An important Haaretz editorial that requires little comment: The endorsing of a bill criminalizing anyone who marks the Palestinians’ Nakba Day on Israel’s Independence Day, making it punishable by three years in prison, is a hasty and dangerous act. The Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved a private member’s bill by Yisrael Beiteinu MK Alex Miller,…
Israel’s the wrong place at the wrong time
Following yesterday’s story in the Fairfax press about an upcoming visit to Israel by the Australian political and media elite, this letter appears today in the Sydney Morning Herald: In agreeing to lead a privately organised delegation of politicians, business people and academics to Israel, Julia Gillard’s political timing seems to have deserted her (“Gillard…
They can’t silence the Palestinian voice
Although the Israelis tried to shut down the Palestinian Festival of Literature (photos here), on the third night Suheir Hammad took the stage at the Sakakini Centre in Ramallah. She was moving, personal, funny and defiant:
Killing Arabs in the name of Judaism
The London Times writes about the growing radicalism of the IDF: During the Gaza war this year, Schmuel Kaufman, a military rabbi from a West Bank settlement, used to stride between the Israeli soldiers’ tents and urge them to fight what he deemed an “obligatory war” ordained by ancient scripture. “It’s a holy war to…
Shoddy behaviour will catch up with you
This news is welcome in a nation such as China where web repression is deep: A Chinese academic has successfully sued an internet company for closing his website after he posted articles on subjects including corruption and environmental issues. Hu Xingdou, professor of economics at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said he hoped his case…
Iraq certainly ruined the concept just a bit
What is the true meaning of humanitarian intervention? And why is the global community so hopeless at stopping violence against citizens in states?
Freedom means offending people
The curious case of US academic William Robinson under attack by the Israel lobby was mentioned here in late April. Since then, however, a number of free speech advocates have come forward to defend Robinson’s right to circulate a blog posting that juxtaposed images of Jews from the Holocaust with images of Palestinians in the…
Murdering innocents is a small price to pay
The Sri Lankan state has caused untold suffering against the Tamil people in the north of the country. The government reminds me of Israel, a rogue nation that indiscriminately kills civilians, something now even they acknowledge: In an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, alias Colonel Karuna, said president Mahinda Rajapaksa had made…
Will the US really challenge this?
Russia talks sense (while Israel simply continues to expand settlements in the West Bank): Russia’s foreign minister has… said talks with the Palestinian group Hamas were “needed” to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East. “We are certain that this is needed,” the Russia interfax news agency quoted Sergei Lavrov as saying on Sunday after meeting…
Free trips to fellate Israel
Are there no limits to the whoring the political and media elite won’t display towards Israel? Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard will lead a delegation to Israel next month as part of a bid to strengthen political, business and cultural ties between Australia and Israel. The tour, organised by pro-Israel lobby group the Australia Israel…