Powerful piece by seminal Israeli historian Ilan Pappe in Electronic Intifada: I have just spent the last few days of 2012 in the city of… Haifa. Accidentally, I met a few of my acquaintances who in the past deemed me at best as deluded and at worst as a traitor. They seemed more embarrassed today —…
Tasteless tourism should be avoided in Sri Lanka
Following the recent ethical tourism campaign for Sri Lanka launched by Britain’s Sri Lanka Campaign, this story shouldn’t surprise anybody; Colombo is proud of committing war crimes against Tamils and would like to make some money from it (via the UK Telegraph): A campaign group for human rights has criticised “tasteless” holiday accommodation built on…
Can divesting in fossil fuel companies help the climate crisis?
The US campaign 350.org aims to lead a public movement against climate change by putting financial and painful pressure on fossil fuel companies that cause climate change. It’s an interesting idea, debated below on Democracy Now!, as similar tactics were used against apartheid South Africa and today’s apartheid Israel:
Michael Moore embraces stunning film about Palestinian resistance, 5 Broken Cameras
The film 5 Broken Cameras was one of 2012’s strongest, documenting the daily brutality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. One of America’s most successful documentary film-makers, Michael Moore, is a big champion of the film. During a November screening in New York, Moore introduced the film with the following words: I was able to…
Charlie Brooker’s 2012 Wipe
The kind of 2012 round-up that beautifully skewers the leeches who often inhabit the news media and public life:
Israel sails blissfully towards self-made disaster so how many Jews want to jump off?
An article in Haaretz is titled, “Will 2013 be the Year American Jews Secede from Israel? The answer is surely no but there’s no doubt that a growing bulk of US Jews, especially young ones, ain’t too fond of the direction Israel is going, namely towards a proudly racist and fascist state. Here’s an extract…
Rise of Sunnis in the Middle East and the decline of Iran in 2013
Juan Cole offers some predictions: 2013 will see Iranian influence in the Middle East continue a decline that began with the Arab upheavals of 2011. Iran’s two major allies in the Arab world are Syria and Lebanon. In Lebanon, Iran arms the Shiite party-militia Hizbullah, and does so overland through Iraq and Syria. Since Israel…
Thank you for the year that’s been and 2013
On this New Year’s Eve, I wanted to thank all my readers for your support, thoughts, links, insights, criticisms, praise and love during the year. It’s been a wild ride as I’ve travelled to Afghanistan, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, America and beyond for a variety of reasons, mostly work-related. I couldn’t have continued without the…
How an Orthodox Israeli Jewish billionaire loves to exploit Africa
This is a remarkable story, sad, tragic and outrageous, and proves that money doesn’t bring morality (via Bloomberg): Dan Gertler’s bearded face lights up as he looks out the helicopter window. Below, an installation twice the size of Monaco rises from a clearing in the central African forest, where it transforms ore mined from the…