After Islamic State’s defeat, we can’t abandon Syria to Russia and Iran
December 18, 2017 | Colin Rubenstein
The so-called Islamic State is on the verge of defeat in both Syria and Iraq. With the sun about to set on this murderous organisation in both countries, the Americans and the Russians, both with boots on the ground, are engaged in complex and delicate multi-sided negotiations to redraw the map of Syria.
Recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a welcome, symbolic move
December 17, 2017 | Colin Rubenstein
Imagine if no other country was prepared to accept that Canberra is our capital, to keep happy a neighbour with more international support, and a habit of issuing violent threats. Instead, they all site their embassies in Melbourne, and maintain that is the capital.
That, in a nutshell, was Israel’s situation, until Donald Trump officially recognised Jerusalem as the capital…
Danby vs the ABC
November 18, 2017 | Allon Lee
You’d think that, with its $1 billion budget, the ABC could handle a little criticism. Not so, as Melbourne Ports ALP MP Michael Danby recently discovered.
In late September, Danby had the temerity to use his electoral allowance to run two advertisements in the Australian Jewish News questioning the reporting priorities of ABC Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill.
The real legacy of the controversial Balfour Declaration
November 11, 2017 | Gareth Narunsky
Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the famous letter in which the British government declared that “it viewed with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”…
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misunderstanding about the declaration and the context in which it was issued.
Letter: Inaccurate Beersheba claims
November 10, 2017 | Jamie Hyams
Peter Boyer (“History bent to shape to fit Anzac devotion” November 7) claims Beersheba had never been a Jewish town. In fact, it was founded by Jews in biblical times, and has a Hebrew name, meaning Seven Wells. The reason it had few Jews up to 1947 is that they had been driven out in Arab rioting.
An opportunity to fix a flawed deal
November 3, 2017 | Shmuel Levin
The only penalty that can be implemented for violations of the JCPOA is the full re-imposition of sanctions – which automatically ends all restrictions on Iran under the agreement. This has been compared to a legal system with only one punishment – the death penalty – for every crime. The obvious result is that most crimes go unpunished.
Video: Jamie Hyams on Prime Minister Turnbull’s visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority
November 3, 2017
AIJAC’s Jamie Hyams appeared on ABC News24 on 2 November 2017, discussing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories and barriers to a two-state peace.
ANZAC charge at Beersheba just as relevant today
November 2, 2017 | Sharyn Mittelman
The Anzac victory in Beersheba is symbolic of how Australia’s history has been entwined with Israeli history even before the Israeli state was established in 1948.
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.
