Ill-conceived posturing on Palestine is undermining Australia’s reputation as a trusted peace broker
August 14, 2023 | Justin Amler
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says that the Government’s decision was “guided by the principle of advancing the cause of peace and progress towards a just and enduring two-state solution.” If so, its approach is wholly misguided and ahistorical. It completely ignores the recent history of Palestinian intransigence…
Australia’s Middle East decision ill-conceived
August 10, 2023 | Colin Rubenstein
The Federal Government’s decision… is profoundly disappointing and counterproductive. It will severely strain Australia’s long-standing bipartisan national policy of supporting a negotiated two-state peace, even though the Government says it continues to support this outcome.
Is Israel’s democracy in jeopardy? (audio)
August 4, 2023 | Ran Porat
In Israel, the Knesset has voted to take away a key power of the country’s Supreme Court, triggering one of the biggest protest movements in Israeli history. It has also raised warnings that the 75-year-old democracy is in jeopardy.
Israeli army moves to centre-stage in judicial reform controversy
July 26, 2023 | Ran Porat
Even if a compromise is achieved in the future, the damage inflicted on the IDF by this episode will take a long time to repair. Inner cohesion and the commitment of Israeli soldiers to serve in the army have been crucial components of the IDF success as the “people’s army”. Both are now in question.
Denying Israel’s right to stop terrorists undermines peace
July 18, 2023 | Jamie Hyams
You would think it’s a basic right of any country to defend its population against terrorism. However, as is seemingly the case with everything Israel does, its recent two-day military operation against terrorists and their infrastructure in the West Bank city of Jenin aroused much comment and controversy.
Francesca Albanese’s distortion of reality
July 13, 2023 | Justin Amler
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, does not believe in history. She doesn’t even pretend to believe in history.
The US and its influence in UNESCO
July 7, 2023 | Justin Amler
After a six-year absence, the United States has rejoined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which it dramatically left in 2017 over its anti-Israel bias.
ALP Must Resist the Activists on Israel
July 6, 2023 | Colin Rubenstein
The Australian Labor Party is shortly going to have to decide if its policy on Middle East peacemaking is going to be based on misconceptions, symbolic “solidarity” and empty slogans, or common sense, reality, and international law.
Australian Government Under Growing Pressure for the Recognition of Palestinian Statehood
June 27, 2023 | Jamie Hyams
There is a genuine concern in Australia that our government may soon recognize “Palestine” as a state, making Australia only the second Western democracy after Sweden to take this premature and counterproductive step.
Stockholm Syndrome in Tehran
June 22, 2023 | Tammy Reznik
In a stranger-than-fiction moment, earlier this month a small group of Jews gathered in a synagogue in the heart of Tehran to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Iran’s first Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who… died on June 3, 1989. It seems bizarre to see online images of Iranian Jews celebrating the Ayatollah, who infamously implemented Iran’s anti-Israel, anti-Zionist repressive agenda…
Move to recognise Palestine is premature and dangerous
June 21, 2023 | Ahron Shapiro
For the benefit of the Palestinian future, no less than the Israelis, the Albanese Government must firmly remind their ALP colleagues in state branches and at the national conference of the wise words of the late former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon who described his transformation from a rigid ideologue to an outspoken peace proponent responsible for Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.
Why ALP’s call to recognise Palestine is based on ignorance
June 21, 2023 | Colin Rubenstein & Jamie Hyams
The only way to achieve peace is that endorsed by the international community and accepted by Israel, but so far rejected by the Palestinian leadership – good faith negotiation between the two sides, involving compromise by both, to settle all outstanding matters, such as borders and Israel’s security concerns. Recognising a Palestinian state before that happens – and rewarding the current Palestinian refusal to even negotiate – would only make such peace harder to achieve.
