Incitement and tensions in east Jerusalem
September 22, 2015
Today’s Update looks at the main causes of the recent escalation in tension and violence in east Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount where Israeli police have faced off against Palestinian stone throwers and reported finding pipe bombs. The stone throwing claimed the life last week of 64-year-old Alexander Levlovich whose car was hit by a rock whilst he was driving in east Jerusalem.
AIJAC applauds Treasurer Joe Hockey for pursuing a Double Taxation Agreement between Australia and Israel
September 18, 2015 | AIJAC
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) applauds Federal Treasurer, The Hon Joe Hockey MP, on his announcement of the Government’s intention to commence negotiations on a new Double Taxation Agreement between Australia and Israel.
AIJAC’s National Chairman, Mark Leibler AC, spoke to Mr Hockey this morning to congratulate him on this move and to warmly welcome this important step.
Russia in Syria/Gambling on moderating Iran
September 17, 2015
This Update offers expert analysis of the increased military intervention of Russia in the Syrian civil war – both of the background to the Russian decision and the quandary it creates for Western policymakers.
‘Jihad against Jews’ – how our race hate laws have failed us
September 16, 2015 | Glen Falkenstein
It’s time to review our racial discrimination legislation, because as the failure to act against Hizb ut-Tahrir in NSW clearly shows, it’s not working, writes Glen Falkenstein.
Hay in needle-stacks: A Hero in Hebron
September 16, 2015 | Ari Wenig
Coming across something rare is often analogised as finding “a needle in a haystack”. And yet, this simile reflects the Israeli-Palestinian divide far more aptly when reversed. Finding acts of pure humanity in and amongst this deeply polarised, and often manic conflict, tends to be like searching for hay in a stack of needles; disheartening, dangerous.
Letter: Ill-conceived motion
September 7, 2015 | Colin Rubenstein
Wendy Turner writes in defence of the Queensland Labor conference motion to recognise a Palestinian state (Letters, 3/9). This motion is one-sided, ill-conceived and counter-productive. Motions such as this are detrimental to the cause of Middle East reconciliation…
Strengthening the Iran nuclear deal, without renegotiating it/ An important photo in the West Bank
September 4, 2015
Much of the ongoing debate about the Iranian nuclear deal in the US is being presented in partisan terms – Republicans versus Democrats, supporters of President Obama versus his critics. President Obama now seems to have the numbers to sustain a veto if the deal is rejected by Congress, as remains likely. Nonetheless, there appears to be an emerging consensus among informed commentators that, at a bare minimum, the deal needs to be strengthened with a number of measures that do not involve re-opening negotiations with the Iranians, but do require additional agreements and credible measures to ensure deterrence of Iranian cheating or other misbehaviour.
Video: Bassem Eid on prospects for a Palestinian state
August 27, 2015
Palestinian human rights advocate Bassem Eid speaks to AIJAC about prospects for a Palestinian state, the Palestinian Authority and the BDS movement.
NYT quotes Palestinian housing minister: Gaza reconstruction delays not Israel’s fault
August 27, 2015 | Ahron Shapiro
AIJAC policy analysts have, on numerous occasions in recent months, published research showing that Israel is not responsible for the well-publicised delays in rebuilding housing in Gaza that had been destroyed in fighting between Hamas and Israel in last year’s Gaza war. That research has cited sources as diverse as the Arab League, the International Monetary Fund and UN officials (See here, here, here, here, and here).
Yet to this day, politicised NGOs continue to promote the canard – unsupported by facts – that Israel’s limited blockade on Gaza is to blame and must therefore be ended in order for reconstruction to take place.
Now, the New York Times – quoting Palestinian officials in Gaza and ordinary Gazans alike – confirms what AIJAC has been saying all along: The genuine obstacles to reconstruction have been: lack of funds thanks to delinquent payment of pledges from donor countries, misappropriation of building materials to the black market and towards the reconstruction of Hamas’ military infrastructure, including terror tunnels, and intra-Palestinian corruption, rivalries, and mismanagement.
Abbas moving to step down?/ Israel buys Kurdish Oil
August 27, 2015
This Update features two article discussing this week’s decision by Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas to resign as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, along with numerous other members, and call a new special session of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) to elect a new committee. Some see this move as a sign the 79-year-old Abbas may be preparing to leave office. In this Update, Palestinian politics experts look at the likely intent and impact of this move, and there’s also a discussion of the significance of reports that Israel has recently been importing most of its oil from Iraqi Kurdistan, via Turkey.
