Powerful indictment of Washington by Peter Van Buren in TomDispatch about the privatisation disease that sweeps the world and delivers little except profits to a group of corporations. This is what imperialism means in the 21st century: With the success of the post-World War II Marshall Plan in Europe and the economic miracle in Japan,…
Showing all posts tagged Syria
Journalism in the age of a Syrian civil war
What’s the role of a reporter in such a conflict? To provide context, as much hard news as possible and not be taken in totally by any side. Scepticism rules. Interesting piece in the New York Times: Even when his country was not convulsed by war, President… Bashar al-Assad… of… Syria… rarely gave televised interviews to foreigners. His session…
Checking the Wikileaks record; Syria was friend and ally until very recently
As Syria continues to descend into deeper civil war, and a proxy war between Iran and various powers is clear, it’s worth remembering the reality of how the US and West viewed Assad until very recently. Thanks to Wikileaks cable, we can. A good piece by Elias Muhanna in Al Alkbar: The… cache… of US government cables…
Al-Jazeera compromising its vision to blindly back Syrian rebels?
Sultan Al Qassemi writes in Foreign Policy: Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya were founded by members of the Qatari and Saudi royal families, respectively, and their coverage of Syria faithfully reflects the political positions of their backers. There’s big money behind both stations: Al Jazeera was… created… with a… $150 million… grant from the emir of Qatar in 1996,…
Welcome to Free Syria
Stunning new feature by Anand Gopal in Harpers: "Welcome to Free Syria", Anand Gopal documents the Syrian Revolution
Who exactly are the Free Syrian Army?
My friend Yaara Bou-Melham’s remarkable SBS Dateline report from Syria and Turkey:
Lessons in how not to be a serious journalist in Syria
Back in 2011, an article by Joan Juliet Buck in Vogue appeared that profiled the Assads in Syria. I covered it back then. It was a puff piece, sycophancy due to access. The piece was shunned, wiped from the Vogue website but never forgotten. Now the writer is back, explaining herself in a strange piece…
Israeli racism and inequality in its DNA
My following article appears in Lebanon’s Al Akhbar: “Moshe was simply not willing for the State of Israel to run him over anymore.” Moshe Silman, a son of Holocaust survivors, was an Israeli man who died last week after suffering second and third-degree burns on 94 percent of his body. In an Israeli first, a…
Deep inside Syrian rebel territory
In a time of war, great journalists are rare. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is a truly unique reporter. His recent dispatches from deep inside Yemen, including Al-Qaeda territory, were remarkable. Now he’s inside Syria, alongside rebel forces (his photos are here). Read him to understand what is happening inside a civil war: The column of eight rebel…