Showing all posts in June 2019

The Guardian discovers yet more evidence of Israel’s hampering of the peace process: “A confidential Foreign Office document accuses Israel of rushing to annex the Arab area of Jerusalem, using illegal Jewish settlement construction and the vast West Bank barrier, in a move to prevent it becoming a Palestinian capital. “In an unusually frank insight…

Zimbabwean Pundit explains a country ruled by events bigger than Robert Mugabe: “…It is not that we don’t care about democracy or having the right politicians in place or any other high sounding question you may want to throw at us. No, our nonchalance is evidence only that we care about other things more than…

A cause of shame in our supposedly enlightened age: “Domestic violence against women has shot up about 40 per cent in Sydney and more than 50 per cent in the rest of NSW over the past seven years, new research shows.” Today is White Ribbon Day, international day for the elimination of violence against women.

– Human Rights Watch writes to Hilary Clinton and explains a few facts about the Israeli occupation and Israel’s “security” fence. Anybody who thinks Clinton will be a dynamic and bold American President should really set their sights much higher. – Noted Israeli economist Avishai Braverman: “I believe that the state of Israel is at…

Martin van Creveld is a professor of military history at the Hebrew University and is the only non-American author on the U.S. Army’s required reading list for officers. His article in the current edition of the Jewish newspaper, The Forward, is a stinging rebuke of the Iraq war and explains his ideal course of action:…

Al-Jazeera staff have started a blog. It’s a bold statement of journalistic independence and wish for freedom from US aggression. UPDATE: A thorough investigation into the role of Al-Jazeera and US attempts to muzzle its voice.

Has Hollywood become more gay friendly? Yes and no. Philip Hensher navigates the ins and outs with aplomb.

The fallout from Hurricane Katrina continues. The New Standard reports: “Having survived Hurricane Katrina, New Orleanians who live in rented housing face a new threat: Landlords, tempted by rising rents and crunched by monetary losses from the storm, are engaged in a massive campaign to evict thousands of residents. Some groups, however, are pushing back,…

Terry Waite (former hostage in Lebanon), The Guardian, November 23: “…War, as well as being a blunt instrument, fails totally to deal with the root issues underlying terrorism. In the political realm it requires statesmen and women; individuals who can think beyond the next election and who have the wisdom that comes from making an…

Former Salvadoran Colonel Nicolas Carranza – torturer, criminal and CIA informant – has been found guilty of torture in a Tennessee courtroom. The Center for Justice and Accountability explains the importance of the verdict: “On November 18, 2005, the federal court jury found Memphis resident Colonel Nicolas Carranza, the former Vice-Minister of Defense of El…