Devastating piece in the New York Times that needs no explanation: GUANTÃNAMO BAY, Cuba One man here weighs just 77 pounds. Another, 98. Last thing I knew, I weighed 132, but that was a month ago. I’ve been on a hunger strike since Feb. 10 and have lost well over 30 pounds. I will not…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
Tell Australia to hold Sri Lanka to account
I’m proud to have been asked to sign this important petition and happy it’s been covered in the Colombo Telegraph: Malcolm Fraser, the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia has endorsed the petition for Commonwealth Summit in Australia- Reconsider attending CHOGM 2013 in Sri Lanka launched jointly by Australian Tamil Congress and Sri Lanka campaign for…
US Zionist lobby wants to codify Israeli racism against Arabs
The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald writes about the latest example of Zionist “values” corrupting the concept of democracy, decency and fairness: In order for the US to permit citizens of a… foreign country to enter the US without a visa, that country must agree to certain conditions. Chief among them is reciprocity: that country must allow Americans…
Lonely Planet must include morality when covering travel to Sri Lanka
Travelling ethically to Sri Lanka, a nation run by a thugocracy, requires skill. A key source of traveller information is Lonely Planet guidebooks but UK-based Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice demands the company steps up and takes greater responsibility for the information they’re disseminating: Lonely Planet made the news recently after the BBC…
What the Iraq war destroyed for average Iraqis
Riverbend was one of the most prolific and savvy Iraqi bloggers during the 2003 Iraq war. And then, she disappeared, not writing for years. On the 10th anniversary of the invasion, she’s back with a short and devastating post about her country: April 9, 2013 marks ten years since the fall of Baghdad. Ten years…
Sydney university students take important step against Israeli crimes
This week a victory for countless courageous activists and students at Sydney University. I know some of them and I’m proud to call them colleagues and friends. It’s a brave stand against Israeli illegality and official silence. Here’s the statement: The Student Representative Council at the University of Sydney passed a motion endorsing Associate Professor…
Australian Zionist lobby media complaint rejected as a pest
Earlier in the year, after the ABC broke a massive story about an Australian man Ben Zygier spying for Mossad and dying in an Israeli jail, there was a great deal of media coverage that questioned the ways in which some Jews saw their relationship with the Israeli state. I was interviewed on ABC Radio…
Inside the devastating war for Syria
The conflict has now been going for more than two years and many in the mainstream media have given up reporting. There are notable exceptions. This remarkable footage (shot by Olly Lambert and screened by PBS Frontline) must be seen. Lambert writes movingly… about the realities of war journalism in ways that happen far too rarely:…
Wikileaks, by publishing 1.7 million documents, proves ongoing relevance
A huge day for journalists, archivists and citizens (via the Guardian): WikiLeaks… has published more than 1.7m US records covering diplomatic or intelligence reports on every country in the world. The data, which has not been leaked, comprises diplomatic records from the beginning of 1973 to the end of 1976, covering a variety of diplomatic traffic…
Novelist Iain Banks backs cultural boycott of Israel
In the Guardian: I support… the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign… because, especially in our instantly connected world, an… injustice committed against one, or against one group of people, is an injustice against all,… against every one of us; a… collective injury. My particular reason for participating in the cultural boycott of… Israel… is that, first of all, I can; I’m…