A.LOEWENSTEIN ONLINE NEWSLETTER

• Yes, Australia imprisons children
• Because Ahmadinejad fits a necessary hole in the enemy gallery
• Speak in hushed tones around the Great Leader
• The right of return can never be given up
• What next, Rajapaksa wins Nobel Peace Prize?

Yes, Australia imprisons children 12 Oct 2010 This is how Australia treats refugees, including children, when they come seeking asylum; under lock and key for months and longer:

Because Ahmadinejad fits a necessary hole in the enemy gallery 12 Oct 2010 Roger Cohen writes in the New York Times that the world (and Israel especially) needs to not frame Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the devil incarnate but that’s exactly what the Zionists must do; the new “Hitler” has arrived: Ahmadinejad is a one-trick pony. His thing is double standards. Ask about the Iranian nuclear program, he’ll retort with Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal. Ask about Iran’s economic difficulties, he’ll see you with September 2008. Ask about rampant capital punishment, he’ll raise you a Texas. Ask about Iranian lying, he’ll counter with human rights and Abu Ghraib. Ahmadinejad is odious but I don’t think he’s dangerous. Some people do of course find him dangerous, especially in the Israel he gratuitously insults and threatens, and yet others — many more I’d say — find it convenient to find him dangerous. Yes, Ahmadinejad is the bogeyman from Central Casting. One of the things there’s time for, if you’re not playing games with the Iran specter, is a serious push for an Israeli-Palestinian breakthrough that would further undermine the Iranian president. I don’t expect that, however. And here are two more predictions: Obama won’t attack Iran and nor will Israel, not by next July or ever. Iran is a paper tiger, a postmodern threat: It has many uses but a third Western war against a Muslim country is a bridge too far.

Speak in hushed tones around the Great Leader 12 Oct 2010 Yet another example of the lack of bravery in the Murdoch press in Australia, so keen to dish out dirt but afraid to listen to criticism. It’s an empire built on Rupert’s largesse and when he goes…

The right of return can never be given up 12 Oct 2010 Akiva Eldar in Haaretz: Netanyahu knows full well that any Palestinian leader who recognizes Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people also acknowledges that the Palestinians do not have any rightful place there. In other words, it is tantamount to an up-front concession on the right of return.

What next, Rajapaksa wins Nobel Peace Prize? 11 Oct 2010 This just proves that massacring Tamil civilians isn’t a bar to participating in front of the world: Mahinda Rajapaksa to join Prince Edward at ceremony despite allegations of human rights abuses by Colombo governmentMahinda Rajapaksa, the controversial president of Sri Lanka, is locate to be the guest of honour at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in India, on Thursday night.Diplomatic sources and protocol officials in Delhi today confirmed that Rajapaksa had accepted a “joint” invitation from the Indian administration and the event organisers, and would be flying to India on Wednesday.His presence following to Prince Edward, who will close the games on behalf of the Queen, will spark rage from campaigners who have accused Rajapaksa of failing to protect many thousands of civilians who died in battles which finished the extended civil war against Tamil separatists at the end year, and of flouting international human rights code.