The scandal surrounding Priti Patel, who was forced to resign as Britain’s international aid minister last week after secret meetings with Israeli officials during a “family holiday”, offers a small, opaque window on the UK’s powerful Israel...
Why Israel Supports Kurdish Independence
Palestinians and Israelis watched last week’s referendum of Iraq’s Kurds with special interest. Israeli officials and many ordinary Palestinians were delighted – for very different reasons – to see an overwhelming vote to split away from Iraq....
Clinton’s Defeat and the ‘Fake News’ Conspiracy
There is an astounding double standard being applied to the US presidential election result. A few weeks ago the corporate media were appalled that Donald Trump demurred on whether he would accept the vote if it went against him. It was proof of his anti-democratic,...
Adam Curtis: Another Manager of Perceptions
Adam Curtis’ new, near three-hour documentary HyperNormalisation, showing on BBC iplayer, is being garlanded with predictable praise from liberal commentators. As ever, Curtis joins the dots in interesting, and sometimes compelling, ways. But HyperNormalisation also...
In the US, Money Talks When It Comes to Israel
The grubby underside of US electoral politics is on show once again as the Democratic and Republican candidates prepare to fight it out for the presidency. And it doesn’t get seamier than the battle to prove how loyal each candidate is to Israel. New depths are...
US Plays Decisive Role in Israel’s Attack on Gaza
Two reporters for major US TV channels were summarily "removed" last week from covering Israel’s attack on Gaza, moments before Israel launched a ground invasion. NBC pulled out Ayman Mohyeldin, who has been widely praised for the even-handedness of his...
The Four Guilty Parties Behind Israel’s Attack
A short interview broadcast by CNN late last week featuring two participants — a Palestinian in Gaza and an Israeli within range of the rocket attacks — did not follow the usual script. For once, a media outlet dropped its role as gatekeeper, there to mediate and...
The Evil of Humanitarian Wars
In a traditional cowboy movie, we know what to do: we look for the guy wearing the white hat to be sure whom to cheer, and for the one wearing the black hat to know who deserves to die, preferably gruesomely, before the credits roll. If Hollywood learned early to play...
Netanyahu Tries to Hide the Occupation
As protests raged again across the Middle East, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, offered his assessment of the Arab Spring last week. It was, he said, an "Islamic, anti-western, anti-liberal, anti-Israeli, undemocratic wave," adding that Israel's...
Goldstone’s Rethink
Israeli leaders have barely hidden their jubilation at an opinion article in last Friday’s Washington Post by the South African jurist Richard Goldstone reconsidering the findings of his United Nations-appointed inquiry into Israel’s attack on Gaza in winter 2008. For...


