ABC crosses the line on settlements again
January 27, 2017 | Ahron Shapiro
Over the course of several years, I’ve blogged on several occasions about how the Australian media has exaggerated on a variety of issue related Israeli settlements in the West Bank (see here, here and here). Now, the ABC has provided some classic examples of such distortion with recent stories and an analysis piece that appeared on their website in recent days.
Hanan Ashrawi’s problems with truth and consistency
January 13, 2017 | Gareth Narunsky
Last year, I accompanied a group of journalists on a study tour of Israel and the West Bank. One of our engagements was a meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian spokeswoman and founder of the organisation Miftah, Hanan Ashrawi.
Australia and historical revisionism at Turtle Bay
December 13, 2016 | Allon Lee
Over many decades, Australian governments, of both political persuasions have shown great leadership in looking at the merits of United Nations General Assembly resolutions, opposing or abstaining on the most pernicious and one-sided anti-Israel ones, rather than falling into line with the majority.
So it is disappointing that one resolution called “Jerusalem” (A/RES/71/25), which cries out for Australia to vote “no”, has seen us choosing to abstain.
‘Palestinian children’ petition just more Israel-bashing
December 9, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
A recent Parliamentary petition regarding the Israel Defence Force’s handling of arrests of Palestinian minors is fundamentally wrong for its misleading allegations and its self-serving omissions, but especially because it exploits Palestinian youth for political gain.
This is ironic, because it represents another form of immoral exploitation of Palestinian youth – that of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank – that motivates the youth involved to commit the violence that gets them arrested in the first place.
Senators in glass houses
November 29, 2016 | Tzvi Fleischer
When an attempt by a member of the Jewish community to book a council venue for an event featuring One Nation Senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts was rebuffed by the Council for operational reasons, Senator Roberts accused the Council of antisemitism, of all things, in a post on his Facebook page. Not only was this claim bizarre, what is even more worrying is that this post, and others on his page about the event and the Council decision, attracted many comments that were themselves blatantly antisemitic, and that the Senator was content to let most of these remain on his page, without even a comment.
Tony Jones’ King Hit
November 28, 2016 | Allon Lee
ABC TV “Lateline” host Tony Jones scored a real coup in securing a twenty minute interview with visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II.
Although the conversation was conducted in English, they may as well have been speaking a different language, with Jones exhibiting a shallow understanding of the region’s complexity, and ignoring or misunderstanding what the Jordanian monarch said.
Bushfires, arson, and Arab schadenfreude
November 25, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
Israel is reeling this week from a growing number of bushfires or wildfires consuming thousands of acres of vegetation, burning houses and causing the evacuation of 75,000 residents of Haifa – Israel’s third largest city. It is believed that the initial fires were accidentally set, but as the crisis unfolded, there was an outbreak of more fires – and estimates by Israeli officials say that at least half of the fires currently burning in Israel were deliberately set.
After 25 years, Israeli-Indian relations appear to be coming of age
November 24, 2016 | Gareth Narunsky
After nearly a quarter century of diplomatic ties, Israeli-Indian relations have come of age.
A look at Trump’s Israel policy and advisors
November 11, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
As a rule, it is beyond AIJAC’s purview to analyse or comment on American political campaigns. Additionally, Israel was not a major policy issue during the US Presidential election campaign season. For this reason, you will note there were no AIJAC blogs on the topic. However, with the election passed, the time has arrived to examine the stated policies of President-elect Donald Trump, as well as take an introductory look at his Middle East Israel advisors.
Wikileaks: Clinton advisor – Netanyahu never abandoned two-state outcome
November 8, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
Remember all the fuss in the lead up to the March 2015 Israeli election when Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was accused by the Obama Administration of being against a two-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Now, almost 20 months later, exciting new insider information has come to light that should put the matter to rest once and for all.
The Australian’s Khalik spins women’s flotilla report
October 11, 2016 | Gareth Narunsky
On October 7, 2016, The Australian featured a report by Jennine Khalik about the recent interception of a boat of anti-Israel activists attempting to reach Gaza -“Israel picks up boat captained by Tasmanian out to break Gaza blockade”.
Peres’ Funeral and his long-standing vision of a “new Middle east”
October 7, 2016 | Glen Falkenstein
Former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres’ funeral in Jerusalem on Friday, September 30 was attended by world leaders past and present, including US President Barack Obama, former US President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Charles.
