How is America viewed in the Arab world, especially Egypt? Ancient, reactionary, dictator-loving, Zionist obsessed and increasingly incapable of influencing events. This is a wonderful thing, as Washington’s main contribution to the Middle East in the last sixty years has been backing brutes and supporting Israeli occupation. Change: In days gone by, it was pretty…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
A mature country would welcome its own citizen Assange back
Of course: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has called on the Federal Government to help him return to Australia. Mr Assange is due to appear in a London court next week where he faces extradition to Sweden on possible sexual assault charges. In a pre-recorded video played at a forum in Melbourne this evening, Mr Assange…
Serco misbehaving and avoiding responsibility (as usual)
When a British multinational is being paid hundreds of millions by the Australian government to imprison asylum seekers, some kind of responsibility should be expected. Alas, these two examples below show that the company is either outsourcing key tasks to a volunteer company or involved in abuses in remote detention centres. One: When it was…
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,…
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…
The only language the lobby knows is from the Israeli government
The recent decision by the NSW Greens to embrace BDS against Israeli apartheid has brought out predictably hyperbolic Zionist lobby rantings. Here’s Yair Miller, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, rehashing familiar talking points about Israeli democracy, working together with Palestinians and hugging away the occupation. Because that’s worked so well in the…
Australian PM continues to smear Wikileaks
Our embarrassing clown in chief: Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she cannot – and will not – make Julian Assange’s legal problems go away. But like any Australian citizen, she says the WikiLeaks founder is welcome to return home once they do. Mr Assange, in London fighting an extradition order to Sweden where he awaits…
Wikileaks; is our government letting us down?
I’ll be appearing at the following event next week in Sydney presented by the Australian Institute of International Affairs: Hosted by: AIIA NSW The event will start on: Tuesday, 08 February 2011 6:00 PM And will end on: Tuesday, 08 February 2011 7:30 PM At The Glover Cottages, Sydney 124 Kent Street , Sydney NSW…
Journalists, don’t be afraid to rely on Arabs to tell you Egyptian truth
Here’s an idea for a Western newspaper trying to report in Egypt. Rather than sending your own correspondent who doesn’t get anywhere near the action – or know any of the important writers, bloggers, Tweeters etc – you actually rely on other, perhaps indigenous sources, who are seeing the real action on the streets. Not…
Don’t forget every “expert” who embraced Mubarak and his kind
The embedded journalists, writers, commentators and think-tankers who spend their hours urging “moderate” regimes in the Middle East – namely Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others – never cared too much about the democratic aspirations of the Arab people themselves. Too messy, too inconvenient. And as long as Israel was happy, well, Washington (and…