Threats to freedom

Global Voices rounds-up the latest threats to freedom of speech around the world and includes Libya, Tunisia, China, Maldives and Belarus.

Allow me to include Australia's media in discussing the Israel/Palestine conflict. The Age today treats us to an editorial about the Gaza withdrawal. Note the "logic" of this:

"Israel also announced plans to build a new police station in the West Bank and expropriate another 60 hectares to extend its anti-terrorist barrier around a large settlement, cutting the territory in half. Even a staunch friend such as the US sees this as provocative. But the suspected involvement of the dead Palestinians in a suicide bombing that killed five Israelis also highlights Palestinian responsibility for regular, murderous provocations."

Let me get this straight. Israel brazenly flouts international law, continues settlement expansion and makes a Palestinian state all but impossible, but it's somehow justified because of Palestinian "provocations."