Same old Mahathir
June 28, 2016 | Gareth Narunsky
One could have been forgiven for thinking, during a 60 Minutes interview with former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in March, that the one-time strongman of Malaysian politics had mellowed out significantly.
Reviving the Arab Peace Initiative
June 27, 2016 | Glen Falkenstein
Shifting dynamics in the Middle East may have presented a rare opportunity to establish the groundwork for a lasting, regionally-backed peace between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and their Arab neighbours.
Palestinians Celebrate Terror Attacks- Again
June 17, 2016 | Aaron Torop
As we have reported on this blog in the past, large elements of the Palestinian leadership and much of the Palestinian public routinely celebrate terror attacks. The June 8 shooting in Tel Aviv that killed four is no different. Similar to responses after the Jerusalem bus bombing this past April, many parts of Palestinian society welcomed this most recent attack.
McNeill twists story about Egyptian border with Gaza to blame Israel
June 17, 2016 | Allon Lee
It’s been a while, but ABC TV “7.30” on Wednesday witnessed the full-blown reappearance of Sophie McNeill the advocacy journalist, in a story entitled “Rafah border crossing opens to sick Gazans seeking medical treatment in Egypt.”
The whole story was shallow and contradictory – and it was clear neither McNeill nor the show’s producers were going to allow the facts to interfere with a narrative they wanted to tell. Despite the fact that the story was ostensibly about a rare opening by the Egyptian government of its shared border with Hamas-ruled Gaza, that theme was that the suffering in Gaza is Israel’s fault and nobody else’s – not Egypt’s, not Hamas’ and not the Palestinian Authority’s. A veneer of balance was offered by speaking to an Israeli spokesperson, but the slant of the story was very clear.
Media Week – Lessons to be learned; Samah lingers on
June 10, 2016 | Allon Lee
Israeli author and former Associated Press reporter Matti Friedman told ABC Radio National “Late Night Live” host Phillip Adams (June 2) that he wrote his new book, “Pumpkin flowers” because “understanding in the West of the complexities of Israel’s situation lags behind the realities of the region.”
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati – the real face of the Iranian post-election regime
June 8, 2016 | Ari Wenig
The results of the parliamentary election in Iran at the end of February have often been represented as a victory for the moderates, reformists, and other supporters of 2013-elected President Hassan Rouhani. And it is true that, according to unofficial election results, Rouhani’s allies look to have gained a plurality in the 290-seat parliament, holding the most sway since 2004 and therefore, in theory, apparently carrying the potential to challenge the influence of the hard-line conservatives, who suffered humiliating losses in the elections. (Never mind that many of the candidates now considered part of the reformist bloc were previously identified as hardliners and only were named as affiliated with the reformist bloc just before the election after most genuine reformists were prevented from running.)
Media Week – All Shook up; Telling Tales
June 2, 2016 | Allon Lee
Anyone might have thought that Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman had just become Australia’s new defence minister such were the ripples in our media.
An opportunity for peace – if the Lieberman hype can be ignored
June 2, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
To believe the hyped-up accounts of some media reports, the addition of Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu coalition has made the current government the “most right-wing ever” in Israel. But do the facts support this, especially after Tuesday’s historic news that Netanyahu is prepared to enter negotiations based upon the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative?
The death of a Palestinian activist exposes some brutal realities
May 17, 2016 | Gareth Narunsky
PALESTINIAN activist Baha Nababta was passionate about helping his community in the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem. In addition to being the head of the local volunteer fire department, he helped to pave roads, remove garbage and set up emergency medical services. For this service to his people, he was brutally murdered last week.
The two faces of Abbas
May 13, 2016 | Ari Wenig
With negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) seemingly at a stand-still, an analysis suggests there are not two parties to the conflict, but three – Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, and two versions of PA President Mahmoud Abbas: the version experienced by the Arab world, and the one witnessed by the West.
