthquake to Know Sanctions Don’t Work
Sanctions are an instrument of war, not an alternative to it.
Phyllis Bennis
Viewpoint
We Need to Cut the Military Budget, But Don’t Trust the Far Right to Do It
There’s an urgent need to stop funding wars and human rights abuses abroad and to free up funding for human needs at home. The Freedom Caucus can’t be counted on for either.
Phyllis Bennis
Viewpoint
It’s Time For a Ceasefire in Ukraine
A ceasefire in Ukraine has been needed since day one—and it’s more urgent now than ever.
Phyllis Bennis
Viewpoint
After the Fist Bump
The symbolism of Biden's Middle East trip is bad. But the president's actions might be even worse.
Phyllis Bennis
Viewpoint
The U.S. Is Complicit in Shireen Abu Akleh's Killing
If our tax dollars are furnishing the weapons that kill journalists and other innocents, that’s not just an international crime—it’s against U.S. law, too
Phyllis Bennis and Richard Falk
Viewpoint
The U.S. Should Respond to Putin’s Unconscionable Invasion of Ukraine With Diplomacy, Not War
Urgent diplomacy and humanitarian aid—and Russia’s own antiwar movement—could stop the suffering.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
The U.S.-Taliban Deal Won’t Bring Real Peace, But It Could Reduce the Bloodshed
Withdrawing even some of the U.S. troops, planes, drones and bombers from Afghanistan will reduce the killing.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
The Alarming Rise of Civilian Deaths in the War On Terror
New reports show an escalation in civilian casualties from U.S. operations in Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia — and a pattern of U.S. denial about the scale of the problem.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
The Victims of the Trump-Netanyahu Special Relationship
The flurry of favors the president did for Netanyahu could constrain U.S. policy — and hurt people in the region — for years to come.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
Why False Accusations of Anti-Semitism Against Ilhan Omar Are So Harmful
Bad-faith smears of Omar and many others are being used to crush Palestinian rights, undermine social movements and divert attention from real anti-Semitism.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
10 Years After Israel’s Brutal War on Gaza, The UN Is Still Failing Palestinians
The United Nations has a dangerous history of failing to uphold Palestinian rights -- but pressure inside and out of the institution can change that.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
The Discourse on Palestine Is Shifting. Will Concrete Policy Changes Follow?
The conversation is still overwhelmingly one-sided. But that's slowly changing thanks to the hard work of activists.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
A Bold Foreign Policy Platform for the New Wave of Left Lawmakers
Socialists and other progressives are running for office on strong domestic programs. Here’s how their foreign policy platform can be just as strong.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
Palestinians Are Forcing the World to See Their Humanity
The Gaza massacre is a war crime. And the United States is complicit alongside Israel.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
We Must Stop John Bolton From Escalating War in Syria
Trump's threats to escalate military intervention could open a new, dangerous front in the ongoing conflict.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
Trump’s Quiet Meeting with Saudi Arabia and Israel Portends a Dangerous Collision Course with Iran
An under-the radar gathering at the White House exposes troubling new drifts in U.S. foreign policy.
Phyllis Bennis
Feature
Is This What “Liberation” Looks Like? U.S. Airstrikes Have Devastated Mosul.
ISIS may be on its way out, but the Iraqi city has a long road ahead.
Phyllis Bennis
Viewpoint
Gaza Under Siege
Phyllis Bennis