Of course Wikileaks matters, profoundly

While the New York Times releases a book about Wikileaks and editor Bill Keller feels the need to smear Julian Assange while saying how much he loves America, Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger is far more nuanced in his explanation of the relationship between corporate media and Wikileaks: The challenge from WikiLeaks for media in general…

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…

Serco at centre of British youth death

What privatisation gets you: An inquest jury has blamed unlawful restraint methods for contributing to the youngest death in custody in Britain for more than a century and concluded there had been a serious system failure at the detention centre. A rehearing ordered by the appeal court found today that the manhandling of 14-year-old Adam…

Fatah, US and Israel all conspire to kill independence

It just gets worse and worse. But really, what can be expected when one side of a conflict is funded, armed and backed by the occupier? One: British intelligence helped draw up a secret plan for a wide-ranging crackdown on the Islamist movement Hamas which became a security blueprint for the Palestinian Authority, leaked documents…

London missed Palestine Papers explosion

Hello delusion, my name is Britain: Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the start of his three-day visit to the UK. They met for an hour at the Foreign Office. Afterwards the Foreign Secretary gave Foreign Minister Lieberman a tour of the Cabinet War Rooms. The Foreign Secretary stressed the…

And we wonder why the MSM is treated with such contempt out there

Just how many mainstream publications act illegally to get the next scoop? Britain’s tabloid newspapers are now facing a major crisis after being drawn into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Twenty-four hours after Andy Coulson, the prime minister’s communications chief and former News of the World editor, was forced to resign, a lawyer…

Recognising anti-Islam mood is first step to recovery

It’s almost impossible to imagine a conservative leader talking this way in Australia or America: Islamophobia has “passed the dinner-table test” and become widely socially acceptable in Britain, according to Lady Warsi, the Conservative chairman. Warsi, the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet, is expected to use a speech at Leicester University today to raise…

London and its torturing allies

Christopher Hitchens may be sharing his bromance with Tony Blair in the latest Vanity Fair, but back in the real world away from elite cocktail party chatter, Britain stands condemned: UK authorities passed information about British nationals to notorious Bangladeshi intelligence agencies and police units, then pressed for information while the men were being held…

Israel feels light tap on wrist and marches on regardless

I’m sure Israel is shaking; two close allies chastise Israel and then do absolutely nothing about it. That’s pointless loyalty: Britain and Australia urged Israel to refrain from settlement building on the West Bank and called for a “return to direct talks” between Israel and the Palestinians. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Middle…

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