Following my essay in the latest edition of literary journal Overland on cultural boycotts, politics, Palestine and Sri Lanka, the magazine interviewed me on various matters: Passionate and outspoken about Israel/Palestine, among other things, Antony Loewenstein is a freelance independent journalist based in Sydney. Author of My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution, he is…
Showing all posts tagged Islam
I mean, what would Desmond Tutu know about apartheid anyway?
He’s compared the situation in Palestine today to those suffered by blacks under apartheid in South Africa. But comically, Murdoch’s Australian newspaper – always a wonderful defender of the underdog as long as they have solid business or media contacts – thinks Tutu should shut up about Palestine. It’s not like he has any clue…
Don’t allow any country to sever web connections to our planet
The Arab Spring hasn’t been kind to countless Middle East dictatorships. Internet censorship has been a key plank of trying to maintain order in the face of a massive popular uprising. At least in Egypt we’ve now seen former Mubarak ministers and the former President himself being fined for daring to cut internet connections and…
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…
American media largely sees Muslim world as needing our help or a threat
A man who understands the Middle East, Nir Rosen, on how the corporate media sees the Middle East: I’ve spent most of the last eight years working in Iraq and also in Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other countries in the Muslim world. So all my work has taken place in the shadow of the war…
Permanent occupation of Muslim countries great for Western capitalism
Any serious draw-down of US troops from Afghanistan will affect the massive industry that’s expanded post 9/11; private military contractors. Joshua Frost on PBS contemplates the future and the likely push by major interests to maintain the occupation in the war-ravaged land; business will be negatively affected if things change too radically: Very few who…
Blackwater launches privatised mercenary army for global hire
Welcome to the future of warfare; privatised, deadly, unaccountable, brutish, secretive and increasingly attractive to so-called democracies and autocracies looking for a stealth force to repress or kill. A stunning New York Times investigation yesterday: Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked…
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…
Assad associate warns of chaos if he goes
Of course they would say this but note the warning to Israel. The essential Anthony Shadid in the New York Times: Syria’s ruling elite, a tight-knit circle at the nexus of absolute power, loyalty to family and a visceral instinct for survival, will fight to the end in a struggle that could cast the Middle…
Imagining an America that doesn’t invade and occupy
This is a moving piece. Written by US journalist Michael Hastings (a friend and colleague) about the real opportunity that should be taken with the death of Osama Bin Laden. An imperial nation that continues to believe it can rule by brute force and invade Muslim nations is delusional: Osama bin Laden’s actions, and our…