Following the legitimate outrage over the Toronto International Film Festival presenting Tel Aviv as a model of cultural and ethnic harmony (hello occupation down the road), the key issues are being raised day after day in the media, a positive thing: Natalie Portman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Lisa Kudrow and Jerry Seinfeld were among dozens of…
Showing all posts tagged censorship
Please keep changing the topic and don’t talk about Palestine
Following the speech in parliament by Labor MP Michael Danby against the supposed evils of Israel criticism (and Crikey’s Guy Rundle in response), today’s Crikey publishes these letters: Michael Danby, the Federal Member for Melbourne Ports, writes: Re. “Rundle: No wonder Danby is pissed off” (Monday, item 12). Eric Beecher, the owner of Crikey has…
US liberation brings web crackdown to Iraq
Internet censorship is rife across the Middle East, issues I discuss in my book, The Blogging Revolution. Now, six years after the fall of Saddam, Iraq may be going in a similar direction:
Jew cries into the wildnerness to defend beloved Israeli violence
The life and times of Labor MP Michael Danby would be almost comical if it weren’t so tragic. He’s been yelping for years against yours truly for supposed anti-Semitism and beating up on poor old Israel. Suffice to say, he’s been about as effective as George W. Bush’s pronunciation but I’m very glad he continues…
In China, nudity, politics and corruption collide
China’s internet culture is both thriving and repressed. These contradictions are examined in my book, The Blogging Revolution. This story below perfectly explains the power of the web, the inability of rural people to be heard in the country and sad gender politics: Recently, “Yunnan Naked Girl” has become one of the hottest topic in…
The Islamic Republic allows blogging from prison
Former Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi is currently suffering a sham trial for allegedly backing the recent “coup” against the elected government. It’s all bollocks, of course, as this Washington Post piece explains: Abtahi has been allowed to continue blogging from his prison cell by his “good friend the interrogator,” he writes, and he…
Israeli academic freedom means being a good Zionist
Following Israeli academic Neve Gordon’s call for a boycott against “apartheid” Israel, president of his institution, Ben-Gurion University, responds in the LA Times and completely ignores the thrust of Gordon’s arguments about the dire reality in Palestine: Gordon argues that Israel is an “apartheid” state and that “a boycott would save Israel from itself.” But…
Iranians have long believed in the power of the net
American writer and broadcaster Cyrus Farivar has a forthcoming book about the web, The Internet of Elsewhere (Rutgers University Press, 2011). He’ll be focusing on a number of countries, including Iran. World Politics Online has published an extract (it’s mostly behind a fire-wall but free trial should help): On June 20, 2009, as she watched…
Are these consequences for Middle East commentary?
Sydney-based film-maker Daz Chandler has made this short documentary about free speech, the Israel lobby, Australian media, bashing Muslims, yours truly and Palestine:
Boycotts are the new tool of pressuring Israel
The debate over film-maker Ken Loach’s pressure on the Melbourne International Film Festival to refuse Israeli government funding continues. The festival’s director expressed his view last week in the Guardian. Today, Loach, his producer and writer respond: When we decided to pull our film Looking for Eric from the Melbourne International Film festival following our…