What we can learn from Ahmadinejad’s “400 years of Zionism”
August 10, 2012 | Or Avi Guy
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA, 2.8.2012), published some statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made last Wednesday night in a meeting in Teheran with ambassadors and diplomats from Muslim countries . These reveal that while the Iranians love to claim they are only critical of Israel and “Zionism”, and have nothing against Jews per se, the Iranians in fact simply and transparently use the word “Zionism” to paper over dangerously antisemitic views directed against Jews generally.
The Sinai Vacuum
August 9, 2012
This Update is dedicated to the implications of the latest large-scale attack from Sinai into Israel on Sunday, which left 16 Egyptian soldiers dead, but caused no casualties in Israel. A good introduction to the news about the attack and its immediate aftermath appeared in Sharyn Mittleman’s “Fresh Air” blog post on Tuesday – this Update will focus on the wider Sinai problem of a power vacuum increasingly being filled by violent extremist groups highlighted by this latest attack.
Terrorist attack on Sinai border tests Israeli-Egyptian relations
August 7, 2012 | Sharyn Mittelman
The latest terrorist attack on the Israel-Egypt border that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers is shaping up to be the first real test of Israel-Egypt relations under the leadership of newly elected Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.
Media Week – Mind the gap; Myth and facts; and Lesson of Iranian terror
August 7, 2012 | Allon Lee
The media’s unwillingness or failure to probe glaring contradictions in pro-Palestinian propaganda was apparent in a Deutsche Presse-Agentour story in the Canberra Times and Sydney Morning Herald (28/7).
Film Review: Last Dance
August 6, 2012 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Last Dance director David Pulbrook was obviously cognisant that a movie about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict would necessitate negotiating a moral and political minefield. Tellingly, he stressed in numerous interviews that “we were careful not to take sides and worked closely with Palestinian and Jewish communities to ensure a balanced point of view”.
He also went to some length to downplay the political significance of the film, telling the Australian Jewish News‘ Danny Gocs that “[t]he film is more about humanity and motherly love than the politically volatile issue between Israelis and Palestinians.”
His efforts to engage with the Jewish and Muslim communities in Australia are laudable, as were his attempts to create a human drama from an inhuman conflict. His characterisation, however, missed the mark…
Ben Gurion review offers up some home truths
August 3, 2012 | Or Avi Guy
The latest edition of Quadrant magazine featured a book review by Daryl McCann of Ben-Gurion: A Political Life (Schocken Books, 2011), which is highly recommended not only for what it says about the book, but because it explains clearly some truths and some long-forgotten facts about the origins of the Arab-Israel conflict that everyone should understand.
Egyptian President Morsi and the case of the mysterious letter
August 3, 2012 | Allon Lee
Did he or didn’t he?
The saga continues over the authorship of a note purportedly sent by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to Shimon Peres, his Israeli counterpart, thanking him for his good wishes at the start of the Muslim festival of Ramadan.
The Future of Fatah / Preventing military conflict with Iran
August 3, 2012
This Update features two pieces of analysis which discuss worrying signs for the secular nationalist Fatah movement that dominates the Palestinian Authority – emanating from both current Middle East trends, as well as developments in the West Bank itself.
First up is academic expert and recent visitor to Australia Dr. Jonathan Spyer, who sees the entire Palestinian nationalist movement as looking very vulnerable to the Islamist trends which are eclipsing Arab nationalist regimes across the Middle East.
In Israel, Romney seeks to differentiate himself from Obama
August 2, 2012 | Ahron Shapiro
Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee in this November’s US presidential race, made the most of a visit to Israel on Sunday, creating daylight – not between the US and Israel under a future Romney Administration, but rather – between his views and attitudes towards Israel and its neighbours and those of the current Obama Administration.
Incitement watch: Hamas denies Holocaust and Israeli-Arab Parliamentarian supports Burgas bombing
August 2, 2012 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
When Hamas is criticised for its antisemitic and genocidal rhetoric, the common trend is to refer to its 1988 charter, which repeats traditional antisemitic conspiracy theories, specifically cites notorious antisemitic propaganda document ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’, and contains some explicit calls to murder Jews. In return, apologists for Hamas have alleged that the charter is no longer a relevant document and accused Hamas detractors of using the document deceptively to demonise an innocent organisation.
Unfortunately, repeated statements from Hamas indicate that the spirit of the charter pervades the organisation to this day. A recent episode concerning Palestinian Authority (PA) official Ziad Al-Bandak is a case in point…
