QAnon is more than a conspiracy

Daily Telegraph, October 19 2020   This week, in a move described as a “hammer blow” to the QAnon movement by one commentator, Facebook removed hundreds of QAnon pages and groups from its social media platforms. It was a significant – and overdue – move by the social media giant over a movement that is…

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As Australia leaves UNHRC, human rights abusers step up

Sadly, as of January, Australia’s voice will be gone from the UNHRC, and countries like China, Russia and Pakistan will dominate it with even less push back. Both the UN’s reputation and the wider cause of universal human rights will be the poorer as result of this sad and ridiculous reality.   

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AIJAC welcomes ABC corrections on Israel’s capital

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) today welcomed an ABC acknowledgement that Tel Aviv is not Israel’s capital after an ABC TV 6pm news bulletin (Oct. 4) covering anti-government protests in Israel claimed “the biggest demonstrations have been held in the capital, Tel Aviv.”

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AIJAC meets with new Ambassador to Israel Paul Griffiths

AIJAC National Chairman Mark Leibler and Executive Director Colin Rubenstein have met with Australia’s newly-appointed Ambassador to Israel Paul Griffiths, in an online session in which they were able to extend their congratulations on his appointment and wish him every success during his term in Israel.

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Israel roils under COVID-19 second wave

The state of Israel continues to grapple with a surging second wave of coronavirus infections that has set the country on edge, as different segments of Israeli society blame one another for the upsurge and argue about how best to deal with it.

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Mahmoud Abbas implicitly acknowledges Palestinian failures in UN speech

With the UAE and Bahrain breaking with that historical consensus, and other major Arab states lining up to follow, Abbas’ repetition of long-standing mantras about Palestinian demands being at the core of the conflict not only rang hollow, but only underlined the Palestinian leadership’s apparently complete and ongoing inability to adapt to the region’s changing realities.

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UAE’s and Bahrain’s normalisation of relations with Israel could be an opportunity for Palestinians

Israel’s normalisation agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed on 15 September, signify a potentially tectonic shift in the Middle East and represent perhaps the greatest advance towards peace there in 25 years… Predictably, they have also been condemned by those who measure success in the region not by the welfare of its population, including the Palestinians, but by how bad things are for Israel.

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