At least some political leaders aren’t obsessed with Israeli “democracy”: The deputy prime minister of Greece has sent back to the Israeli Embassy in Athens three bottles of wine given to him as a gift, because they were produced in the Golan, which “belongs to Syria” and is “illegally occupied.” The embassy had given the…
Showing all posts tagged Syria
Israel can only show power by belittling others
Israel’s attempt at humiliating the Turkish ambassador has back-fired spectacularly. It is the moves of a little nation, not a democracy, a country that wants to embarrass Jews. If they think this is showing Zionist strength, they are sadly mistaken. The Haaretz editorial: Israel’s fury at critics of its policies in Gaza is not new.…
The first world needs to hear the voices of the silent
A recipe for global conflict in the 21st century and walls, barriers and missiles won’t keep the demography in check. Action on climate change, anybody? From the slums of Kabul to the shanties of Damascus, more than half of the world’s refugees are now scraping by on tiny strips of land in increasingly overcrowded, overburdened…
Coppola praises Assad and we all groan
Neo-conservative bible The Weekly Standard ran this curious story last week and, if true, highlights a sad reality of the Middle East; lies, delusion and outright bigotry: With his new film Tetro billed to open Beirut’s recent International Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola was diverted from landing in the Lebanese capital when it was learned…
Jordan is happy to be used as a place where terror is trained
“The war on terror” is all about keeping our bastards on a short leash in an attempt to get them to abuse/kill/detain the pre-determined enemy. So simple and yet so costly: In the bleak and seemingly endless desert expanse that unfolds east of Jordan’s capital city, Amman, lies a crucial cog in the ambitious regional…
Peres is the kind, gentle side of Israeli expansion
Gideon Levy in Haaretz: [Israeli President Shimon] Peres is our beautiful and misleading face. Equipped with the ability to delude, one of the founders of the settlement movement has turned into Israel’s Mr. Peace. He travels the world, generating admiration for his physical stamina, scattering empty promises and slogans. He calls on Palestinian President Mahmoud…
Assad should worry more about his own people
My friend Reuben Brand, an Australian journalist currently based in Damascus, has written an interesting piece about homelessness in Syria: We asked Hussein if he went to school, he said that he didn’t want to because if he completed his school diploma he would be sent into military service. I couldn’t believe that at such…
The truth of the matter in journalism
The following interview is published this week in the literary journal, Quill: SYDNEY-BASED ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN is the author of the best-selling book,… My Israel Question, a controversial discussion of one of the most important issues of our time, as well as… The Blogging Revolution, a searching examination of the ways the internet is threatening the rule of…
”˜Anti-Zionist’ Jew: author of ”˜My Israel Question’ heads for Bali
The following article by Katrin Figge is published today in one of Indonesia’s largest English newspapers, The Jakarta Globe: For a person who gets hate mail and death threats on a regular basis, Antony Loewenstein remains surprisingly cheerful. The Jewish-Australian journalist, activist, blogger and author, who is based in Sydney, has stirred up plenty of…
Is a Shia revolution the best way forward?
The founder of Conflicts Forum, a site that discusses Islamism in all its form, is interviewed by Mother Jones. Alastair Crooke is an intriguing fellow: Crooke understands today’s Middle East as similar to Sarajevo in 1914, where a random event could precipitate a cascade that changes the world. Someone will overreach—Israel, Syria, Lebanon…—and then everything…