No, Gaza is not “the hungriest place on earth”
June 8, 2025 | AIJAC staff
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke had a similar fit of hyperbole, claiming that “Gaza is the hungriest place on earth.” He clearly had not checked his declaration with the World Food Programme (WFP) or hunger-tracking NGOs such as Action Against Hunger or Concern Worldwide.
Houthi deal is a dangerous blow to US credibility and deterrence
May 14, 2025 | Oved Lobel
This general and by now predictable pattern of Trump’s threatening rhetoric followed quickly by unilateral US capitulation, whether on foreign or trade policy – always spun as a victory without accomplishing anything of substance – has made the world a far more dangerous place for US allies and partners.
Peace first, then statehood
June 3, 2025 | Bren Carlill
Recognition would be a no-brainer if Palestine was a state. The 1938 Montevideo Convention provides the definition of statehood, and Palestine doesn’t meet it (and never has). Which means recognition is about messaging: a country recognises Palestine to reward it; punish Israel; and/or signal its virtue.
The hypocrisy of international outrage
May 30, 2025 | Justin Amler
A recent joint statement from the UK, France, and Canada, along with a similar one by 24 countries including Australia, criticising Israel’s military operations and humanitarian efforts, is just the latest example of manufactured indignation.
Nine reasons premature recognition would be bad for Palestine
May 28, 2025 | Bren Carlill
France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting a UN conference this month about creating a Palestinian state. Before or during the conference, France will likely recognise Palestine as a state, and is urging other countries to join it. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong keeps indicating she is considering similar recognition.
Biblio File: Israel and the pathologies of the West
May 28, 2025 | Peter Berkowitz
In On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, Douglas Murray excoriates the Western hypocrisy, mendacity and malignancy that fuel enthusiasm for Hamas’ butchery of Jewish civilians and antipathy toward Israel’s exercise of its right to self-defence.
Scribblings: Interpreting Hamas’ casualty numbers
May 28, 2025 | Tzvi Fleischer
The Hamas statistics show that combat-age men are far more likely to be killed, compared to their proportion of the population, than women, children or the elderly. Hamas data doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians, but the only sensible explanation for these numbers is that Israel is doing its best to target combatants.
