Many in the Western media and political elites have spent years since 9/11 smearing a litany of Muslim “terrorists” because the US leaked selective information to friendly journalists and leaders. Serious questions were dismissed. The Murdoch press globally loved to hype bogus US claims about the “worst of the worst” at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.…
Showing all posts tagged Murdoch
Footage of my speech at Marrickville council on Palestine and BDS
Some background here and here.
Marrickville madness over BDS but Palestine rights aren’t forgotten
I was present at last night’s Marrickville council meeting over BDS. It was a circus. Hundreds of people attended. Protesters, Zionists, students, unionists, Palestinians, Arabs, citizens. Countless numbers of people couldn’t fit into the council chambers (luckily I was inside for proceedings). In the end, the BDS didn’t succeed but in many ways this wasn’t…
When will this stop? Aussie media sees role defending glorious Israel
The Sydney Morning Herald features (gasp!) an Arab in the story: Marrickville Council’s push for a boycott of Israel is likely to be quashed at a meeting tonight despite an attempt by the mayor, Fiona Byrne, to soften the move by calling for an in-principle boycott only. The four Labor councillors and two of the…
Power of BDS still stands in Australia even if media bullied change of heart
So here we are: The Marrickville mayor, Fiona Byrne, will try to end a boycott of Israel after an intense political and community backlash, death threats and a collapse in support on the council, conceding it is ”impractical and untenable”. But the mayor, who would not rule out another tilt at state politics, is unwavering…
Australian media incapable of hearing Palestinians
How to define farce? The Australian media’s coverage of Israel/Palestine and BDS. Palestinians and Arabs remain largely absent from discussion, lest they infect people’s minds. Instead, today we have a litany of articles that say nothing about the Middle East apart from craven white people desperate to pray at the altar of Zionist “democracy”. The…
Murdoch press finds humour in Jewish-free Sydney suburb
This is what passes for comedy in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph. The message is very clear; be critical of Israel, condemn the occupation and urge Israel to follow international law and be accused of Jew hating and anti-Semitism by the Murdoch thugs. Sydney’s Marrickville council endorsed BDS as a principled and increasingly popular global movement. The…
Where are the Arab voices in Aussie BDS debate?
My following story appears in today’s edition of Crikey: A few weeks after the start of the Iraq war in 2003, I talked to a senior editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and asked her why there were basically no Iraqi voices in the paper, either for or against the conflict. “I never thought of…
Australian media on Palestine; ignore the Palestinians
Satire is clearly dead. Weeks of media coverage of Israel/Palestine in Australia and the BDS campaign pushed by the NSW Greens and Sydney’s Marrickville council and not a peep from Arabs or Palestinians. I mean, why should they be heard? It’s only about their land in the Middle East but let’s not focus on details.…