After years of talking in Australia and overseas about the Israel/Palestine conflict and internet repression, I’m about to commence a US… speaking tour.
My first presentation early next week, at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government/Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, is on “The Shifting Sands of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: An Australian Perspective“:
A critical examination of the Israel/Palestine conflict from an Australian perspective. How is the conflict reported in Australia? What is the position of successive Australian governments and why? What is the role of the Jewish and Arab communities in the debate? Loewenstein will also discuss the current direction of the conflict itself, not least the growth of a fundamentalist Jewish minority who threaten peace far more than Palestinian militants. What does this mean for the future direction of the Jewish state? With the declining power of the US in world affairs, where does this leave Israel and its supporters?
The following day I’ll be speaking at Harvard University’s Berkman Centre on “The Blogging Revolution: Going online in repressive regimes“:
The post 9/11 Western media have done a terrible job of accurately reporting the majority of the globe. In 2007, Australian journalist, author and blogger Antony Loewenstein traveled to Egypt, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and China to investigate how the net was challenging authoritarian regimes, the role of Western multinationals such as Google in the assistance of web filtering and how misinformed we are in the West towards states considered “enemies” or “allies”. The result is his acclaimed new book, The Blogging Revolution.
I’ll also be giving a number of talks in New York city and meeting numerous individuals from the media, political and academic communities across the country.
I’ll post anything relevant on this site.
Time to gauge the mood in one of the… most fascinating yet frustrating nations on earth.