Jeremy Jones debates 18C on Sky News (audio)
September 14, 2016
AIJAC’s Jeremy Jones debates the merits of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act with Simon Breheny of the IPA, hosted by Patricia Karvelas on Sky News
The implications of the postponed Palestinian election
September 14, 2016
This Update deals with the background and possible serious implications of the decision last Thursday by the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) high court to postpone municipal elections scheduled for Oct. 8 – a significant event which sadly was barely reported in the Australian media. These were to be the first competitive elections in the Palestinian territories in almost a decade, and looked to see a major contest between the Fatah party, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which rules Gaza. Now they have been postponed at least until December…
Video: Dr Colin Rubenstein argues for the retention of clause 18c
September 12, 2016
AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein argues for the retention of clause 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act on Sky News Agenda with Jim Middleton
Setting the facts straight on Hebron
September 9, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
Palestinian Embassy’s latest fact sheet on Hebron is interesting for the sources it quotes directly, the source material it distorts, and what facts it leaves out.
More Iran deal loopholes/ The war on Syria’s hospitals
September 9, 2016
This Update looks at the implications of the revelation last week of a number of previously not publicly known loopholes or exceptions granted Iran in January as part of the implementation of the nuclear deal – as exposed by the the Institute for Science and International Security, a thinktank run by former International Atomic Energy Agency senior official David Albright.
Settlement hype, not ‘activity’, reaches new high
September 7, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
The significance of the issue of construction within Israeli settlements in the West Bank has long been overemphasised and exaggerated in international diplomacy, but White House and State Department criticism of Israel last week over construction in its West Bank settlements may just have set a new high-water mark for settlement hysteria.
Explosion rocks Israeli satellite industry
September 6, 2016 | Rachel Kaye
Israel’s satellite industry is in crisis after a SpaceX rocket carrying an advanced Israeli communications satellite exploded on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida last Thursday 1 September. The accident and the subsequent loss of the Israeli-built satellite has been described as a “crushing blow” to Israel Aerospace Industries.
Media Week – It’s not all right; Church and Hate
September 2, 2016 | Allon Lee
On August 29, the Age, Canberra Times and Sydney Morning Herald websites ran a Washington Post report about the controversial Palestinian village of Susiya in Area C of the West Bank – that is the area under full Israeli control, with relatively few Palestinian residents.
The Israeli courts have ordered the village demolished, accepting arguments that it its residents are squatters and have illegally built there.
The report further stated that, “the Israeli government right now wants to formally annex Area C in the West Bank.”
There is no Israeli government move or discussion to annex Area C.
Turkey’s Intervention in Syria/ The Weakening of ISIS Sinai
September 2, 2016
This Update features some background and analysis of Turkey’s intervention in the Syrian civil war last week, in an operation termed “Euphrates Shield” launched last Wednesday, and aimed initially at the ISIS-held town of Jarablus – which Kurdish forces looked poised to take.
Media Week – Rinse Saikal; Notes and Stones; Seriously Silly
August 26, 2016 | Allon Lee
According to ANU’s Professor Amin Saikal in the Canberra Times (Aug. 22), “upon assuming the presidency, Obama…had to deal with a hostile Republican-dominated Congress, where Israel’s interests have repeatedly trumped those of the United States. As a result, he…has backed away from securing a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a means to demonstrate that the US is a dispassionate and unbiased player in the region.”
Saikal is betraying his usual inability to comprehend that US support for Israel might conceivably be based on principle and shared interests.
