On Iran, Donald Trump has actually got something right
October 22, 2017 | Colin Rubenstein
US President Donald Trump’s “decertification” of the Iran nuclear deal has been the subject of much debate this past week.
Trump’s tendency to be impulsive and his antagonistic style have led some commentators to dismiss the merits of this particular decision without examining the details.
The Road to Kurdistan
October 6, 2017 | Colin Rubenstein
Stateless and persecuted, Kurds have been the target of oppression, intimidation and violence. Tens of thousands have been killed. Yet despite all they have been through, they continue to cling to the hope of a brighter future in a state of their own.
ABC and SBS have no business using Al Jazeera
September 22, 2017 | Colin Rubenstein
The Qatari run and owned Al Jazeera TV news network has been much in the news of late – and not for positive reasons. Yet the ABC and SBS continue to use Al Jazeera stories in their own foreign news coverage.
Iran will follow Kim Jong-un’s lead in defying the world
September 13, 2017 | Shmuel Levin
Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test. According to South Korea’s parliamentary defence committee chief, the blast had the explosive power of 100,000 tons of TNT, making it four to five times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.
But while most of the world has watched North Korea’s increased nuclear activities with growing concern, one country has stood side-by-side with the North Korean regime throughout this entire time.
South Australian politicians have made right decision voting against unilateral recognition of Palestine
August 11, 2017 | Eran Lerman
THE South Australian Legislative Council passed a motion calling for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be achieved at the negotiating table, reversing an earlier House of Assembly position which had suggested unilateral recognition of Palestine.
In Israel, as anywhere, objectivity, balance, multiple voices are critical to credible journalism
August 7, 2017 | Mark Leibler
Former Middle East correspondent for The Australian John Lyons is right that objectivity doesn’t come easy when reporting from Israel (Media, 31/7).
His explanation for the claim, however, is not that information is harder to obtain in a conflict zone or that agendas are often opaque, but that Lyons says he found it hard to do his job because the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council called him out because it believed his reporting often lacked objectivity.
Efforts by South Australian politicians to recognise Palestine as an independent state will do more harm than good
July 28, 2017 | Sharyn Mittelman
South Australia’s Legislative Council is set to vote on a motion that calls on the Federal Government to recognise a Palestinian state, after the resolution succeeded in passing the House of Assembly last month with the support of the Labor Government.
Funded propaganda
July 21, 2017 | Gareth Narunsky
Last Friday three terrorists opened fire at a group of policemen near the Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, killing two Druze officers. The attackers fled to the Temple Mount, where they were eventually shot and killed.
Qatari-based Al Jazeera initially reported the incident as “at least three Palestinians killed in shooting in Jerusalem’s Old City”.
Modi in Israel
July 18, 2017 | Sharyn Mittelman
Narendra Modi made history in the first week of July as the first sitting Indian prime minister to visit Israel. The visit reflects the rapidly growing warm ties between the two democratic nations, as they seek greater cooperation on a range of issues including trade, defence, tourism, agriculture and water technologies.
Recognising Palestine ignores need for peace
July 5, 2017 | Colin Rubenstein
Those supporting a motion at the upcoming ALP NSW State Conference calling for recognising a Palestinian state argue they are aiming to advance prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yet an informed look at the current situation would make it clear that premature recognition of “Palestine” as a state would actually have the opposite effect.
