My book review in The Saturday Paper: In 2020, the murder of George Floyd by policeman Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis sparked a long overdue global reckoning with police violence and accountability. More than a year later, this debate is increasingly relevant. A recent study by the University of Washington, published in The Lancet, found that…
The how and why of cultural boycotts of Israel
Irish writer Sally Rooney, one of the most popular writers of her generation, just announced that she won’t allow an Israeli publisher to translate her latest book on political grounds related to Israeli state and corporate complicity with the occupation of Palestine. Here’s my comments to the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age about it…
Cancel culture is (often) about silencing critical voices on Palestine
Back in 2006, I published my first book, My Israel Question, which was met with huge opposition from the organised Jewish community but warm approval from the general public. It became a best-seller. Here’s a profile about my book and me in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2006. My then publisher Louise Adler wrote this…
Afghan artists, journalists and musicians on the never-ending war
The recent launch of the Twenty Years project, on decades of war in Afghanistan, included two major events with Afghan artists, journalists and musicians playing, speaking and considering the recent past and likely future with the Taliban back in charge. Night 1 on 7 October included: MC Afghan-Australian human rights lawyer Diana Sayed, London-based Afghan…
Twenty Years of the Afghan war
I’m excited to announce the launch of Twenty Years, a project more than two years in the making: Twenty Years is an artistic and journalistic project to assess the legacy of the post 9/11, US-led war in Afghanistan. Originally conceived in 2019 by journalist, author and film-maker Antony Loewenstein and artist Tia Kass alongside Afghans…
No more $ to the Iron Dome
A small but significant shift in the official US posture towards Israel with a number of US politicians refusing to give even more money to the Jewish state’s Iron Dome. My comments to Middle East Eye: Antony Loewenstein, an independent journalist who is writing a book on how Israel’s occupation has gone global, says that…
Palestinian resistance, revolution and futures
Last weekend I spoke at the annual Solidarity conference on Palestine and the realities of Israeli occupation. The group is a socialist organisation with a long history of supporting Palestinian rights:
Melbourne’s Triple R radio interview on Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has been a humanitarian disaster for many Afghans and yet much of the Western media coverage has ignored the dark reality of 20 years of US-backed war. Here’s my interview this week with Melbourne’s Triple R Breakfasters radio show on the current reality in Afghanistan and the role of imperial…
The warmth, memory and strength of Gaza
My essay, reportage and personal reflections about Gaza in US magazine The Markaz. The outlet is publishing an entire edition about Gaza, a Palestinian territory that’s routinely shunned, ignored and demonised in the West. Here’s the beginning of my piece (and read the whole thing): The Children Land’s Kindergarten sits in the Bedouin village of…
Al Jazeera English documentary, Under the Cover of Covid
This is our new film on Al Jazeera English for the People and Power documentary strand: a global investigation into the serious threats to civil liberties and free speech during Covid-19. Made with great UK film maker Dan Davies (of Black Leaf Films), we show how governments across the globe, focusing on Singapore, Israel, the UK and…