The National Security State: If We Keep This Up The Terrorists Win

The events of 9/11 have spawned an understandable focus on security, however, the extent of fear-mongering, Islamophobia and ongoing curtailment of civil liberties, along with the meteoric rise of an unwieldy national security state which operates like a secret government within a government, is at odds with the principles and values of representative democracy. The […]

Canada: Criticism of Israel is Anti-Semitism

So much for free speech: Nearly two years after the first hearings were held in Ottawa, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition fto Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) released a detailed report on July 7 that found that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Canada, especially on university campuses. While the CPCCA’s final report does contain some cases of […]

Why the Israeli Anti-Boycott Law is a Slap in the Face to Democracy

Israel’s right-wing government passed a law which penalizes any Israeli who engages in, or speaks about, boycotting Israel or the Occupied Territories. For example, if an Israeli urges artists to not have a concert in Jerusalem, that individual could be sued in civil court and under the law, the person bringing the suit does not […]

FoPo Link Dump: Or News the MSM is Ignoring

I’ve run across a few stories over the last few days that I’ve noticed have received very little coverage in the U.S. mainstream media. Here they are: ~Violence against Palestinians by Settlers is up 152% while violence against Israelis via terrorist attacks [by Palestinians] is down 96%. That number does NOT include the increasing violence […]

Israel’s Tilt Towards Fascism

Check out the independent Israeli media blog +972 for coverage of the Israeli governments’ repression of free speech and thuggish tactics with respect to the activists flying in to Ben Gurion airport to enter the West Bank. The type of rationales for keeping out anyone with whom the right-wing Israeli government (and increasingly, the right […]

Obama Administration Opposes Leak of Classified Information…Unless It’s Them Doing the Leaking

The Obama administration has waged a full-scale war against whistle-blowers. As a Presidential candidate, Barack Obama seemed to understand the importance of not only having people willing to speak out and expose government wrongdoing, but of also protecting those people. Here is what he said in 2008: “Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy […]

Swedish Ship in Flotilla Sabotaged

More high drama on the high seas. From ei: A ship due to join the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was sabotaged in the Greek port of Piraeus today according to organizers. A Swedish-language statement issued by Ship to Gaza described damage to the ship’s propeller shaft. Here is a rapid translation of the statement by The […]

Israel Threatens Foreign Journalists Covering the Flotilla2 *updated*

[see update below] This story really speaks for itself. I’ll just say that the international community, and international law, generally frown on efforts to limit press freedoms. It’s also very unusual for a democratic country to threaten and harass the media in such a blatant way. Naturally, this comes from Haaretz because the U.S. media […]