Year: 2010

From “Islamist Watch” to Islamic Mimbar: the Politics of Hypocrisy

Raheel Raza leads a group of Muslims in prayer in Canada

By Huma Dar

On Thursday, June 10, 2010, Jerome Taylor, the Religious Affairs Correspondent of The Independent posted an article headlined, “First Woman to Lead Friday Prayers in UK.” Two-thirds of the way down this article, we find that:

“Ms Raza’s appearance in Oxford is a repeat of a similar prayer session in 2008 which was led by Amina Wadud, an American-born convert and Muslim feminist. But this is the first time a Muslim-born woman will lead a mixed prayer service in Britain.”

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terrorist

by Cynthia Dewi Oka

another morning burns
under growl of tanks their hunger
flattens rock and bone alike

sun’s scrutiny ruptured my body
chosen. fingers
too old for their length

pull and prod and manoeuvre
me into sweat misted palm
smaller than a grown maple leaf

invisible my mission
begins in garbled pitch
wailing flaps like dying fish

i knew my turn would come
soon the days of watching
blood crust to earth would end

in the seconds waiting i plot
another life
in the dim of olive trees

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George Galloway announces new Viva Palestina convoys to break Gaza siege

George Galloway on the flotilla massacre, the changing political climate, and the new Viva Palestina sea and land convoys scheduled for later this year. (via Counterfire)
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US Drones and the Politics of Body Count

News organizations need to be careful about their sources. They appear to report as fact claims made by any entity that calls itself an ‘institute’ or a ‘foundation’. This otherwise commendable report from Russia Today on the murderous US drone attacks is no exception. Like many other media outlets (including, oddly, Democracy Now and Al Jazeera) it reports as fact a dubious report produced by the New America Foundation (NAF), a leading cheerleader for the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has transmuted the drones 98% failure rate into a 67% success rate. None of these media outlets it appears has taken a minute to study the report’s methodology or question the motivations of the organization behind it. The conflicts of interest are serious.

The NAF report is based exclusively on English language media reports, which rely solely on official claims. The officials, both American and Pakistani, for their reasons have an interest in inflating the success rate. Two studies produced by Paksitan’s The News and Dawn (the latter a supporter of the war) show that that the actual success rate is near 2 percent. This estimate has also been endorsed by David Kilcullen, the former senior advisor on counterinsurgency to Gen. David Petraeus. (In response NAF’s ‘Afpak Channel’ published this airy assessment by Christine Fair challenging Kilcullen which relies on yet another ‘institute’, the ‘Aryana Institute’, a sectarian paper organization which actually claims that Pakistanis are thrilled by drone attacks!)

NAF’s ‘Afpak Channel’, which produced the report, discredited itself long ago with its overly rosy assessment of the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And while it has been featuring commentary which is frequently at odds with reality, it has been reluctant to publish anything that might undercut its sanguine support for the war. It sat on a grim assessment of developments in Afghanistan by IPS’s excellent investigative journalist Gareth Porter before informing him that it won’t be published. Its Twitter frequenlty features juvenile commentary, breathlessly sanguine about US successes in Afghanista and Pakistan. Over all, it is a highly questionable source. I’d urge journalists to show more caution.

UPDATE: Don’t miss this important interview with Kathy Kelly who has just returned from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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The Images Israel Doesn’t Want You To See

Cultures of Resistance filmmaker Iara Lee, who was on board the Mavi Marmara, has just released previously unseen footage of the massacre that took place on the ship. This is a 15-minute clip of an hour long tape she managed to smuggle out. (At about 05:10 you see the target list being carried by the Israeli soldiers)

Warning: video contains very disturbing images

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Through Israeli Eyes: The Flotilla of Terror

Israeli Pro-flotilla demonstration at Ashdod Dock ~Photography by Gal Lugassi

Though you couldn’t tell from the mainstream media, some citizens of Israel spent the past week running from demonstration to demonstration. Not in our name will unarmed civilians be murdered at sea. Not in our name will over a million people (the majority of which are children) be held under a horrifically violent siege. So we screamed our lungs out, and around 10,000 Israelis marched the streets of Tel-Aviv, last saturday. Around the world hundreds of thousands, knowing exactly how their hard-earned tax money is used, hit the streets, carrying the same message: “Not in our names.”

