Antony Loewenstein

London mayor Ken Livingstone versus Islamophobe Daniel Pipes:

Stephen Colbert tries to get behind the mystery that is Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly:

Following my essay in last week’s Sydney Morning Herald on how blogging has revolutionised information around the world, ABC Radio National produced a story last Friday on similar issues, and featured Iranian and Iraqi blogger friends (and yours truly).

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As I’ve said many times before, any writer/journalist/current affairs obsessive who doesn’t think that blogging has changed media for the better needs to get out more (though I’m well aware of the major limitations, discussed in my essay above.)

Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz, January 28:

Thursday will mark a year since the democratic elections in Palestine that brought Hamas to power – a year since the shock and frustration were replaced by a policy of sanctions that has pushed the Palestinian Authority to the brink of civil war and warfare in the streets of Gaza. The accomplishments of this policy resemble those of the international sanctions policy imposed on Iraq: It has not deposed the Hamas government, Qassam rockets continued to land in Israel and it did not serve as an alternative for the need for IDF action. Even worse, the Palestinians’ effort to extricate themselves from the sanctions has given new power brokers – Syria and Iran – a basis of support in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Not only Ismail Haniyeh, the outcast, heeds the directives of Khaled Meshal, Iran and Syria, but Mahmoud Abbas, the friend, is also compelled to accept Damascus’ “recommendation” to meet with Meshal.

The Israeli assumption that it would be enough to apply heavy economic pressure and arrest members of the Palestinian parliament and government ministers to overturn the election results, turned out, as expected, to be mistaken. Like in Iraq, which existed for 13 years under a regime of sanctions, or Libya, which endured 11 years of sanctions, the citizenry suffers and barely survives, yet does not take to the streets to protest against the failures of the government that represents it. Standing steadfast against sanctions imposed by an occupier is still considered national heroism. Donations, waiving salaries and a great deal of voluntary activity somehow manage to keep the health and education systems in operation. They are continuing to teach at the universities and even artistic work has not come to a halt.

Iraq is in chaos, thanks primarily to Western intervention, and Australia’s Foreign Minister Alexander Downer blames the “self-loathing” Left. No wonder nobody takes him seriously (though he’s probably received his talking points from that other eloquent war-monger Dick Cheney.)

At least he has a future on the washed-up comedy circuit.

Take a handful of young filmmakers, obsession with 9/11, too many unanswered questions, profound distrust of the US government and what do you have?

A phenomenon.

Mad Americans, crazy Zionists, warmongers and idiots apply here.

Jim Abourezk is a former Democratic senator from South Dakota. His recent article on the ways in which the Zionist lobby operate in the US is essential reading. It also proves how vulnerable the lobby is to external pressure:

The pro-Israel lobby does most of its work without publicity. But every member of Congress and every would-be candidate for Congress comes to quickly understand a basic lesson. Money needed to run for office can come with great ease from supporters of Israel, provided that the candidate makes certain promises, in writing, to vote favorably on issues considered important to Israel. What drives much of congressional support for Israel is fear – fear that the pro-Israel lobby will either withhold campaign contributions or give money to one’s opponent.

As Israel’s policies are largely dictated from Washington, it’s the duty of the Jewish community to demand a more accountable Jewish state. Simply put, that must be a non-Zionist entity.

The Iranian Diaspora takes a stand against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent Holocaust conference.

It’s a disgrace that such shades of grey are rarely if ever examined in the Western media.

Rami G. Khouri, Daily Star, January 24:

Lebanon and Palestine are the most dramatic examples of the new ideological battle that now defines much of the Middle East, where local players and medium-strength regional powers often interact with one another in parallel with foreign powers’ interests and goals. While tensions were increasing in Beirut last weekend in anticipation of Tuesday’s nationwide strike action by the Hizbullah-led opposition against the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, in Damascus the leaders of the two leading Palestinian political groups, Hamas and Fatah, were meeting under Syrian auspices to try and solve their dispute over who rules Palestine and defines its foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel.

If you were too young to remember the Cold War, study this dynamic closely, because it is a miniature version of the former global contest. It is possible that the Middle East-anchored new cold war we are living through these days may persist for many years, or it may be over in two or three years, depending on how both sides harness and use their competitive assets. For now, we can only identify some of the new rules and realities of the regional confrontation.

One of the world’s great journalists, Ryszard Kapuscinski, is dead.

Long live his memory.

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