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The 9/11 conspiracy thread
Since I took issue with the “9/11 Truth” movement in these two recent posts, I can’t let this pass without comment. Yvonne Ridley, the British former journalist, was taken hostage by the Taliban in 2001; she is now a Muslim fundamentalist and Al Qaeda apologist. Oh yes, and a member of George Galloway’s antiwar RESPECT party. Now Ridley has traveled
Gaza postscript
Now it seems that Human Rights Watch’s Marc Garlasco, who contradicted the IDF’s findings on the recent Gaza beach explosion, is backpedaling. According to this Jerusalem Post piece, HRW “could not contradict” the IDF’s finding that “unexploded ordnance” caused the blast. However, HRW continues to demand an independent inquiry, and rightly so. And Israel’s initial claim — that a Palestinian
JVC Jazz and beyond
Staying on top of New York’s jazz scene is a challenging task all year round. When the JVC Jazz Festival and the Vision Festival are happening at the same time, it’s just about impossible. The JVC festival, which lasts a week longer than the Vision, is of course better-funded, more visible and more mainstream, but it has its adventurous side.
Zahawie on Zionism
A while back, Slate published a C. Hitchens column alleging that an Iraqi official under Saddam, Wissam al-Zahawie, actually did scout out yellowcake uranium from Niger. I still find it dubious, but that’s not why I’m posting. The other day Slate posted a lengthy and apparently authentic reply from Zahawie himself. In the course of this reply, Zahawie defends himself
Beaumont on Medialens
Peter Beaumont of the Observer has harsh, well-chosen words for Medialens, the “watchdog” organization that targets liberal journalists who fail to parrot the ultra-left party line. Beaumont of course mentions Medialens’s nasty campaign against the antiwar site Iraq Body Count, for allegedly underestimating the toll of the war on Iraqi civilians. I won’t get into that debate here, but I’d
On that Gaza beach explosion…
Since there’s been some dispute about it in the comments, I wanted to make a note of this, from the London Times: Expert: Israeli Shell Caused DeathsA US-trained military expert has disputed an Israeli claim that it had nothing to do with an explosion that killed eight Palestinian beach-goers in the Gaza Strip. Last Friday’s incident has turned a critical
Slow posting
Suicides at Guantanamo, heinous coordinated bombings in Kirkuk (extremely close to Kurdistan), continued meltdown in Israel/Palestine — and I happen to be mired in other work. Two major jazz festivals are going on simultaneously in New York; some of my coverage will appear here. And I’ve got a jazz education piece pending for Jazz Times. But watch this space —
Suffer the children
An Israeli missile goes awry in Gaza: The Ghaliya family, husband Ali, wife Raisa, and three children, ages 1, 3 and 10, were having a picnic on the northern Gazan beach on a hot afternoon when they were all killed in the shelling. Israel has killed 14 Palestinians in Gaza in the last 24 hours. Assassins’ bullets fly in Ingushetia: