The barriers to peace in Middle East
December 19, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
The resurgence of internal Palestinian conflict in recent days sheds some light on the assertion advanced again by the report of the Iraq Study Group in Washington. This claim is that the Israeli/Palestinian question is the “core” of the problems radiating out of the Middle East. Everyone of goodwill wants Israeli-Palestinian peace as quickly as possible. However, the belief that it is the key to the region’s problems is not only incorrect, it is counter productive.
Too high a price for peace
December 12, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
The bipartisan Iraq Survey Group report to US President George Bush makes some reasonable if unsurprising recommendations about military strategy in Iraq, but also two recommendations about wider Middle Eastern policy that are fundamentally flawed.
Arabs Must Take Some Responsibility
December 10, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
It all comes down to Israel?s occupation of the West Bank. At least that?s what one of the dominant mantras on Middle East politics would have you believe. Former US Secretary of State James Baker made that argument just this last week in Washington. The much anticipated report of Baker?s Iraq Study Group declared: ?the United States cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict.?
Multiculturalism is still the way to go
November 23, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
MULTICULTURALISM has been official bipartisan policy, federal and state, for more than 25 years. It has helped create and sustain what is arguably one of the most successful multi-ethnic, tolerant democratic societies in the world, and is vital for our social cohesion, economic prospects and positive profile in our region and beyond.
A Terrorist Murder case is cracked
November 8, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
t’s a twelve year old murder case and it looks likes its finally been cracked. Eighty five people were killed and since last year, we have known exactly who did it. Last week, the prosecutor responsible for the case asked for arrest warrants for those who put him up to it.
Fact rather than Fable in the Iraq Debate
October 10, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
It is late-October of an even numbered year, and that means it’s election season in the United States. And it also seems to be the season for the deployment of pseudo-science in a bald-faced campaign to sway AmericaÂ?s choice of leadership.
The problem of squaring a circle
September 30, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
Both Israel and Palestinian politics are currently in a state of flux. The conduct and consequences of the war against Hizbollah have seen a very intense debate in Israel. The future of the current ruling coalition, elected in May, is meanwhile very much up in the air. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced a couple of weeks ago agreement on the imminent formation of a new Fatah-Hamas unity government. However, continuing disagreements over the government’s platform have left him unable to bring it to fruition so far.
Corrupt regimes are the source of extremism and terrorism
September 20, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
After five years, we have avoided some of our worst post-9/11 fears. We have seen Bali, Madrid, London, Mumbai, and many smaller attacks by terrorists driven by the same Islamist totalitarian ideology that inspired the September 11 atrocities. But despite some attempts, there has been no successful attack on a similar scale since then. Moreover, the nightmare scenario – a terrorist attack on a major Western city with non-conventional weapons – has not come to pass.
Hezbollah’s new battle at home
September 3, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
IF LOVE means never having to say you’re sorry, that principle should apply with redoubled force when the emotion in question is hate. So when Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah publicly apologised for igniting the recent Lebanese conflict, his boasts of victory over Israel began to ring a tad hollow.
How to stop another war
August 21, 2006 | Tzvi Fleischer
WITH the smoke still clearing from Lebanon and northern Israel, the crucial question is whether the post-war resolution will remove the sources of the violence. Otherwise, the world will witness a similar round of conflict in another few months or years, with all the suffering that will entail.
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.
