The debate over film-maker Ken Loach’s pressure on the Melbourne International Film Festival to refuse Israeli government funding continues. The festival’s director expressed his view last week in the Guardian. Today, Loach, his producer and writer respond: When we decided to pull our film Looking for Eric from the Melbourne International Film festival following our…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
Israelis who show solidarity with the repressed
Al-Jazeera English recently filmed a report on Jewish Israeli activist Ezra Nawi, currently facing jail for allegedly attacking Israeli soldiers (claims he vehemently denies):
What Israeli cultural ambassadors now must do
Udi Aloni, an Israeli-American film maker, suggests a code of conduct for Israeli artists: We, as Israeli artists opposed to the occupation, must act according to the following guidelines: 1. Declare everywhere that Israel is an apartheid state, violating international law as far as it concerns the Occupied Territories. 2. Demand the immediate lifting of…
Sri Lanka is not the forgotten war
Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies With the support of Amnesty International PRESENT: Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Emergency ”¢ How and why it is being hidden ”¢ And what we can do about it Monday 31 August 2009, 6.30 – 8.30 pm Footbridge Lecture Theatre, University of Sydney Entry by gold coin donation Bruce Haigh…
Twitter is vulnerable everywhere
Although there are signs that Saudi Arabia is ever-so-slowly liberalising, here’s the reality for anybody who speaks out: Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission has recently blocked access to Twitter accounts of two Saudi human rights activists because the authorities didn’t like the human rights angle of theit Twittering.
Taking a moral cue from a real leader for the Middle East
South Africa’s Desmond Tutu has dedicated his life to fighting oppression, including in the Middle East. Currently in Isreal and Palestine with The Elders in an attempt to find a path to peace, he tells Haaretz that he has strong views on Israeli academic Neve Gordon’s call for a boycott against Israel: “I always say…
Netanyahu needs to learn some democracy lessons
The Israeli group Breaking the Silence recently released a report about alleged crimes by IDF officers during the Gaza war. The response from many in Israel was to attack the messenger rather than examining the charges. Benjamin Netanyahu continued this onslaught during his visit to London: “They are breaking their silence about the only democracy…
The crimes of a rogue, Communist state
The trafficking of organs in China receives an unexpected revelation: In a rare admission of the extent to which this takes place, China Daily – citing unnamed experts – said on Wednesday that more than 65% of organ donations come from death row prisoners. China executes more people than any other country. Amnesty International said…
Gaza is a place with humanity
American film-makers Jordan Flaherty and Lily Keber recently visited Gaza and documented the human rights catastrophe there: Gaza Under Siege from Lily Keber on Vimeo. My documentary of Gaza is here.
On the ground in Gaza, hopes for peace still flicker
My following article is published in the Middle East newspaper, The National: Kamal Awaja lost his son in the recent Gaza war. He claims that Israeli soldiers murdered his child in front of his eyes before shooting his wife and himself in the leg, chest and arm. Today he lives with his large family in…