Overland literary journal » Michael Brull

On the death of Mohamed Morsi

Michael Brull — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 01:58:43 +0000

In 2011, Egypt was a country that offered hope to people across the region, and across the world people were inspired. Millions took to the streets, at considerable risk, and for too many, at considerable cost. In just two and a half years, the fight for democracy was reversed, if not entirely defeated.

The battle for the Greens

Michael Brull — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 02:46:57 +0000

It seems the Greens don’t do politics so differently after all.

The left and anti-Semitism

Michael Brull — Mon, 09 May 2016 02:18:55 +0000

Arguing over whether criticising Israel or Zionism is a form of racism is an almost insane inversion of reality: 58 per cent of Israelis think Israel practices apartheid in some (or many) ways. Israel has ruled over millions of Palestinians since 1967 without granting them basic civil or political rights. Jewish settlers in the West Bank have rights under Israeli law denied to Palestinians living in the same territory.

On the Greste case

Michael Brull — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 01:51:09 +0000

Australian journalist Peter Greste, who works for Al Jazeera, has been sentenced to seven years jail in Egypt, along with other reporters at the news agency. In a quick response to the convictions, I want to comment on the Australian reaction, the broader nature of Al Jazeera's reporting in Egypt, and put the case in the context of the military coup last year.

What the West has wrought in the Middle East

Michael Brull — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 00:35:53 +0000

Iraq is back on the mainstream media’s map, after having fallen off it for years. The oppressive government of Nouri al-Maliki interested few, and a survey last year finding that some 460 800 Iraqis died because of the 2003 invasion sunk without much attention.

Andrew Bolt: exposed by his own freedom

Michael Brull — Mon, 05 May 2014 05:35:15 +0000

The state of debate over the amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act suggested by Attorney General George Brandis continues to be bleak. Most recently, two people from the Human Rights Law Centre happily wrote that while they opposed bans on street...

Fiddling while Palestine burns

Michael Brull — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 23:36:55 +0000

It seems to me that, now, it is taken for granted that Israel treats the Palestinians badly in some quarters, and instead of discussing this further, trying to persuade the unconvinced, many have moved on to discussion of BDS. Public panels are often devoted to this subject, and many writers are intensely concerned about things like the cultural boycott, which had an unusually high profile victory recently in relation to Scarlett Johansson.

Anti-Semitism at Bondi

Michael Brull — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 01:32:00 +0000

The original posting of the ABC news story on Facebook has been deleted, most likely because of the deluge of racist responses. These ranged from suggestions that the Jews deserved it and that there should be no Jewish Australians anyway because we’re one nation to the suggestion that the Jews deserved it because of Israel, countered by brisk accusations about the problems with Muslims and so on.

The media and the Intervention

Michael Brull — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 23:57:42 +0000

At one stage, it seemed that both parties were making noises distancing themselves in some way from the Intervention. The ALP criticised the initial roll-out of the Intervention, and said it would build a new relationship with Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Coalition spokesman on Indigenous Affairs, Senator Nigel Scullion made comments critical of the Intervention too. Perhaps somewhere, opposition to the Intervention in public consciousness was sinking in, and its opponents had made some gains.

This election day, very little is actually up for vote

Michael Brull — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 00:59:18 +0000

For a leftist, what hope can there be for an election? Either the ALP will win, or the Coalition will. On leftist issues, the results will be disastrous. On foreign policy, the differences are negligible. Both parties favour strong alliances with Anglo-US imperialism, their wars, puppet states and bombings. On asylum seekers, there’s been a race to find somewhere below the gutter by both major parties.

Education and indoctrination

Michael Brull — Wed, 29 May 2013 00:06:53 +0000

Ben Zygier was born in suburban Melbourne in 1976. In 2010, he died a secret prisoner, about whom the Israeli military censor prevented the media from writing. How did this happen?

The convictions of journalists

Michael Brull — Tue, 21 May 2013 01:11:14 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, ABC’s Jonathan Green wrote an article about journalism. In it, he claimed that ‘journalism is a trade in which personal conviction is one of two things: an irrelevance or a death sentence. Journalism tainted by conviction just isn’t. That’s the simple truth of it.’ I suspect among many journalists there is a seductive appeal to this kind of claim. They like to think of themselves as dispassionate and objective, pursuers and reporters of Truth.

My coming out story

Michael Brull — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:50:39 +0000

In January, I asked Stella Young, editor of Ramp Up, to define disability. I was facing drastic surgery, which would result in me wearing a stoma bag for at least three months. I wasn’t sure if wearing a stoma bag would make me a person with a disability.

Best of 2012: From Brull’s bookshelf

Michael Brull — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:02:05 +0000

Other folks at Overland have been talking about books they enjoyed this year, and I recommended books last year, so thought I’d do it again – this time before Christmas.

A new form of ‘supporting’ Israel

Michael Brull — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 23:41:29 +0000

Israel has not even needed a pretext for its latest murderous rampage. It simply assassinated a Palestinian, triggering predictable retaliation, and the response from Western intellectuals, pundits and governments has been that Israel has a right to defend itself.