Goodbye Sadiq al-Azm, lone Syrian Marxist against the Assad regime

First posted December 27, 2016 NB: An interesting obituary to a great intellectual. My knowledge of the situation is limited, but as regards this article, I’m uncomfortable with the argument that there should be no objection to the participation of communal parties in a democratic alliance. My views on this are conditioned by the history of religion-based mobilisations in… Read More Goodbye Sadiq al-Azm, lone Syrian Marxist against the Assad regime

South Africa’s case against Israel’s ‘genocidal conduct’ at UN Court of Justice / Worldwide demonstrations in support of Palestine

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, held public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case South Africa v. Israel on 11 and 12 January 2024, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court.… Read More South Africa’s case against Israel’s ‘genocidal conduct’ at UN Court of Justice / Worldwide demonstrations in support of Palestine

Far right infiltration of Israeli media is blinding the public to the truth about Gaza / Major US newspapers heavily biased toward Israel

Etan Nechin GAZA casualties live statistics Since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, Israelis have been glued to their TV sets and scrolling through news and social media. The ordinarily news-obsessed public has become even more engrossed, and the war has seen the propagation of a point of view that for much of Israel’s media history… Read More Far right infiltration of Israeli media is blinding the public to the truth about Gaza / Major US newspapers heavily biased toward Israel

The Rise of the Sectarian University (in the USA)

Greg Conti It has quickly become a commonplace that American elite higher education is in a more perilous position than it has been in recent memory. Long-standing conservative discontent has crystallized as a result of recent events; multiple proposals targeting universities’ pocketbooks have been floated by lawmakers in the past weeks. Republican officials have made… Read More The Rise of the Sectarian University (in the USA)

The Gaza War and the Rest of the World

Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center In her evocative book, Drinking the Sea at Gaza, the Israeli journalist Amira Hass writes, “To me, Gaza embodies the entire saga of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; it represents the central contradiction of the state of Israel—democracy for some, dispossession for others; it is our exposed nerve.” The conflict in… Read More The Gaza War and the Rest of the World

2023: the year governments looked at the climate crisis, and decided to persecute the activists

Owen Jones Injustice is easy to oppose after it has receded into the past, and there is no cost to imagining yourself as a hero long after the event. Everyone celebrates the suffragettes now, but at the time they were vilified as hateful spinsters and terrorists. McCarthyism is a pejorative political label on right and… Read More 2023: the year governments looked at the climate crisis, and decided to persecute the activists

What links Rishi Sunak, Javier Milei and Donald Trump? The shadowy network behind their policies

The dark-money junktanks, and the Atlas Network, are a highly effective means of disguising and aggregating power. They are the channel through which billionaires and corporations influence politics without showing their hands, learn the most effective policies and tactics for overcoming resistance to their agenda, and then spread these around the world. This is how democracies become new… Read More What links Rishi Sunak, Javier Milei and Donald Trump? The shadowy network behind their policies

More than 10 children losing legs in Gaza every day as dire health crisis grows

NB: Approximately 90 thousand Palestinians killed, wounded or missing, including nearly ten thousand children. Wounded children with no relatives; children being amputated without anaesthesia. Vast neighbourhoods levelled to the ground. Is this enough for Netanyahu and Biden? Has any part of human cruelty toward subject populations changed for twenty five centuries since thousands of slaves… Read More More than 10 children losing legs in Gaza every day as dire health crisis grows

Israel killed thousands of children in Gaza. How can so many Israelis remain indifferent? / In Israel, 20,000 Gazans are responsible for their own deaths. I’ve never been so ashamed

Amira Hass: For decades we’ve been brought up believing that only military force can ensure the state’s survival, while denying rights to the Palestinians. That’s just one of many sad answers to the question GAZA casualties live statistics United Nations Documentation on the Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem Children walk along a street… Read More Israel killed thousands of children in Gaza. How can so many Israelis remain indifferent? / In Israel, 20,000 Gazans are responsible for their own deaths. I’ve never been so ashamed