Rupert Murdoch makes friends everywhere he goes (having lots of money helps). His recent speech in Abu Dhabi urged more transparency in the Middle East (a worthy goal) but clearly many in the region are rightly worried about his real agenda: The tie-up between Arab entertainment giant Rotana and pro-Israel media mogul Rupert Murdoch is…
Showing all posts tagged Egypt
Protesting Egypt’s wall of shame against Gaza
Resistance is continuing in Egypt: Activists and opposition groups are stepping up pressure on the Egyptian government to stop constructing a barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip. Officials say the barrier will prevent cross-border smuggling, but critics say it will seal the fate of the people on the Gaza Strip. “The Egyptian border…
Violence is a means and an end: an interview with Mark Danner
My latest article for New Matilda is an interview with leading American reporter Mark Danner: Leading US journalist Mark Danner calls a spade a spade and examines the political value of violence in this exclusive interview with Antony Loewenstein Mark Danner has some unusual characteristics for a mainstream US journalist. He has published in some…
Hillary Clinton’s love of Egyptian torture
Need any more evidence why Washington’s supposed desire for Middle East peace is regarded as a joke across the region? Even the Washington Post understands: According to State’s latest report on Egypt, issued Feb. 25, “the government’s respect for human rights remained poor” during 2008 “and serious abuses continued in many areas.” It cited torture…
What Egypt could like look when free
Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas, a brave soul and long-time enemy of the US-backed client state, speaks out on what he dreams for his country:
Abbas is bought and sold and he’s happy about it
This Guardian “exclusive” interview with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is a thoroughly dispiriting affair. It’s a profile of a man with little or no freedom to move, totally bank-rolled by the Western powers (while the ever-expanding occupation making true independence utterly impossible) and powerless to do much except imprison Hamas officials and anybody who opposes…
Jessie Boylan reports on the wild lands of Sinai and Gaza
I posted a few days ago a wonderful essay by Australian photo-journalist Conor Ashleigh about his experience in Egypt and Gaza during the Gaza Freedom March. A colleague Jessie Boylan was with him and she has also filed a compelling travelogue on the journey.
Without the tunnels, Gazans would disappear
Earlier this week I wrote about an American friend, Nitin Sawhney, currently working in Gaza. His latest dispatch discusses a visit to the tunnels that bring in essential goods: Yesterday I visited the Rafah refugee camp along the southern frontier to meet an UNRWA supported Woman’s center and learn about their programs with poor families…
Haiti from the centre of hell
The devastation in Haiti is heart-breaking but most of the Western media is missing the key reason behind the chaos; the militarisation of humanitarian aid. Some of the finest reporting I’ve seen is from Democracy Now!, now in Haiti itself. Here’s Amy Goodman explaining the chaos and producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous detailing the trauma. Jeremy…
Political islam in the US client state of Egypt is refreshed
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has a new leader.