My weekly Guardian column is published today: Australia’s reactionary culture warriors are amateurs compared to their British and American counterparts. Sack the ABC Chairman Jim Spigelman,… screams… News Limited columnist Piers Akerman. Privatise the public broadcaster,… shouts… the Institute of Public Affairs (a think-tank that refuses to disclose its funders, though the ABC still allows its spokespeople to appear).…
Showing all posts tagged United States
A truly free society would support and not silence BDS
Me at ABC’s The Drum today: The BDS movement is a logical and non-violent response to human rights abuses in Palestine, so why is it being threatened in a country like America that prides itself on free speech, asks Antony Loewenstein. It seems barely a week passes without a student union or corporation somewhere in…
Ed Snowden: Encryption is answer to NSA spying
Striking conversation with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden at America’s SXSW overnight. We can and must resist unwarranted government and corporate snooping:
Condemning media propaganda over Russia and Ukraine
The Western media prides itself on self-criticism but the fact remains that very journalists routinely challenge the inherent power structures of government and the press. RT host Abby Martin this week damned Russian incursions into Crimea and meddling in Ukraine (she maintains her job thus far) and in this interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan she…
It's time for Australia to face up to its dark military past and present
My weekly Guardian column is published today: Official, government-mandated story telling should be treated with suspicion. How else to to separate the truth from hagiograhy? Australian prime minister Tony Abbott was in Darwin last week-end to… attend a welcome home ceremony… for soldiers who fought in Afghanistan. “Australians don’t fight to conquer”, he said in a voice…
3AW Neil Mitchell interview about drugs and decriminalisation
In 2012 I wrote for the Guardian a column about the lunacy of the “war on drugs” and the need to decriminalise or legalise many drugs. Last week I was interviewed by one of Australia’s more popular radio presenters, Neil Mitchell, about these issues and why it’s becoming increasingly mainstream, especially in the US, to…
US and UK mission to destroy Wikileaks (the documents prove it)
A stunning work from the new investigative site The Intercept – founded by Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald, the articles already speak for… themselves; critical, punchy and unafraid to take on power – reveals the British and American attempts to destroy Wikileaks and attack its supporters. As a backer of Wikileaks since the beginning,…
Jews backing academic boycott against Israel
Back in January 2013 I signed a statement as a Jew in a global campaign backing the Palestinian right of return. The same New York-based Jews have collected signatures for a new, equally vital statement and my signature appears below: We salute the… American Studies Association’s courageous endorsement… of the… Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)…
Detention centre owners making a killing
My following feature appears in the January edition of Britain’s New Internationalist magazine: Outsourcing detention to private companies is a recipe for a disaster, says… Antony Loewenstein. Imprisoning immigrants is good for business. In the… US… it’s common for lobbyists hired by leading prison companies to magically convince officials to write legislation that benefits their bottom… line. US… magazine… The Nation… revealed…