Angry Arab: While watching the scenes in Egypt today [protestors breaking into the Israeli embassy in Cairo], [New York Times columnist] Thomas Friedman, should have tweeted this to himself: I am so clueless. … I have no idea what is going on in the Middle East. … I was sitting in my suite at the Marriott and…
Showing all posts tagged Egypt
This is what Israeli isolation looks like (and Washington can’t do much)
Tony Karon in Time.com shows what happens when you brutally occupy another people for decades; the world gets sick of it: Israel’s fallout with long-time ally Turkey is no isolated spat that will be repaired any time soon; it’s a dramatic illustration that no amount of U.S. backing can prevent the growing international isolation resulting…
Who really benefits from the bogus “war on terror” (and it isn’t us)?
With the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 just around the corner, except an orgy of self-delusion over the disastrous decade just over. So many wars and deaths and is the West safer? No chance. But a select few corporations have done very well, thanks very much. Disaster capitalism on steroids.… The Guardian reports: The scale…
Arab revolutions ain’t all about Wikileaks or censorship but damn fine bravery
Despite what Wikileaks may claim – the release of US embassy cables undeniably revealed the depravity of the relationship between Washington and various dictators but they hardly sparked the Arab Spring – social media played a part in the uprisings and subsequent changes. As I argue in the recently released and updated edition of my…
On BDS, criminalising pro-Palestinian activism and myopic politics
The following interviews are published this week in Green Left Weekly. One: Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist and author of My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution. Green Left Weekly’s Simon Butler asked Loewenstein about recent attempts to intimidate supporters of the boycott, sanctions and divestment (BDS) campaign against Israel. * * * Nineteen…
Israel was on verge of yet another futile war against Gaza last week
Israel’s biggest newspaper has the story. And what will be the global reaction to this? Silence, because after all, if Israel would have attacked Gaza it would have been seen as “defensive” even if white phosphorus was used, like during Operation Cast Lead. This is the Holocaust excuse, used time and time again, and yet…
If Israel was a mature country, it would welcome Arab revolutions
But, as Robert Fisk writes, Zionism only wants “democracy” for itself, screw the Arab masses: Israel, which has been so skewed and immature in its response to the Arab awakening – why on earth did its leaders not welcome the Egyptian revolution, opening their arms to a people who showed they wanted the democracy which…
Romance of Hamas dwindling in Gaza?
When I was in Gaza in mid 2009, life was difficult for the residents due to the Israeli and Egyptian imposed siege. Outright hatred for Hamas was rare. Times may be changing: A budding middle class in the impoverished Gaza Strip is flaunting its wealth, sipping coffee at gleaming new cafes, shopping for shoes at…
Should we trust tech companies talking about censoring speech?
The complete lack of transparency with telecommunication firms deciding with the assistance of government if and when calls or web connections should be stopped or censored is highly disturbing. Who wants a faceless firm making such decisions? From yesterday’s UK Observer: After the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and this summer’s looting in England,…
30 years of “peace” between Egypt and Israel a sham
History is turning and proves that when a dictatorship makes “peace” with a Zionist state it breeds nothing more than resentment: On August 20, 2011 Egyptians mobilized for a demonstration in front of the Israeli Embassy demanding the removal of the flag and for the ambassador to leave. After hours of flag-burning trials. A man…