Al Jazeera comes to Australia
August 15, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
So will Al Jazeera give Australians a new perspective on the Middle East? Joining us now in Sydney to discuss this is Media analyst Dr Adel Iskander who is visiting from the American University in Washington to talk about his latest book, one of the first studies of Al Jazeera, “How the Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East”. Also in Sydney, Dr Colin Rubinstein from the Australia-Israel Jewish Affairs Committee, who has been critical of Al Jazeera saying it maintains a consistent anti-Israeli bias in its broadcasts.
A good resolution, but can it be put into lasting effect?
August 15, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
THE principles enunciated in UN Security Council Resolution 1701 on Lebanon, passed on Friday, are a positive step towards a sustainable end to the bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The overarching problem, unfortunately, is that this resolution appears to lack adequate mechanisms to implement those principles.
Hezbollah stands in way of peace
August 14, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
When the Hezbollah-Israel war began in mid-July, many in the Arab world made some startling comments. “The operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the interest of people of Arab countries and the international community,” wrote the editor of the Kuwaiti Arab Times. Milder statements in the same vein – blaming Hezbollah for the violence – came from across the Arab world, including the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
Just the facts, Maam
August 11, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
The proposition that political argument should be built on an accurate factual foundation is neither revolutionary nor controversial. Or so I thought. But Melbourne University Publishing’s (MUP) Louise Adler seems to think that factual exactitude is a secondary issue where anti-Israel polemics are concerned. She sidesteps any real mention of the inaccuracies that pervade Loewenstein?s work, dismissing any such complaints as mere manifestations of a malign Zionist conspiracy to demean his book. But in retrospect, Adler’s lack of critical judgement on Israel-related topics should come as no surprise.
Have the strength to defend your views
August 10, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
FOR someone who accuses Israel of suffering from an exaggerated sense of victim-hood, freelance journalist Antony Loewenstein (whose work appeared in Perspectives on Monday) is afflicted by his own case of raging paranoia.
Antony Loewenstein’s Reign of Error
August 7, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
After only a week on the bookstore shelves, it seems that Antony Loewenstein’s My Israel Question is undergoing a second print run. This might indicate that the book is going like hotcakes. But according to Neilsen?s Bookscan, which keeps tabs on book sales nationwide, only 318 copies were sold during that period.
War as an extension of politics
August 7, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
General Patton once observed that you don’t win wars by dying for your country; you win them by making the other poor bastard die for his. But Hezbollah has turned that pearl of military wisdom on its head. These jihadists are trying to defeat Israel, not by killing Jews, but by engineering a slaughter of the Lebanese populace.
Want Mideast Peace? Get the right ceasefire in Lebanon
August 5, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, “I genuinely believe the outcome of the present [conflict] and the emergence of a new order that will provide more stability, will help create the necessary environment that will allow me … to create a new momentum between us and the Palestinians.” He added, “We want to separate from the Palestinians. I’m ready to do it.” The connection between the conflict in Lebanon and Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations may not seem obvious, but Olmert is right. So it is absolutely crucial that any ceasefire in Lebanon does more than simply halt the immediate bloodshed.
Israel needs support to fight radical Islam
July 25, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
N the world of Middle East politics, coincidences are few and far between. And it’s not happenstance that Iran is staring down the barrel of UN sanctions over its nuclear weapons program when all hell breaks loose in Gaza and Lebanon.
Bloodbath blurs war truths
July 25, 2006 | Bren Carlill
Amidst the front-page photos of bleeding children, it?s difficult to find clarity regarding the conflict raging in Israel and Lebanon. We all know the spark that set the region alight ? an unprovoked Hizbollah kidnapping of Israeli soldiers under the cover of missiles fired at Israeli cities. This was preceded by a Hamas-led attack from Gaza, which also involved kidnapping and rockets fired. The depressing sight of dead and injured civilians has since helped blur the reasons behind the violence.
Autonomy key to peace in Lebanon
July 25, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
IN AN extraordinary statement, the editor of a Kuwaiti newspaper, the Arab Times, argued last week that “the operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the interest of people of Arab countries and the international community”. Milder statements in the same vein, blaming Hezbollah for the violence, have come from across the Arab world, including the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
