I recently debated in Sydney on the motion that governments shouldn’t censor the internet. ABC TV broadcast the discussion and our team included a robust explanation on the principles of free speech. An edited version of the debate was broadcast tonight on ABC Radio National Big Ideas:
Showing all posts tagged terrorism
Murdering “terrorists” the Colombo way
We read such stories below and expect little better from the brutes in Sri Lanka. The world responds accordingly. Shock, horror etc. Israel behaves equally aggressively – witness the mass destruction in Gaza – and a myriad of excuses are made. That’s called hypocrisy: Exclusive: a senior Sri Lankan army commander and frontline soldier tell…
New Zealanders robustly debate Israel/Palestine
Following the recent feature in New Zealand magazine The Listener on my work, this week’s edition publishes the following letters (and note the perfect “balance”, one pro and one anti): In the unbalanced demonisation of Israel (“Cry the promised land”, May 15), writer Joanne Black, swallowing every generalisation, stereotype and distortion made by Antony Loewenstein,…
Removing this man without due and fair process shames Australia
With this decision, Australia once again shows itself to be far outside the parameters of international law, making security assessments based on a system completely lacking transparency. I once spoke at this Sydney Islamic centre last year and found an important space to engage Muslims on issues related to the Middle East and re-defining the…
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…
The one-minute explanation for the “war on terror”
Lessons on terrorism that every American should know:
CNN shows Palestinians as human beings
The kind of story that all-too-rarely appears in the Western press, humanising Palestinians as not just terrorists. And dying to leave, albeit briefly, their West Bank prison. Well done, CNN:
Why internet censorship is a fool’s paradise
My following article is published today by the Sydney Morning Herald/Age online: We live under the illusion that governments can protect us from the evils of the world. Paedophilia, extreme violence, lessons in self-harm and suicide, race hatred and terrorism. We have every right to expect governments to monitor hate and terror sites and arrest…
How the Pakistani client state will be forced to please its American master
Patrick Cockburn on the war inside Pakistan that will only worsen as Western pressures increase (without understanding where the anger is coming from): The Pakistani Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Qureshi, believes that what happened in New York was “blowback” for the US drone strikes in Pakistan, which he says killed 700 Pakistani civilians last year. This…
Why did the Australian government help Colombo in its vicious war?
A few months ago a number of Tamils in Australia walked free after pleading guilty to terrorism charges. It was a comprehensive disaster for the Australian government and highlighted a disturbing tendency to do the bidding of the Sri Lankan authorities in its “war against terror” and the Tamil people. One of those released, Arumugam…