Following the death of John Pilger, there has been a somewhat rose-tinted response.
He did some fantastic work.
But he wasn't a saint...
He also indulged in conspiracies, pro-Putin propaganda, and covering for a number of tyrants, as long as they were anti-US.
Few bits..
In 2014, he claimed:
"For the Germans, it is a poignant irony that Putin is the only leader to condemn the rise of fascism in 21st-century Europe."
Not true.
And it included this passage on Jews... also debunked.... as fake
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
rferl.org/a/guardian-op-…
On the Skripal poisonings:
"This is a carefully constructed drama as part of the propaganda campaign that has been building now for several years in order to justify the actions of NATO, Britain and the United States, towards Russia. That's a fact"
pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/nat…
And on Syria...
al-bab.com/blog/2018/05/t…
Then there was genocide denialism in Kosovo
It's no surprise you know who was singing his praises, a little more odd other mainstream reporters were doing similar, without mention of his more recent comments. prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/44350…
and his covering for the CCP..
thediplomat.com/2016/12/the-tr…
Last but not least, on October 8, the day after Hamas’ massacre, he shared this, branding the massacre ‘resistance’
This is not the language of a reasonable and rational 'left-wing' thinker. It's the language of someone excusing mass murder.
Feel like Pilger's career should be split into two. I don't know when the split is; but there comes a point, when he went from ferocious critic of Western foreign policy, to someone willing to entertain conspiracies, excuse tyrants, so long as they fit into a world view
One can admire his work in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, especially on East Timor, post-Pol Pot; while acknowledging he clearly made mistakes, indulging Russia, excusing Putin, covering for Assad and China.
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