Sorry what? A flashmob in Washington has felt the full force of the law, by being forcibly arrested by police – for dancing in public. They’d gathered at the Jefferson Memorial in defiance of a ban on dancing at the monument.
Showing all posts in June 2019
Haaretz editorial calls for true freedom of movement for Palestinians
Bravo: Egypt’s decision to open the Rafah crossing to people raised great apprehension in Israel, as expected. The immediate concern is that the opening of the crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt will allow Hamas and other groups to bring in an unlimited supply of weapons. Ostensibly, that’s a persuasive claim, though four years…
Did you know I help lead the “powerful” pro-Palestinian lobby in Australia?
Israel as an occupying nation has caused some angst for liberal Zionists in the Diaspora. Campaign strongly about colonisation? Or attack critics of Israel and avoid the elephant in the room? That’s the role of Monash University academic Philip Mendes. In his latest rant for ABC, he barely mentions the occupation and focuses on anybody…
Opposing the planting of trees to erase Palestinian lives
Welcome news: Prime Minister David Cameron has quietly terminated his status as an Honorary Patron of the controversial Jewish National Fund (JNF).… His office confirmed he had “stepped down”.… For many years leaders of all three main political parties became Honorary Patrons of the JNF by convention.… According to Dick Pitt, a spokesperson for the…
How Serco thrives by failing constantly
Australia’s immigration detention system is in chaos and yet the company running them, Serco, is about to be rewarded. Again. The perverse logic of privatisation: The federal government is believed to have signed a contract to outsource the management of defence base operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan to the foreign company running Australia’s…
Encouraging shoots of change in Egypt
A welcome development: A judge fined former President Hosni Mubarak and two officials about $91 million Saturday for cutting cellphone and Internet services during the protests this winter that forced Mubarak to step down. It was the first court ruling against Mubarak since he was ousted Feb. 11. Egyptian state television reported late Saturday that…
It’s official; Australian government happy for Serco to do what it pleases
The glories of unaccountable privatisation in action (via New Matilda): Not only is the $1 billion contract awarded to detention centre operator Serco beyond the reach of public scrutiny, but Senate Estimates hearings today revealed that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship collects scant data on breaches and has limited knowledge and oversight of staff…
AIPAC faithful hate Palestinians and believe in fairy tales
Max Blumenthal paints the bleak picture: On May 22, thousands of supporters of America’s most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, converged on Washington for the group’s annual conference. For two days they watched Democratic and Republican congressional leaders pledge their undivided loyalty to the state of Israel, and by…
Chinese prisoners forced to earn web game credits
A surreal environment in a country where human rights campaigning is an issue largely seen as a Western plot to undermine Beijing: As a prisoner at the Jixi labour camp, Liu Dali would slog through tough days breaking rocks and digging trenches in the open cast coalmines of north-east China. By night, he would slay…
Saluting the lone woman who stood up to Netanyahu in Congress
Rae Abileah is a peace activist with the group CodePink and a Jewish American of Israeli descent. She shouted out during Netanyahu’s pro-occupation speech a few days ago: No more occupation! End Israeli war crimes! No more occupation! End Israeli war crimes! She tells Democracy Now! why: There’s a culture of silence and fear in…