Indonesian Jews learn traditions on YouTube
The idea of a small Jewish community in Indonesia pleases me and yet the blind adulation of an Israeli flag is sad. Is there knowledge how the Palestinians are being abused? A new, 62-foot-tall menorah, possibly the world’s largest, rises from a mountain overlooking this Indonesian city, courtesy of the local government. Flags of Israel…
Read this for possible Middle East near future (and it ain’t pretty)
This email was forwarded by Harvard Middle East expert Sara Roy. No real comment required: I pass this along without making any claims to verify its accuracy.… From a NYC-based Israeli source, who just returned from Tel Aviv, where he met with senior IDF and Likud figures, including Netanyahu.… He is one of the Likud…
US being beaten by a handful of bearded Afghans
The most powerful military in history with the brightest minds in the business. Or not: For months, the secret talks unfolding between Taliban and Afghan leaders to end the war appeared to be showing promise, if only because of the appearance of a certain insurgent leader at one end of the table: Mullah Akhtar Muhammad…
Wikileaks want to redefine “global history”
Stand by: The WikiLeaks website has announced it plans to publish nearly three million more secret US documents in its next mass release of confidential material, The Daily Telegraph learned. It would be seven times larger than its release last month, when it posted some 400,000 secret documents about the war in Iraq on its…
Hello, I’m an Australian politician/journalist and I’m desperate to be romanced by Israel
This site has previously reported on the upcoming visit to Israel by a number of senior Australian politician and journalists. The message? Warm, cuddly embrace of Israel in all its authoritarian ways. The following letter was sent yesterday by Australians for Palestine to all members of parliament: Dear Senator/Member of Parliament, The reported visit of…
How dare anybody accuse Australia of acting illegally in war?
Following my lead story in Crikey yesterday on the role of Australian troops in US-led assassination squads, the following responses appear today. For the record, a number of people have contacted me since publication and confirmed the allegations in the story. Much more in the coming years: Neil James, Executive Director, Australia Defence Association: As…
Settlers tell Arabs where to go
Zionist democracy in action: Springwater continues to be vital to Palestinian farmers, but recently, at the settlers’ initiative, many springs on the other side of the Green Line have been turned into tourism sites from which the Palestinians are barred. Hebrew-language signs have been posted near many springs; some places have become memorial sites for…