PRESS RELEASEMonday, 5 March 2007 INDEPENDENT AUSTRALIAN JEWISH VOICES A number of British Jews, including prominent figures such as Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter, filmmaker Mike Leigh and comedian Stephen Fry, recently expressed their concern publicly that independent views on the Middle East were not adequately represented by official Jewish bodies. Their group, ‘Independent Jewish…
Your search for “China human rights” returned 189 results
51st state?
My following review appears in today’s Sydney Sun-Herald: 51st State Dennis Altman Antony Loewenstein Australians have long had ambivalent feelings towards the United States. A 2005 study commissioned by the Lowy Institute found that two-thirds of Australians thought our government paid too much attention to Washington. Furthermore, similar numbers of people expressed positive feelings towards…
Not such a light unto the nations
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Haaretz, May 12: Unfortunately, whether drawing upon secular nationalist or religious foundations, Israel’s Jews have done a remarkably bad job of this task, creating a society that has become a pariah among nations that never had any history of anti-Semitism, but which nevertheless have watched Israel treat the Palestinians with such ruthless…
Saying ‘no’
US internet firms are again in the spotlight: Reporters Without Borders said it had obtained a copy of the court verdict against Li Zhi, a former official jailed for eight years in December 2003, confirming that US firm Yahoo! collaborated with the prosecution, as did local competitor, Sina. “The Li Zhi verdict shows that all…
Not good enough
Reporters Without Borders reveals: The text of the verdict in the case of journalist Shi Tao – sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for “divulging state secrets abroad” – shows that Yahoo! Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. provided China’s state security authorities with details that helped to identify and convict him. “We already knew…
Getting down and wired
The Boston Globe reports: “A Chinese researcher has warned of a new threat to public health and morality – naked Internet chatting. Up to 20,000 Chinese Internet users log on to chatrooms each night in which users in various states of undress talk to each other with the help of Web cams, the Shanghai Daily…
Covering their behinds
Corporates are discovering the wonders of blogging and offering readers insights into the culture of multinationals. Richard Giles, an account manager for Sun Microsystems Australia in Perth, says that, “Microsoft is looked at as being evil, and very closed and not very innovative”, but corporate blogs can change the perception, providing a human side to…
Chen Yonglin
The desperate sight of Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin claiming asylum in Australia is a major scandal. His claims are explosive, including the alleged presence of 1000 Chinese spies monitoring so-called pro-democracy groups here, the ongoing persecution of dissidents in his home country and the secret kidnapping of Chinese citizens in Australia. He should be granted…
Killing legally
Executions around the world are nearing record levels, and the United States is among the four countries which account for 97 per cent of the total, a report by Amnesty has found. Nearly 4000 people were killed during 2004, including around 3400 in China. Kate Allen, Amnesty International’s UK director, said yesterday, “the death penalty…