Mossad contradicted Netanyahu on Iran nuclear programme – Al Jazeera PM Netanyahu repeatedly speaks and acts in bad faith with the aim of getting some kind of war started on Iran. A leader of a nuclear weapons state suffering from obsession and having such bad aims and political judgement is a threat to us all. With a population roughly 10 times bigger than Israel’s, the … Continue reading Help Netanyahu to come to his senses
TFF PressInfo # 310: Terrorism – small dot in a larger pictureWhat is terrorism? Why do we talk much more about that than other types of deaths? Why is the word misused?What has nuclear weapons – that politicians and media hardly ever talk about – got to do with terror?Why should we all be careful not to exaggerate the phenomenon of terror? Continue reading TFF PressInfo # 310: Terrorism – small dot in a larger picture
On political propaganda, media wars and moreJan Oberg interview with RT International – YouTube On political propaganda, counter-propaganda – the case of Ukraine – and how news have become commodities to be sold on a market and undermining democracy and people’s wish to engage in politics. Freedom of expression and freedom of deception hand in hand… Continue reading Political propaganda: Ukraine, media deception and democracy
My short open letter concerning the horrific attacks in Copenhagen in the weekend and the official reaction to them.http://ow.ly/JdIgI – Share if you find it meaningful.Thanks! Continue reading I am not a Dane: Short open letter
Hermed kommentarer jeg har gjort på sociale medier de sidste dage. De begynder kort efter attentatet på Krudttønden og afsluttes længst nede med indlægget “I AM NOT DANISH – I aften er jeg ikke dansk”, skrevet kort efter mindehøjtideligheden mandag aften den 16 februar. Statsministeren: Sådan skal Danmark ikke være http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Politik/2015/02/14/200623.htmDet kan man jo kun være enig i: Danmark skal ikke være et land som … Continue reading Volden i København – og reaktionen på den
Just out! TFF PressInfo # 309Learn conflict and peace in 20 minutes11.000 people around the world just got it in their mailbox. If you did not, write to press@transnational.org Continue reading TFF PressInfo # 309: Learn conflict and peace in 20 minutes
When I watch this documentary, Iraq: Shattered Heritage, I cannot but ask myself: Who are the barbarians of our time? What is the mote and what is the beam in this world? Who tells Russia that “big countries shall not bully smaller countries”? Isn’t it time for the Western world to acknowledge its own dark sides and stop projecting them on everybody else? I am … Continue reading Who are the barbarians of our time?
TFF PressInfo # 308The Minsk Agreement and what must be done now… This agreement will either hold or spell the outbreak of major war in Europe. PSYou may get TFF PressInfos winging into you mailbox too – just write to pressinfo@transnational.org Continue reading TFF PressInfo # 308 The Minsk Agreement – A fragile 2nd step
What is needed now in Minsk for the process to succeed in the future.Jan Oberg interview with RT International right before the Summit’s start – YouTube Continue reading What is needed now in Minsk to secure peace in the future
We need the UN in the Ukraine conflict! Has the world dropped it entirely?Jan Oberg, director, Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research – on Soundcloud/RT – http://ow.ly/IU9Wq Continue reading ‘Can’t look to the past to make peace’
Is Ukraine a Proxy Western-Russia War?U.S. Weighs Arming Kiev as Violence Soars | Democracy Now!By Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of New York University If you do not have the time to read long articles, spend 20 min on understanding what has happened, is happening and could now very well happen: War in Europe. Isn’t that worth 20 min of your time? Where would you find … Continue reading Is Ukraine a Proxy Western-Russia War?
Why Arming Kiev Is a Really, Really Bad IdeaBy Stephen M. Walt at Harvard University A brilliant theory-based, cohesive series of arguments and a good criticism of the recent report from three U.S. “think” tanks that has nothing to do with independent research. If you read only one a few articles on the issue of arming Ukraine, this should be among them. PS While this … Continue reading ► ► Why Arming Kiev Is a Really, Really Bad Idea
Ved læsningen af denne artikel på Danmarks Radios hjemmeside finder jeg anledning til at spørge: Fogh Rasmussen tager mange penge for at holde foredrag, hører man.Gad vide hvor meget han skal have for også at holde mund indimellem? Hér er i øvrigt endnu et eksempel på DR’s ‘objektive’ journalistik og evne til at belyse en sag fra flere sider: Først full blast til Fogh og … Continue reading DR krigslegitimerende journalistik og Fogh Rasmussens krigshets
NATO strengthens forces in eastern Europe against Russia risk – Reuters This is indeed worrying and will cause a tough Russian response at some point. However, it is a little less militaristic than I had feared (or the more worrying steps are not made public). NATO talks war preparation while Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande are on diplomatic mission to Kiev and Moscow with a … Continue reading NATO strengthens forces in Eastern Europe
Freedom of expression fundamentalism – or what happened to Charlie?Four main reasons you need to be wise – and not make New Atheism your new creed! This is TFF PressInfo # 304. You can get these fast-growing PressInfos winging into you e-box too. Just write to pressinfo@transnational.org Continue reading Wisdom of expression
Med undtagelse af den altfor brede pensel hvormed der i interviewet tales om “araberne” og “den arabiske kultur” så siger jeg bare: Tak, Herbert! Det er så vigtigt at nogen tør sige at det også handler om Vestens hærgen i Mellemøsten og at vi må se fremad og diskutere hvordan vi får styr på fremtidens meget meget mere blandede samfund. Det er egentlig utroligt at … Continue reading Klogt sagt mod ytringsfrihedsfundamentalismen!
Richest 1% will own more than all the rest by 2016! – Oxfam report states. The West has had about 300 years to create a more fair world – as it thought of itself as a civilising factor and as the First World, as a model. But it has only made things worse. It has accumulated wealth to itself and elites in allied countries. This … Continue reading The world’s richest 1% will own more than all the rest by 2016!
Interview with RT International on relationship between Sweden and Israel on YouTube.And we end it with a good laugh about my advice to PM Netanyahu! Continue reading The Swedish-Israeli crisis
After Paris attacks, Pope Francis speaks out against insulting religions: “You can’t kill in the name of a religion. That is an aberration.” And “You can’t provoke, you can’t insult the faith of others, you can’t make fun of faith.” Thank God there is such a wise Pope! If it couldn’t be misunderstood I would say “I’m Pope”! Remember also Gandhi: “There can be no … Continue reading If one could say so I would: “I’m Pope!”
Text: • Who of them will say: “My belief in my Western identity and our values and culture is strong. Therefore, I am Security, Police and Intelligence – but I am also Nonviolence, Dialogue and Reconciliation. And I feel safe when I take the first step away from the spiral of violence. • Let me repeat for a thousandth time that nonviolence is of the … Continue reading Would one European leader say “nonviolence” too?
Eleven points as a reflection on the terror in Paris and – not the least – the reactions to it*:
1. What was this an attack on?
Was that attack an attack on freedom of speech as such, on democracy, even on the whole Western culture and lifestyle, as was maintained throughout? Or was it, more limited, a revenge directed at one weekly magazine for what some perceive as blasphemy?
2. Is freedom of expression practised or curtailed for various reasons?
How real is that freedom in the West? Just a couple of days before the Paris massacre PEN in the U.S. published a report – Global Chilling – finding that about 75% of writers report that they are influenced by the NSA listening and abstain from taking up certain subjects or perspectives? Self-censorship, in other words. Finally, most of the political leaders marching in Paris on Sunday January 11 have clamped down on media, such as Turkey and Egypt.
I must admit that I have experienced limitations in the practise of that freedom in my work with Western media and it is decades ago I draw the conclusion that things like political correctness, ownership, commercial/market considerations and journalists’ need for good relations with power – e.g. to obtain interviews – play a role.
I’ve been on the ground in conflict zones and returning home to see reports so biased to tell very little of what I’ve seen myself. And we’ve recently seen lots of cases from the U.S. academic world where there’s been a clampdown on certain views, pulications, courses and professors – not the least in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Or, you look at the proportions between government fund available for peace research and military research in virtually every Western society; free research is a vital element in the self-understanding of the West. But how much of do we have?
3. Freedom doesn’t mean duty.
Is freedom of expression really 100% irrespective of how much the practise of that freedom is hurtful, offending, humiliating or discriminatory against other peoples, religions and cultures? Even if you can express your opinions freely it is not always what we should do.
Or, rather, of violence against violence + terrorism against terrorism. Among the marchers against terrorism and for freedom of expression we find leaders from France, Denmark, Egypt, Italy, Turkey, Russia, the U.S., Israel, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Bahrein and Ukraine. What do they have in common? A deep belief in violence – violence of various types: 9-10 of them presently fighting foreign wars (mostly against or … Continue reading Depiction of the Spiral of Violence
I believe this is going to be an iconic image of something that will be a turning point in Europe and, likely too, the generalised West. Is this the 9/11 moment for Europe? Whether intended or not, the government leaders marching in Paris today will tomorrow begin a special ‘war on terror’ in Europe – clamping down on all of us, curtailing freedoms – including … Continue reading Europe’s 9/11 moment ?
En beslægtet version på engelsk hér:
Blandt verdens mange voldelige handlinger, krige og terrorhandlinger vælger Danmarks Radio at afholde en partilederdebat om netop denne terroraktion, der – så tragisk og afskyelig som den er – kostede 12 mennesker livet på et lille ugeblad i Paris. Den skal, hedder det – og tages uden videre som udgangspunkt for hele debatten – handle om ytringsfrihed og demokrati. Her en video fra debatten.
Spørgsmål 1:
Hvad er kriterierne for hvornår der gøres så meget ud af en international begivenhed at der hasteindkaldes til en times partilederdebat direkte efter TV-Avisen? Jeg kan ikke huske det skete under f.eks. Jugoslavienkrigene, besættelsen af Irak, Libyen eller Israels angreb for nogle måneder siden på Gaza hvor over 2000 blev dræbt.
Spørgsmål 2:
Hvordan ser forbindelseskæden ud mellem drabene i Paris og det, der af DR og alle politikere forstås (uden diskussion) som et angreb, ikke på et bestemt medie men på hele “vores” demokrati og ytringsfrihed? Hvad der således tages for givet er altid interessant – og vigtigt for demokratiet og ytringsfriheden – at stille spørgsmålstegn ved. Det være hermed gjort fordi det er svært at tro at nogen fundamentalist eller forstyrret person skulle forestille sig at ét angreb på et lille ugeblad og 12 dræbte kan true hele den vestlige verden i sin grundvold.
De 8 politkere er helt enige om – og det er rigtigt og vigtigt at få sagt til alle i Danmark – at alle muslimer ikke slås i hartkorn med de formodentligt muslimske ekstremister som begik denne massakre.
Desværre bliver de også lynhurtigt enige – under ledelse af statsministeren – at det skete ikke har årsager, der har noget som helst med vor egen politik, holdninger, krige etc. at gøre. Jeg tager i parantes hatten af for de to udspørgere, Kim Bildsøe Lassen og Ask Rostrup, der flere gange forsøgte men blev afvist af alle otte. Een partileder mente endog at man ikke skulle analysere sig ihjel.
Nej, de to eneste argumenter vi fik
Continue reading “Partilederdebatten om attentatet på Charlie Hebdo”En bredere version på engelsk hér
En 10-punkt reflektion om terror-aktionen i Paris og – ikke mindst – reaktionerne på den dagen efter:
1. Er de frygtelige mord i Paris et angreb på ytringsfriheden og hele vestverden eller en hævn for hvad nogen måtte anse som blasfemi?
2. Hvor reel er ytringsfriheden i praksis i den vestlige verden? Vi har lige set en rapport fra PEN i USA, der viser at henved 75% af skribenter siger at de er påvirket af NSAs aflytning og – selvcensurerende – afstår fra at tage visse ting op.
3. Selvom man kan ytre sig frit så hører det til god tone at ikke altid gøre det. Jeg kan f.eks. afstå fra en kommentar til et andet menneske om dette menneskes tro fordi jeg ikke ønsker at krænke hende eller ham i denne tro. Men jeg har friheden til at gøre det.
Hvordan er det gået til at ord som respekt, hensyntagen og indlevelse er gået i glemmebogen?
Continue reading “Vi er alle Charlie: Er dén historie nu så enkel ?”Just published by PEN in the US: Global Chilling: The Impact of Mass Surveillance on International WritersThis is deeply disturbing: “Concern about surveillance is now nearly as high among writers living in democracies (75%) as among those living in non-democracies (80%).The levels of self-censorship reported by writers living in democratic countries are approaching the levels reported by writers living in authoritarian or semi-democratic countries.And writers … Continue reading Global Chilling: The Impact of Mass Surveillance on International Writers
Jan Oberg interview with RT International on rise of islamophobia in SwedenA slightly different perspective from what you generally hear again and again: everybody coming to Sweden is a burden.We have to stop this nonsense and stop the Swedish Democrats from getting away with it! Continue reading Interview with RT International
P1 Debat: Hvad nytter krigen (den gør altså nytte)– gør det igen – som om det var en oprigtig holdning til fred – og spørger om krigen kan være en vej til fred. Her sidder så en soldat og en war studies professor på den en side og Lene Junker på den anden side, der skal forklare freden. Disse programmer – som heldagsprogrammet for nyligt, … Continue reading P1 Debat gør det igen
Flere turister tager på ferie i krigszoner Årtiers bevidstløs underholdnings- og medievold har gjort sit. Psychic numbing – psykisk ufølsomhed – hedder én tolkning af den hér slags perverse sammenblanding af den grufulde virkelighed og en på den sjove oplever. At folk flest ikke forstår en pind af de underliggende konflikter eller menneskers bevæggrunde – for ikke at tale om lidelser – i konfliktzoner spiller … Continue reading Krigsturisme
This is one more alarming news out of Burundi. TFF and I have been involved there between 1998 and 2012. It was a splendid UN mission for which the Burundian government should have been grateful. But it was always negative to the UN and thought it could solve all problems itself. And only causing more. Burundi is in a very serious situation now. I have … Continue reading The UN closes its mission in Burundi
OSCE: Kiev, pro-Russians agree in principle on truce in LuhanskInterview with Jan Oberg about ceasefires as such and what it takes to make them hold and become the first step toward a sustainable peace. Continue reading Comment on ceasefire and how it is related to peace-building
Lund 14:e november 2014 Hej Bildbevisen här är skrattretande. Av 6 bilder på SVT visar bara 2 ett “spår” i havsbotten. Sedan är det den fina björken och 3 visar politiker. Ofrivilligt komiskt: Annie Löff som bevis för ryska ubåtar! Och medier och politiker pekar ut Ryssland utan minsta bevis. Försvaret gör det inte men t ex Jan Björklund gör. 15 min på Aktuellt i … Continue reading Öppet brev till SVT och “Aktuellt” om “ubåten”
Så gik SF og EL med til at skære 1,5 milliarder væk fra udviklingsbistanden – ifølge Politiken og DR.
Det er da helt fint. Fra nu af véd vi at der ikke kan blive tale om at bruge 30 milliarder kroner eller mere på nye kampfly som vi kun skal bruge til at bombe andre lande med og skabe endnu flere flygtninge.
Men det er da interessant at det lige netop er udviklingsbistanden, der skal reduceres. Fandtes der slet slet ikke noget andet område man kunne have taget 1,5 milliarder kroner fra?
Jeg ser sådan på sammenhængen: Hvis vi gav meget mere til at afhjælpe millioners nød ville DK fremstå som en generøs stat i stedet for en bøllestat. Og med højnet udvikling overalt ville der være færre spændinger, mindre vold og derfor færre flygtninge i verden.
Nå, men hvis danske politikere – hele spektret – kan gå den gale vej i samlet trop vedrørende international politik, så gør de det jo i disse år. Og hellere en elendig aftale, som EL og SF mener det er, end
Continue reading “Udviklingsbistanden og de næste kampfly – fint vi ikke har råd”Till Svenska Dagbladets utrikesredaktörJesper Sundénjesper.sunden@svd.se Hej Jesper Sundén Du skriver i dag i din artikel under den fantastiska rubriken: att Sovjet är på väg tillbaka”: “Georgien som efter ryskt ingripande 2008 förlorade stora delar av sitt territorium när Sydossetien och Abchazien bröt sig ur landet. Nu drabbar det som bekant Ukraina.” Är det så att du inte vet någonting om denne konflikt och historien bakom … Continue reading Exempel på Svenska Dagbladet russofobiska propaganda – och okunnighet
Get TFF PressInfoLet it wing into you e-mail inbox!A rapidly growing peace politics e-mail service. It’s topical, for peace, and well-researched and sometimes provocative. Points you don’t often get in the media.It is free and you can unsub anytime with a click. Why not try it now?Sign up here… Continue reading TFF PressInfo! Let it wing into your e-mail inbox
Before Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margot Wallström, gets too excited about the Russian Bear: Here is the story of NATO’s Iron Sword 2014 exercise! Wouldn’t it be great if, say, Svenska Dagbladet, DN, Politiken, Sydsvenskan, DR.dk., SVT.se., Göteborgs-Posten, Jyllands-Posten, Information, BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Frankfurter Allgemeine, The Guardian . . . had mentioned this exercise somewhere? Just as a matter of … Continue reading Before Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wallström, gets too excited…
TFF PressInfo # 288 – Where it all went wrong and lessons were never learnt Why the “conflict management” and “peace making” by the West during the dissolution of Yugoslavia was much more important for our time and what happens now than anticipated. Much of the terrible crisis we see today was started by policies and principles introduced for the first time in Yugoslavia from … Continue reading ► ► TFF PressInfo # 288 – Where it all went wrong and lessons were never learnt
26 years ago on November 9: Fall of the Berlin Wall It was thanks to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that this symbol of division fell.In my view, one of the greatest statesmen of our times – unfortunately never supported by exploited by a triumphalist, winner-takes-it-all West. Those of us who remember those days and went down to hammer down that Wall can never ever forget! … Continue reading 26 years ago on November 9: Fall of the Berlin Wall
Public Lecture Where: Orkanen, room D131When: 16:00 – 18:00What: Ukraine – A Broader Conflict Diagnosis Towards Peace Instead of a New Cold War with lecturer Jan Öberg UF Malmö welcomes Jan Öberg, Director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF), to discuss with us the Russia-Ukraine situation, and how it is an example of conflict-creation and confrontation. TFF is an independent think … Continue reading Ukraine – Conflict Diagnosis and How To Avoid New Cold War
TFF PressInfo # 286 Sweden’s submergency This is ultimately about the security of the Swedish people and the region. Investigate the Swedish military’s performance. Take into account other possibilities such as NATO regular presence. Be aware of bought journalism. Demand better security analyses of our media. Continue reading TFF PressInfo # 286 – Sweden’s submergency
Sweden’s mystery submarine search exposed Jan Oberg on RT on the funny hunt and the boulevard press-like coverage of it. The interview comes in the wake of the TFF PressInfo sent out yesterday that only two American and one Norwegian, but no Swedish media, found worthy dealing with. By the way, the hunt for an object is already sliding down the Swedish media’s agenda – … Continue reading ► ► Sweden’s mystery submarine search exposed
TFF PressInfo # 285: Vilken ubåt i Sverige?By Jan Oberg, TFF director Continue reading TFF PressInfo # 285: Vilken ubåt i Sverige?
TFF PressInfo # 285: What submarine in Sweden? From Swedish defence force to farce – and boulevard press journalism. Who is playing with our security? Continue reading TFF PressInfo # 285: What submarine in Sweden?
Artikel tillsammans med Henrik Hedlund om Lunds kulturella framtid – i Sydsvenska Dagbladet på Konstkvällen i Lund, den 18. oktober 2014. Continue reading Här är förslagen som kan förhindra att Lund blir en kulturell öken
Frank Gehry on his ground-breaking new gallery designIsn’t it just amasing what human creativity and a sense of beauty can create? This is a magnificent new ‘sculptured’ building by Frank Gehry, mostly known perhaps for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Now, imagine that the profession called politician could show us just one man or woman with the same free spirit and mind, just a fraction … Continue reading Frank Gehry – is there one politician somewhere with a similar creativity
Konstkvällen – Art Night – i LundKatalog över allt som händer – Catalogue with all events! Dagens efter hos mig: Konstsöndag 14-17 – Art Sunday 14-17 at my studio the day after. WELCOME !! Continue reading Konstkvällen – Art Night – i Lund – Catalogue
The biiiiig thing we all deny: Nuclear weapons and the risk of killing humankind.Intro by Jan Oberg to:“U.S. nuclear policy is taking the wrong road” by TFF Associate David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Continue reading TFF PressInfo 284: The biiig thing we all deny
Voting has begun in Bosnia in an election dominated by nationalist rhetoric and a stagnant economy. A good 2000 pages by three scholars who were present during the wars in Yugoslavia and did not buy the Western political and media simplifications and blame game. Neither did they buy the Western ‘peace’ making, the results of which can be seen in today’s Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia … Continue reading ► ► Bosnia today and Yugoslavia then
Oberg PhotoGraphics StudioKonstkvällen – Art Night – in Lund, October 18 17-22 “Departure 2014” © Jan Oberg 2014 Continue reading Oberg PhotoGraphics Studio på Konstkvällen
☮ ☮ TFF PressInfo 283: Nobel’s Peace Prize is not a human rights prize The Nobel Committee again ignores Alfred Nobel’s words and spirit. Just spend 3 minutes and read Nobel’s will. Establish a new committee composed of experts in peace and not retired members of parliament. Peace people around the world have been deprived of their prize and I say so even though I … Continue reading ☮ ☮ TFF PressInfo 283: Nobel’s Peace Prize is not a human rights prize