A piece in today’s Murdoch Australian highlights the almost unstoppable movement towards isolating Israel until it recognises the error of its occupying ways. Not much evidence that many Israelis do believe that, but give them time: The piece is by Michael Shaik: “MICHAEL, she’s dead.” It was March 16, 2003. The huge anti-war protests of…
Showing all posts tagged Iraq
Blair suddenly shows some care for Gaza
Tony Blair, the man behind the Iraq war, Lebanon war and Gaza war, now calls for the lifting of the siege on Gaza. But these comments are simply delusional. Hope left Gaza many years ago: What is important is that we don’t end up with people [in Gaza] losing hope for the future, alienating young…
Why are so many reporters so keen to use the language of the US military?
Robert Fisk gave the following speech at the Al-Jazeera annual forum in Doha a few days ago: Power and the media are not just about cosy relationships between journalists and political leaders, between editors and presidents. They are not just about the parasitic-osmotic relationship between supposedly honourable reporters and the nexus of power that runs…
A “gay” Saddam was still Saddam
This would have been just a little cheaper in lives and treasure than destroying a country: A little-noticed blog post by a veteran intelligence reporter averred Tuesday that the CIA’s Iraq Operations Group weighed a plan prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion that sought to discredit Saddam Hussein by portraying him as gay. According to…
Washington and the Muslim world, a testy relationship
Views from across the Arab world: We are now approaching the first anniversary of President Barack Obama’s June 4, 2009 speech in Cairo, which offered Arabs and Muslims around the world a new “engagement” with the United States. A year later, how do Arab publics see the results of that effort–and how much do their…
America, land of the cyber warrior
Who trusts Washington to keep the internet free? The US military has appointed its first senior general to direct cyber warfare – despite fears that the move marks another stage in the militarisation of cyberspace. The newly promoted four-star general, Keith Alexander, takes charge of the Pentagon’s ambitious and controversial new Cyber Command, designed to…
I wonder why anti-Semitism really exists in Iraq?
How a Jewish, American soldier hears some anti-Semitic comments in Iraq (during protests against the Gaza massacre), becomes incredibly racist against Arabs on his return to the US and then reflects on why he still remains proud to be Jewish (and presumably Zionist). Yes, “liberating” Iraq is such a noble, Jewish act; millions of Arabs…
Religion: what is it really good for?
The Auckland Writer’s and Reader’s Festival was a blast, ending yesterday. So much interest to talk openly about Israel/Palestine and audiences literally crying out for their corporate media to allow a wide range of views, including Arabs, anti-Zionists and skeptics. This New Zealand blogger reported on my event yesterday, a conversation about religion with Economist…
Maybe Israel and Iraq ain’t that different
Foreign Policy’s The Cable blog perhaps doesn’t realise that its reference to Israeli politics is very revealing. This isn’t just about a comparison to Israeli politics but a belief that somebody like Tzipi Livni is essentially sharing the same message as current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Different rhetoric, same belief in Zionist exceptionalism. Maybe Iraq…
The three New Zealanders who said “no” to US aggression
Spending time in New Zealand brings fascinating tales of a nation with a radical and independent streak. Admirable and pretty unique. I’ve been told by a number of different people about this story from March this year, an example of a non-violent protest against US wars that resulted in a great deal of local sympathy…