I spoke too soon about Dershowitz. Here's to a day without bullies.

The Brooklyn of the Middle East

Honestly, I'd rather be friends with the mountains.

Christopher Hitchens finds himself in Beirut this week. Yeah, I know, but it gets even better. The first report about what Hitch's Lawrence of Arabia type mission was that he provided decisively less gully* than some SSNP members. From AngryArab:

At the invitation of Hariri-Saudi group, Hitchens is visiting Lebanon. A source sent me this: "I dont know if you find this as news worthy or not, but Christopher Hitchens is currently in Beirut sponsored by the same group that owns that crap NOW Lebanon. He got in a few nights ago and surprisingly went out drinking. On his way out of the bar he saw an SSNP poster and wrote on it "Fuck the SSNP". There just happened to be some SSNP thugs near by--most likely asking people for their ID, and most likely to no avail--and saw him write on the poster and kicked his ass. He is still walking with a limp."

Theres lots of intellectuals who QDN would support the slapping up of**. Hitchens isn't one of them. Still, you think afterbeing waterboarded a few fists wouldn't be a problem for him. Then again, like some of Hitchens' other experiences this slapping may not have even happened. AngryArab again,

After spending two days in Lebanon, Christopher Hitchens now poses as an expert on Lebanese developments. I wonder if he will claim that he interviewed (the dead) Abu Nidal, as he once did in the 1980s.

A report on some of the less emasculating experiences Hitchens had in Beirut can be found here

* I know you don't know what this means.
** They know who they are.

oh Dersh...

I know that the recent accomplishment of our comrades at Hampshire's SJP deserves its own post, but rest assured that I will be congratulating them in person.

This all has been very moving and inspiring to follow. Meanwhile here's something funny from SJP's website:

Alan Dershowitz has just called SJP members and has threatened to start an international campaign to divest from Hampshire College.

Read the comments too.

Happy Valentine's Day Dersh!

sömürgeci yengeç*

And here we thought acting on your xenophobia was a habit of the backwards peoples from non-EU countries.

Indian immigrant set on fire in Italy

A homeless Indian immigrant has been beaten up and set on fire near Rome. The victim, who has been admitted to hospital with serious burns, was sleeping at the train station in the town of Nettuno when he was attacked by three young men. They beat him brutally and set him on fire using petrol. A police official said the attack was apparently not motivated by xenophobia. The three had been drinking and using drugs, and wanted to make "a powerful gesture".

Both opposition leader Walter Veltroni and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini have strongly condemned the attack. Italian migrant organisations have announced they will hold an anti-racism demonstration on Monday.

*lyrics from Ceza song Kim Neden Öldü, which I thought of upon stumbling on this story.

New History

What Uri Dromi says about Hamas is pure and poisonous Israeli propaganda (This Hamas hallucination, 23 January). In every respect his article is almost the exact opposite of the truth. Dromi claims that: "The Orwellian mindset of the organisation is as much a barrier to peace as the rockets it fires." But it is the newspeak of Israeli propagandists like Dromi that is truly Orwellian.

Over the last four weeks the powerful Israeli propaganda machine has been churning out lie after lie about Hamas in order to excuse its own inexcusable onslaught. Israel stopped journalists going into Gaza, preventing any independent reporting on the war crimes its forces were committing. Truth is usually the first casualty in war. Gaza was not even a war in the conventional sense of the word; it was one-sided carnage.

Here are some of the facts Dromi ignores or wilfully misrepresents. First, Hamas is the democratically elected government of the Palestinian people, not the corrupt regime led by Mahmoud Abbas. Second, Hamas spokesmen have repeatedly declared their readiness for a long-term ceasefire. Khalid Mish'al recently did so on these pages (Comment, 6 January). Third, Hamas has a solid record of observing ceasefires, while Israel has a consistent record of sabotaging them. Fourth, even during the ceasefire Israel did not lift its economic blockade of the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza, a form of collective punishment forbidden by international law. Fifth, the offensive unleashed in Gaza was illegal, immoral and unnecessary. If all Israel wanted was to stop rocket attacks from Gaza, all it had to do was to observe the ceasefire brokered by Egypt in June 2008.
Professor Avi Shlaim
Oxford

Two things. 1) Its very encouraging to see how outspoken Avi Shlaim has become since the assault on Gaza started. 2) It used to take decades for Israeli propaganda to be debunked. Even though Walid Khalidi proved in 1960 that there were no "Arab Radio Broadcasts" only in the 1980's when the Israeli archives on 1948 were opened to scholars did it become mainstream to speak of the expulsion of the Palestinians. Now what happened in 1948 is correctly seen as an Ethnic Cleansing. Today Israel's lies are so transparently contrived and in contradiction with common sense that everything that their spokespeople say is almost immediately disproved. I actually think that their propaganda efforts are even less successful than their military ones.

LSE

To the Students of the LSE

These are very dark days for the long-suffering Palestinians. Israel's savage assault on the defenceless people of Gaza pushed them to the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. The one-sided carnage has temporarily stopped but the economic blockade, the oppression, and the occupation continue. Only sustained international pressure, including trade sanctions and an arms embargo, can put an end to Israel's criminal conduct.
But there is no leadership worthy of the name. Our government is morally bankrupt. It is pusillanimous and feeble and completely out of touch with public opinion. If there was ever a time for direct action, this is the time. And if there was ever an issue that called for a firm moral stand, Gaza is that issue.
I salute you on the brave and altruistic stand that you have taken on behalf of the people of Gaza. I admire your courage and your commitment.
You have my unqualified sympathy and support in your struggle for justice for the Palestinian people.

Avi Shlaim, Oxford

Posted on the LSE 'Occupation Group' blog

Waltz with us

At Sabra and Chatila the first journalist to find out about the massacre was an Israeli and he desperately tried to get it stopped. This would not happen today because Israeli journalists, along with all foreign journalists, were banned from entering Gaza before the Israeli bombardment started. This has made it far easier for the government to sell the official line about what a great success the operation has been.

Patrick Cockburn, Counterpunch.