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john pilger
Remembering John Pilger, a Friend to Palestinians and All Oppressed Nations
His death, especially during these difficult times, is a major loss for humanity, but I know that, deep down, John must have known that things would eventually get better.
Jan 21, 2024
The first and the last time I met John Pilger in person was in 2018.
I was invited to deliver a speech at the New South Wales Parliament in Sydney, Australia. Among the large crowd were many that I knew and respected—a former foreign minister, socially conscientious members of parliament, morally driven intellectuals and activists, and so on.
As I stood at the podium, glancing at the crowd, I saw John Pilger. He had a big smile on his face, as if he was in great anticipation to hear me talk.
The reality was entirely different. I would have rather listened to John than to lecture before him.
He stood firmly on the side of oppressed people, spoke strongly against the injustices meted out by the powerful, and uncompromisingly defended free speech whenever it was threatened.
As I expressed my many “Thank yous,” I made a point of emphasizing that I have modeled my journalism around that of John Pilger.
The painful truth is that, growing up in a refugee camp in Gaza, we rarely affiliated Western media, intellect, or journalists with truth-telling, in general. Though, with time, I realized that this wholesale assumption was hardly fair, associating bias with everything Western had its own justification, if not logic.
Aside from the typical corporate biased media narrative on Palestine, the Middle East, the Arab and Muslim world—in fact, the entirety of the Global South—there were those who were identified as part of the “left.”
We were told that those supposed leftist are the exception to the norm. But experience has taught me that, aside from ideological nuances, even the so-called left still saw the non-Western world based on a different set of unique biases. They perceived the rest of the world through judgmental eyes, as if they, and they alone, had access to a moral code according to which the rest of us must be filtered.
Those “leftists” are only against certain kinds of wars, especially if they perceive military interventions to be channeled by imperialist agendas. For them, so-called humanitarian intervention is morally justified, although there is no evidence that Western interventions of that kind ever bode well for any country.
Ultimately, that reasoning tends to have little impact on the outcome of international conflicts. Worse, some leftists often find themselves siding with the very imperialist powers they supposedly loathe, whenever it is convenient.
And then, there are the John Pilgers of this world: Principled to the core, and able to understand, dissect, and convey the political, cultural, and historical complexities of conflicts to millions of people around the world.
“We are beckoned to see the world through a one-way mirror, as if we are threatened and innocent and the rest of humanity is threatening, or wretched, or expendable,” Pilger said at his Sydney Peace Prize acceptance speech in 2009.
For the Australian-born journalist, whose impact on our understanding of major global conflicts is arguably unparalleled in modern history, these were not mere words but principles to which he adhered to throughout his life, until his passing on December 30.
In his book and documentaryThe New Rulers of the World, Pilger brilliantly connects the dots of major global issues—social injustice, inequality, the so-called war on terror, and more—demonstrating the powerful maxim that “injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Pilger’s enemies were never a certain race, a nation, or even an ideology. He simply served as the sharp critic and, at times, the mobilizer against all sorts of government-orchestrated injustices, whether within national boundaries or internationally.
He challenged imperialism in all of its forms, colonialism wherever it may be. This put him on a crash course with Washington, Canberra, London, and other Western capitals.
His dedication to the causes of Indigenous people, from Australia to Palestine to Indonesia, were all reflected in great volumes and documentaries, such as Utopia, Palestine is Still the Issue, and The New Rulers of the World.
Pilger’s powerful texts as an academic, an author, and a journalist must not distract from his equally powerful and hard-hitting documentaries as a filmmaker. More important than the many awards he had achieved as a filmmaker, starting with The Quiet Mutiny, was the impact of these films on the way that millions of people around the world perceived issues, conflicts, and wars that had only been communicated through non-critical eyes.
“Many journalists now are no more than channelers and echoers of what George Orwell called the ‘official truth.’ They simply cipher and transmit lies,” he said during an interview with David Barsamian in 2007.
Though, at times, some intellectuals of Pilger’s caliber may have deviated from their commitment to the uncompromising moral code of principled journalism and intellect, Pilger’s legacy suggests otherwise.
He stood firmly on the side of oppressed people, spoke strongly against the injustices meted out by the powerful, and uncompromisingly defended free speech whenever it was threatened.
Indeed, Pilger was one of the most stalwart supporters of Julian Assange in his war against censorship in all of its forms.
“This is not about the survival of a free press. There is no longer a free press... The paramount issue is justice and our most precious human right: to be free,” Pilger wrote in an article in July 2023.
Before our meeting, I exchanged many messages with John. The first time he responded to my request for an endorsement of a book, I was truly thrilled. I was also moved by his kind response to a young author who was merely starting his own quest for a just world.
