This would be comical if the situation in Syria wasn’t so serious. This reporting, via the New York Times, shows the complete inability to understand that Washington isn’t the arbiter of what happens inside Syria. Nor should it be. This is ineptitude framed as serious policy. Besides, there are countless forces backing the “rebels” and…
Showing all posts tagged Syria
Inside the devastating war for Syria
The conflict has now been going for more than two years and many in the mainstream media have given up reporting. There are notable exceptions. This remarkable footage (shot by Olly Lambert and screened by PBS Frontline) must be seen. Lambert writes movingly… about the realities of war journalism in ways that happen far too rarely:…
If I ruled the world
I was asked by Osman Faruqi, editor of the University of New South Wales student newspaper Tharunka, to write a column: The role of the US hegemony is over. Washington no longer controls the world by charm and force. It’s a multipolar planet with countless centres of power. Wouldn’t this be something to celebrate? In…
Daily brutality in Syria’s Aleppo
Remarkable footage by German filmmaker Marcel Mettelsiefen for Britain’s Channel 4:
Lest we forget who led coalition of fools into Iraq
Today, the 10 year anniversary of the disastrous Iraq invasion, is time for reflection, anger and honesty. Too many politicians, journalists and war mongers want to forget. We should not allow it. Medialens is right: What was truly shocking in March 2003 was that Blair was able to weave this obvious web of deceit and…
The rising Salafist movement in Gaza
Asmaa al-Ghoul is a journalist and writer from the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. Here she reports for Al-Monitor on the Islamist movements inside the occupied territory: I managed to reach the house of one of the jihadist Salafist leaders in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas-led Gaza government had imposed limitations on most jihadist Salafist…
Inside the mind of Hamas leader Khalid Mishal
Australian journalist Paul McGeough travels to Doha, Qatar for Fairfax Media to interview the Hamas head. What follows is a fascinating discussion about the future of Palestine. Read the whole thing. What remains deeply concerning is the apparent desire of Hamas to embrace the failed two-state equation that will never happen in reality with any…
How should editors act towards photographers and journalists in a time of war?
An interesting development that brings a necessary discussion about how the media should report a conflict. Surely it’s vital for a readership to know what’s happening inside Syria. The question is how those details are gained. Via the UK Press Gazette: A British war photographer has been told not to submit his pictures from the…
ABCTV News24’s The Drum on sexism, Syria and divestment
I appeared tonight on ABCTV News24’s The Drum (video here), alongside Rowan Dean and Jacqueline Maley, talking about a range of political issues. I argued that it was legitimate for pension funds to divest from organisations or companies that go against people’s morality such as big tobacco, the thuggish Murdoch empire or fossil fuels (quoting…
Rise of Sunnis in the Middle East and the decline of Iran in 2013
Juan Cole offers some predictions: 2013 will see Iranian influence in the Middle East continue a decline that began with the Arab upheavals of 2011. Iran’s two major allies in the Arab world are Syria and Lebanon. In Lebanon, Iran arms the Shiite party-militia Hizbullah, and does so overland through Iraq and Syria. Since Israel…