Siege and resistance in Gaza: an interview with Toufic Haddad
What is the background to the protests? The regime of control Israel imposes over Gaza is unprecedented globally, some academics calling it a “digital occupation”. Remote control machine guns and drones monitor and police this tiny territory, which is 360 square kilometres, while Gaza’s ac...CONTINUE READING
Why you should join the socialists
It’s a difficult time to be a capitalist. Not from an economic perspective. Research by Oxfam reveals that an incredible 82 percent of wealth produced around the world last year went to the top 1 percent, and that the 1 percent in Australia now have more wealth than the bottom 70 percent o...CONTINUE READING
The moral depravity at the heart of Australia’s refugee policy
At a rally early last month in Sydney, the crowd heard from a refugee on Manus Island, Walid Zazai, who repeated a painfully simple refrain: “We are human beings”. The words have refused to be forgotten, reverberating and cascading as the conditions on Manus worsened. The significance of t...CONTINUE READING
Media silence as Western-backed alliance destroys Yemen
For decades, the people of Yemen have suffered the moral and material indignities of foreign intervention, elite corruption and the social and economic underdevelopment that comes with them. Even before the conflict escalated to its current state, Yemen was the poorest country in the Middl...CONTINUE READING
Lebanon on a knife edge
Tensions in Lebanon are escalating once again as Saudi Arabia threatens to open up yet another front in its cold war with Iran. The trigger for the latest crisis was the resignation of prime minister Saad Hariri, who has been the Saudi’s main representative since the assassination of his f...CONTINUE READING
Only a fool or a liar would accept the Saudi ‘reform’ story
The US alliance with Saudi Arabia has been something of an embarrassment for the political establishment for years now, what with the Saudi monarchy’s total hostility to the most basic democratic freedoms, its ultra-bigoted policies targeting women and religious minorities and the country’...CONTINUE READING
Corbyn consolidates left turn in UK Labour
The British Labour Party’s annual conference, held in Brighton during the last week of September, was a remarkable event. Thousands of members took part over four days, buoyed by the astounding election result earlier this year. Attendance figures are not yet available, but it seems likely...CONTINUE READING
Welcome to the right side of history
“Welcome to the right side of history!” bellowed Tim Blackman, just one of the many impassioned speakers at the historic rally for marriage equality on 10 September in Sydney. The declaration was met with deafening applause and cheers from the 50,000-strong crowd, the largest protest for L...CONTINUE READING
What’s behind the Saudi-Qatar standoff?
Political tensions in the Middle East have risen yet again after Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed diplomatic sanctions and a harsh economic siege on Qatar. While the Saudis claim that the trigger was Qatari support for terrorism, the move reflects a series of strategic disputes produced...CONTINUE READING