Egypt boils over
February 4, 2011 | Tzvi Fleischer
Egypt has long been the centre of the Arab world. The unrest there could re-draw the map and place all Arab despots at risk. What would replace them is impossible to know. However, at the very least, their fall would grant an immense short-term boost to the forces of Middle East Islamist extremism as represented mainly by Iran and its allies.
Potholes in Mayor’s plan
January 17, 2011 | Anthony Orkin
In addition to dealing with the needs of locals, the majority of Marrickville Councillors have determined that they will dive headlong into complex Middle East issues, in the process contravening Australian foreign policy and undermining all those who are working to promote a better future for Israelis, Palestinians and others.
Co-operation, not collision, with Israel is the only route out for the Palestinian Authority
January 13, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
A worrying trend from the Palestinian Diaspora has infiltrated the PA leadership – the idea of cutting ties and cooperation with Israel. This has manifested itself both as an attempt to boycott Israel and thus cut economic and social ties, as well as eschewing negotiations in favour of a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.
Iran ought to be disqualified from the UN Women committee
November 10, 2010 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
To many, it would seem like a bizarre joke to suggest that Iran should put its hand up for a position on the proposed new United Nations entity, UN Women to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Union sanctions not helping the Palestinians
October 18, 2010 | Bren Carlill
The upcoming BDS resolution at the ACTU is both sad and absurd. All Australian unionists in favour of Israeli-Palestinian peace will either vote against the resolution, or unwittingly prolong the conflict.
Creativity and realism required for success in Middle East talks
September 3, 2010 | Colin Rubenstein
YESTERDAY in Washington, President Barack Obama formally launched the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians after a 19-month hiatus. International expectations for the talks are low because there appear to be a number of factors that make peace breakthroughs seem unlikely. Yet other factors offer room for cautious optimism for modest progress.
Iran “vulnerable” to sanctions
July 29, 2010
IRAN is much more vulnerable to pressure than the West realises, and ratcheting up the pressure with sanctions may halt its nuclear weapons program, according to an Israeli specialist on Iran. The European Union’s history with Iran taught it that it could mock the West, but sanctions passed on Monday had real teeth, Emanuele Ottolenghi of the Foundation for the Defence of Democracies said in Melbourne yesterday.
Broken dreams in the promised land
July 24, 2010 | Bren Carlill
EHUD Barak and Yasser Arafat, smiling broadly, jostled before the world’s cameras to see who could enter the door last. It was Camp David, the US presidential retreat in Maryland, and the world waited as the Israeli and Palestinian leaders attempted to conclude a permanent peace agreement. This weekend marks 10 years since those talks ended in failure, and when measured against the thousands of lives since needlessly lost, it’s hard to remember that people were actually hopeful about their success.
How to Support – and Improve – Israel
July 22, 2010 | Colin Rubenstein
Julie Szego’s column entitled “The Need for a Critical Diaspora” (July 2) placed entirely too much uncritical faith in the arguments of American author and journalist Peter Beinart. She fails to take adequate account of the outcome of the intense and interesting debate that has ensued in America since Beinart’s essay, “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment” was first published in mid-May. In particular, Szego seems unaware that critics have shows that much of the empirical basis of Beinart’s key claim is just plain factually wrong.
The Truth about Gaza… and its wider significance
June 16, 2010 | Colin Rubenstein
The tragic events of May 31 – when 9 Turkish blockade runners were killed in a clash with Israeli troops at sea – has focused attention on the current situation in Gaza. Unfortunately, much that is being said about the history and current reality of that unhappy territory is poorly informed. Crowded, resource-poor Gaza has never been a particularly pleasant place to live. Slated to be part of a Palestinian state under the 1947 UN partition plan, when the Arab states followed up their rejection of the plan with a military attack, Gaza ended up under neglectful Egyptian military rule. When Israel captured it in the 1967 war, the area was dirt poor, with unemployment topping 40%, and average GDP per capita around US$150 per year.
Of Blockades and Blockheads
June 15, 2010 | Allon Lee
Why are supposed human rights activists so quick to attack Israel but never make a squeak against the anti-peace Hamas regime that persecutes women, Christians and homosexuals? Why does the Gaza flotilla bloodshed automatically cancel out the moral and legal imperative of maintaining Israel and Egypt’s blockade of the Hamas-ruled Strip? These are the two questions that must be answered by those seeking to rollback the internationally sanctioned blockade of the Gaza Strip of materiel that can be used for military purposes. Fuel, medicines, gas, electricity and food have never stopped flowing into Gaza.
Blockade will end when Hamas wants peace
June 8, 2010 | Bren Carlill
If Israel is forced to lift the blockade, the unintended result will be the death of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. If Hamas “beats” Israel and successfully arms like Hezbollah, ordinary Palestinians will believe violence (the Hamas path) is better than negotiations (the Fatah path). Fatah will either collapse or return to wholesale violence, putting peace efforts back 30 years.
