Antony Loewenstein

Antony Loewenstein (born 1974) is a freelance investigative journalist, author, and film-maker based in Sydney. He describes himself as a Jewish atheist, and is known for his criticism of the treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli Government. His grandparents had escaped the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, but Loewenstein decided to take up German citizenship as an adult.

His 2023 book, ''The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World'', won and was shortlisted for several global literary awards.

Early life and education

Antony Loewenstein was born in Australia in 1974. His father's parents left had left Germany and Austria just before World War II, but many members of their family had been killed in the Holocaust.

Loewenstein became a German citizen, while maintaining Australian citizenship, as an adult in 2011, "as a way to rightfully re-claim our birthright", to honour his family that Germany, and to be allowed to work in European Union countries. However, he said in 2013 that he feels neither Australian nor German, describing himself as a "non-practising Jewish atheist currently based in Sydney".

Career

Loewenstein has written for a number of publications, including ''The Guardian'', and ''Sydney Morning Herald''.

Loewenstein contributed a chapter to '' Not Happy, John'' (2004) which highlighted the growing disenchantment with Ausralian prime minister John Howard. His 2006 book, ''My Israel Question'', was a best-seller and short-listed for a 2007 New South Wales Premier's Literary Award. The book was criticised in a review in '' Australian Jewish News''.

He is the co-editor with Ahmed Moor of the 2012 book ''After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine'' which includes essays by Omar Barghouti, John Mearsheimer, Ilan Pappé, Sara Roy, and Jonathan Cook, among others.

With South African film-maker Naashon Zalk, Loewenstein was co-director of a 2019 Al Jazeera English documentary on abuse of the opioid drug tramadol in Nigeria, ''West Africa's Opioid Crisis''. He appears in the 2019 documentary, '' This Is Not A Movie'', about ''The Independent''s Middle East correspondent, Robert Fisk. His 2019 book, ''Pills, Powder and Smoke'', is on the global 'war on drugs'.

Loewenstein co-founded Independent Australian Jewish Voices (IAJV).

He won the 2019 Jerusalem (Al Quds) Peace Prize, one of Australia's leading peace awards, for his work on Israel/Palestine.

In 2021, he co-founded ''Declassified Australia'' with fellow journalist Peter Cronau. The news website critically reports on Australia's relations with the world. He and UK film-maker Dan Davies co-directed the Al Jazeera documentary ''Under the Cover of Covid''.

In 2023, he published ', in the UK, US, and Australia, with multiple, translated editions. It was a long-list finalist in the 2023 Moore Prize For Human Rights Writing, and a best-selling book across the world. In November 2023 Loewenstein was awarded, in partnership with Banki Haddock Fiora, the Walkley Book Award for Longform Journalism for the book. The book won the People's Choice award and was also shortlisted for the 2024 Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction and the Nonfiction Book Award at the 2024 Queensland Literary Awards.

In 2024, he released a podcast series, ''The Palestine Laboratory'', with the US outlet, '' Drop Site News''.

Bibliography

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;Contributor
* Kingston, Margo. '' Not Happy, John defending Australia's democracy''. Paperback, 240 pages. Penguin Books, (2004) .
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;Editor
*Antony Loewenstein, Ahmed Moor, eds. ''After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine'', Saqi, (2012),
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References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Loewenstein, Antony
1974 births
Living people
Australian atheists
Australian male bloggers
Australian freelance journalists
Australian people of German-Jewish descent
Jewish anti-Zionism in Oceania
Jewish atheists
Jewish bloggers
Jewish Australian writers
Journalists from Sydney
Writers from Sydney