Thank you, Wikileaks (yet again). The West (essentially America) approves of a “transition” in Egypt to another thug, Omar Suleiman. How very nice of them. And now this: The new vice-president of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, is a long-standing favourite of Israel’s who spoke daily to the Tel Aviv government via a secret “hotline” to Cairo,…
Israel doesn’t believe in Egyptian democracy
My following article appears in today’s edition of Crikey: While the Egyptian masses are uprising in unprecedented ways across the country against a Western-backed dictator, Israel fears the worst. The country’s President Shimon Peres said last week that, “no matter what they say, we owe Mubarak true gratitude for being as steadfast as a rock…
BDS should rock Israelis from their far-too-comfortable lives
Joseph Dana and Max Blumenthal issue an important essay: …The power of the cultural boycott in disrupting the apathy that pervades middle class, urban Israeli society. Apathy allows Israelis to live in comfort behind iron walls while remaining immune to the occupation and innoculated from its horrors. The culture of apathy allows them to watch…
Few handy tips to be a “centrist”, pro-Obama stenographer
The ultimate insider news publication is Politico, a how-to-guide to slavishly follow the political and media elites. So I shouldn’t be surprised to read this story entitled, “How Obama plays media like a fiddle“. All hacks, want some Obama love? Follow these tips: Respect the Village Elders Most political reporters live in Washington. So it’s…
Journalism from the streets of Egypt (and that’s not from the BBC)
This is why Al-Jazeera is bringing a necessary revolution in global news reporting. Embedded and Washington and London loving journalism should have no place. Except on Fox News and CNN.
Wikileaks cables on Sri Lanka and its merry ways
Anybody who examines the situation in Sri Lanka can’t ignore the human rights abuses committed by the Tamil Tigers: India expressed its concern about the Human Rights situation in Sri Lanka and the way the LTTE used civilians as human shields in 2009, the latest WikiLeaks cable revealed. The cable said that during a meeting…
If Israel was a person, Gillard would ask the hourly rate
Here’s our Embarrassment in Chief Prime Minister Julia Gillard on last night’s ABC 4 Corners talking about that glorious democracy in the Middle East (yes, I thought she was thinking about Egypt but how wrong I was): Oh, I am a strong supporter of Israel. Obviously also a strong supporter of a peace process there…
News flash; Washington still loves autocrats in the Middle East
New Yorker editor David Remnick writes about the uprisings in Egypt and after acknowledging the corruption of the Israeli occupation of Palestine next door issues the following utterly illogical statement: …The United States has long ceased to be a puppet-master among the Arab states, if it ever was. Really? Tell that to the people of…
Highlighting the Beijing-backed thugs in Sri Lanka
The Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement in late January: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon must press the United Nations to address the string of uninvestigated and unprosecuted attacks on journalists and media houses under the government of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ responded after an early…