7/7 Survivor: Why we should not bomb Syria

The major reason for not bombing Syria is the diminishing of our humanity and civilisation.

Anti-war protesters demonstrate against proposals to bomb Syria outside the Houses of Parliament in London [REUTERS]
Anti-war protesters demonstrate against proposals to bomb Syria outside the Houses of Parliament in London [REUTERS]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Tulloch

John Tulloch is a British university lecturer who is best known as a survivor of the July 7, 2005 London Bombings. Continue reading “7/7 Survivor: Why we should not bomb Syria”

Qatar invests in Israeli soccer despite Gaza and war of words with Jerusalem

By James M. Dorsey

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Qatar is emerging for the second time in a decade as the only Arab state without a peace treaty and diplomatic relations to have invested in Israel. Qatar?s latest investment in Israeli Palestinian soccer comes against a backdrop of a war of words between the two countries over the Gulf state?s support for Hamas, the Islamist militia that controls the war-wracked Gaza Strip. Yet, Qatar?s relationship with Hamas makes it alongside Turkey the only country that can talk directly to the group as part of international efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. Continue reading “Qatar invests in Israeli soccer despite Gaza and war of words with Jerusalem”

The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide.

?By Gary Bass. The Economist

UNTIL 1971 Pakistan was made up of two parts: west and east. Both Muslim-dominated territories were born out of India?s bloody partition 24 years earlier, though they existed awkwardly 1,600km apart, divided by hostile Indian territory. Relations between the two halves were always poor. The west dominated: it had the capital, Islamabad, and greater political, economic and military clout. Its more warlike Pashtuns and prosperous Punjabis, among others, looked down on Bengali easterners as passive and backward. Continue reading “The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide.”

The New World Disorder

Tariq Ali, in this exclusive interview, seamlessly switches from contemporary historian to scholar-at-large to polemicist to raconteur, as he tackles many of the impinging issues of our times. By SASHI KUMAR, Frontline

He was in southern India after nearly 30 years. He had come to Kerala to deliver the Chinta Ravindran Memorial Lecture at Thrissur. My friend, the well-known writer Paul Zacharia and I were showing him the sights and we had just been to the site of the archaeological dig at Pattanam near Kodungalloor where he saw the unearthed pottery and artefacts that were reconstructing the fascinating story of an early society in these parts, already in maritime contact with West Asian ports and ancient Rome. From there we proceeded to the nearby Cheraman juma masjid, considered the first mosque in India, and perhaps the second in the world, dating back to A.D. 629. There was only a little evidence of that ancient patrimony left; the quaint old native structure had been all but pulled down some 50 years back and a more commodious, more standardised edifice built around it. All that was left were some pillars, a section of a doorway, another of a beamed ceiling and a crumbling staircase leading up to the attic, all in wood. But a photograph of the structure, as it was in 1905, hung on the wall. Continue reading “The New World Disorder”

Bangladesh: The ghosts of 1971

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The country’s independence war created divisions that persist to this day, in politics, religion and the media.

?Last Modified:?02 Mar 2013 12:32

In 1971, Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan and fought a bloody war to establish itself as a fledgling nation. More than four decades on, a country born out of troubles and bloodshed is experiencing growing pains. A war crimes tribunal that was meant to bring closure has instead brought old wounds back to haunt a new generation. At the heart of the story is the country?s main opposition party, the Jamaat-e-Islami. Continue reading “Bangladesh: The ghosts of 1971”

Homeward bound

Even the pit stop in Dhaka is threatened by Jamaat’s hartal tomorrow. I am hoping it will be even more of a flop than previous ones. Those of you who missed the interview in BBC (1:09 into the programme where I talk about Shahbagh). Look out for the oped in New York Times on Friday and the interview on Listening Post in Al Jazeera on Saturday.

My humble abode in Salzburg, but many old friends, Pablo Bartholomew, Bill Kouwenhowen and Nii Obodaii fresh from Chobi Mela VII. Stephen Mayes, Enrico Bossan, Yukiko
My humble abode in Salzburg, but old friends, Pablo Bartholomew, Bill Kouwenhoven and Nii Obodai fresh from Chobi Mela VII. Stephen Mayes, Enrico Bossan, Yukiko Yamagata and many others, plus all the new friends I made made, plus the sumptuous meals made it easier to bear

Here are some pictures taken on my way back:
It’s a hard life. On the rare occasions when I get bumped up to business class.
My plane waiting at the boarding gate
The courtyard
Sunny afternoon in Salzburg
 
 

Time Warner Cable Drops Current TV Upon Sale To Al Jazeera

Time Warner Al Jazeera

The newsroom at Al Jazeera headquarters in Doha, Qatar, on Nov. 14, 2006. (Photo credit: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK ?- Time Warner Cable pulled the plug on Current TV just hours after news of the cable channel’s sale to Al Jazeera became official.
“This channel is no longer available on Time Warner Cable,” read an on-screen message where Current TV used to be found. Continue reading “Time Warner Cable Drops Current TV Upon Sale To Al Jazeera”

Job Offer: Manager – Production: Al Jazeera

Location: Qatar

The Manager – Production is responsible for managing the technical production and execution of high-end creative content for the Network and its clients. They will manage a team of editors/compositors/3D designers and composers in providing a full suite of post-production facilities for the Creative Division.
Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities
Develop high-end animated content for a diverse range of purposes, both internally and externally of the channel. Produce work for Promotions, Programmes, and News.
Responsible for the day to day running of projects and harmonious project executions supervising and side-by-side with the Executive Producer ? Art Production and Executive Producer ? Music. Continue reading “Job Offer: Manager – Production: Al Jazeera”

AMNESTY USA ON SYRIAN GOVERNMENT'S WAR CRIMES: The whole truth?

by rahnuma ahmed

I’d thought of writing about Monsanto this week — the US-based biotech giant which is being sued by five million Brazilian farmers for 7.7 billion dollars for its seed-patenting, rightly dubbed “GM genocide” — but the press statement from Amnesty International USA, which had slipped into my inbox caught my eye.
Headlined, “Urgent: From Syria’s Frontlines“, it spoke of an Amnesty report to be released this week which has uncovered “widespread new evidence of heinous war crimes committed by the Syrian government armed forces and militias.” Amnesty’s ?investigations of the Houla and Dara massacres, claims the release, provides “unequivocal evidence that the Syrian army is responsible for gross violations of human rights on a massive scale.”
Only Bashar al-Assad’s armed forces and militias? Only the Syrian army? No mention of atrocities committed by the rebel forces? Of the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s admission that al-Qaeda is supporting the armed insurrection in Syria? Which, as Paul Joseph Watson points out, is consistent with reports that these same terrorists had helped to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi in Libya and had been airlifted to Syria by NATO forces? That al-Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has publicly lent support to Syrian rebel forces? (“Clinton: Al Qaeda, U.S., Helping Syrian Rebels,” Global Research, March 2, 2012). Continue reading “AMNESTY USA ON SYRIAN GOVERNMENT'S WAR CRIMES: The whole truth?”