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AIJAC mourns Petro Georgiou AO, champion of Australian multiculturalism
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) mourns the passing of Petro Georgiou AO, who was a long-standing friend of both the Australian Jewish community and AIJAC in particular, and an esteemed champion of Australian multiculturalism and our nation’s democratic liberal values.
Read MoreEhud Yaari in conversation with Joel Burnie
AIJAC Executive Manager Joel Burnie speaks to Middle East expert commentator Ehud Ya’ari in a wide-ranging interview, 3 April 2025.
Read MoreGaza protests: A turning point or a moment of desperation?
Gazans are protesting not out of a moral change of heart, but out of sheer desperation. Perhaps some are realizing the harsh truth: when you initiate a war with the explicit goal of eradicating another nation and you fail, consequences follow.
Read MoreTrump needs to hit Iran where it hurts: Tehran, not Yemen
[If]… despite the administration’s tough rhetoric, the US ineffectively bombs the Houthis for several days or weeks with no ground component, no increased interdiction campaign, and no strikes against the Iranian regime, is likely to dramatically embolden already-emboldened Western adversaries.
Read MoreWhy Israel had to resume its attacks on Hamas
The Israeli attacks on Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets on Tuesday should not come as any great surprise. If anything, the only surprise should be that it took this long.
Read MoreAIJAC deeply disturbed by threats and hateful messages targeting Mosques
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) today said it was deeply distressed to hear about the recent threats and hateful messages targeting Mosques and Muslim worshippers in Sydney. AIJAC Executive Director Colin Rubenstein said, “Hatred and threats of violence leads to a climate of intimidation and, all too often, actual violence. It’s what the Jewish community has been facing for the last year and a half, and no one wants to see this visited on any other Australians.”
Read MoreMilitary strikes alone won’t stop the Houthis without direct pressure on Iran
If the US Administration’s rhetoric is not simply bluster and does reflect the intent of the Administration to restore freedom of navigation through the Red Sea – including via direct strikes against Iranian assets, a much more devoted interdiction campaign and orchestrating a ground component – there are reasons to hope this operation in Yemen could succeed where previous ones have failed.
Read MoreThe UN’s double standards on aid
Despite Hamas’ well-documented atrocities, the UN continues to act as its de facto advocate. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese continued her stream of wild accusations against Israel by saying that cutting off electricity to the terror enclave of Gaza amounts to a “Genocide Alert”.
Read MoreOur multicultural ideals must be upheld by our leaders
It is an unfortunate reality that the nation’s antisemitism crisis will be one of the salient issues of the election campaign. It’s an issue that matters not only to Jewish voters but to many other Australians who care about law and order, as well as rehabilitating what had been our multicultural success story. Nobody wishes this wasn’t the case more than Australia’s Jewish community.
Read MorePalestine peace can’t be built this way
The Hamas-Israel ceasefire impasse reveals the Catch-22 at the heart of the war: Israel wants its hostages back and Hamas removed from Gaza, but Hamas – which sees the hostages as its main asset – won’t release them if that means losing its dominance in the Strip. Resolving this dilemma is the only way to see Gaza rebuilt for the benefit of its inhabitants.
Read MoreActually, crime links make Jew-hatred worse
Naturally, a political debate has erupted, with some claiming that concerns over antisemitism have been exaggerated proved that these attacks were “not motivated by antisemitism”. But this is just a politically convenient distraction, ignoring the fact that criminals have exploited a very real and pervasive climate of hate.
Read MorePressured and wooed by the US, Iran appears to be opting for the bomb
Washington’s two-vector approach – wooing and threatening Iran at the same time – could end up solidifying both the regime’s grip on power and its intentions to advance its nuclear weapons project.
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