Just another example of an Israel critic being smeared as anti-Semitic, this time in the UK against author Ben White: I have come to know this latter strategy quite well. Based on short extracts, or even a single sentence, from two out of the 100 plus articles I’ve published, I have been accused of ”˜understanding…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
A few women scare the Jewish state
The persecution in Israel of the feminist peace group New Profile is a worrying sign of that country’s fear of robust debate. Are they seriously afraid of a few women criticising the state? Clearly, yes. Rela Mazali of New Profile gave a speech on May 14 in a Tel Aviv University public forum titled:”Freedom of…
Aggression suits the Israeli style
Israeli-American Joseph Dana, residing in Jerusalem, asks a profound question about modern-day Israel: does violence pay and are religious, Jewish fundamentalists the acceptable face of mainstream Zionism? The settler movement routinely uses violence against the authorities of the state with little or no ramifications. I am not referring to acts of violence against Palestinians, which…
Find out the Gaza truth now
It’s a start, from inside Israel itself: Yesterday’s Haaretz featured a front-page petition, signed by well-known Israeli writers, artists, entertainers, and intellectuals on the center-left side of the political spectrum, calling for an independent investigation into the IDF’s conduct of the Gaza Operation. Here’s the petition in Hebrew.
Who is the junkie in this deal?
Michael Oren, the new Israeli Ambassador to the US, tells Jeffrey Goldberg about the complex relationship between America and Israel: Israel needs the political and economic support of American Jewry, and American Jewry increasingly needs the spiritual infusion of the Jewish state. … In recent years, we have found that a 10-day visit to the…
Loewenstein sucks, says Jew
The following letter appeared in a recent edition of the Australian Jewish News: Sorry Sal Salbe, but on balance, Greg Sheridan is correct (AJN 10/07). Antony Loewenstein might occasionally criticise the Iranian regime on his blog, but compared to his repeated and hysterical media condemnations of Israel he is, as Sheridan phrased it, listless. Proof…
From Colombo to Gaza via Geneva
The Gaza war continues to reverberate in the strangest of places: Veteran Sri Lankan diplomat Dayan Jayatilleka has been sacked triggering speculation that his protest against Israeli incursion into Gaza could have prompted the move. Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said he hadn’t the “foggiest notion” why he was…
Not forgetting the silenced Iranians
The crackdown continues: Iranian riot police detained dozens of pro-reform protesters in central Tehran today, a witness said. The witness said the protesters were chanting slogans against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the government, including: “Ahmadinejad – resign, resign” and “Death to the dictator”. The witness added: “Riot police are taking dozens of protesters into their…
Beating people into believing the Afghan dream
Rory Stewart writes in the London Review of Books about the illusion of bringing “democracy” to Afghanistan: When we are not presented with a dystopian vision, we are encouraged to be implausibly optimistic. ”˜There can be only one winner: democracy and a strong Afghan state,’ Gordon Brown predicted in his most recent speech on the…