The global campaign and coverage of boycotting Israeli events and institutions is gathering steam (the latest information on the academic boycott is here). And what about this? A group of British academics have called on singer Elton John to cancel his scheduled performance in Israel this June. “Political or not political, when you stand up…
Showing all posts tagged Britain
Over one million killed in Iraq but let’s not focus on details, writes Murdoch editorial
Unsure what to really think of the Iraq war? Let Murdoch’s Australian guide you through the complexity: Tony Blair was called a murderer on Friday by outraged activists after his evidence before the Chilcot inquiry into the origins of the war to remove Saddam Hussein. It is the sort of foolish sloganising that always characterised…
Tony Blair will always be remembered for supporting colonial wars
The evidence given by Tony Blair to the Chilcot inquiry in London over his decision to invade Iraq showed a man utterly incapable or unwilling to understand the gravity of the decision. The hundreds of thousands killed, the lies told in the service of war and the criminality of the entire enterprise. Many in the…
Every leader that invaded Iraq will face a court hearing one day
Fascinating evidence in London about the criminality of the Iraq war (though this begs the question: why didn’t more senior officials resign before the invasion?) The invasion of Iraq was illegal, a senior government lawyer told the Chilcot inquiry into the war today. Sir Michael Wood, legal adviser to the Foreign Office in the run-up…
Britain embraces its 1984 past
The police state will get one step closer: Police in the UK are planning to use unmanned spy drones, controversially deployed in Afghanistan, for the …”routine” monitoring of antisocial motorists, …protesters, agricultural thieves and fly-tippers, in a significant expansion of covert state surveillance. The arms manufacturer BAE Systems, which produces a range of unmanned aerial…
What’s the best way to support the Palestinian cause?
The following letter is published on Norman Finkelstein’s website and certainly provides food for thought: 01.17.2010 Dear Dr Finkelstein, My name in Jermaine, and I am writing you from London. We met some time ago: I work at Hatchards Bookshop in London, and you were kind enough to sign the copies of your books that…
The police state known as Sri Lanka
Brahma Chellaney is on the advisory council of the UK-based Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice (as am I). His latest piece for the Guardian reminds us that the country’s upcoming election is between two alleged war criminals and the Tamils are likely to remain the meat in the sandwich, abused and feted by…
Amnesty protest Israeli impunity over Gaza and justice
Amnesty UK release a report this week that concludes Israel’s siege on Gaza is collective punishment. The human rights group also issued this statement, in the wake of the attempt to arrest Tzipi Livni in London for war crimes over Gaza: The UK Government are planning imminent changes to the law, to avoid any future…
Companies will be remembered for backing Israeli apartheid
The complicity of Western multinationals in the maintenance of apartheid South Africa continues to haunt the world (I wrote last year about the role of Britain’s Tory leader David Cameron in this sordid history). Who can read this latest news from the US and not wonder when Western firms will be hauled before courts to…
Britain and Israel on a path to diplomatic conflict?
Pithy comments by Omar Barghouti, a leader of the BDS campaign: Forty two (yes 42!) Knesset members (a third of the total), from across the Zionist political spectrum (including Labor), are “recommending [to] the citizens of Israel to reconsider using the services of companies that operate in Great Britain …” Perhaps it is time for…