Through the eyes of a dove: the truth about the early years of Israeli rule over the West Bank
May 14, 2014 | Ahron Shapiro
As one of Israel’s most highly respected legal scholars, columnists and politicians who spent his political career in parties left of Labor – and a fierce critic of Israeli West Bank settlements – Amnon Rubinstein has never been accused of sugarcoating his country’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza.
This is why – as we approach 47th anniversary of the Six Day War next month – it is revealing to take a look back at some of Rubinstein’s earlier writings on the subject – especially, his body of seven feature-length articles that he wrote for the New York Times between mid-1968 and mid-1973.
Part one of a two-part blog.
Where to now for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking?
May 14, 2014
With the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks indefinitely suspended since the Fatah-Hamas deal in late April, this Update focuses on where the quest for peace might go from here.
First up is Dr. Robert Satloff, the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who takes as his starting point a much-analysed speech at the Institute a few days ago by American Middle East mediator (and former Australian) Martin Indyk.
Brunei makes its Hollywood debut – Extreme Sharia spreads in Southeast Asia
May 12, 2014 | Glen Falkenstein
It takes a lot to get noticed in Hollywood. Most dream of getting their names up there with the likes of Ellen DeGeneres and Jay Leno. Most, but not Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei. In 2013 the Sultan proposed a new penal code in line with strict implementation of Islamic or ‘Sharia’ law including harsh penalties such as stoning and amputation for offences including theft and homosexuality.
Hamas’ response to Palestinian unity deal: Urging kids to “shoot all the Jews”
May 12, 2014 | Or Avi Guy
After Fatah and Hamas announced a Palestinian national reconciliation deal , Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other Fatah officials tried to argue that the deal means that Hamas would de facto recognise Israel, at least within pre-67′ borders. It quickly became clear that Hamas had some very different ideas and views regarding the unity government, and very publicly contradicted the Fatah claims.
Israel at 66
May 9, 2014
Israel marked its Independence day (Yom Hatzmaut) on Tuesday, and as usual, the occasion sparked some navel gazing about where the Jewish State is today, 66 years after its foundation. This Update features some of the most interesting examples.
‘I Abducted Your Girls’ – Boko Haram and the new face of Islamist terror
May 8, 2014
On April 14 militants from Boko Haram, a Nigerian based terrorist network, kidnapped 276 girls from their school in Chibok village, Northern Nigeria. That same day a bomb blast rocked the Nigerian capital Abuja killing 75, followed by a second bomb blast on May 1 in Nyanya killing 19 and injuring 34.
Buzzwords and Blunders: John Kerry’s ‘Apartheid’ Comment
May 2, 2014 | Glen Falkenstein
US Secretary of State John Kerry warned a room of world leaders last Friday that Israel was in danger of becoming an Apartheid state, according to The Daily Beast. He reportedly said: “A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens—or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state.”
Israeli strategic experts on the latest nuclear negotiations with Iran
May 2, 2014
This Updates offers analysis from three leading Israeli strategic experts on the state of the nuclear negotiations with Iran, its prospects over coming weeks, and especially the significance of reports that progress had been made on some aspects of a nuclear deal, such as the fate of the plutonium-producing Arak heavy-water reactor Iran is building.
The latest Fatah-Hamas deal
May 1, 2014
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement agreed to a unity deal with Hamas, which rules Gaza, last week – an agreement which appeared to rule out an extension of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks whose scheduled end-date was Wednesday. This Update deals with the details, background, and implications of the deal, as well as the motivations of the players involved.
Bob Carr’s “slick” manipulation of the facts
April 11, 2014 | Ahron Shapiro
During an interview with Radio National’s Fran Kelly on April 10, former Foreign Finister Bob Carr raised a previously unreported story involving a vote in the UN General Assembly involving Israel. Carr used the story in an attempt to bolster his claim that then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard had been influenced by Australia’s pro-Israel lobbyists to stymie any criticism of Israel.
A fairer interpretation of the evidence and facts of the case, however, creates a different picture – one of a rogue foreign minister being reined in for attempting to unilaterally downgrade Australia’s relationship with Israel, without any policy consultation, justification or coordination with his prime minister.
