Simply more futile silencing

Just another shocking act by a friendly US ally (and dictatorship): A German-Egyptian activist has been detained north of Cairo during a rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Philip Rizk has been an outspoken activist on Palestinian issues and lived in Gaza for two years. He previously worked on aid projects with Canon Andrew…

The moral collapse of modern Zionism

Israel is a vibrant democracy that “abides by the rule of law.” So writes pro-war blogger Michael Yon, who was enthralled after hearing Israeli politician and probable next leader Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem a few days ago. The pro-forma nature of such platitudes is amusing to read, not least this: “If you want to see…

This is what we think of you

Bloggers in Gaza are gathering information about what happened during the recent Israeli attacks. In this update, we hear from families whose homes were looted and left covered with faeces by Israeli soldiers, learn what the effects of DIME weapons are, and are told the story of a father whose baby daughter was shot, his…

Saying no to outright bigotry

Independent Australian Jewish Voices blogger Michael Brull on why any form of anti-Semitism cannot be allowed to seep into the pro-Palestinian campaign. It should be loudly condemned if it ever does.

Possible friends dropping like flies

While Gerry Adams, the former Irish “terrorist”, calls for engagement with Hamas, many Arab bloggers have started a campaign to cease using the word “Israel” and instead refer to the Jewish state as “Israhell“.

The eternal victim

My following article appeared yesterday in the Canadian magazine Adbusters: Each side in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict believes criticisms in the media are biased, but the Palestinians are the ones doing almost all the suffering and dying these days. Antony Loewenstein argues for reality-based… coverage. Israel’s highly decorated Chief of Staff, Mordechai Gur, once said, “we make…

When they’ve nothing left in the tank

Jewish blogger Phil Weiss notes a growing tendency of Zionist extremists resorting to name calling: In their refusal to see what the slaughter of hundreds of Arab civilians has revealed about the foreign country they love, Commentary’s Noah Pollak and Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg have begun calling John Mearsheimer “Sheikh Hassan Mearsheimer.” This kind of namecalling…

What to do about US-backed despots

Online dissidents in authoritarian states such as Egypt thrive on sites like Facebook, according to Harvard University’s Ethan Zuckerman, because, “the government can’t simply shut down Facebook, because doing so would alert a large group of people who they can’t afford to radicalize.” It is the Dictator’s Dilemma, an issue I cover extensively in my…

Kissing Israel is not what she needs

A letter-writer in The Jewish Week can’t understand why militant Zionists aren’t regarded as “pro-peace”: Why does your paper, as well as other Jewish and secular papers, continue to refer to organizations like the J Street Lobby, Americans for Peace Now, New Israel Fund and Israel Policy Forum as pro-peace? They are left-wing and extreme…

Closing the net

The following news story, by Peter Hackney, appeared in leading gay publication SX on January 21: With the mandatory internet filtering trial to begin any day now, Peter Hackney explores what it might mean for our community. The words ”˜gay’ and ”˜lesbian’ are hardly offensive. They merely describe a sexual orientation. But as any journalist…

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