Showing all posts tagged human rights
Just one more reason why academic BDS against Israeli universities vital
After the recent faux controversy in Australia over a principled academic refusing to assist an Israeli academic because his centre abided by BDS principles, this story (via Ben White in Electronic Intifada) shows how intimately linked are Israeli universities, the occupation and the settler establishment: Dozens of academics from Israel and abroad, worried about the…
South Africa pays compensation to apartheid victims
I hear these stories and hope that Israel will be forced to pay compensation to Palestinian victims of its racism in decades to come:
Thinking of occupied Bethlehem this Christmas
The reality of Palestinian life under Israeli occupation is often ignored in the West. This Christmas – I hope my readers have a safe and happy holiday season, wherever they may be – I’m once again publishing the regular missive from Brother Peter Bray, the Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University (his past writings are here).…
Campaigning for the boycott of Sri Lankan cricket team
I’m honoured to be asked to be a public face of this campaign (via Tamil Guardian): Renowned Australian author Thomas Keneally has spoken out against Australia playing cricket with Sri Lanka and called for a break of sporting ties, as calls to boycott Sri Lankan cricket continue to grow. Writing to Keneally, the Tamil Refugee…
Criminal UN negligence in Haiti over cholera crisis
During my recent visit to Haiti, working on a book and film about disaster capitalism, the issue of UN incompetence/criminality over causing the outbreak of cholera was a primary concern of many and rightly so. This Al-Jazeera documentary takes a critical look at the UN’s response: Here’s the latest New York Times feature on the…
Political repression against blogger in Israel
Fascinating and disturbing story by Haggai Matar in +972: The Israeli blogger ”˜Eishton”˜ has been questioned by civilian and military police in an attempt to make him reveal a whistleblower who supplied him with unclassified military documents. His interrogation has attracted media attention to the anonymous blogger and his writing. Eishton (a combination of the…
The trauma suffered by an American drone operator
The life of an American drone pilot is rarely examined. This story in Der Spiegel… reveals the human cost of America’s supposedly clean war (oh, apart from the countless civilians murdered): A soldier sets out to graduate at the top of his class. He succeeds, and he becomes a drone pilot working with a special unit…
Alternative Australian government blindly endorses occupying Israel
Liberal opposition leader Tony Abbott has recently been in London attending the… Australia-Israel-UK Leadership Forum. Unsurprisingly, the Australian media has mostly ignored the event – I mean, hell, why would they want to cover how the Zionist lobby works to enforce a fundamentalist position on Israel/Palestine? – so today’s front page story in Murdoch’s Australian… shows just…
South Africa’s ANC embraces Israel boycott in official policy
Big and welcome news (via Electronic Intifada): For the first time ever, the… African National Congress… (ANC), the ruling party in… South Africa, today made the Palestinian call for… boycott, divestment and sanctions… on Israel part of its official policy. Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of… BDS South Africa… said the decision “by the ANC’s National Conference, its highest decision making body, is by far…