US Jewish blogger Phil Weiss hears leading Palestinian speaker Rami Khouri talk about the (welcome) shifts in the Middle East since 9/11: I wondered how long it would take him to get to the Arab-Israeli issue. It was about 30 minutes. From then on it was all that anyone could talk about. He did not…
Showing all posts tagged Hizbollah
The next chapter of Salam Pax
Years after Salam Pax, aka The Baghdad Blogger, became world famous for writing about life under Saddam and the American invasion, he’s now living in London, studying journalism and helping to launch new online initiative, Mind the Globe. Here’s his post from late May: You want to know why Muqtada is so popular? Look at…
Israeli stupidity (part 6742)
Dissenting historian Norman Finkelstein explains why he may have been barred from entering Israel: Well, I guess there are two possibilities. One, I think I’m more effective than I have been in the past. I draw fairly large audiences. And I think Israel is now facing a major public relations challenge. They’re losing the moral…
Packing a punch
Secretary General of Hizbollah, Sayyid Hassan Nassrallah, Beirut, May 26: Today, by the name of all gatherings here as well all free people in the Arabian and Muslim world, I call Iraqis along with their political and religious leaderships to make a noble and historical decision that prevents the ultimate fall of Iraq in the…
The West takes a step back
The significance of the recent chaos in Lebanon has been largely ignored in the West. The Western media frame revolves around demonising the “terrorist” group of Hizbollah and supporting the US-backed government. But what was it really about? First, As’ad AbuKhalil, professor of political science at California State University and Angry Arab blogger: …And basically,…
Shifting sands in Lebanon
Syrian expert Joshua Landis comments on the latest news from Lebanon (and the apparent withdrawal of Hizbollah troops from the streets of Beirut): By pulling back from the city it so easily conquered and by turning over its strategic centers to the Lebanese army, Hizbullah has been gracious in victory. It has not pressed its…
The changing of the guard
Robert Fisk in the London Independent on the current crisis in Lebanon: Another American humiliation. The Shia gunmen who drove past my apartment in west Beirut yesterday afternoon were hooting their horns, making V-signs, leaning out of the windows of SUVs with their rifles in the air, proving to the Muslims of the capital that…
The Israeli Diaspora soul-searching
My following article appears in today’s Online Opinion: During Israel’s recent bombardment of Gaza, the Australian Jewish establishment reacted with unreserved support. Israel’s leading human rights organisation B’Tselem reported that the majority of Palestinian victims of the onslaught were civilians. David Knoll, from the New South Wales Board of Deputies, wrote that, “Israel is using…
How to talk to “terrorists”
Once were terrorists: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has asked for “embarrassing” travel restrictions on Nelson Mandela and South African leaders to be lifted. A bill has been introduced in the US Congress to remove from databases any reference to South Africa’s governing party and its leaders as terrorists. The African National Congress (ANC)…
The Zionist lobby’s road map of delusion
Following my recent joint op-ed in the Melbourne Age – on the reality of life in racially exclusionary Israel/Palestine – today the inevitable response from the Zionist lobby. It’s almost embarrassing in its simplicity and dishonesty. So, below are the tried and true methods of the lobby’s (increasingly futile) points of attack: – Allege Israel…