NEWS AND VIEWS FROM DOWN UNDER

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Palestine, peace, Wikileaks and Gitmo crimes Prepared by Antony Loewenstein The last month has seen a continuation of the Arab revolutions. NATO-backed Libyan rebels continue to struggle against once Western foe then friend Gaddafi forces. A majority of post-Mubarak Egyptians profoundly mistrust American intentions in their country. Hamas and Fatah reconciliation may be on the cards (but caution is required). Egypt says it is about to open its closed Gaza border. Syria remains in turmoil. Throughout it all, the Obama administration has been flat-footed and desperate to show vision when all the US really knows is backing autocrats who guarantee "stability". In Australia, there has been a ferocious debate over imposing a boycott on Israel - much more on this below - and what's been clear is the major disconnect from public debate (Arabs largely excluded) with the reality in Palestine itself. Israel's occupation continues to deepen in the West Bank along with growing Israeli racism and yet most politicians and journalists speak about a "peace process". Zionism is killing its own off-spring. In other news: - My investigation for Australian magazine New Matilda on the Greens Party, its embrace of BDS against Israel and electoral fortunes. After an intense campaign of smearing by the Murdoch press and silence by the Zionist lobby and Jewish community, my response for the publication is here. The Murdoch attacks continued but it was a clear lesson in how the corporate press and political forces react when anybody dares challenge apartheid Israel. - My coverage of the Greens, BDS, Murdoch and ignoring Palestinians is here, here, here, here , here, here , here, here, here, here, here, here , here and here. - Interview on Sydney's 2SER Radio explaining why the BDS movement is vital to remind people that Israel continues to illegally occupy Palestine. - Interview on ABC TV News24 about American kill teams in Afghanistan and democracy uprisings in the Middle East (comments that upset conservative critics). - My review in Sydney's Sun Herald of recent books about Wikileaks. - My story for Australian magazine Crikey on the lack of Arab voices in the Australian debate over Israel/Palestine and BDS. - Story in Sydney Morning Herald over the Marrickville BDS council meeting in Sydney (here were events on the night) plus my appearance on ABC Radio AM and audio of my speech plus SBS TV News. Here's video footage of my speech and an interview in the pro-settler Jerusalem Post. - Interview in the Australian on Australia's immigration detention and the flawed privatised system of British multinational Serco. - Appearance on ABCTV News 24 on human rights in China, Wikileaks revelations about abuses in Guantanamo Bay and the UN war crimes report on Sri Lanka. - Article on ABC online about the revelations in the Wikileaks-released Guantanamo Bay files and what they say about Western "values". - My first book, the best-selling My Israel Question, has just been released as an e-book and is available via the Kindle, iBook and other formats. The title is currently being translated into Arabic and Indonesian and will be released in various nations over the coming 12 months. My second book, The Blogging Revolution , is also being updated, in light of the Arab revolutions, and will be released in Australia, India and globally later this year. For a daily dose, check out Antony's website, Twitter and Facebook.

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