A.LOEWENSTEIN ONLINE NEWSLETTER

• Fox News explains racial discrimination in Israel
• Journalism finds a safe home in Iceland
• Dissent isn’t so welcome these days in Israel
• How not to discuss Israel and the Middle East
• Google and Beijing get back into bed together
• BP’s stink continues on its deadly way
• This is what US tax-dollars are paying for

Fox News explains racial discrimination in Israel 12 Jul 2010 Well, well. Fox News (!) reports on the difficulty of Palestinians buying land in Jerusalem. The truth is starting to even emerge in corporate America:

Journalism finds a safe home in Iceland12 Jul 2010 The possibility of Iceland becoming a safe haven for investigative journalism has been brewing for some time. The Guardian provides the background to this important development: A resolution proposing the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI), has already been unanimously passed by the country’s parliament. The concept crystallised when John Barlow, an American cyberlibertarian, met members of the group at an Icelandic Digital Freedoms Society conference in 2008. Barlow suggested that Iceland become the equivalent of an offshore tax haven – instead of assisting tax avoidance, it would offer the positive endeavour of protecting investigative journalism against litigation. Or as Barlow put it, Iceland could become “the Switzerland of bits”.

Dissent isn’t so welcome these days in Israel 12 Jul 2010 Leading Israeli dissident Neve Gordon on the real meaning of BDS: There is a considerable amount of misunderstanding about the BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions). As John Berger explained a while back, BDS is not a principle but a strategy; it is not against Israel but against Israeli policy; when the policy changes BDS will end. BDS is also not about a particular solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but rather the demand that Israel abide by international law and UN resolutions. It is accordingly something that you can support if you are for a two state solution or a one state solution. You can even support it as a Zionist. It arises from the realization, following years of experience, that the Occupation will not end unless Israelis understand that it has a price. In a sense, the fact that a boycott is required is a sign of weakness following the polarization and marginalization of the left in Israel. On the one hand, we have more or less used all the other weapons we have in the arsenal of non-violent resistance and the situation on the ground is only getting worse. On the other hand, we are witnessing the development of a proto-fascist mindset in Israel. I am, for example, extremely anxious about the extent that the space for public debate in Israel is shrinking. One of the ways of silencing any dissent is the through the demand for loyalty, so that a slogans you hear a lot now is “no citizenship without loyalty.” This slogan reflects the inversion of the republican idea that the state should be loyal to the citizen and is accountable for inequities and injustices. It is a manifestation of the complete reversal of the republican relationship between state and loyalty and the adoption, instead, of a logic similar to the one that informed Mussolini’s Italy.  It is – as Gramsci once said – part of the morbid symptoms of our times. One of the expressions of these symptoms is the increasingly violent attitude towards any kind of dissent within Israel. I have received more death threats following my criticism of the flotilla fiasco than ever before. When I walk on campus people ask in jest if I am wearing a bullet proof vest. Such jokes have a menacing undertone. Therefore it is not all that surprising that only three professors in Israel openly support a boycott; many others are in the closet because supporting BDS is not considered to be a legitimate form of critique and people who back it are in danger of being punished.  And yet, there is also a sense that the pro-government proponents have gone too far. They are not only targeting people on the far left, but practically everyone who is even slightly critical of government policies. A couple of months ago a high school principle who objected to military officers coming in to speak to his pupils, was all but crucified. Clearly the outrage of so many Israeli academics against the assault on academic freedom has little to do with the boycott, but is rather against the attempt to silence any kind of critique. There is an ever-growing sense that public discourse in Israel is dramatically shrinking. Thus, the provost of Haifa University, who courageously criticized the Minister of Education and the assault on academic freedom, is by no means a left-winger but is simply outraged at the current developments. He would never otherwise support my stance on the boycott.

How not to discuss Israel and the Middle East 12 Jul 2010 I recently posted an image that was inappropriate and ill-advised and was not intended to cause offense by making comparisons between Israel and Nazism. However, it expressed the sort of extreme views that are widely shared and growing worldwide but on reflection I realise that they should be not be given further oxygen and publicity.

Google and Beijing get back into bed together 12 Jul 2010 Sadly, Google has caved to Chinese demands and will once again censor some online content. Principles are clearly flexible for the web giant: Google, the US internet search company, has agreed to submit to official Chinese censorship. The Chinese government, on its part, announced the renewal of Google’s licence to operate in the country. The government’s decision came after the California-based company pledged not to provide “law-breaking content” to internet users in China, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Xinhua reported on Sunday, quoting an official with China’s internet regulator, that the licence was renewed for another year for Beijing Guxiang Information Technology Co Ltd, the operator of Google’s China website. The industry and information technology ministry’s website listed Guxiang among some 200 companies whose licences had been renewed until 2012. Xinhua said Guxiang agreed to “abide by Chinese law” and “ensure the company provides no law-breaking content” in its renewal application letter.

BP’s stink continues on its deadly way 11 Jul 2010 Dahr Jamil reports on the ongoing oil disaster in the US, this time in South Louisiana.

This is what US tax-dollars are paying for 11 Jul 2010 Apartheid in Hebron: