Sep 4, 2004
WhatsonUK, September 2004 For many years it seemed all but invisible. For a few months after 9/11 you’d be forgiven for thinking it had been utterly extinguished. But the other America, the dissident America, was always alive and over the last two years it’s been kicking with increasing force and rising impatience. On 15th February… Read more
Jun 26, 2004
The Guardian, 26 June, 2004 Review: Why Arnold Matters: The Rise of a Cultural Icon by Michael Blitz and Louise Krasniewicz, Basic Books After Arnold Schwarzenegger’s election victory in California, no one wants to be caught under-estimating the power of celebrity. But there’s a danger of over-estimating it, and of over-simplifying it, too. Why Arnold… Read more
May 31, 2004
Prepared for the Radical Activist Network (London), spring 2004 [In response to a discussion on Palestine, I prepared notes on some of the questions that had arisen relating to Judaism, Jews, Zionism, and anti-semitism. ] The Israel lobby routinely deploys the charge of anti-semitism against supporters of the Palestinians, and uses the sufferings of Jews to justify… Read more
May 20, 2004
Keynote for Red Pepper, June 2004 The images of occupying troops torturing and abusing Iraqi detainees are a challenge to every British and US citizen. These horrors are being perpetrated in our name, and unless we act to stop them, we are culpable. But to stop them, we have to understand them, along with the… Read more
Feb 25, 2004
Indian Express, February 2004 For some years now, the absence of India-Pakistan cricket has been the hole in the heart of the world game. It deprives cricket-livers of an attractive, exciting fixture and it undermines the sub-continent’s claim to be the game’s progressive new power house. More importantly, it is a constant reminder of the… Read more
Oct 17, 2003
Review of Dude, Where’s My Country? by Michael Moore The Independent, 17 October 2003 Can the left communicate to a wide popular audience? Can it free itself of the prison of jargon? Can it reach out to the unconverted? New Labour and its co-thinkers in the Democratic party decided that the only answer to these… Read more
Sep 3, 2003
Review of Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist by Alton Chase The Independent, 3 September 2003 For sixteen years, Ted Kaczynski led the FBI a merry dance, stuffing his intricately crafted parcel bombs with tantalising, impenetrable clues. By 1995, his campaign had struck sixteen targets – grad students, computer store managers,… Read more
Jun 21, 2003
Notes for a speech by Mike Marqusee at ‘Days of Hope’ Seminar organised by Signs of the Times 21 June 2003 I have been asked to respond to two questions. 1. Organisationally the left outside of Labour is dominated by the Leninist groups, particularly the SWP, does their practice act as a bloc on a… Read more
May 5, 2003
The Guardian, 5 May 2003 Tam Dalyell has an honourable record as a parliamentary maverick and forensic critic of military adventures, but his comment on the alleged Jewish influence on US and British war policy should be seen for what it is – an anti-semitic outburst. Although Dalyell does not appear to have used the… Read more
Feb 1, 2003
1 February, 2003 On last September’s 400,000 strong anti-war demonstration in London, I was asked by an excited 15 year old: “How can Blair go ahead with the war now? With so many people against him?” Gently, I broke the news. It would take more than one demonstration to stop this war. But I also… Read more
