The illusion is coming apart; the idea that Jews in general love and back Israel, no matter what. Jewish Voice for Peace is a US-based progressive, Jewish group aiming to expand debate on Israel/Palestine. Of course the usual suspects don’t like it one bit. For them, Israel is beyond debate and the glorious occupation and…
Showing all posts tagged United States
Wikileaks vs NYT and I know who is most honest about the world
From a recent “debate” between Julian Assange and NYT editor Bill Keller: Keller did get his dander up after Assange said that watching the American news media cover international events is like watching a goldfish bowl where readers pay little attention to outside perspectives. Keller seemed to take that as a slight against the prestigious…
Egyptian legal system more responsive to torture than our own?
Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib was tortured by American and Egyptian officials post 9/11 and was smeared and shunned by the corporate press for years. He demands justice and deserves it. He talked to me about these issues in February, including the involvement of Egypt’s new Vice-President, Omar Sulaiman. A few days ago I was contacted…
Dear TIME; are war criminals now worthy of praise?
Bless the corporate media. Here’s the 2011 TIME 100 Poll featuring Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Whoever wrote this blurb clearly doesn’t care about the serious war crimes allegations against his government: Since ending Sri Lanka’s 26-year-long war against the Tamil Tigers in 2009, and grabbing control over once independent institutions like commissions on human…
Majority of US youth back torture
Ten years after 9/11, one of the shameful legacies: A new study by the American Red Cross obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast found that a surprising majority—almost 60 percent—of American teenagers thought things like water-boarding or sleep deprivation are sometimes acceptable. More than half also approved of killing captured enemies in cases where the…
Inserting fear into BDS because Palestinians may speak up
While the parochial Australian media continues to “debate” Israel/Palestine without any Arabs or Palestinians in the discussion (just the latest in the Murdoch press today), Max Blumenthal writes how BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) is forcing Zionists to either speak in platitudes or face the realities of what Israel has become: Last night I went…
This is what passes for “serious” Mid-East commentary in NYT
Columnist Thomas Friedman – whose understanding of the Muslim world involves staying at very expensive hotels and then speaking to the doorman to sense the “Arab street” – writes yet another article that shows how little he gets about the region. Want to speak to people who aren’t just in the elites, Friedman? When I…
We dismiss Wikileaks at our intellectual peril
Last night here in Sydney I helped launch – MC really alongside author Andrew Fowler and journalist Kerry O’Brien – a wonderful new book on Wikileaks and Julian Assange, The Most Dangerous Man in the World. Go buy immediately! What was clear during the discussion was the significance of Wikileaks challenging the media class in…
America’s “love” for Middle East democracy
Completely non-existent: “No leniency [1].” That was the warning from Bahrain’s crown prince last week as government forces continued cracking down on protesters, activists, journalists and doctors. It was issued alongside yet another promise of reform by the Bahraini government. The warning was also met with silence from the United States. The U.S., which has…
How Wikileaks has opened our eyes to the world
My following review appeared in this week’s Sydney Sun Herald: Underground Suelette Dreyfus and Julian Assange (Random House, $24.95) Inside Wikileaks Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Scribe, $29.95) During a rare public appearance in March, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told a packed audience at Cambridge University that the internet is the “greatest spying machine the world has ever…