The Kurdistan referendum – the aftermath
October 4, 2017 | Shmuel Levin
As discussed here on FreshAIR a few weeks ago, despite significant opposition, Iraq’s Kurds proceeded on 25 September with an independence referendum resulting in an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote of 93%. The referendum was opposed with near-unanimity from multiple countries, including most prominently, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. Now these countries are threatening retaliation.
Settlement housing construction plummets to five-year low
September 15, 2017 | Ahron Shapiro
In January, coinciding with the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government advanced plans for thousands of new homes in Jewish neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem as well as the West Bank (the vast majority within settlement blocs.)
Yet since then – according to the latest figures released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, actual housing starts have dropped to its lowest point in five years.
Strangely, the media has been silent about this disparity.
The crackdown on Palestinian freedom of speech – and why you probably haven’t heard about it
September 14, 2017 | Shmuel Levin
In the last few months, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza have been busy. In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority has introduced a new “ban on websites”. Like all laws passed since 2007, the new Electronic Crimes Law was passed in July 2017 by presidential decree without consultations with Palestinian civil society or the public.
Israeli PM’s historic visit to Latin America
September 14, 2017 | Sharyn Mittelman
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Argentina on Monday – the first visit by an Israeli leader to the region since Israel’s creation in 1948. Netanyahu is also visiting Colombia and Mexico before travelling to New York, where he will address the UN General Assembly.
Israel and the UN: A new page?
September 5, 2017 | Gareth Narunsky
In September 2016, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stood at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly and declared that “Israel has a bright future at the UN”.
He also declared “the war against Israel at the UN is over” and that “a decade from now an Israeli prime minister will stand right here where I am standing and actually applaud the UN.” Given some of the events at the UN which have transpired since… the prediction that it may take a decade for things to change at the UN today appears to be on firmer ground than the claim that the war on Israel at the UN is over.
The “targeting” and “pressure” that so annoyed John Lyons
September 4, 2017 | Tzvi Fleischer
Former Australian Middle East correspondent John Lyons – now headed for the ABC as their new “head of investigative and in-depth journalism” – apparently does not like AIJAC very much.
He’s certainly been making that very clear of late in repeated public statements…
So what did we do that so upset Mr. Lyons? Mainly, we criticised some of his journalism when he was Middle East correspondent with the Australian from 2009 until January 2015…
So here are some examples of some of AIJAC’s past critiques of Mr. Lyons – as well as several related critiques from other sources…
Is an independent Kurdistan finally about to be born? And if so, what does it mean for Israel?
September 1, 2017 | Shmuel Levin
Despite being delayed several times before, Iraqi Kurdistan is now set to vote in an independence referendum on 25 September 2017.
The Kurdish people are the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, at approximately 30 million people. They speak “various dialects of their own language, Kurdish, although governments have sometimes banned its usage”, and are largely Sunni Muslim. Although they have no state of their own, they are indigenous to a mountainous region which covers territory in present day Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia.
Mike Khizam op-ed in Adelaide Advertiser: A Deconstruction
August 22, 2017 | Gareth Narunsky
In an online op-ed for the Adelaide Advertiser on Friday 11 August, AIJAC guest Dr Eran Lerman congratulated the South Australian Legislative Council for rightly calling for a negotiated outcome between Israel and the Palestinian Authority prior to a Palestinian state being recognised.
Resumption of Israeli-Palestinian security ties shows why they matter
August 17, 2017 | Shmuel Levin
In late July, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cancelled security coordination meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials. The move was claimed to be in protest against Israel’s decision to place metal detectors at the Temple Mount entrance, following the murder of two Israeli police officers at the holy site.
Israeli secrets of longevity
August 17, 2017 | Sharyn Mittelman
Israel was home to the world’s oldest living man, Israel Kristal, who passed away on Friday August 11 aged 113 years and 330 days. Mr Kristal was a Holocaust survivor who was born in Poland on 15 September 1903. The secret to Mr Kristal’s longevity is a mystery – but it could possibly be Israel itself. Despite the hardships faced by Israelis, life expectancy in Israel is one of the highest in the world.
Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman talking about proposals to recognise “Palestine” on Radio 2GB
August 16, 2017
AIJAC guest Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman talking to host Alan Jones about proposals to recognise “Palestine” on Radio 2GB’s “Breakfast” program in Sydney
Former Netanyahu advisor Lerman discusses Israel’s true settlement strategy
August 15, 2017 | Ahron Shapiro
To what extent are Israel’s West Bank settlements obstacles to peace? If Israel is truly prepared to evacuate settlements for peace, why does some construction continue and why haven’t unauthorised outposts been evacuated?
These were the underlying ideas behind an insightful query about settlements posed to Eran Lerman, former Deputy for Foreign Policy and International Affairs at Israel’s National Security Council during a question and answer session at the Australian Institute of International Affairs in Melbourne on August 10.