Of Terror Attacks, Lynches and Unprecedented Violence
In Israel, however, you couldn’t guess this is what was going on, because in Israel, like any other successful totalitarian regime, once the state commits an act so heinous that one’s conscience might start hammering in one’s head, the propaganda machine is turned on to full power. Not only were the pro-flotilla demonstrations that took place this week not reported, unless there was a

Im Tirtzu demonstration at the Turkish embassy

nationalistic counter action by patriotic zealots, but while on my way, Tuesday morning, to the Ashkelon dock, to make sure the captured boats know that there are people here who support and need them, the radio was blurting out statements the likes of “an attack of unprecedented violence on IDF soldiers.” (from memory)

Later on, at home, between the morning demonstration at the dock and the evening demonstration at the Ministry of Defense, I surfed the news channels. All were showing the following shots (courtesy of the official IDF YouTube channel) in a never-ending loop. In the background, the anchor-people of established authority making deep analyses such as “our soldiers expected peace activists and ended up with a band of street fighters.” (from memory) The word “lynch” titling each and every shot:

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The best hasbara: Israeli government to step up front groups in social media sites

Yesterday, Israel’s ‘Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister’ Yuli Edelstein spoke at some length about his country’s ‘PR problem’, including possible plans to create a 24-hr news channel. But further down the article, Edelstein talked about the ways in which Israel’s propaganda effort is being increasingly delegated to volunteers:

“We’ve been working on creating an infrastructure of our friends and allies around the world, in the Jewish and Christian communities, which is not fully ready yet. It’s based on volunteers and professionals [who will coordinate the transmission of accurate information],” the minister said.

Edelstein conceded that the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Ministry suffered from restrictive budget problems. Nevertheless, he was seeking to implement ambitious initiatives based on volunteers.

“This is the 21st century, and that means things that are not officially called hasbara are the best hasbara. The moment things come from the government, the state, or ministries, they are perceived as being less reliable and as propaganda,” Edelstein said.

”There are many things only volunteers can do. Writing on Facebook, Twitter blogs, and sending e-mails to friends is second to none. The best things people can do are not about money, but about doing things in the right way.”

Edelstein cited an operations center housed in his ministry and staffed by volunteers, as well as a ministry secretary, both aimed at maintaining continuous contact with Diaspora communities.

Continue reading “The best hasbara: Israeli government to step up front groups in social media sites”

How to complain to the BBC

By Naomi Foyle

I am currently at the fourth stage of a complaint to the BBC about the outrageously imbalanced Jan Newsnight report by Col Tim Collins, described as the ‘Celebrated Iraq war veteran’s view of the Gaza conflict’. I have so far been met with only doublespeak and the most stunning manipulation of both my own language and Collins’. I will post separately about the progress of this complaint, but for now I would like to give this advice to any one complaining to the BBC.

1) Numbers count. Apparently if more than 20 people complain about a programme, they have to take it seriously. I know several other people who complained about the Collins’ report, and that has undoubtedly helped me. In cases of Offense, numbers in particular count, so joint-signatories to a complaint of being offended by a programme would be useful.

2) Don’t give up. It was only after contacting the BBC twice – one phone call and one letter – that I was invited to complain directly to the Editorial Complaints Unit. I won’t post the address, as the BBC has a clear three stage complaints process, but if you persist they will invite you to complain to the ECU as well.

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Voices of Everyday Muslim Americans in the Aftermath of the Flotilla Attack

News of Israel’s brutal attack on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza seems to have moved even this generally apathetic world. As the reactions of global leaders, activists, lawyers, journalists, academics and other public figures saturate the media, hope builds that growing political pressure will have the effect of ending, at long last, Israel’s inhumane blockade of Gaza.

The events of last week also present us with an opportunity to pause and to reflect upon why this attack -in particular- has captured our imaginations more powerfully than previous instances of Israeli aggression.

In search of answers, I decided  to talk to everyday Muslim Americans about the events of last week, asking each of them how they felt about the recent flotilla attack and what, if any hope, the event held for a better future. I interviewed this diverse group of New Yorkers over a period of two days, and my accounts include the voices of a shop clerk, a business owner, wait-staff, an immigration lawyer, a photographer, a retired journalist, bankers, engineers, and a number of students.

What I learned in listening to their narratives is that the flotilla attack – which has largely been produced by the media as a critical moment of rupture – is for many Muslim Americans, an event that indicates not rupture, but continuity: the continuity of Israeli brutality and injustice, and the continuity of Palestinian despair.

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British Writers in Support of Palestine

I’m proud to be a signatory to this letter published in shortened form in the Independent on Sunday.

June 4th 2010

Dear Editor

The murder of humanitarian aid workers aboard the Mavi Marmara in international waters is the latest tragic example of Israel’s relentless attacks on human rights. But while violently preventing the free passage of medical, building and school supplies to Gaza, Israel continues to pride itself as a highly cultured, highly educated state. In solidarity with Palestinian civil society and its call for a Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel, we the undersigned therefore appeal to British writers and scholars to boycott all literary, cultural and academic visits to Israel that are sponsored by the Israeli government, including those organised by Israeli cultural foundations and universities. (This boycott does not include courageous independent Israeli organisations who openly oppose the occupation.) We also ask that writers, poets and British funding bodies actively support Palestinian literary events, such as the Palestinian Literary Festival and the Palestinian Writing Workshop.

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