Great letter from the UK Guardian on 20 November: So Israel vows to keep building homes in illegally occupied East Jerusalem (Report, 19 November). Today the British security corporation G4S and the French company Veolia, which collects waste for UK local authorities and universities, will stand accused of complicity in Israeli human rights violations. Israeli…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
The very murky legal world when Australia wants to kill the “enemy”
My story in Crikey this week that alleged Australian soldiers are involved in the targeted killings of “terrorists” in Afghanistan and beyond has already drawn predictable hysteria from men who can’t think of anything better than a long and glorious “war on terror” against “them”. A more mature response has appeared by Ben Saul, Sydney…
Sri Lanka likes to flaunt its war criminal status
Credit where it’s due. Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post headlines this story, “‘War criminal’ gets a UN job’. It’s way to bash the UN but also reveals how Colombo feels completely protected within the international system. China protects her. Just like the US protects Israel. While civilians are being murdered: A suspected war criminal who…
What’s hundreds of thousands dead to a Murdoch columnist?
Earlier this week we were reminded of the Australian Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan years ago dismissing the Burmese “dissident” Aung San Suu Kyi. Sheridan is back at it today (thanks to Scott Burchill): For nearly 20 years, good hearted Indonesians have been telling the Burmese to study the New Order regime that prevailed in Indonesia…
The Zionist love felt by Wilders and his shaven mates
The rise of the far right in Europe and its love for Israel is a connection that many in the Zionist community would rather ignore. So why do we think far-right fascists like Israel so much these days? Not because they’re Jewish but the killing and occupation of Muslims is terribly appealing. Max Blumenthal reports…
The Wire on detention centre suicide and role of Serco
The suicide yesterday of yet another asylum seeker in Villawood detention centre in Sydney reminds us of the climate of over-crowding and mental trauma perpetuated by the government. I was interviewed by The Wire about the incident and the responsibility of Serco:
Murdoch man dismissed Aung San Suu Kyi as simply a “dissident”
A helpful historical reminder from Scott Burchill: … It is wrong to assign a power of policy veto over the West to one favoured dissident, as appeared to happen in the 1990s with Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi. [The Australian’s Foreign Editor] Greg Sheridan, Asian Values, Western Dreams (Allen & Unwin, St Leonards 1999), p.315.…
What suffering Iranians are facing
An Iranian friend sent me this tragic video. Partly in Farsi, the message is clear. Too many Iranians are having kidney transplants simply to get money:
Jews cry “anti-Semitism’ to distract from attacks on Israel
Here we go again. Israel faces growing international criticism over its behaviour towards Palestinians. And what happens? Jewish lobby groups cry “anti-Semitism”. If anybody faces hatred simply because they are Jewish, that’s utterly unacceptable. But legitimate arguments against Zionist occupation, West Bank settlements, the siege on Gaza and racism inside Israel isn’t anti-Semitism and no…