Iran: a better deal needed
July 18, 2015 | Colin Rubenstein
At the heart of the international effort to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons has been the knowledge and understanding that Iran is a dangerous, expansionist rogue country and a leading state sponsor of terrorism that must be prevented from obtaining even the capability to produce the world’s most dangerous weapons.
Only Iran benefits from this appalling gamble
July 16, 2015 | Colin Rubenstein
The PM’s caution and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop’s warning that Iran needs to fulfil its commitments are fully justified. The test must be whether the agreement, with the US, UK, China, France, Russia and Germany, will, in fact, stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons – not just slow this down – and it appears to fail that test.
Islamist ambitions of Iran are far more dangerous than ISIS
June 8, 2015 | Colin Rubenstein
Should the US and its Western allies in the fight against Islamic State informally ally themselves with Iran, especially in Iraq?
Yes, Iran hates and fears Islamic State – so there is theoretically a shared interest in fighting it. However, to focus solely on this single supposed “shared-interest” approach is shortsighted, naive and counter-productive for many reasons.
Delivering aid to Gaza
June 4, 2015 | Glen Falkenstein
Gaza needs aid. Last year’s conflict between Israel and Hamas left affected residents homeless, compounding already dire humanitarian challenges facing the Strip. Most of the damage occurred in a concentrated 3km zone adjacent to Israel, which launched strikes against Hamas in response to the group’s firing rockets at Israeli civilian areas.
Netanyahu likely to seek to broaden his narrow coalition
May 15, 2015 | Colin Rubenstein
Last December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of a centre-right government of 68 members in the 120-seat Knesset, called for new elections after disputes with several coalition members. On March 17, Netanyahu’s Likud party emerged as the clear winner, with a seemingly comfortable path to a right-wing government of 67 seats, if desired.
Iran’s lies disguise terror network
April 2, 2015 | Colin Rubenstein
IN view of the Obama administration’s attempts to mend relations with Tehran, it’s important to remember the truly revolutionary, ideological and repressive nature of the Iranian regime.
Far from becoming more moderate, Iran remains a leading human rights abuser, still committed to Ayatollah Khomeini’s vision of exporting the revolution and, with it, Iran’s intolerant, fundamentalist version of Shia Islam.
US on a fool’s errand over Iran nuclear deal
March 18, 2015 | Colin Rubenstein
Now that the furore has subsided after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United States Congress this month, the focus should be on the major issue. This is not the politics of the Israeli elections, or the state of US-Israel relations, or partisan splits in Washington, but the optimum strategy to prevent Iran, a terrorism-supporting rogue state, from acquiring nuclear weapons in defiance of international law. This is the question that will likely profoundly shape not only the increasingly volatile Middle East, but global politics, for decades to come.
Hamas remains the barrier to rebuilding Gaza
March 9, 2015 | Sharyn Mittelman
LAST October, the international community pledged a massive $7 billion to assist the Gaza strip’s reconstruction after Hamas’s July war with Israel.
However, only about 5 per cent of the money has been delivered to Gaza so far and reconstruction is clearly slow. While some aid agencies based in Gaza blame Israel’s security blockade for the slow rate of reconstruction (while ignoring Egypt’s total blockade), the real reasons lie elsewhere.
Letter: Free speech protected
March 9, 2015 | Colin Rubenstein
Chris Berg (Opinion, 1/3) misrepresented an article I wrote with Michael Kapel published in The Age in 1994. In context, the line that Berg quotes does not say that newspaper articles would never be subject to the Racial Discrimination Act, as he implies…
Why the UN Security Council can’t solve the Arab-Israel conflict by itself
February 16, 2015 | Einat Wilf & Shany Mor
Australia showed moral leadership in its term on the UN Security Council, most notably when it stood with the US in December and voted against a highly biased and anti-Israel draft resolution put forward by the Arab League, recognising true peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be achieved via direct negotiations.
The path to Palestinian statehood has always passed through reconciliation with Israel – a recognition of both the fact of a Jewish state in the Middle East and the acceptance of its legitimacy.
Statement on the terrorist attacks in Denmark
February 16, 2015
AIJAC expresses its sincere condolences to the victims and their families of the terrorist attacks in Copenhagen on the weekend. The victims of the deadly attacks included documentary filmmaker Finn Noergaard who was killed while attending a discussion at a café on freedom of speech and Dan Uzan, a Jewish volunteer security guard who was killed while guarding a synagogue where around 80 people were celebrating a Bat Mitzvah. Five policeman were also injured in these attacks and we hope for their full recovery.
Paris no excuse for revisiting 18C
January 21, 2015 | Sharyn Mittelman
ON January 7 there was an attack on free speech in Paris by murderous terrorists inspired by a jihadist ideology, not French laws on hate speech.
Despite this truth, the attack on Charlie Hebdo and the horrific murders of 17 people have led some commentators in Australia to rehash the debate on section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, claiming we cannot say “Je suis Charlie” and support hate speech laws. But we can and we should.
