A true human rights defender who has spent a lifetime fighting repression: South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu compared conditions in Palestine to those of South Africa under apartheid, and called on Israelis to try and change them, while speaking in Boston Saturday at historic Old South Church. “We hope the occupation of the Palestinian…
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Slavery is the key
A real reason that many Western nations, including the US and Australia, backed out of Durban II? Ijm Dike of the Urban Justice Center’s Human Rights Project, the driving force behind much of the US delegation, has an entirely different frame on what’s really going on here- why the US and other states backed out…
History will keep repeating until a solution is found
With the Durban circus continuing, the editor of the Independent Australian Jewish Voices opinion and letters page, Sara Dowse, has a few reflections: In June 1975 I was a member of the Australian delegation to the UN Conference for International Women’s Year. It was held in Mexico City, where for the first time a motion…
Israel to bomb Iran? Don’t believe the hype
My latest column for New Matilda is about the relationship between Israel and Iran and the prospects for war: The Israel lobby want to bomb Iran, but calmer heads can see plenty of reasons not to. This time the lobby may not get what it wants, writes Antony Loewenstein Roger Cohen, a columnist for the…
When will anybody even acknowledge Palestinians?
Murdoch’s Australian editorialises today on the Durban II conference and predictably focuses on the rantings of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (rather than even acknowledging the issue of Palestinian suffering): Australia was right to have no part of Durban II Before its second conference on racism opened in Geneva, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the UN’s reputation was…
Iran, apartheid, Zionism and other such matters
A fascinating collection of letters in today’s Melbourne Age newspaper, proving once again that debate about Israel/Palestine is far more robust in the public than the mainstream media usually allows: The most frustrating thing about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address to the UN anti-racism conference (The Age, 21/4) — aside from his flagrant anti-Semitism — is the…
Leave the Nazis dead and buried
I generally agree with the comments by Muzzlewatch about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech in Geneva. Much of the talk was actually historically accurate and presented uncomfortable truths for the West and Israel in particular, but his Holocaust denial, aggression and defending of human rights was all a sick joke when one knows the reality…
We suffered with many others
Muzzlewatch, currently in Geneva for Durban II, laments how the Jewish Holocaust is being abused by those who should know better: We must make space for all the genocides and all the traumas. The profound multi-generational fractures, the almost genetic fear of being hunted, the damage done to us individually and collectively, the resilience and…
Engagement is important
An interesting editorial in today’s Sydney Morning Herald on the Durban II conference (refreshingly challenging the Zionist lobby to stop whinging so much and chasing shadows): When the nearly 200 nations of the world get down to try to hammer out a common position on human rights, you can expect a fair amount of hypocrisy…
You can talk about everything, except Palestine
After all the hype, propaganda and dis-information over the upcoming Durban II anti-racism conference in Geneva (see here, here and here), a more measured understanding of the politics is required; it’s not pretty: As the wreckage from Israel’s recent siege on Gaza continues to smoulder, international civil society organisations are assembling this week in Switzerland…