My piece for American website Mondoweiss: The global arms race has never been more lucrative. America and China are engaged in unprecedented levels of spending around the world to influence and shape global affairs. The effects are devastating on civilians but Washington and Beijing insists they’re “stabilizing” nations. It’s one of the deadliest myths of…
Showing all posts tagged war on terror
Israeli life isn't a protection against real anti-Semitism
My following story appears on US website Mondoweiss: “Europe will forever be tainted”, wrote… Haaretz journalist… Anshel Pfeffer in the wake of the terrorist attacks against Charlie Hebdo magazine and the kosher supermarket in Paris. “It will always be the continent of expulsion, blood libels, numerus clausus, ghettos and the Final Solution.”… It was an ominous warning…
The devastating cry of Guantanamo Bay inmate Fahd Ghazy
A powerful short film from the Centre for Constitutional Rights on Yemeni man… Fahd Ghazy who has been imprisoned for 12 years. No crime. No guilt. This is what causes terrorism and resistance:
The ongoing importance of Wikileaks
My weekly Guardian column: The secret CIA files appeared just before Christmas. One detailed how CIA operatives could maintain cover, using fake IDs, when travelling through foreign airports. Israel’s Ben Gurion airport was said to be one of the… hardest to trick. The other document, from 2009, was an assessment of the CIA’s assassination program. It…
Free speech in a time of terrorism
Yesterday’s massacre in Paris at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is… shocking and unforgettable. The… publication may have been frequently racist against Muslims and a whole host of “enemies” but the right to offend is a key attribute in a democracy. This doesn’t mean we have to applaud editors and writers who trade in racial…
South Africa's Noseweek interview on vulture capitalism
During my 2014 visit to South Africa, as a guest of Cape Town’s Open Book literary festival, I was interviewed by one of the country’s leading independent publications, Noseweek. The feature has just appeared: Nose183loewenstein
Russell Brand's "Revolution" hits anti-capitalist mark
My weekly Guardian column: Political success for society’s invisible souls is rare. So when US investor Westbrook Partners announced last week that it had withdrawn from evicting families at the New Era estate in East London, it was cause for celebration. Instead of building expensive properties, the company sold its development to Dolphin Square Charitable…
Al Jazeera's The Listening Post on the Sydney siege
After last week’s siege in central Sydney, Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post analysed the media coverage and found it severely lacking. I was asked to add a comment (starting at 9:25):
US Senate report on torture shows state violence goes unpunished
My weekly Guardian column: The details shocked. Shackled prisoners were treated like cattle, watched by their CIA interrogators. Testimony from one observer stated that men blindfolded and tied “were made to run down a steep hill, at the bottom of which were three throws of concertina barbed wire. The first row would hit them across…
Triple R radio interview on politics and terrorism in 2014
It’s been a crazy year filled with ISIS, war, Tony Abbott, terrorism and much in between. I was interviewed by Triple R’s Spoke about it all: