Bartlett's Blog

The crucial role the internet is playing in enabling Iranians (and the rest of the world) to access uncensored information about what is happening in the post-election dispute http://blogs.crikey.com.au/bartlett/2009/06/17/the-revolution-will-be-twittered/ has been well documented.  It is obvious that social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs are very important, otherwise the Iranian government would not be putting so much effort into trying to prevent online access. Avaaz.org often uses ...

As the speech itself acknowledges, a single speech can't resolve things.  But it is impossible to overstate how significant it would be if the vision President Obama expresses and aspires to in this speech is successful.  The text of the speech is here, or here for translations into 14 other languages.  It is worth taking the time to listen to and watch as well.

Back in March I wrote about Nazanin Afshin-Jan, a campaigner I met at a human rights conference in Taiwan who focused a lot of her efforts on trying to bring about an end to the Iranian government’s practice of allowing the execution of children. Recent news reports suggest the efforts of Nazanin and other human rights campaigners in this area may have born some fruit, with this report quoting an Iranian ...

Sometimes I find it strange that there is so little public debate about the ongoing engagement of Australian troops in Afghanistan. As this piece from The Age last October noted, "recent polling indicates declining public support, with half saying the troops should be pulled out", even though "there is bipartisan support for that war from the major parties" and "Labor leader Kevin Rudd has gone so far as to ...

A couple of months ago I wrote about a speech I witnessed in Brisbane by Malalai Joya, a 28 year old female member of the Afghanistan Parliament. Among many other things, she has spoken out against the warlords who have seats in the Parliament and opposed recent legislation which granted an amnesty for any war crimes committed within the last 25 years. According to a report in the ...

A further piece in recognition of International Women’s Day to follow on from my previous post about Afghanistan. This article from the Open Democracy site by Nasrin Alavi gives a fascinating insight into the challenges faced by women in modern Iran. On one hand, it is clear women are participating in Iranian society in very significant ways: the nationwide literacy rate for girls aged between 15 and 24 has ...

I wrote a blog post at the end of 2005 about Malalai Joya, a young female Afghan Member of Parliament who had caught my attention when I saw report of her speaking out against the warlords, war criminals and drugs barons she said were in the Parliament and holding senior government positions - calling them "blood sucking bats" clawing at the men and women of her country. This ...

While debate on the Land Rights Bill continued in the Senate and debate started on the anti-refugee legislation in the House of Reps, those MPs and Senators not immediately involved in the debates continue on with a lot of other business.

The profoundly depressing violence in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel continues unabated. Whilst heartbreaking war and conflict is hardly new in this region, or many other parts of the world, I can’t shake the feeling that this particular outbreak will hit us much more directly.

This will be the last entry I will do on this conflict. I am sure people can find their own links and information from many of the sources I've provided in my previous four entries (here, here, here and here). It seems that Gaza has slipped out of the focus of most of the media, which is perhaps understandable but does not mean that all is now fine there. ...

Click here for some more links to items on this issue.

Click here for a list of more links to reports, views and assessments on this issue.

I did a post recently on the escalation of conflict by the Israeli government on Palestinians in Gaza and now also in Lebanon (according to this report, bombing a powerplant there too.). As I said then, this is one issue that I have never been able to see a solution to, but at least in the past I could feel thankful that it was not likely to ...

A piece on Antony Loewenstein’s blog drew my attention to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Paul Sheehan. Seen by many as a conservative, pro-Israeli, anti-Muslim commentator, he wrote: as someone who has given support to Israel, and taken a hard line against Muslim racism, I can no longer draw any other conclusion than that the combustible policies of the Israeli Government have become a danger ...

The Australian government has decided to send another 200 troops to Afghanistan. I’d be interested to know people’s views about our ongoing involvement in this country.

By the look of the letters pages in the papers, and the comments of many politicians globally, the success of Hamas in the Palestinian elections is engaging the thoughts of many people. The first thought that entered my head when I heard of this victory was 'maybe only Nixon could have gone to China', so maybe only Hamas can produce the path to genuine peace in the region. ...

I can't say I'm enjoying being involved in Australian politics much at the moment, but whenever I'm at risk of getting too maudlin about it, there's always plenty of reminders that politics is a hell of a lot tougher and more difficult in many other parts of the world. One example came with the recent sitting of the new Afghanistan Parliament. One newly elected member of that Parliament ...