Sydney PEN, an affiliate of International PEN, is an association of writers devoted to freedom of expression in Australia and in the world at large. In accordance with the PEN Charter it uses its influence on behalf of writers anywhere who are silenced by persecution, exile or imprisonment and acts as an authoritative source on… matters…
Showing all posts tagged censorship
The face of modern Zionism is so pretty
Another day and another example of Zionist fanatics trying to silence alternative views on the Middle East. This was sent to me from The Berkeley Daily Planet: A few East Bay individuals are threatening to bankrupt the Berkeley Daily Planet unless it stops publishing criticisms of Israel’s policies and actions—opinions and ideas they brand “anti-Semitic.”…
Hating Palestinians is just fine
I recently argued the case for free speech for even Holocaust deniers and the hypocrisy of Zionist groups that only care about supposed anti-Semitism and not racism in general. Now Michael Brull, blogger for Independent Australian Jewish Voices, has continued the argument: Australia’s Zionist lobbies recently scored what they consider a triumph. Frederick Toben of…
We have rules and you should not break them
Don’t believe, writes The Nation’s Roane Carey, that Israel’s press is fair and dissent in society is truly accepted: And as for being an open, fully democratic state, most people I talk to speak of a chilling of dissent in recent years, running in parallel with the election of increasingly right-wing governments. The nadir came…
A citizen’s way to protest oppression
The global BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign against Israeli apartheid shows no sign of letting up. In fact, it’s only increasing as the political elite continues to ignore the state’s abuses. Here’s an interesting example from Sydney University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies: ABN 15 211 513 464 Dr Jake LynchAssociate Professor and…
They can’t silence the Palestinian voice
Although the Israelis tried to shut down the Palestinian Festival of Literature (photos here), on the third night Suheir Hammad took the stage at the Sakakini Centre in Ramallah. She was moving, personal, funny and defiant:
Shoddy behaviour will catch up with you
This news is welcome in a nation such as China where web repression is deep: A Chinese academic has successfully sued an internet company for closing his website after he posted articles on subjects including corruption and environmental issues. Hu Xingdou, professor of economics at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said he hoped his case…
Freedom means offending people
The curious case of US academic William Robinson under attack by the Israel lobby was mentioned here in late April. Since then, however, a number of free speech advocates have come forward to defend Robinson’s right to circulate a blog posting that juxtaposed images of Jews from the Holocaust with images of Palestinians in the…
What form of censorship will come next?
The ever-growing rise of fascism in the Israeli state. And just the latest example: Today was the start of the 2nd Palestine Festival of Literature, slated to open at the Palestinian National Theater in East Jerusalem. The festival began as a call from Edward Said, to “reaffirm the power of culture over the culture of…
Any fear of organising
Like I report in my book, The Blogging Revolution, the Islamic Republic is a truly repressive web nation: Authorities in Iran have banned popular social-networking site Facebook until after the Islamic Republic’s presidential election in mid-June. Iranian media has reported that the ban comes as a result of the success President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opponent Mir-Hossein…