Even asking this question would be impossible in most Western media: Does Israel Use The Holocaust as a Blackmail Weapon? On Russia Today, a satellite channel funded by the Russian state, Norman Finkelstein and others debate the question. And as he rightly says, of course Israel uses the catastrophe to shield itself from criticism and…
Showing all posts in June 2019
Howard Zinn: revolutionary, leader and inspiration
The death this week of legendary American historian and cultural figure Howard Zinn is a great loss for us all. He re-defined the concept of challenging the powerful in society. Democracy Now! feature a tribute to Zinn. Here’s an extract from an interview in May 2009: AMY GOODMAN: You write in the introduction to A…
What the US brought Haiti apart from a busy airport
John Pilger on the kidnapping of Haiti: The theft of Haiti has been swift and crude. On 22 January, the United States secured “formal approval” from the United Nations to take over all air and sea ports in Haiti, and to “secure” roads. No Haitian signed the agreement, which has no basis in law. Power…
Poles want legal remedy for Gaza crimes
A typical case of Israeli leaders playing the role of victim, yet again: Israeli leaders continue are still wanted in Europe, but not in a positive way: Knesset members visiting Poland for ceremonies marking International Holocaust Day were surprised to see ads against Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni in the city…
Years of Bil’in actions produce some tangible results (we think)
If true, how a local and global campaign against Israeli apartheid achieved results in the West Bank: non-violent, Palestinian resistance that scares the Israelis because it cannot be broken by force: Two-and-a-half years after a Supreme Court order, Israel’s army is preparing to adjust the route of the long security barrier it has constructed on…
New York Times needs to come clean on journalist’s conflicts
The question of New York Times Jerusalem chief Ethan Bronner and whether his son is in the IDF is thrashed out by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting: The decisions of Bronner’s son, however, are not the issue. What the Times needs to ask itself is whether it expects that its bureau chief has the normal…
Did the IDF murder three Palestinians in cold blood?
I reported last week on the death of three Palestinians in Nablus at the hands of the IDF. B’Tselem has released a report that questions the legality of the deaths: In the pre-dawn hours of 26 December 2009, soldiers shot to death Ghassan Abu Sharakh, Nader a-Sarkaji, and ”˜Anan Subuh, while each of them was…
Israelis want the world to know that they’re not evil and Haiti proves it
The use and abuse of the Haiti disaster for Israeli PR has been getting a fair bit of press recently. Here’s a humourous and revealing Israeli skit from the country’s biggest comedy show, accurately ridiculing the absurd Israeli coverage of needing to tell themselves how humane and wonderful they are:
How to remember the Jewish Holocaust the right way
On this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, I liked Bernard Avishai’s moving re-telling of his recent visit to Auschwitz (as opposed to Israeli politicians who abuse the memory of the Holocaust to shamefully push the Zionist cause and smear any critics of the occupation): For the overwhelming first impression I had in Auschwitz-Birkenau, which I still…
What Jews have created in the West Bank (hatred and racism)
Here’s a definition of fundamentalist Jewish settler violence.