Following the circus of Sydney’s Marrickville council and its (brief) embrace of Palestinian rights through BDS, major questions remain; what will it take for a major political party, such as the Greens, to place human rights at the centre of its being? What excuses will be made to avoid this? And what “red lines” will…
Showing all posts tagged Gaza
Israel either recognises Hamas/Fatah or becomes more of pariah state
Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz: Israel’s Pavlovian response to Palestinian reconciliation, which included the usual threats of boycott, is the result of the ingrained anxiety of people who no longer control the process. For five years, Israel has done everything to change the outcome of Hamas’ watershed victory in the elections in the territories. It did not…
Job of New York Times to amplify Zionist faux fears
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting get it in one: The New York Times’ David Kirkpatrick filed a report today (4/29/11) on one apparent problem with the move towards democracy in Egypt–the country might pursue policies more in line with what the Egyptian public supports. The most important news here is that Egypt… doesn’t want to maintain…
News flash; some Australian politicians see Palestinians as humans
The following statement was just released by the Australian Parliamentary Friends of Palestine at the conclusion of the delegation’s Middle East visit: The Parliamentary Friends of Palestine study tour arrived in Palestine on 17 April and has been here for eight days, visiting the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. It has been an informative and…
Rules for aspiring politicians and journalists; Israel must be obeyed
If anything has been clear over the last months during the Marrickville BDS/Israel-Palestinian debate, it’s that every major, Australian mainstream politician and most journalists simply won’t allow any dissent on the Middle East. Insecurity, paranoia and bullying are the norm. The local Zionist community just wants to sing the Israeli national anthem. And now this…
ABCTV News24 on human rights in China, Gitmo torture and Sri Lankan war crimes
I appeared last night on ABCTV News 24’s The Drum alongside ABC journalist Marius Benson and lobbyist Sue Cato (video here). While China, we learn via Wikileaks, ignores Australia’s supposed concerns for human rights, I asked if Prime Minister Julia Gillard actually cared about human rights as there had been no public comments from her…
Lock them up in Gaza and don’t be surprised with the brutality
The recent murder in Gaza of Italian human rights activist Vittorio Arrigoni was a shock to all of us. He was killed by a self-proclaimed Salafi jihadi group. The isolation of Gaza almost guarantees some extremism, writes Jared Malsin in Foreign Policy: Beyond the tragic events of the story itself, however, Arrigoni’s death highlights a…
Marrickville, BDS and Palestine in eyes of The Jerusalem Post
One week after Sydney’s Marrickville BDS vote, the issue continues to resonate globally. I was interviewed late last week by the pro-settler and conservative Jerusalem Post newspaper. The journalist was friendly enough but it was clear I speaking to a man who didn’t see the West Bank as occupied but merely Judea and Samaria (the…
Footage of my speech at Marrickville council on Palestine and BDS
Some background here and here.
Aussie mainstream media needs to understand that Israeli democracy is a contradiction
Following this week’s Marrickville BDS decision, today’s Sydney Morning Herald publishes an editorial that shows a profound ignorance of the conflict. The word “democracy” is thrown about so carelessly when describing Israel that many in the West continue living under the illusion that Israel proper gives full rights to its citizens. Arabs are profoundly discriminated…