‘The abduction of Alan Johnston in Gaza is cruel and terrifying. However, we don’t honour persecuted journalists and writers around the...
CATEGORY: Comment
Troubled times in Gaza
When Ariel Sharon declared his intention to withdraw Israeli settlers from Gaza in 2004, the Palestinian leadership was quick to declare its...
Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) – Literature as encouragement
‘I doubt that literature has ever triumphed over repression. I think of Hitler in his bunker, with a pistol at his temple and with the Red Army only...
‘We don’t need no badges
The world of blogging, and particularly political blogging, has grown massively in the past few years. As blogging itself reaches its tenth...
Ban on niqab veils in UK schools not enough
British Education Secretary Alan Johnson’s announcement this week that head teachers are free to ban schoolchildren from wearing the niqab (full...
Failure to challenge religious censorship will carry a severe price
On the Saturday before Christmas 2004, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in Britain’s East Midlands was in a state of siege. Children who had come...
Dishonour and death in India
Eighteen-year-old Maimun, filled with dreams of romantic love, made the mistake of eloping with Idris, who was already married with two children. It...
Fight injustice whatever the cost
Why, when everyone else accused under Article 301 [a controversial article of Turkey’s penal code, introduced in June 2005, that makes it a crime to...