A.LOEWENSTEIN ONLINE NEWSLETTER

• Yet another legacy of America’s war on Iraq
• Performing Brecht in Palestine is a shameful use of talent
• Chinese repression isn’t the way forward
• Behold the Jew who loathes Islam
• You want to negotiate with these fools?

Yet another legacy of America’s war on Iraq 28 Aug 2010 The Iraq war isn’t over; it’s resulted in a mass influx of young Iraqi women to Syria who become sex slaves or prostitutes.

Performing Brecht in Palestine is a shameful use of talent  28 Aug 2010 How too many Israeli theatres are embracing performing in the occupied Palestinian territories (but some are rightly refusing).

Chinese repression isn’t the way forward  27 Aug 2010 The Western capitalist model is inherently problematic with massive over-consumption and a gross disregard for human rights (if corporations get in the way). But this really isn’t an alternative and viable model: The “discipline” of China’s authoritarian political system should be considered as a potential recipe for economic growth in Africa and other developing regions, South African President Jacob Zuma says. Mr. Zuma, on a four-day official visit to China, criticized the West and lavished praise on his Chinese hosts as he described a world where dynamism is “shifting from North to South and from West to East.” His unexpected praise for the authoritarian Chinese system, coming from the leader of one of Africa’s biggest democracies, is further evidence of Beijing’s growing influence in Africa. Within the space of a few years, China has emerged to become Africa’s second-biggest trading partner and a key source of support for its governments. Last year, China overtook the United States to become the biggest trading partner of South Africa, the richest economy on the continent. Mr. Zuma made it clear that he is tired of hearing advice from Western governments that demand Western-style democratic systems. Instead, he suggested, the developing world is ready to learn political lessons from the dramatic rise of China, where opposition is muzzled and dissent is crushed. “In the past, economists from the developed countries told the developing countries that they should behave more like the developed countries,” Mr. Zuma said on Wednesday in a lecture at Renmin University in Beijing. “The developing world was told that if it did not Westernize and change its political systems to mirror those of the West, they could forget about achieving economic growth and development. Now we are asking what we could learn from other political systems and cultures. Is the political discipline in China a recipe for economic success, for example?”

Behold the Jew who loathes Islam  27 Aug 2010 What’s the best way to argue against a Muslim-hating Jew? Rationality.

You want to negotiate with these fools? 27 Aug 2010 The actions of a rogue state (which is why the US-backed Palestinian Authority is so keen to sit down with them in early September): The Israeli government should immediately stop the arbitrary destruction of Palestinian homes and other property in the West Bank and compensate the people it has displaced, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli authorities destroyed 141 Palestinian homes and other buildings in July 2010, the largest number in any month since at least 2005, and have already carried out dozens of demolitions in August. “While Israel is demolishing more and more Palestinian homes, it continues to subsidize the Jewish settlements nearby,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Israel has flouted international law not only by supporting settlements on occupied territory, but also by erasing longstanding Palestinian communities next door.”