Big Brother

Iris scans… DNA databases… the National Identity Register… facial recognition systems… numberplate tracking… Isn’t the Surveillance State getting a bit out of hand? Kids in prison… curfews… ASBOs handed out for doing things that aren’t against the law… people stuck in house arrest without charge or trial… refugees deported for their beliefs, facing torture and execution… anti-terrorism legislation being used … Read More

…this isn’t news.

I spent eleven days with the International Solidarity Movement in Jerusalem and the West Bank in 2002. I am not about to claim that this gave me a thorough knowledge of the conflict there, but it did give me a snapshot of life in an occupied nation. The bureaucratic complexity of Palestinian oppression by the Israeli state really hit home. … Read More