Preparing for the end of the world (at a very reasonable price)
Tim Murphy in Mother Jones: Humans have been preparing for the worst for millennia, but modern Americans have turned it into an art form. At the dawn of the Atomic Age, suburbanites scrambled to build backyard shelters and the government stockpiled food in anticipation of the day after. The spiraling inflation of the 1970s brought…
Just one more reason why academic BDS against Israeli universities vital
After the recent faux controversy in Australia over a principled academic refusing to assist an Israeli academic because his centre abided by BDS principles, this story (via Ben White in Electronic Intifada) shows how intimately linked are Israeli universities, the occupation and the settler establishment: Dozens of academics from Israel and abroad, worried about the…
America’s wars are outsourced so there’s much money to be made
The face of America’s never-ending “war on terror” is increasingly privatised. This Washington Post article explains just one example of this trend but doesn’t examine the lack of accountability of the practice, something I’m doing in my 2013 book and film on disaster capitalism: The rapid collapse of a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya exposed…
South Africa pays compensation to apartheid victims
I hear these stories and hope that Israel will be forced to pay compensation to Palestinian victims of its racism in decades to come:
Thinking of occupied Bethlehem this Christmas
The reality of Palestinian life under Israeli occupation is often ignored in the West. This Christmas – I hope my readers have a safe and happy holiday season, wherever they may be – I’m once again publishing the regular missive from Brother Peter Bray, the Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University (his past writings are here).…
Campaigning for the boycott of Sri Lankan cricket team
I’m honoured to be asked to be a public face of this campaign (via Tamil Guardian): Renowned Australian author Thomas Keneally has spoken out against Australia playing cricket with Sri Lanka and called for a break of sporting ties, as calls to boycott Sri Lankan cricket continue to grow. Writing to Keneally, the Tamil Refugee…
Criminal UN negligence in Haiti over cholera crisis
During my recent visit to Haiti, working on a book and film about disaster capitalism, the issue of UN incompetence/criminality over causing the outbreak of cholera was a primary concern of many and rightly so. This Al-Jazeera documentary takes a critical look at the UN’s response: Here’s the latest New York Times feature on the…
Breaking: US TV show discusses influence of Zionist lobby
Perhaps the only US TV host that actually honestly discusses domestic and global issues is Chris Hayes on MSNBC. His latest involves the current absurd calls by the Israel lobby and its courtiers in the US to stop the potential Obama administration nomination of Chuck Hagel as Defence Secretary because he’s an “anti-Semite“. If America…