Media Week – Rinse Saikal; Notes and Stones; Seriously Silly
August 26, 2016 | Allon Lee
According to ANU’s Professor Amin Saikal in the Canberra Times (Aug. 22), “upon assuming the presidency, Obama…had to deal with a hostile Republican-dominated Congress, where Israel’s interests have repeatedly trumped those of the United States. As a result, he…has backed away from securing a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a means to demonstrate that the US is a dispassionate and unbiased player in the region.”
Saikal is betraying his usual inability to comprehend that US support for Israel might conceivably be based on principle and shared interests.
At Fairfax, Hamad gets gold medal for propagandising
August 23, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
Fairfax columnist Ruby Hamad recent blog is an impassioned plea to ignore what she calls the “symbolic” Olympic Truce principle – of setting aside conflicts for the sake of the games – and instead embrace the demonisation and singling out of Israeli athletes at the Olympics, because, in her view, they deserve it.
Media Week – A baffling declaration; Aid el-Vice; Hamad screed
August 19, 2016 | Allon Lee
In the Spectator Australia (Aug. 13), the ECAJ’s Alex Ryvchin ridiculed Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki’s declaration that Palestinians will sue Britain for the 1917 Balfour Declaration supporting a Jewish national home in Palestine.
Media Week – Distorted Vision
August 17, 2016 | Allon Lee
The indictment of Mohammed El-Halabi, the Gaza head of aid organisation World Vision, on charges of funnelling millions of dollars to Hamas, used to build terror tunnels and buy weapons, was widely reported in the Australian media.
Welcome to electioneering… Palestinian-style
August 12, 2016 | Gareth Narunsky
For many of us, elections evoke images of big promises, political attack ads, leaders debates and corny images of politicians kissing babies.
In the Palestinian Authority, however, where Fatah and Hamas are due to contest municipal elections on October 8, campaigning works a little differently.
In Rio, Olympic-sized politicization of sport
August 11, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
While Israel celebrates its first medal-winner at the Olympics in eight years, some of the other stories coming out of the Summer Games at Rio De Janiero have not been so uplifting.
Opposition to protections from racist harassment and bullying “is ill-conceived, ill-informed and ill-timed”
August 9, 2016 | Jeremy Jones
Jeremy Jones, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s Director of Community and of International Affairs, who has unparalleled experience in the operation of the Federal Race Discrimination laws, has responded to comments by a number of cross-bench senators who have called for the abolition of that federal legislation which gives recourse to victims of racist intimidation, harassment and vilification.
Hamas again largely missing from Sophie McNeill’s latest Gaza expedition
August 8, 2016 | Allon Lee
On ABC TV, Radio and the national broadcaster’s website (July 30), Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill returned to what is clearly her favourite type of story – a one dimensional narrative focusing on Palestinians suffering in Gaza, where only Israel is deemed culpable for their plight.
Knesset committee recognises Armenian Genocide
August 8, 2016 | Gareth Narunsky
ISRAELI recognition of the Armenian Genocide came a step closer last week with the Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports Committee endorsing a proposal to officially recognise the tragedy.
What’s in a Name: Jahbat al-Nusra, the Syrian Civil War and Israel
August 5, 2016 | Aaron Torop
On 28 July Jahbat al-Nusra (also known as the Nusra Front) voted to officially sever ties with al-Qaeda and change its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (“Front for the Conquest of the Levant”). Since mid-2015, JN has controlled a majority of the Israel-Syria border in the Golan, with relative quiet to this day. What does this name change mean for Israel’s security along the border?
The serious terror-funding allegations against the World Vision head in Gaza
August 5, 2016 | Jamie Hyams
Israeli authorities announced on August 4 that they had arrested Mohammed El-Halabi, the manager of operations in the Gaza branch of the international charity World Vision on suspicion of using his position to funnel millions of dollars to the terrorist organisation Hamas.
Media Week – Clark in the dark; Terror vision; Blue news
July 29, 2016 | Allon Lee
Reflecting on the challenges posed by Islamist terror and radicalisation, Australian Financial Review (July 16) senior writer Andrew Clark said that “existing laws which prohibit Australians from fighting for non-aligned military forces – whether Islamic State, Hezbollah, the Kurdish Peshmerga, or the Israeli Army – must be enforced more tightly.”
