Labor MP Michael Danby has a history of loving Israel as only a married man can. Today he unleashes his glorious literary skills in the Murdoch tabloids to denounce Foreign Minister Bob Carr for daring to have an independent thought over Israel: As NSW premier he [Bob Carr] awarded the Sydney Peace Prize to Palestinian…
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Danby saga goes international
News today that the attempt by Federal Labor MP Michael Danby to censor my forthcoming book on Israel/Palestine has raised interest in Britain. Jews Sans Frontieres tracks the developments and reminds readers that Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz also thought it appropriate to try and ban Norman Finkelstein’s just released, Beyond Chutzpah. Two great believers…
Danby update
Following the publication of a letter by Federal Labor MP Michael Danby in this week’s Australian Jewish News (for background and more information, see here), Crikey has placed this story of free speech as one of its top yarns of the day: 4. Loewenstein v Danby — Australia’s debate over Israel By Crikey reporter Sophie…
Cancel culture is (often) about silencing critical voices on Palestine
Back in 2006, I published my first book, My Israel Question, which was met with huge opposition from the organised Jewish community but warm approval from the general public. It became a best-seller. Here’s a profile about my book and me in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2006. My then publisher Louise Adler wrote this…
Interviewing Pink Floyd's Roger Waters about Palestine
Last Friday night in Melbourne, I interviewed Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters alongside Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah. The event was organised by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network. Waters is in Australia on his massive “Us and Them” world tour (which I saw on Saturday night and it was one of the most spectacular music performances I’ve…
The risk and financial cost of speaking honestly about Israel/Palestine
Crikey is one of Australia’s best independent news websites. I… contributed extensively over the years from 2009 – 2012. Its current departing editor, Marni Cordell, with whom I worked when she edited another great Australian site, New Matilda, has written a revealing article that interviews previous Crikey editors and their experiences. It contains this anecdote that…
Australian Jewish heads love Zionist colonies, conservatism and remain lost cause
Australia has a federal election on 7 September. We’re looking at a change of government to Liberal leader Tony Abbott; a period of neo-conservatism awaits us. I agree with Wikileaks head Julian Assange who argues that one of the key issues is liberating ourselves from genuflecting towards Washington on every issue. Israel/Palestine has barely featured…
BDS will continue to grow in Australia, regardless of comical attacks
The following statement was issued today by the Palestine Action Group (Sydney): Supporters of Palestine have responded to a May 2 report in… the… Australian… asserting that Max Brenner Israel has no direct shares in Max Brenner Australia as irrelevant to the solidarity campaign for justice in Palestine. Palestine solidarity activists are bemused that… the… Australian… has given front page coverage…
How the Australian Zionist lobby corrupts political process (and politicians and reporters join in)
It’s nearly Christmas and that must mean yet another year of the Australia-Israel-UK Leadership Forum. The Australian media has virtually ignored the whole thing because they’re a) lazy b) not curious and c) clueless how to write about the shamelessness of witnessing so many politicians pall around with pro-occupation Israeli figures. These are the same…
Why boycotting Israeli academia is necessary and principled
My following piece appears today in ABC’s… The Drum: An academic boycott of Israeli universities isn’t an attack on freedom of speech. The evidence tells us these institutions are key battlegrounds for breaches of international law towards the Palestinians, argues Antony Loewenstein. New Zealand’s $20 billion national pension fund… announced this month… that it was divesting from three…