A remarkable documentary, by the Guardian and BBC Arabic, on the role of US-funded death squads in Iraq via torture skills honed in Latin America during the “dirty wars“. Powerful, explicit and brutal (though there are critics), such films are essential to challenge the spurious argument that the war was anything to do with freedom…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
Two-state solution in Palestine dead, buried and cremated
Last year I co-edited a book with Ahmed Moor called After Zionism (re-issued this week with an updated introduction). It’s about the one-state solution and the reasons this outcome is the most just for both Israelis and Palestinians. This piece in Salon discusses, after Barack Obama’s visit to Israel and Palestine last week, the illusion…
Radio Live in New Zealand on 10 year anniversary of Iraq war
The ten year anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq will leave the media agenda now. It should not. The country we invaded and occupied remains broken. I was interviewed this morning by New Zealand’s Radio Live about the conflict (starting at 19.52).
Israeli Jews thank Obama for backing their apartheid state
The following protest took place outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv on March 22:
How anti-Semitism became normalised in the British Muslim community
Mehdi Hasan writes in the New Statesman about an issue that receives far too little coverage: Growing up, I always assumed that this obsession with “the Jews” was a hallmark of the “first-generation” immigrants from the subcontinent. In recent years, I’ve been depressed to discover that there are plenty of “second-generation” Muslim youths, born and…
Obama damns Israeli occupation but will do nothing to stop it
The expectations around Barack Obama in Israel and Palestine were low. This visit was all about showing love for Israel and Zionism with a touch of criticism if it wouldn’t upset his hosts. Noam Sheizaf at +972 correctly explains that pretty words aren’t useful in this conflict: Measuring the value or effect of a speech…
Rolling Stone covers BDS against Israel
A small but important step towards mainstream coverage of an issue, Israel’s colonisation and apartheid, that is only getting worse. Rolling Stone reports: Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters says a boycott of Israel, similar to the one implemented against South Africa during apartheid, is the “way to go.” He accuses the Israeli government of running a…
What imperial cluelessness looks like in occupied Iraq
Former CNN and Time journalist, Australian Michael Ware, writes a devastating critique of the Iraq war from the inside, as a man who spent years reporting the apocalyptic insurgency that ravaged the war-torn nation. From the Lowy Interpreter: When insurgent leadership factions first offered peace terms, at least to my knowledge, it was to prevent…
ABCTV News24’s The Drum on Iraq, Palestine and media reforms
Last night I appeared on ABC TV’s The Drum (video here) on the 10th anniversary of the 2003 Iraq war. We discussed the appalling legacy of the Iraq invasion, the massive loss of life and continued chaos of the country. Accountability, in the political or media elites, is far and few between. I argued that…
Lest we forget who led coalition of fools into Iraq
Today, the 10 year anniversary of the disastrous Iraq invasion, is time for reflection, anger and honesty. Too many politicians, journalists and war mongers want to forget. We should not allow it. Medialens is right: What was truly shocking in March 2003 was that Blair was able to weave this obvious web of deceit and…