Obama’s Middle East words as empty as air

My latest article for New Matilda appears today: The US President is delivering sterner speeches on the Israel Palestine conflict but until he bolsters his rhetoric with action, it’s hard to see how progress can be made, writes Antony Loewenstein Forget about what he actually said. Imagine if US President Barack Obama said something like…

Washington strongly backs brutal Saudi regime

Because selling deadly weapons is the best way to show America’s real commitment to democracy in the Arab world: On the same day President Obama pressed again for peace in the Middle East, the Associated Press reminded us that the United States cannot help itself from flooding the region with the instruments of war, reporting…

On Obama, AIPAC, occupation, revolutions and the status-quo

So much discussion about the latest elaborate dance between the US under Barack Obama and Israel. In many ways, little has changed over the years, as Washington occasionally talks tough with Israel but then never does anything more. Words are cheap in the Middle East, especially as the occupation deepens every day. And, as if…

Fisk on what Obama should say about the Middle East (but won’t)

Spot on: OK, so here’s what President Barack Obama should say today about the Middle East. We will leave Afghanistan tomorrow. We will leave Iraq tomorrow. We will stop giving unconditional, craven support to Israel. Americans will force the Israelis – and the European Union – to end their siege of Gaza. We will withhold…

What’s happening in post-Mubarak Egypt?

Most of the global media has moved on from the streets of Cairo and now the situation is more complex. The story is alive, changing constantly. Where to next for a (hopefully) democratic Egypt? America and Israel should be worried. Australian journalist Austin Mackell has been living in Egypt for a while and has filed…

Australians no longer accept Zionist narrative

He’s right, it’s something I see and hear all the time. Countless journalists, editors and politicians may be sent to Israel on Zionist-lobby sponsored trips but this is a sign of weakness, not strength. People are finding out the real news about Zionist occupation of Palestine from alternative sources and brutalisation is hard to sell,…

Obama getting Middle East advice from non-Middle Easterners

Only in the New York Times. This is an interesting piece about Barack Obama and his evolving views towards the Muslim world. The idea that people there will suddenly likes America after a pretty speech is delusional. For example, anti-US sentiment is strong in Egypt, as it should be, considering the Mubarak regime was backed…

Middle East revolutions happened despite of us

The social and political significance of the ongoing Arab revolutions are powerful. Last Friday I spoke in Sydney alongside insightful American reporter Matthew Cassel – who recently was on the front line of the Egyptian revolution and is soon to work for Al-Jazeera English – and Australian journalist Kate Ausburn. It was a fascinating night…

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