Middle East
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MEDIA LENS ALERT: DEATHLY SILENCE: OBAMA’S LETTER, NETANYAHU’S REJECTION AND THE MEDIA’S NON-RESPONSE
Earlier this week, independent journalist Jonathan Cook reported facts that blow a hole through the standard deceit that the United States is an “honest broker” for peace in the Middle East. Continue reading
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Turkey and Russia: Cleaning up the mess in the Middle East By Eric Walberg
The neocon plan to transform the Middle East and Central Asia into a pliant client of the US empire and its only-democracy-in-the-Middle-East is now facing a very different playing field. Not only are the wars against the Palestinians, Afghans and Iraqis floundering, but they have set in motion unforeseen moves by all the regional players. Continue reading
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Information Clearing House Newsletter 8 September, 2010: The Art of Talking Middle East Peace with a Forked Tongue
8 September, 2010 — Information Clearing House The American Occupation of Afghanistan The Birth of a National Liberation Movement By Prof. Marc W. Herold The Taliban inherited a devastated country, torn apart during six years of warlord in-fighting. Few state structures or institutions existed. Moreover, the background of the Taliban hardly prepared them for national Continue reading
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Media Lens: Beyond Hiroshima – The Non-Reporting Of Fallujah’s Cancer Catastrophe
Whereas the story of the maltreated cat received heavy coverage for almost one week across the UK media, we (and activist friends in the United States) can find exactly one mention of the Fallujah cancer and infant mortality study in the entire UK and US national press – Patrick Cockburn’s article in the Independent. The… Continue reading
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Strategic culture foundation online magazine latest publications from 1-8 August, 2010
6 August, 2010 — Strategic Culture Foundation 2010-08-03 Pyotr ISKENDEROV Tensions over the European External Action Service “The situation is unfolding on the UN highest court’s verdict on Kosovo’s independence. Now that the legality of Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia has been recognized, the West seems to be pushing forward its ‘offensive’ on Continue reading
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MEDIA LENS ALERT: MCCHRYSTAL – DEATH SQUAD POSTER BOY
In May 2009, Petras sampled from McChrystal’s CV. The general had played a central role in directing units involved in “extrajudicial assassinations, systematic torture, bombing of civilian communities and search and destroy missions”. He was “the very embodiment of the brutality and gore that accompanies military-driven empire building”. Continue reading
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Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet – Middle East – Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera’s report on board the Mavi Marmara before communications were cut Continue reading
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Chomsky on Palestine and the region in the Obama era: the emerging framework
The Imperial College Political Philosophy Society, in association with Palestine societies at UCL, SOAS, Goldsmiths, LSE, Imperial and Kings, proudly present one of the greatest political philosophers of all time: MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky, for what could be his last trip to London. Continue reading
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Media Lens: “An Existential Threat”: The US, Israel and Iran
The sanctions threat is to ensure that Iran does “not compromise on uranium enrichment by the end of next month.” The Guardian told its readers that not only are sanctions supposed to pre-empt any Israeli military action against Iran, “they are also a bargaining chip offered in part exchange for a substantial freeze on Jewish… Continue reading
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Media Lens: The Left-Wing Media Fallacy Jeremy Bowen, The BBC, And Other National Treasures
There are several good reasons why the media are keen to accept that they are biased to the left. First, the overwhelming preponderance of right-wing flak machines – ‘centre-left’ parties and governments, business front groups and powerful ‘religious’ organisations – persuades media executives that they really are too left-leaning. There is just far less flak… Continue reading
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SHRINKING CAPITAL: THE US IN THE MIDDLE EAST
The Bush administration entered office in 2000 determined to extend the global dominion of the United States into “a new American century.” Yet as President George W. Bush prepared to depart the White House, the National Intelligence Council released a report surmising that Washington “will have less power in a multipolar world than it has… Continue reading
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It takes a flight to UK to read the other version of the newspaper and examine the ethics of media By Iqbal Tamimi
British media is not the saint I used to believe carried the truth in every single word. I found out lots of bias, most of the time the content is treated as a business only, a machine that has to yield the biggest revenue possible, regardless of how balanced or fair it might be. Most… Continue reading
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Media Lens: Covering Israel-Palestine – The BBC’s Double Standards
22 April, 2008 — MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media An Exchange With The BBC’s Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen The media reported last week that at least 22 people, including five Palestinian children, had been killed during Israeli ‘incursions’ into Gaza. The Israeli military ‘operation’ were ‘sparked’ by a Continue reading
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MEDIA LENS ALERT: ‘WITH TOTAL DESTRUCTION’ – THE FAILURE OF JOURNALISM IN IRAQ
<strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>MEDIA <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media On March 22, an Economist magazine editorial described the recent violence in Tibet as a “colonial uprisingâ€, a “revolt†against foreign occupation. This was accurate, as was the implication that China has no legitimate claims over Tibet. (‘A colonial uprising – Tibet,’ Continue reading
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MEDIA LENS ALERT: Israel’s Illegal Assault On The Gaza ‘Prison’
MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media March 3, 2008 Attacking The Prisoners Israel has drawn international criticism for its latest series of onslaughts against the ‘prison’ of Gaza, the crowded home to 1.4 million Palestinians. Since last Wednesday (February 27), 112 Palestinians have died under Israeli air attacks and ‘incursions’ Continue reading
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Media Lens: Loaded Words: ‘Surge’, ‘Reconstruction’ And ‘Withdrawal’
News media this week are devoting huge swathes of coverage to the report by General David Petraeus, the top US military commander in Iraq, on the impact of the so-called ‘surge’ of US troops. The surge boosted the number of US troops in Iraq earlier this year by 30,000 to 168,000. Continue reading
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Heil Caesar By William Bowles
“There is no more dangerous theory in international politics today than that we need to balance the power of America with other competitor powers, different poles around which nations gather.” — Tony Blair. Thus spake the Emperor’s English regent in paying his respects on a flying visit to Washington DC, our latter-day Rome, and spelt… Continue reading
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9/11: connecting the dots By William Bowles
If 9/11 had not happened, it would have been necessary to invent it. And the history of the last 150 years is full of convenient inventions that have justified invasions, occupations, subversions and the overthrow of sovereign states by the US in order to pursue its economic/political objectives. Objectives laid down in latter part of… Continue reading
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Palestine: US plays the shell game By William Bowles
Statements by secretary of state Colin Powell would seem to represent a change of heart on the part of the US over the Israeli position on the future of a Palestinian state. But does a call for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the removal of a few shacks (some not even occupied) erected… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 