Many messages and years later, we finally met in person. I quickly made my way to him through the crowd to thank him for all that he has done for Palestine and for all the oppressed people of this world.
His death, especially during these difficult times, is a major loss for humanity. But I know that, deep down, John must have known that things would eventually get better. He did his part, and much more.
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'A Giant of Journalism Has Left Us': John Pilger Dead at 84
"He was a fearless challenger of imperialism and colonialism and used his talents behind the camera to expose genocide and war crimes, including the deceit of mainstream media," said one British MP.
Dec 31, 2023
Legendary Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger died Saturday at the age of 84—news that was quickly met with a flood of tributes from fellow reporters, friends, and fans of his impactful work.
"It is with great sadness the family of John Pilger announce he died yesterday 30 December 2023 in London aged 84," says a statement shared on his social media Sunday. "His journalism and documentaries were celebrated around the world, but to his family he was simply the most amazing and loved dad, grandad, and partner. Rest in peace."
His son Sam Pilger said Sunday that "he was my hero."
As The Guardiandetailed Sunday:
Born in Bondi, New South Wales, Pilger relocated to the U.K. in the 1960s, where he went on to work for the Daily Mirror, ITV's former investigative program "World in Action," and Reuters.
He covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Biafra, and was named journalist of the year in 1967 and 1979. Pilger had a successful career in documentary filmmaking, creating more than 50 films and winning a number of accolades.
"His last film, The Dirty War on the National Health Service, was released in 2019 and examined the threat to the NHS from privatization and bureaucracy," the newspaper noted. "It was described by The Guardian's film critic Peter Bradshaw as 'a fierce, necessary film.'"
British Member of Parliament Claudia Webbe, an Independent who represents Leicester East, declared Sunday that "he was a fearless challenger of imperialism and colonialism and used his talents behind the camera to expose genocide and war crimes, including the deceit of mainstream media. His documentaries are epic and are required viewing for a more civilized world."
Fellow MP Jeremy Corbyn, a former Labour leader who now serves Islington North as an Indepedent, said: "I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of John Pilger. John gave a voice to the unheard and the occupied: in Australia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Chile, Iraq, East Timor, Palestine, and beyond."
"Thank you for your bravery in pursuit of the truth—it will never be forgotten," Corbyn added.
The U.K.-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said that "CND is saddened to hear about the death of the great John Pilger. He blazed a trail for so many through his work as a journalist, filmmaker, and anti-war campaigner. Rest in peace."
Attorney and human rights defender Stella Assange—the wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is jailed in the U.K. while battling his extradition to the United States—called Pilger "one of the greats."
"A consistent ally of the dispossessed, John dedicated his life to telling their stories and awoke the world to the greatest injustices," she said. "He showed great empathy for the weak and was unflinching with the powerful. John was one of Julian's most vocal champions but they also became the closest of friends. He fought for Julian's freedom until the end. "
"'We are all Spartacus if we want to be,' he wrote in his last published piece," she noted. "This was John, challenging us until the end. Let's always seek to rise to the challenge. Thank you, dear friend."
Honoring the veteran journalist as "a ferocious speaker of truth to power, whom in later years tirelessly advocated for the release and vindication of Julian Assange," WikiLeaks contended that "our world is poorer for his passing."
Australian journalist Peter Cronau proclaimed that "a giant of journalism has left us—John Pilger, a heroic truth-teller. Banned by much of the mainstream media, his amazing work is his great permanent legacy."
Cronau praised him for "calling to account the intelligence agencies, the generals, and the governments alike that run the world their way" while also "giving voice to the unheard, the Indigenous, the poor, the occupied, the displaced—and giving hope, courage, and solidarity to the international family of activists."
Pilger was "such a strong role model to so many journalists especially in Australia—a country he loved, but whose media shunned him for his relentless uncompromising stand against imperialism and Australia's slavish obedience to it," he added. "Telling the seldom-heard 'people's history,' his books and films inform our democracy, and it was a pleasure to have had the chance to have worked with him."
British journalist Johnathan Cook said that "John Pilger was an inspiration to young journalists like myself. For decades, he managed to publish searing reports, even in establishment media, that exposed the lies justifying the brutalities of Western foreign policy. We need his voice now more than ever."
Mark Curtis, director and co-founder of Declassified U.K., shared a link to Pilger's website and said that " I cannot believe John has gone. His lifetime's work is a treasure—look at his filmography and articles to remind yourself. "
"A towering figure. Irreplaceable. Authentic and committed. Someone to look up to. Fearless," Curtis concluded. "Thank you, John. Farewell, friend."
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