Antony Loewenstein

The following statement was released in Australia today and can be signed by concerned citizens:

We are Australian citizens who share a deep concern about the escalating civilian crisis in Sri Lanka.

We call on the Australian government to demand the Sri Lankan authorities and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam declare an immediate ceasefire.

We are deeply concerned about the lack of medical staff and aid agencies serving the estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in the conflict zone. In September 2008, the Sri Lankan government evicted United Nations and international aid agencies from these areas.

While the local Red Cross is still operating within the conflict area, their presence is threatened by the ongoing conflict. The departure of international witnesses within the conflict area will remove accountability for all parties to the conflict.

The Sri Lankan government has also issued orders to doctors and other health staff to leave the conflict area immediately.

We demand the Sri Lankan government allow international monitoring and medical and aid agencies unrestricted access to the conflict zones immediately.

In direct violation of the Geneva Convention, civilian hospitals in the conflict zones have repeatedly come under aerial bombing and shelling. Furthermore, on 2 February 2009 the Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse stated that everything outside a government declared safety-zone is a military target and no exception will be given to medical facilities.

We urge the Australian government to demand the Sri Lankan government stop the aerial bombing of hospitals and both parties cease placing civilians in direct cross fire in all areas. Foreign and domestic media have been banned from entering the conflict zones since January 2008, when the government unilaterally withdrew from a cease-fire and commenced its military offensive. Without independent reporting, it is impossible to separate fact from propaganda mitigated by all parties to the conflict.

We call on the Australian government to pressure Sri Lankan officials to permit independent journalists unrestricted access to the conflict zones.

Furthermore, we recognise that the Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka have been subject to ethnic discrimination by successive Sri Lankan governments since Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948.

We acknowledge that all people, including the Tamils, have the right to self-determination and must freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

We acknowledge that a military solution to this conflict will not bring lasting peace to Sri Lanka.

With the intention of ensuring long-term peace, we call on the Australian government to lead political negotiations that recognise the legitimate aspirations and protects the human rights of all Sri Lankans.

Signatories:

• Wendy Bacon, Professor of Journalism, University of Technology, Sydney
• Chris Nash, Professor of Journalism, Monash University
• Antony Loewenstein, Independent journalist and author
• Damien Kingsbury, Associate Professor, Deakin University

A brave and rare blogger in Cuba speaks out.

Complicity in Israeli atrocities should not be tolerated, even in far away lands:

Quite extraordinarily, the Science Museum in London and the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry have both been made available (on 3 and 5 March respectively) for an event called “Israel Day of Science”. The museums argue they are not sponsoring the event, but have merely hired out their premises. This subtle distinction is unlikely to be appreciated by the many thousands of all ages and faiths who have repeatedly taken to the streets round the country to protest against Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The event is promoted by the Zionist Federation and is designed to showcase the scientific achievements of seven Israeli universities. But all of these are complicit in the Israeli occupation and in the policies and weaponry so recently deployed to such disastrous effect in Gaza.

That’s some Zionist victory:

Palestinian intelligence agents, working for Israel in its recent “Operation Cast Lead,” were exposed and many of them captured or killed in the aftermath, U.S. officials said.

American author Jeremy Scahill discusses the future role of Blackwater, the mercenary contractors:

Dr Jake Lynch is the head of Sydney University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies department.

His latest column for Transcend Media Service talks about the role of the individual in challenging Israeli war crimes in the occupied territories.

Israel’s Back Yard is a just released blog in English focusing on testimonies from Israel’s checkpoints in the West Bank. Written by an Israeli human rights activist, this blog has been running for over a year in Hebrew, and has been launched this week in an English version.

A confidential NATO report from January reveals that civilian deaths from the war in Afghanistan have increased by 46% over the past year.

The 12 page report was authenticated and released today in full by the transparency group Wikileaks.

Loewenstein: hero or traitor?

Such a fine question by one astute blogger.

Of course, it really depends on my mood..

Terrorism, pure and simple:

Israel Defense Forces investigations into last month’s offensive in the Gaza Strip indicate the army could face significant difficulties justifying the scale of destruction of civilian homes during the fighting. A military source involved in the investigation told Haaretz, “It’s clear to us that in a small portion of the combat sectors immeasurable damage was caused, and that is very difficult to justify from a legal perspective, particularly if such justifications are called for in legal proceedings with international organizations.”

The war in Iraq isn’t over. The main events may not even have happened yet.

The Economist magazine outlines the possible changes in the Middle East under an Obama administration:

Most Americans still strongly back Israel in its determination to defend itself. Expressions of support for the Israelis during the Gaza war and an inclination to blame the Palestinians for starting it ran nearly four-to-one in the Israelis’ favour. Evangelical Christians, a large and powerful constituency, still revere Israel as ordained by God to hold sway over the Holy Land.

But look harder at the polls and you see a striking shift in several sets of American attitudes, particularly among Democrats and liberal and younger Jews, which may give Mr Obama more room for manoeuvre. A big gap in support for Israel between Democrats and Republicans has opened up