Vlad Jecan on Jun 21st 2009 Politics
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Twenty-two years ago, June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan made a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the Berlin Wall in which he implored Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.” Within a year, the wall that symbolized repression and tyranny did in fact come crashing down. But with the demise of the Soviet Union, there is something else that should likewise have been toppled: the U.S. empire of troops and bases that encircles the globe.
Mr. Obama, Tear down this empire. Continue Reading »
Vlad Jecan on Dec 30th 2008 Politics
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Antiwar.com has published an article regarding some interesting aspects of Israel’s position towards freedom of information. There are two essential things that one can read in the article, among others:
1. Israel is banning the access of journalists in the Gaza Strip
2. The Israeli military is creating its own YouTube channel in order to present footage from offensive missions.
Now this is seriously damaging the right for information and above all the events in the Gaza Strip should be covered by international journals from either mainstream media outlets or independent. The ban of journalists obligates them to rely on different sources that have or have not witnessed an actual mission and, above all, they become dependent of official information that is given by the Israeli government or by Hamas spokesmen. In consequence, they cannot witness events for themselves.
The YouTube channel will, of course, broadcast the footage that the military wants it to be public and all dirty aspects of war will be censored. This somehow reminds me of the ‘Deutche Vochenschau’ which, in the Second World War, Germany presented news of victories to the general public even in the last months of the war.
It seems clear that Israel is tryin to control information, this is a serious violation of the right for information and freedom of speech in consequence. They might try to cover the ‘collateral damage’ made by their attacks such as the killing of civilians. However, in the same time, they might try to cover up something bigger, so what are they hiding?
image: the New York Times
