This story in today’s Sunday Independent caught my eye: David Cameron accepted an all-expenses paid trip to apartheid South Africa while Nelson Mandela was still in prison, an updated biography of the Tory leader reveals today. The trip by Mr Cameron in 1989, when he was a rising star of the Conservative Research Department, was…
Showing all posts in June 2019
Is Zionism really racism?
During last week’s Durban II conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a speech that some in the West regarded as outrageous and others as merely representing public opinion in much of the world (personally speaking, I think it harmed the Palestinian cause no end). This clip from the BBC is startling for its honest questioning…
Jews who don’t want to be defined through the Holocaust
A new film, Defamation, according to Mondoweiss, “is about the consecration of anti-Semitism as the central mode of Jewish identity and the raison-d’etre of Jewish nationalism–it sustains Israel.” Just the kind of reason why so many Jews are able to defend the most horrific Israeli policies because anything, literally anything, can be justified as self-defense.…
When is a hate-fest not a hate-fest
It is worth quoting in full the following statement by Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the end of the Durban II conference in Geneva: It was very difficult. I had to face a widespread, and highly organized campaign of disinformation. Many people, including Ministers with whom I spoke, told me…
It’s all about winning the war
Inside the establishment mind of Mark Urban, the Diplomatic Editor of the BBC’s Newsnight programme.
How much longer will Israel be allowed to occupy?
Jordan’s King Abdullah isn’t exactly the finest example of a human rights defender – yes, it’s yet another US-backed dictatorship – but these comments in Washington about Israel are spot-on: “Israel now has to make its choice,” the king said in a speech in Washington. The Jewish state can “integrate into the region … or…
Why can’t killing be more popular?
“Israel strives to re-brand image“, we’re told. Yet again. Get ready for more failure. “It doesn’t matter how many times we convince ourselves and our staunch allies that we are not war criminals, and that those who try to portray us as such are incorrigible Jew-haters,” wrote Anshel Pfeffer in the liberal daily Haaretz. Israel’s…
Look over there, distraction time
When torture is but an after-thought: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c A Brief History of Torture thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor
Making money on the backs of others
Who says that becoming a compliant colonial administrator isn’t good for business? Running a power plant in Gaza might sound like a losing venture but, thanks to payments from the cash-strapped Palestinian government, its owners are making profits and promise another year of “unstoppable growth”. While Gaza’s 1.5 million residents, blockaded by Israel, face electricity…