Friends can be bought: The dramatic events in Egypt this past week have left a coterie of top Washington lobbyists quietly scurrying to respond to the unexpected developments in the nation they represent, caught off guard by the apparent end to President Hosni Mubarak’s long reign. By some estimates, Egypt spends close to $2 million…
Being opposed to Australia dumping refugees in East Timor
We don’t want to be a post-colonial power (more than we are already): Refugee groups have called on the Australian government to scrap its proposal to build a “regional processing centre” in Timor-Leste. “The regional processing centre proposal was always about Australia avoiding its obligations to asylum seekers under the Refugee Convention,” said Ian Rintoul,…
As Mubarak’s thugs shoot into a crowd of unarmed civilians
Israel and Washington must be so proud of their boy Mubarak:
Of course Wikileaks matters, profoundly
While the New York Times releases a book about Wikileaks and editor Bill Keller feels the need to smear Julian Assange while saying how much he loves America, Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger is far more nuanced in his explanation of the relationship between corporate media and Wikileaks: The challenge from WikiLeaks for media in general…
New Zealand PM says foreign policy dictated by keeping Israel happy
The country’s Jewish Prime Minister, John Key, was on a TV breakfast program earlier in the week and made it very clear that democracy in the Arab world was a threat to Israeli apartheid. “Stability” and “moderation” are two vastly over-used words; they simply mean keeping Arabs oppressed to please Israel. No more: Key: It’s…
Mark my words; a day will come when Palestinians will rise as one
Amira Hass on the infrastructure of control imposed by Israel on the Palestinians and she asks; Sooner or later, the protective nets the Israeli tyranny has excelled at creating will tear. Will the masses flood the streets then, will they break through the barriers and roadblocks, march to Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and Psagot, as my…
What Zionism has done to my people
Evidence for the prosecution (and there’s mountains more): Jimmy Carter has long been the target of what MJ Rosenberg calls “the Status Quo Lobby” (he’s right to deny them the “pro-Israel” label). Now an enterprising attorney has filed a class-action suit against the former president — and publisher Simon and Shuster — that can only…
At least somebody appreciates the vital importance of Wikileaks
Thank you: In the estimation of the Sydney Peace Foundation, Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stands alongside the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. As he outrages and embarrasses world leaders by leaking secret US diplomatic cables – and continues to face down allegations of sex offences – Mr Assange has been chosen by the foundation…
Portrait of an Egyptian hero
He’s just one fine man. I met and spent time with Hossam elHamalawy in Cairo during the research for my book The Blogging Revolution. Thinking about this over the last week, I’m proud to have documented the then small but growing movement of web dissent in the US and Israeli-backed dictatorship. It was those seeds…