Many Arab countries quietly cooperate with Israel. If Israel only were willing to end its occupation of Palestine, those countries would become its eager friends.

Most of them are eager friends with US money, and as a patriotic American I find the friendship of such tyrants rather embarrassing. But Israel has less world influence than the US and perhaps shouldn't be asked to reject possible friends on such grounds. If Israel simply pulled back its colonists and ended the occupation, I would have no criticism of its foreign policies.

There remains, however, the issue of democracy. Israel is considering a law that would allow it to expel all the Arab members of parliament.

France accuses Russia of bombing civilians in Damascus for purposes of terrorism.

Turkish border guards are accused of shooting Syrian refugees at the border.

This is part of a general pattern: it isn't entirely safe to be a Syrian refugee in Turkey.

A peace agreement in Syria could enable many of the refugees to go home. That should be the goal.

US citizens: call on Obama and Congress not to sell fighter jets to Qatar until it stops funding al-Nusra (the Syrian branch of al Qa'ida).

US citizens: call on your congresscritter to support the bill to audit the Pentagon.