My weekly Guardian column: To have a prominent political figure challenging the power and message of the Israel lobby is almost unheard of in most western nations – which is precisely what makes the… just released diaries… of former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr all the more remarkable. Across 500 pages, Carr catalogues his intense exercise regime,…
Showing all posts tagged Gaza
Personally supporting BDS against Israel
Last night in Sydney there was a successful event to highlight the growing global movement of BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) against Israel and the legal case against proponent and Sydney University academic Dr Jake Lynch. Around 140 people came to hear various speakers detailing the many reasons BDS is one just way to apply…
A truly free society would support and not silence BDS
Me at ABC’s The Drum today: The BDS movement is a logical and non-violent response to human rights abuses in Palestine, so why is it being threatened in a country like America that prides itself on free speech, asks Antony Loewenstein. It seems barely a week passes without a student union or corporation somewhere in…
Being an Australian, pro-Palestinian Jew
I was recently interviewed for the Executive Style section (!) at Fairfax Media by Gary Nunn, under the headline, Winning By Putting Yourself Second, on my work over Palestine: Antony Loewenstein is an Australian-Jewish opponent of Israel. Having spent time in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza and written two books on the subject, he…
Slowly but surely US intellectuals challenge Israeli violence
As Israel continues its strangulation of the West Bank and Gaza, the Jewish state is starting to realise such actions come with a price (like South Africa during apartheid). This news is big and important (and ignore the typical and utterly tiresome accusations of anti-Semitism) and signals a growing shift to tackle Israel where it…
What a humanist, progressive, pro-Palestinian Jewish Rabbi looks like
Brant Rosen is that rare breed, an American Jewish Rabbi who remains outspoken about Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. He’s been profiled in the New York Jewish Forward newspaper: It was on December 28, 2008, soon after Israel launched its punishing military campaign in Gaza, known as Operation Cast Lead, that Rabbi Brant Rosen hit…
An instructive tale of Zionism, Israel lobby bullying, history and the truth
Back in June I was invited to Brisbane by the Queensland History Teacher’s Association to deliver the keynote speech at their annual conference. I spoke about Israel/Palestine, the role of Zionist violence against Palestinians, apartheid in the West Bank and the responsibility of all of us to speak out when injustice occurs. It was warmly…
Vice interview about Ben Zygier, Israeli spying and Western acceptance
I was recently interviewed by Lily Jovic for Vice magazine: Last month, Israel struck a 1.2 million dollar deal with the parents of Melbourne-born Mossad agent Ben Zygier, as compensation for his death in prison 3 years ago. The payout seemingly marks the end of the… Prisoner X case, a case which despite having serious national…
The Wire interview on failed US-backed Middle East talks
The media is once again filled with Middle East “experts” pontificating about the prospects of Obama-led “peace talks” in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. There’s zero chance of a just outcome. The occupation deepens by the day. I was interviewed by the current affairs show The Wire to discuss the reality on the…
The Bourdain/CNN take on Israel/Palestine
Surely a healthy sign of the mainstreaming of Palestine. US chef Anthony Bourdain takes his TV show to Israel and Palestine (including the West Bank and Gaza) and shows humanity in Palestine and crass extremism of Zionist settlers: