Glenn Greenwald's Blog, page 33

A Key Similarity Between Snowden Leak and Panama Papers: Scandal Is What’s Been Legalized

FROM THE STARTof the reporting based onEdward Snowden’s leaked document archive, government defendersinsisted that no illegal behavior was revealed. That was always false: Multiple courts have now found the domestic metadata spying program in violation of the Constitution and relevant statutesand have issued similar rulings forother mass surveillance programs; numerous articleson NSA and GCHQ documented the targeting of people and groups for blatantlypoliticalor legallyimpermissiblepurposes;...

Fighting Israeli Occupying Forces Is “Terrorism.” Boycotting Is “Anti-Semitism.” What’s Allowed?

THAT “TERRORISM” IS a malleable term of propaganda, with no fixed meaning or consistent application, is now quite well-established. Still,its recent application to a spate of violence targeting Israel’s occupying soldiers in the West Bank is so manipulative and extreme that it’s well worth highlighting.

Israel has militarily occupied the West Bank for decades (it’s also still functionally occupying Gaza, as this two-minute video proves). The West Bank“occupation is illegal under international...

Complying With Israeli Censorship Order, NYT Conceals Name of Soldier Who Shot Wounded Palestinian

(updated below with New York Times‘ response)

LAST THURSDAY, an Israeli soldier was arrested after the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem posted horrific video of the soldier shooting a 21-year-old Palestinian man in the head from point-blank range, and killing him, even though he was already shot, wounded, and lying incapacitated on the ground. The killing took place in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after the Palestinian man, Abed al-Fatah al-Sharif, stabbed an IDF soldier at a mili...

Highlighting Western Victims While Ignoring Victims of Western Violence

FOR DAYS NOW, American cable news has broadcast non-stop coverage of the horrific attack in Brussels. Viewers repeatedly heard from witnesses and from the wounded. Video was shown in a loop of the terror and panic when the bombs exploded. Networksdispatched their TV stars to Brussels, where they remain. NPR profiled the lives of several of the airport victims. CNN showeda moving interview with a wounded, bandage-wrapped Mormon American teenagerspeaking from his Belgium hospital bed.

All of...

New Film Shows Real-Time, Inside Account of the University of Missouri Student Protests

This article accompanies release of theField of Visionfilm Concerned Student 1950, directed by University of Missouri students Adam Dietrich, Varun Bajaj, and Kellan Marvin.

IN NOVEMBER 2015, student protests at the Universityof Missouri (“Mizzou”) became a leading national news story. Led by a group of African-American students calling itself“Concerned Student 1950,” the campus protests were triggered by a series of racist incidents — including the university’s African-American student body...

O Brasil está sendo Engolido pela Corrupção — e por uma Perigosa Subversão da Democracia

(This is a Portuguese translation of an article published earlier today. For the English version, click here.)

AS MÚLTIPLAS E IMPRESSIONANTES crises que assombram o Brasil agoraatraemsubstancialmente a atenção da mídia internacional. O queé compreensível, jáque o Brasil é o quinto mais populoso do mundo e a oitava economia do mundo. Sua segunda maior cidade, o Rio de Janeiro, é a sede das Olimpíadas deste ano. Porém, boa parte dessa cobertura internacional é repetidora do discurso que vem das...

Brazil Is Engulfed by Ruling Class Corruption — and a Dangerous Subversion of Democracy

(Para ler a versão desse artigo em Português,clique aqui.)

THE MULTIPLE, REMARKABLE crises subsuming Brazilare nowgarnering substantial Western media attention. That’s understandable given that Brazilis the world’s fifthmost populous country and eighth-largest economy; its second-largest city, Rio de Janeiro,is the host of this year’s Summer Olympics. But much of this Western media coverage mimics the propaganda coming from Brazil’s homogenized, oligarch-owned, anti-democracy media outlets an...

The Rise of Trump Shows the Danger and Sham of Compelled Journalistic “Neutrality”

(updated below)

As Donald Trump’s campaign predictably movesfrom toxic rhetoric targeting the most marginalized minorities to threats and use of violence, there is a growing sense that Americaninstitutions have been too lax about resisting it. Political scientist Brendan Nyhan on Sunday posted a widely cited Twitter essayvoicing this concern,arguing that “Trump’s rise represents a failure in American parties, media, and civic institutions — and they’re continuing to fail right now.” He added,...

Hillary Clinton, Stalwart Friend of World’s Worst Despots, Attacks Sanders’s Latin American Activism

At Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton attacked Bernie Sanders for praising Fidel Castro in the 1980s, as well as for standing with CentralAmerican governments and rebel groups targeted by Ronald Reagan’s brutal covert wars. “You know,” said the former secretary of state, “if the values are that you oppress people, you disappear people, imprison people or even kill people for expressing their opinions, for expressing freedom of speech, that is not the kind of revolution of va...

Hillary Clinton, Stalwart Friend of World’s Worst Despots, Attacks Sanders’ Latin American Activism

At Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton attacked Bernie Sanders for praising Fidel Castro in the 1980s, as well as for standing with CentralAmerican governments and rebel groups targeted by Ronald Reagan’s brutal covert wars. “You know,” said the former secretary of state, “if the values are that you oppress people, you disappear people, imprison people or even kill people for expressing their opinions, for expressing freedom of speech, that is not the kind of revolution of va...