It is time for Australia to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism
August 20, 2021 | Naomi Levin
If antisemitism is already so broadly and urgently condemned, why is it important for Australia to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism? There are three major reasons: to clearly send a message that antisemitism is not acceptable in Australia; to educate Australians what antisemitism is; and to help combat antisemitism.
Turkish conference underlines growing role of Ankara as key driver of global Islamist extremism
August 3, 2021 | Oved Lobel
Turkey openly champions Islamist terrorism and extremism, and its leadership actively incites violence not only against Israel and Jews, but against the West writ large. Though often dismissed as campaign rhetoric, Erdogan’s conspiratorial statements, which he no doubt believes, often appear explicitly designed to incite violence…
Lessons from Israel’s fourth COVID-19 wave
August 2, 2021 | Ahron Shapiro
With Israel experiencing rising COVID-19 infection rates from the Delta strain – in spite of the fact that about 70%…
ABC story misrepresents shoddy HRW report, even as it hypes it
July 30, 2021 | Allon Lee
If it wasn’t bad enough that Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued yet another shoddy and poorly researched anti-Israel report, an ABC online article by reporter Sowaibah Hanifie managed to make that shoddy report seem more balanced than the ABC’s poor effort.
Why was Julian Burnside’s message antisemitic?
July 29, 2021 | Naomi Levin
On July 28, Australian barrister and former Greens candidate Julian Burnside tweeted that “The curious thing about the Israeli stance is that their treatment of the Palestinians looks horribly like the German treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust.”
HRW’s latest Gaza report is a pathetic effort
July 29, 2021 | Ahron Shapiro and Tzvi Fleischer
Human Rights Watch’s latest report accusing Israel of committing possible war crimes during the May 2021 mini-war launched by Hamas in Gaza against Israel is a poorly researched and factually bankrupt smear centred around three incidents, all of which have already been widely reported and explained.
When Golda met Jordana – the ABC offers tarnished history
July 29, 2021 | Allon Lee
As a taxpayer funded broadcaster, the ABC has an obligation to verify that material which goes out under the ABC banner is fair and balanced… It is also required to make a full disclosure if and when potential conflicts of interest arise. This includes informing ABC consumers when a badly flawed historical piece about former Israeli prime minister Gold Meir is written by a local anti-Israel activist.
Push to boycott Israel only prolongs the Palestinian conflict
July 21, 2021 | Jamie Hyams
Such groups only prolong the conflict, because by convincing the PA that its demonisation strategy is working, they encourage Palestinian intransigence. If Barns and others really want Palestinian justice, they should urge the Palestinian leadership to genuinely engage with Israel and work for a two-state peace that would benefit all Palestinians and Israelis.
Vote won’t end family unification controversy
July 12, 2021 | Ahron Shapiro
On June 6, the Israeli Government led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett failed to pass a compromise that would have extended Israel’s Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, commonly known as the “family unification law”, a piece of legislation that, among other things, effectively places curbs on the automatic granting of Israeli citizenship or Israeli residency to citizens of enemy states or the West Bank and Gaza.
Brutal new Iranian President raises major policy questions
July 6, 2021 | Oved Lobel
Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement in February entitled “Putting Human Rights at the Center of US Foreign Policy,” the title of which reflects the ostensible approach of the Administration to foreign affairs. Will the new US Administration be happy to directly engage with Raisi, a mass murderer accused of crimes against humanity, especially given its own sanctions against him?
