An Australian Hamas operative?
June 28, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
An Australian man who was arrested in Israel recently has now been formally charged with spying for Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation both in Australia and in Israel, and has faced an initial court hearing.
As reported by the ABC:
Eyad Abu Arja was arrested along with his wife when he arrived at Tel Aviv airport in March, and has been in custody ever since.
Almost lynched in East Jerusalem for being Jewish
June 28, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Initial reports emerged yesterday of an Israeli delivery driver who narrowly avoided being lynched by an Arab mob. This follows a similar incident last November, when four students, including one Australian tourist were stoned by a mob after taking a wrong turn and driving through an Arab neighbourhood. Melanie Lidman has now written the rather shocking full story of yesterday’s incident in The Jerusalem Post:
Nachson was going towards Ma’aleh Adumim to deliver a package for his delivery company, Cheetah, when he attempted to make a shortcut near the Hadassah Har Hatzofim Hospital to avoid traffic.
FLOTILLA II – An end to the Humanitarian Pretence?
June 28, 2011 | Sharyn Mittelman
Haaretz is reporting that senior Israeli officials have received information that organisers of the Gaza flotilla may be bringing chemical substances on the ships to use against Israeli soldiers to prevent them from boarding the ships.
Barak Ravid reported that the senior officials also said that Israel had been notified that several extremists among the Gaza flotilla participants had recently claimed that they intend on “shedding the blood of IDF soldiers”…
This latest reports also only strengthen the case that the Freedom Flotilla organised by the Free Gaza Movement is an unnecessary and potentially dangerous provocation with no humanitarian purpose…
Dr. Michael Rubin speaks with Alan Jones
June 28, 2011
AIJAC guest and Middle East expert Dr. Michael Rubin spoke with 2GB’s Alan Jones in Sydney on the current situation in the Middle East.
The Truth about Kosher Slaughter
June 28, 2011 | Geoff Levin
The Sunday Age has recently published two articles, an editorial, and a blog post alleging that Kosher slaughter causes undue pain to animals, advocating legislation that would effectively end the production of kosher meat in Australia.
While the articles repeatedly claimed that unstunned slaughter means an inhumane “up to 20 seconds” of pain for sheep, this conflicts with many expert opinions that confirm that Kosher slaughter is ethical, painless, and humane.
The truth about Gaza’s “humanitarian crisis”
June 28, 2011 | Allon Lee
As Sharyn Mittelman noted earlier today, the evidence is overwhelming that the planned Gaza flotilla is much more about creating a political confrontation with Israel than about ameliorating the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Turkey makes waves as UN flotilla report allegedly backs Israel
June 27, 2011 | Allon Lee
Israel is being offered a chance to improve its parlous relationship with Turkey – but at the cost of softening criticism of Ankara in the UN report on the Gaza flotilla clash in May 2010 that resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish citizens on board the Mavi Marmara.
What do the Palestinians want?
June 24, 2011 | Or Avi Guy
Even a quick look at various Palestinian officials’ statements over the past few weeks can reveal an inconsistent and somewhat confusing picture of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) official policy regarding the alternatives of negotiations with Israel and their plans to try to get UN recognition of Palestinian statehood in September.
Calls for release of Israeli soldier after 5 years of captivity
June 24, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Tomorrow will mark 5 years since kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has been held illegally by Hamas in Gaza. As Isabel Kershner has reported in the New York Times, Hamas has again refused a request from the Red Cross to visit Shalit – so that they could merely ascertain what kind of conditions he is being held in and whether he is alive or dead.
The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday publicly demanded that Hamas provide proof that an Israeli soldier captured five years ago and held in Gaza is still alive. Hamas promptly rejected the demand.
Egyptian PM reportedly backs down on election postponement
June 24, 2011 | Allon Lee
Egypt’s interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf is now reportedly denying media reports, noted previously on Fresh AIR, that he supports postponing parliamentary elections scheduled for September until after a new constitution is drawn up, a process only scheduled to commence in September.
