Sporting Boycotts require strong action by roof bodies
May 31, 2023 | Justin Amler
Sport should serve to unify people, but the discrimination against Israeli athletes is completely contrary to both the spirit of sport, and almost universally, the rules of competition. Tragically the fans of the game and the players themselves are the ones who will always suffer the most, denied by the radicalism of officials and athletes determined to live in the prejudices of the past. The solution appears simple: strictly and consistently enforce the existing rules against such political boycotts across all sporting codes.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the shell game in Gaza
May 12, 2023 | Oved Lobel
In Gaza, PIJ performs the same function for Hamas that Hamas now performs for Hezbollah in Lebanon and that Hezbollah and its sister proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen perform for the IRGC in Iran.
Yemen’s Future: Partition, Hezbollisation or Talibanisation?
May 5, 2023 | Oved Lobel
It remains possible that the current talks with the Houthis will lead nowhere and the Saudis remain half-heartedly engaged in the conflict. All public information to date, however, suggests imminent Saudi capitulation and disengagement is much more likely. If so, this would, one way or another, inevitably result in Yemen quickly becoming a theocratic clone of Iran as well as a strategically invaluable military base for the IRGC.
No increased Iranian cyberthreat to Israel
May 3, 2023 | Oved Lobel
Iran for the time being remains, as AIJAC assessed in April 2022, more of a cybernuisance and is still incapable of posing a serious threat.
China won’t and can’t help Israel with Iran
April 28, 2023 | Oved Lobel
Cohen may have believed that it can’t hurt to raise Israeli priorities vis-à-vis Iran when speaking with his Chinese counterpart, but he must surely know that Israel absolutely cannot expect or rely on any help from Beijing. It is highly unlikely that the CCP will play any constructive role for Israel. But it can play, and currently is playing, a very destructive one.
Iran’s ongoing strategic success across a mercurial Middle East
April 20, 2023 | Oved Lobel
With the region’s major players veering almost overnight from existential adversaries to close partners and often back to adversaries again just as quickly, the only real thread running through the vicissitudes of the area over recent decades has been the continuing progress of Iran’s seemingly inexorable imperial jihad. No matter how much has changed, only Iran’s imperial expansion has been continuous.
Local reports on Holy Sepulchre flare-up omit key information
April 19, 2023 | Ahron Shapiro
Contrary to media reports that Israeli police had arbitrarily restricted the numbers of worshippers allowed to enter the Church of the Holy…
Recent rocket attacks represent the IRGC’s Palestinian face
April 11, 2023 | Oved Lobel
Hamas and other Palestinian groups simply provide an additional layer to this shell game, providing deniability for Hezbollah, itself a front group acting as the “deniable” Lebanese branch of the IRGC.
Indonesia’s disastrous own-goal
March 31, 2023 | Tzvi Fleischer
This week saw FIFA forced to don its referee cap and admonish and penalise Indonesia for foul play off the field. The world soccer federation cancelled Jakarta’s hosting rights for the Under 20 World Cup after controversial refusals from senior Indonesian political leaders to host an Israeli team as part of the international competition.
Misunderstanding the Middle East in the wake of the Iran-Saudi deal
March 29, 2023 | Oved Lobel
There is a misunderstanding of US policy priorities in the Middle East; ignorance of the long-standing Gulf-China relationship and the chronology of events leading up to this most recent Saudi-Iran rapprochement; and a false belief in an anti-Iran axis in the Gulf.
Abulhawa exposed by the ABC, which then buried the story
March 17, 2023 | Allon Lee
With the ABC’s reputation as a welcoming and safe space for all things pro-Palestinian, controversial US-based Palestinian writer Susan Abulhawa likely would have expected ABC Radio Adelaide “Mornings” to treat her with kid gloves when she spoke to its host David Bevan on March 7.
IAEA reports show Iran has almost reached nuclear weapons capabilities
March 15, 2023 | Ran Porat
The March 2023 reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s nuclear program indicate, again, that Teheran has almost completed its process of breaking out towards military nuclear capabilities.
