Annapolis critics ignore genuine peace efforts
December 7, 2007 | Adam Frey
At last month’s Annapolis peace conference – attended by more than 40 countries, including 16 members of the Arab League – Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) successfully renewed peace negotiations after years of inactivity. Apparently that is not enough for Antony Loewenstein and Michael Shaik, who labeled the new process a complete failure before the first working groups are even scheduled to meet.
Nukes or not, Iran remains a threat
December 6, 2007 | Bren Carlill
AMERICAN intelligence agencies believe Iran has halted its nuclear weapons program. Since an Iranian nuclear bomb would risk destabilising the entire Middle East, this sounds like great news. But it’s worth looking beyond the headlines.
Annapolis: The Devil’s in the Details
December 4, 2007 | Colin Rubenstein
The Annapolis peace conference marked a hopeful start to a renewed negotiating process between Israel and the Palestinians. All of the parties said the right things, and the presence of many moderate Arab and Muslim states at the conference was a welcomed development. And as hard as it was to get everyone to Annapolis in the first place, now the tough part really begins.
Chance for Peace
December 4, 2007 | Colin Rubenstein
THE Annapolis peace conference in the United States marked a hopeful start to a renewed negotiating process between Israel and the Palestinians. Now that Israel and the Palestinians have committed themselves to a two-track process, the tough part begins.
Howard’s achievements, Rudd’s promise
November 30, 2007 | Colin Rubenstein
The new Rudd Government gives every indication of not only seeking to match, but if possible, even improve on the excellent record of the Howard Government in terms of both willingness to act on Jewish domestic concerns and also Australia’s support for Israel’s security and peacemaking efforts.
Annapolis Aims Worth Pursuing
November 27, 2007 | Colin Rubenstein
After months of wrangling and preparation, the Israeli-Palestinian peace conference at Annapolis in the US state of Maryland is upon us. Yet questions remain over its agenda and possible outcomes.
We’re MAD if we do not rein in Iran
November 18, 2007 | Colin Rubenstein
Most analysts agree that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. There are many reasons why Iran shouldn’t be allowed to do so. Iran is already the chief source of instability throughout the Middle East – it funds and arms Hezbollah, Hamas, Shi’ite terrorists in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Slow steps to solve Arab-Israeli conflict
November 14, 2007 | Bren Carlill
The history of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is littered with the corpses of failed talks or quickly failed agreements. They failed, by and large, because adequate preparation wasn’t made in the lead-up to talks or implementation of agreements.
That road does not lead to peace
October 17, 2007 | Colin Rubenstein
VISITING British-Palestinian intellectual Ghada Karmi referred frequently to Middle East peace in her recent article, (“Israel’s power is roadblock to peace in the Middle East”, The Age Opinion, 10/10) but also perfectly illustrated one reason why achieving a viable and lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace has been so hard.
The war that led to terror
October 6, 2007 | Bren Carlill
In a region blighted by violence, one conflict stands out as the war that changed how the world deals with the Middle East. That was the Yom Kippur War, which started 34 years ago today.
Lowering the heat on terrorists would be a fatal mistake
September 24, 2007 | Colin Rubenstein
A few weeks ago, former High Court Chief Justice Gerard Brennan told a Law Council of Australia conference that our counter-terrorism laws had made “substantial incursions on individual freedom and the values of the common law” but that such incursions “may be essential to combat the risk of terror.
Doing our bit to stop nukes post-APEC
September 13, 2007 | Colin Rubenstein
Russia and China are the key to a new UN Security Council resolution to pressure Iran to stop its illegal enrichment of uranium. Because of our recent deal to sell uranium to those countries, Australia was in a particularly strong position to ask them to play a more positive role than they have so far.
