Antony Loewenstein

US-sanctioned version.

The alternate (and more likely) version.

Arianna Huffington and Jeff Jarvis at the recent World Economic Forum:

How much do the Americans (or Australians, for that matter) know about their military presence worldwide? Let Chalmers Johnson tell you a few facts of life:

As a continuation of my own analytical odyssey, I then began doing research on the network of 737 American military bases we maintained around the world (according to the Pentagon’s own 2005 official inventory). Not including the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, we now station over half a million U.S. troops, spies, contractors, dependents, and others on military bases located in more than 130 countries, many of them presided over by dictatorial regimes that have given their citizens no say in the decision to let us in. 

Still unsure why imperial America is despised the world over?

My following article appears in today’s edition of Crikey:

Is a debate about the Israel-Palestine conflict too hot for The Australian to handle?

In his recent controversial book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, former US president Jimmy Carter describes the Israeli occupation of the West Bank as worse than apartheid South Africa.

I was commissioned in December by The Australian’s opinion editor, Tom Switzer, to write an article about the book and the associated controversy (he had published three Israel/Palestine-related articles of mine in 2006.) The piece was due to run in the days after Christmas when the paper was to be overseen by fill-in editor Nick Cater (replacing holidaying editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell.)

I was soon informed that Cater refused to print the article, although he gave no reason to Switzer’s summer replacement, Sian Powell. When Switzer returned from holidays he told me he hoped to prevail over Cater’s intransigence and publish my article. I’ve now been informed that the paper will not do so. The latest Cater excuse is that my recent Sydney Morning Herald essay on blogging criticised the mainstream media (though not The Australian) and therefore I clearly didn’t respect the Murdoch organ. Really.

Switzer is appalled at the level of censorship displayed in this case (and cannot recall another incident where similar moves have occurred). He had even commissioned an opposing piece by Muslim dissident Irshad Manji to counter my article.

My article simply explained the controversy surrounding Carter’s book, the hysterical response by the Zionist lobby in the US (the latest example is here) and that whenever Israel faces its greatest criticism the usual suspects in the media try and shut down debate.

Carter’s observations are remarkably similar to comments by any number of mainstream Israelis. For anybody who has spent time in the West Bank, as I have, Carter’s analysis is both obvious and long overdue. The Australian media has virtually ignored the firestorm created around the book (except for a shallow article in last weekend’s Australian).

If The Australian is serious about “keeping the nation informed”, this latest example of suppression reeks of desperation, intellectual laziness and arrogance. Its readers deserve better.

Mohamed Bazzi, The Nation, January 30:

It’s remarkable how quickly everyone remembered the patterns set during Lebanon’s long civil war. When violence suddenly erupted in Beirut on the afternoon of January 25, people rushed to stock up at grocery stores, businesses quickly shut their doors and traffic was snarled throughout the city as everyone hurried home.

The image of gunmen stopping civilians at checkpoints to sort–and often murder–them on the basis of religion is perhaps the most enduring symbol of Lebanon’s fifteen-year civil war. One of the war’s earliest massacres took place in December 1975, during the so-called “Black Saturday,” when gunmen from the right-wing Christian Phalange militia set up checkpoints throughout Beirut and killed dozens of Muslims. That a checkpoint was erected within the short hours of violence on January 25 illustrates how close Lebanon might be to the brink of another civil war. 

Norman Finkelstein discusses criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism:

We’re all about to get some Dick Down Under. US Vice-President Dick Cheney is coming to town. He’s a man of mystery. He’s a “most happy fella.” And perhaps most importantly, he’s liked by the Decider.

Wait a few years, and people like Cheney will have to be very careful where they travel. Warrants for his arrest will be common. For what? Advocating torture, invading countries for no legal reason and lying to Congress.

Perhaps this time we’ll simply have to make-do with a citizen’s arrest. Of course, the Howard government (and Murdoch press) will welcome Dick with open arms. After all, he is the architect of this.

While ignored in the West, the Palestinians in Israel are starting to gain a stronger voice and demand equal rights. Zionism has much to fear.

But long-term peace can only be achieved through mutual understanding. An Israeli/Palestinian comedy night in East Jerusalem last week showed what is truly possible.

Is Robert Fisk over-hyping a civil war in Lebanon and ignoring the nefarious roles of Tel Aviv and Washington in the growing crisis?

Danny Rubinstein, Haaretz, January 29:

The evil begins in Gaza. The statistics are familiar: a crowded and besieged strip of land, largely cut off from the world, with an impoverished population lacking any economic future, political horizon and social infrastructure. The Palestinians have not succeeded in creating a government of law and order in Gaza, with an economic foundation.

The partially open border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt does not help Gaza economically; its only chance is forging some kind of connection to Israel. A regular connection between Gaza and the West Bank is, in effect, the only way of restraining the power and influence of Hamas, which is strong in Gaza and weak in the West Bank. The more Gaza has become disconnected from the West Bank, the more the Hamas regime has become entrenched there. 

What do the dwindling number of Iraq war supporters say when things get tough?

Show desperation. Name-call. Ignore the facts on the ground.

Are the Iraqi people still relevant in all this? They want “us” to withdrawal, and soon.

Former UN weapon’s inspector, writer and dissident Scott Ritter talks about the wars in Iraq and (potential) conflict against Iran (which incidentally, even a senior Israeli source believes can be solved through diplomatic, not military, means.)

One reason behind the Bush administration’s plans to change the Middle East? Curbing the growth of Iran and China.