Beyond all the political posturing over Israel and Palestine, the reality of occupation grinds on. Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz of just one such event: The Israel Defense Forces’ Duvdevan unit is just about the very best, albeit with slightly less luster than the Shayetet, the Tayeset and “The Unit” − the IDF’s elite naval…
Julian Assange on the threat posed by US-govt backed web evangelists
What a stunning piece. Julian Assange writes the following review in the New York Times on the kind of mundane yet dangerous “debates” sucked up by many in the mainstream media when it comes to the supposedly liberating nature of the internet. When the corporation becomes far more powerful than the state (and they work…
Lessons in real journalism from Jeremy Scahill
Best-selling author Jeremy Scahill… talking to the LA Times on the making of Dirty Wars: “You come across people and they’ve lost something incredible, like their family has been killed, or someone’s been maimed. They don’t understand why a raid happened. And no one from the military has said, ‘This is what happened, here’s compensation.’ So…
First positive review of my upcoming book, Profits of Doom
In August I’ll be releasing, through Melbourne University Press, my new solo book, Profits of Doom: How Vulture Capitalism is Swallowing the World. The first (very early) review has appeared in Bookseller + Publisher,… Australia’s leading publication on the book industry:
The Cold War is back and arms dealers are laughing
Global powers rarely learn from history. Instead, they look to find ways to influence others with a range of sticks and carrots. Hello, weapons manufacturers, stop smiling. Michael Klare in TomDispatch: Did Washington just give Israel the green light for a future attack on Iran via an arms deal?… Did Russia just signal its further…
Washington’s love of deja vu politics between Israel and Palestine
Rashid Khalidi writes in Foreign Policy: Observing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry`s efforts to restart negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis one can`t help but be struck by a sense of d×™j× vu. Kerry, who visits Israel and the Palestinian territories this week, has launched an initiative to improve the economic conditions of Palestinians living…
How Israel’s weapons industry thrives on ever-greater conflict
Fascinating and depressing (via 972 magazine) about the radically different view of Israel in the general public globally (never been worse due to racism and occupation against Palestinians) and the elites who see endless financial opportunity. Vulture capitalism brought to you by Zionism: In his new documentary, ”˜The Lab,’ Yotam Feldman explores how Israel’s weapons…
The last thing Syria needs, or the Middle East, is more Western “engagement”
Stunning Simon Jenkins piece in The Guardian that explains why Western imperialists, of the liberal and conservative kind, just need to butt out of the Middle East: There could no more dreadful idea than to pour more armaments into the sectarian war now consuming Syria.… Yet that is precisely what Britain’s coalition government wants to do.…