I'm sorry to say that after more than 10 years of Middle East Reality Check this will be my last post. I encourage you all to continue to read, be critical and stand strong in the fight for justice for the Palestinian people.
In solidarity,
MERC
Friday, September 13, 2019
Monday, August 5, 2019
Friday, August 2, 2019
Born in Gaza
I recently watched - on Netflix btw! - an hour-long documentary film by Spanish documentary maker Hernan Zin, Born in Gaza (Nacido En Gaza).
This searing, unforgettable film focuses on the impact of Israel's 2014 serial massacres, aka Operation Protective Edge, on the child victims of the massacres.
(It could be considered as the filmic counterpart of Norman Finkelstein's magnum opus, Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom. Finkelstein's figure is 550 child deaths.)
Please watch and spread the word as widely as possible.
This searing, unforgettable film focuses on the impact of Israel's 2014 serial massacres, aka Operation Protective Edge, on the child victims of the massacres.
(It could be considered as the filmic counterpart of Norman Finkelstein's magnum opus, Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom. Finkelstein's figure is 550 child deaths.)
Please watch and spread the word as widely as possible.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Just a Thought
Anyone notice how all the Australian bogan SUV crowd, who used to drive black vehicles, seem now to be driving white SUVs?
My theory: having recently voted for Morrison, they're now virtue-signalling, a term of abuse, as you know, that they reserved for the liberal/left. Of course, research into sales of white SUVs would probably be useful at this point.
My theory: having recently voted for Morrison, they're now virtue-signalling, a term of abuse, as you know, that they reserved for the liberal/left. Of course, research into sales of white SUVs would probably be useful at this point.
Monday, July 29, 2019
The Ongoing Nakba
An important message from Palestinian BDS National Committee, 26/7/19:
"Israel just committed its biggest crime of ethnic cleansing since 1967, [destroying] the homes of hundreds of Palestinian families in... Wadi Hummus in occupied East Jerusalem Another 116... homes are under imminent threat of demolition in Wadi Hummus. The magnitude of the crime is not only its sheer scale. Israel is only able to maintain this ongoing Nakba because governments, institutions and companies support its crimes. Volvo, Caterpillar and Hyundai Heavy Industries are involved... HP-branded corporations play key roles... Banks such as HSBC and financial institutions like AXA fund Israel's deadly military and security industry. It has been three years since the UN voted to establish a database of companies involved in Israel's illegal settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The database remains unpublished due to political pressure from the US, Israel and some European states. It is more needed than ever today as an effective tool for seeking justice and accountability. Thousands of homeless and displaced Palestinians are waiting for remedies... Justice delayed is justice denied." (Justice delayed is justice denied)
"Israel just committed its biggest crime of ethnic cleansing since 1967, [destroying] the homes of hundreds of Palestinian families in... Wadi Hummus in occupied East Jerusalem Another 116... homes are under imminent threat of demolition in Wadi Hummus. The magnitude of the crime is not only its sheer scale. Israel is only able to maintain this ongoing Nakba because governments, institutions and companies support its crimes. Volvo, Caterpillar and Hyundai Heavy Industries are involved... HP-branded corporations play key roles... Banks such as HSBC and financial institutions like AXA fund Israel's deadly military and security industry. It has been three years since the UN voted to establish a database of companies involved in Israel's illegal settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The database remains unpublished due to political pressure from the US, Israel and some European states. It is more needed than ever today as an effective tool for seeking justice and accountability. Thousands of homeless and displaced Palestinians are waiting for remedies... Justice delayed is justice denied." (Justice delayed is justice denied)
Sunday, July 28, 2019
The Hard Truth About Journalism Today...
... (and earlier) by US investigative journalist Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power (2008):
"The problem is that we just don't have a press that really wants to challenge power on issues they consider 'personal.' Speaking at the 1985 Prayer Breakfast, Ronald Reagan said, 'I wish I could say more about it, but it's working precisely because it's private.' That should have been an invitation for investigative reporting. Instead the media, then and now, tends to acquiesce to elite secretiveness, not out of any conspiracy, but due to a culture of reverence for established power, liberal or conservative. Most journalists believe in meritocracy - not merely that it's a good idea, but that it actually exists. They know that some politicians game the system, but they're committed to the idea that the system basically works. And it does, but not in favor of democracy." (Following up on the 'Family': Six questions for Jeff Sharlet, Bill Wasik, harpers.org/blog/2008/06
Need anything more be said about this subject, really? Except, of course, that Julian Assange towers over this knee-bending rabble like a colossus.
"The problem is that we just don't have a press that really wants to challenge power on issues they consider 'personal.' Speaking at the 1985 Prayer Breakfast, Ronald Reagan said, 'I wish I could say more about it, but it's working precisely because it's private.' That should have been an invitation for investigative reporting. Instead the media, then and now, tends to acquiesce to elite secretiveness, not out of any conspiracy, but due to a culture of reverence for established power, liberal or conservative. Most journalists believe in meritocracy - not merely that it's a good idea, but that it actually exists. They know that some politicians game the system, but they're committed to the idea that the system basically works. And it does, but not in favor of democracy." (Following up on the 'Family': Six questions for Jeff Sharlet, Bill Wasik, harpers.org/blog/2008/06
Need anything more be said about this subject, really? Except, of course, that Julian Assange towers over this knee-bending rabble like a colossus.
Saturday, July 27, 2019
The Redundancy of Dave Sharma
File under 'once a rooster, today, a feather duster':
"The place was the House of Representatives. The day: Thursday, July 25, 2019. The time, 3pm. This will go down in Australian political history as the Day that Dorothy Dixers, which are embarrassing at the best of times, finally committed political harakiri. Liberal backbencher Dave Sharma took to his feet to deliver the pre-approved question - the last question in what, remarkably, was only the fifth question time of the 46th parliament. 'My question is to the Prime Minister,' he read. 'Will the Prime Minister update the house on further action the government has taken this week to deliver on its priorities?" (The day the Dorothy Dixer died... surely, Alice Workman, The Australian, 26/7/19)
"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 1:2) - Sharma's bizarre ambassadorship to Israel, the Wentworth by-election surprise - moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - his pro-Israel advocacy pieces for Murdoch's Australian. All in the past. Now this...
"The place was the House of Representatives. The day: Thursday, July 25, 2019. The time, 3pm. This will go down in Australian political history as the Day that Dorothy Dixers, which are embarrassing at the best of times, finally committed political harakiri. Liberal backbencher Dave Sharma took to his feet to deliver the pre-approved question - the last question in what, remarkably, was only the fifth question time of the 46th parliament. 'My question is to the Prime Minister,' he read. 'Will the Prime Minister update the house on further action the government has taken this week to deliver on its priorities?" (The day the Dorothy Dixer died... surely, Alice Workman, The Australian, 26/7/19)
"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 1:2) - Sharma's bizarre ambassadorship to Israel, the Wentworth by-election surprise - moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - his pro-Israel advocacy pieces for Murdoch's Australian. All in the past. Now this...
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