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Wait, what? West Bank settlements mired in massive housing slump
While it may sound surprising and counterintuitive, the numbers don’t lie: Despite recent well-publicised efforts by key right-wing legislators in Israel’s Government coalition – – such as Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Betzalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party – to remove some of the red tape involved in approving new housing in Israel’s…
Read MoreDenying Israel’s right to stop terrorists undermines peace
You would think it’s a basic right of any country to defend its population against terrorism. However, as is seemingly the case with everything Israel does, its recent two-day military operation against terrorists and their infrastructure in the West Bank city of Jenin aroused much comment and controversy.
Read MoreFrancesca Albanese’s distortion of reality
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, does not believe in history. She doesn’t even pretend to believe in history.
Read MoreIsrael and Fiji: A Shared Interest in Peace and Fighting Climate Change
Israel and Fiji may seem like an unusual pairing, but since diplomatic relations were established in 1970, the Middle Eastern and Pacific Ocean countries have forged partnerships across security and peacekeeping, and especially issues related to climate change.
Read MoreThe US and its influence in UNESCO
After a six-year absence, the United States has rejoined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which it dramatically left in 2017 over its anti-Israel bias.
Read MoreALP Must Resist the Activists on Israel
The Australian Labor Party is shortly going to have to decide if its policy on Middle East peacemaking is going to be based on misconceptions, symbolic “solidarity” and empty slogans, or common sense, reality, and international law.
Read MoreFact Sheet: “House and Garden” – An IDF operation targeting terror infrastructure in Jenin
In the early morning hours of July 3, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces conducted a “Brigade-level raid” including over 1,000 soldiers and border police, into the Palestinian town of Jenin, focusing primarily on the UNRWA refugee camp in the area (also named Jenin).
Read MoreChina still doesn’t care about the Middle East
By all accounts, China still has little interest in playing a direct political role in the Middle East.
Read MoreAustralian Government Under Growing Pressure for the Recognition of Palestinian Statehood
There is a genuine concern in Australia that our government may soon recognize “Palestine” as a state, making Australia only the second Western democracy after Sweden to take this premature and counterproductive step.
Read MoreStockholm Syndrome in Tehran
In a stranger-than-fiction moment, earlier this month a small group of Jews gathered in a synagogue in the heart of Tehran to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Iran’s first Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who… died on June 3, 1989. It seems bizarre to see online images of Iranian Jews celebrating the Ayatollah, who infamously implemented Iran’s anti-Israel, anti-Zionist repressive agenda…
Read MoreMove to recognise Palestine is premature and dangerous
For the benefit of the Palestinian future, no less than the Israelis, the Albanese Government must firmly remind their ALP colleagues in state branches and at the national conference of the wise words of the late former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon who described his transformation from a rigid ideologue to an outspoken peace proponent responsible for Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.
Read MoreWhy ALP’s call to recognise Palestine is based on ignorance
The only way to achieve peace is that endorsed by the international community and accepted by Israel, but so far rejected by the Palestinian leadership – good faith negotiation between the two sides, involving compromise by both, to settle all outstanding matters, such as borders and Israel’s security concerns. Recognising a Palestinian state before that happens – and rewarding the current Palestinian refusal to even negotiate – would only make such peace harder to achieve.
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