Monthly Archive for March, 2005

Furthermore, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell said this week that he was “furious and angry” that the information he presented to the UN in February 2003 was wrong. “We were sometimes too loud, too direct, perhaps we made too much noise,” Powell told Germany’s Stern magazine. Admitting that blatant lies were told that led to an illegal invasion isn’t something we’re likely to hear Powell admit anytime soon.

Before I’m told that the Left should “get over” the reasons behind the war, I have this to offer. An unprecedented number of people around the world protested before the war and signalled their opposition to an invasion without UN sanction. Ignoring ever-increasing amounts of information that proves duplicity by the leading governments is irresponsible, especially in light of US sabre-rattling towards Iran, Syria and North Korea. We must learn the lessons of past mistakes and hold our leaders accountable. Elections are but one way of doing this.

Journalists shouldn’t see themselves as beholden to government spin. Indeed, the finest reporters are those individuals who work outside the system, cultivating contacts and presenting alternative narratives from the official line, likely to be inaccurate and air-brushed (UK-based Medialens expertly dissects the true role of journalists in Western “democracies.”)

Sadly in Australia, we are yet to produce an equivalent to Seymour Hersh, although Dateline’s Mark Davis is perhaps as close as we get.

His latest article warns of the threat posed by blindly following the lead of the US and Israel, two countries encouraging action against the Islamic state. Caution should be exercised, Ritter argues, as facts on the ground are sketchy, at best.

The December edition of The Atlantic asked whether Iran was next on the neo-con hit-list and in an analysis that completely ignored the civilian population conducted a Pentagon war-game to determine US military success. Failure was the result, thankfully.

The Committee blog focuses primarily on attempts by governments in the Middle East to restrict blogging access and voices other than the official line. They are, of course, fighting a battle they will never win.

Crikey today reports that Melrose is bewildered by the networks’ decision:

The networks have not yet supplied written statements outlining the reasons why they refuse to screen the ads, but have indicated that they were concerned about the content of the ads for young viewers. Melrose says this is nonsense: “The ads have already been approved by the appropriate bodies and were deemed suitable for free-to-air television, so that can’t be the reason,” he told Crikey today.”

Israel has cut off the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world to such an extent that it is easier for Palestinians in Israel or the West Bank to visit relatives in prison than visit a relative in Gaza. This is one conclusion of the 100-page report that B’Tselem and HaMoked publish today. One Big Prison documents the ongoing violations of human rights and international law resulting from Israel’s restrictions on the movement of people and goods between Gaza and the West Bank, Israel, and the rest of the world. The report also warns against Israel’s attempt to avoid its responsibility toward residents of the Gaza Strip following disengagement.

Despite the easing of restrictions that Israel declared following the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in February 2005, there has been almost no improvement in the movement of Palestinians to and from Gaza, nor in the movement of goods. The report illustrates the extent to which Israel treats many fundamental human rights – among them the right to freedom of movement, family life, health, education, and work – as “humanitarian gestures” that it grants or denies at will.

Report Highlights:

• As a result of the economic siege on Gaza, more than 77 percent of Gazans (1,033,500 people) now live below the poverty line – almost double the number before the intifada. Some 23 percent of Gazans (over 323,000 people) are in “deep poverty,” meaning that they do not reach the subsistence poverty line even after receiving aid from international agencies.

• The forced isolation of Gaza tears many Palestinians from their families, and in some cases even separates spouses. The report includes the testimonies of a woman whose husband was expelled from the West Bank to Gaza, and of a mother whose son has never seen his father.

• Almost all the restrictions on movement are imposed on entire categories of people, based on sweeping criteria, without checking if the individual poses a security risk, and without weighing the harm the person will suffer, or if less harmful alternatives are available. In most cases, where Israel denies a permit and human rights organizations intervene, Israel reverses its decision to avoid an embarrassing legal challenge.

• Most components of the policy of strangulation are illegal under international and Israeli law.

The strangulation of the Gaza Strip increased following Palestinian attacks against civilians in Israel and the Occupied Territories over the past few years. Targetting civilians is a “war crime” and never justified. Israel is entitled, even obligated, to protect its citizens. However, Israel’s right to self-defense does not permit it to trample on the rights of an entire population.

Israel declared that “completion of the disengagement will invalidate the claims against Israel on its responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” In the report, HaMoked and B’Tselem emphasize that all the suffering described in the report is likely to continue, and even worsen, after disengagement, for which Israel will be continue to bear legal responsibility.

If the powers that be at Fairfax reckon they’re above such petty squabbles, they should think again. The Australian media landscape is increasingly dominated by Murdoch and his agendas. Sometimes you’ve got to play dirty, especially when your already dwindling readership is diving even more. Issues of media accountability are important and people do care. Are the editors of Fairfax simply waiting for the cross-media laws to pass the Senate after July 1 and then calmly watch as any kind of investigatve journalism remaining is reduced to make way for more advertising dollars? It’s happening already.

Gorilla in the Room is a new blog based in Washington, dedicated to “shattering the taboo on discussion of Israel’s “Agents of Influence”. It’s a fascinating read and deconstructs the incestuous alliances between pro-Israel lobbyists such as AIPAC, the Bush administration and the formulation of foreign policy.