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.
Israel justified in striking out at its enemies
July 20, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
S ISRAEL’S response to Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon “disproportionate?” To answer this question it is necessary to explore both what Israel is actually doing, and why.
Pro-Israel lobby: helping or hindering policy making?
July 19, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
TONY JONES: Well, to discuss the role of the pro-Israel lobby and its degree of influence and whether it exists here in the same way as the US, we’re joined now by Ted Lapkin, director of policy analysis at the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. He’s in our Melbourne studio. And with me in Sydney is the author of My Israel Question, Antony Loewenstein.
Stemming the tide Israel fights terrorism on two fronts
July 19, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
IN the world of Middle Eastern politics, natural coincidences are few and far between. And it’s not happenstance that Iran is staring down the barrel of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear weapons program when all hell breaks loose in Gaza and Lebanon.
Iran, Syria wage war by proxy
July 17, 2006 | Colin Rubenstein
Israel is facing a two-front war, now that the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah has joined the confrontation. Hezbollah’s action was probably undertaken at the behest of Iran, which runs it as an adjunct of its own security forces.
Innocent suffer most
July 17, 2006 | Bren Carlill
THEY’RE going through a routine I know so well. Life in a concrete bomb shelter isn’t pleasant, but with Hezbollah rockets aimed at Israeli towns and villages it’s a necessity of life.
Reconcile or count the cost
July 17, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
‘WAR never solves anything” is a much-loved slogan of the peace movement. And excepting the fact that Nazism and fascism perished at the sharp end of a bayonet, perhaps the peaceniks have a point.
Guantanamo ruling no victory for Hicks
July 3, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
You could almost hear the popping of champagne corks in those upscale urban precincts where contempt for America is an article of faith. At first glance, the Bush administration seems to have received its judicial comeuppance from the Supreme Court of the United States.
Morally right to kill threats
June 23, 2006 | Bren Carlill
THE Arab-Israeli conflict rolls on, confusing as ever. Earlier this month Australian newspapers reported an impending reconciliation referendum for the Palestinian population. But after a family was killed last week on a Gaza beach, apparently by a Hamas mine (though Israel was blamed), the terrorist organisation cancelled a 15-month unilateral ceasefire and resumed attacks against Israel.
A war we dare not lose
June 10, 2006 | Chris Kenny
IN what we call the War on Terrorism, we should all empathise with the Israelis or, to be conspicuously even-handed, the Israelis and the Palestinians. These are the people at the epicentre of the global struggle of our time.
Hamas is new name for old desire to eliminate Israel
May 3, 2006 | Ted Lapkin
While open elections are a necessary component of democracy, they are not its be-all and end-all. Political liberty also requires freedom of speech and religious persuasion, equal rights for women and the guarantee that minority groups will enjoy the same legal privileges as the majority.
