It almost gets tiresome coming across someone like Alan Johnston, only to then discover that, yes, he does indeed do all the usual for his masters, like teach Holocaust emotion 101 (subtext: those poor Israelis suffered awfully in the war, so the world must cut them some slack as they commit genocide today).

I see it most in big budget Hollywood films, which quickly make it clear they are written by the usual culprits, with allegiances elsewhere than the country they happen to live in.

In the case of Alan Johnston, for me it's easier to just call the guy what he really is.

A fascist.

As to his sounding post Guardian CIF, that was safely neutered some time ago, when they parachuted in the new editor, she with a legal not journalistic background. CIF until then had been refreshingly critical of Israel, but that soon stopped after their Rottweiller in heels went to work.
suraci | Homepage | 05.18.08 - 8:56 am | #

Alan Johnson was a member of the AWL and resigned at much the same time as an equally obnoxious AWLer, Jane Ashworth. However they resigned because AWL wasn't pro-imperialist enough!

Johnson (& Ashworth) explicitly support the war in Iraq whereas AWL is mealy mouthed, opposing withdrawal but not having the courage to openly support it.

Likewise anything Israel does is right and likewise anything the Palestinians do is wrong. He is a Bush-lite Zionist.

Tony G
tony greenstein | 05.19.08 - 2:41 am | #

In his Cif profile it says that Johnson opposed the invasion of Iraq. do you have a link for him actually supporting it?
Mark Elf (aka levi9909) | Homepage | 05.19.08 - 8:43 am | #

I don't as he is really a peripheral character. But you might search a debate he had with Sean Matgamna on the AWL site where he criticises them for not being imperialist enough. And an article I replied to in the Red Paper I think it was (another split from AWL and also CPGB) where he virtually supported the attack on Faluja making apologies for it and contrasting the US with the barbarity of those they had attacked. What CIF's profile says he has written. More to the point I'd like to see anything where he actually opposed the war.
tony greenstein | 05.20.08 - 3:08 am | #