Media Week – Dense & density, Background checks please; Cycle of stupidity
August 8, 2013 | Allon Lee
ABC “Radio National” host Phillip Adams (July 23) introduced an interview with Dr. Mona El Farra, who works for the Red Crescent in Gaza, with the fallacious claim that “the Gaza Strip…[is] the most populated strip of land in the world. Yes, the most populated strip of land on Earth!”
In fact, it’s not even close to being the most densely populated area of land in the world.
According to the CIA World Fact Book (2008), there are 4,603 people per square kilometre in Gaza. This is positively roomy compared to Calcutta (24,718), Paris (20,246), Athens (20,235), Singapore (6,816) or even nearby Tel Aviv (7,524) and Jerusalem (6,045).
Negotiating with Iran under Rouhani
August 8, 2013
New Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was inaugurated earlier this week amid much speculation about whether his presidency will also inaugurate a new round of diplomacy over nuclear issues with the West. This Update deals with the realities and pitfalls likely to present themselves as the possibility of renewed talks is debated.
Netanyahu and the Case for Peace Process Optimism
August 2, 2013
With new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks under way in Washington after a three year hiaitus – though with very little information coming out of them about what is being discussed – there remain ample grounds for pessimism about their prospects, some of which were highlighted in the Australian recently by AIJAC editorial chairman Dr. Colin Rubenstein.
This Update seeks to round out this picture by canvassing some of the arguments that are being put forward that there are reasons for hope that this time the talks could make significant progress – and focussing especially on the approach to the talks of Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu.
Media Week – Imbalanced on balance; Misplaced Irony
August 1, 2013 | Allon Lee
Ahead of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, on balance the media ignored or downplayed the Palestinian leadership’s rejection or disinterest in their resumption, opting to portray Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu as the true obstacles.
Qanta Ahmed: BDS harms Israeli Arabs
July 29, 2013 | Sharyn Mittelman
Following my previous blog post which looked at how the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement undermines peace-building efforts between Israelis and Palestinians and discriminates against Israeli Arabs, an article in Haaretz by Dr. Qanta Ahmed has exemplified this point.
Ahmed is a physician and author of Pakistani descent, and on her website describes herself as an “anti-Islamist Muslim”. In her article “The poverty of boycotting Israel” she makes a scathing attack on the BDS movement for the harm caused by academic and cultural boycotts, and especially the damage potentially being done to the advancement of Israeli Arabs.
The EU’s Partial Hezbollah Ban
July 26, 2013
On Monday, the European Union agreed, after months of debate and negotiation, to ban the “military wing” of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah (Australia, of course, similarly bans only Hezbollah’s “External Security Organisation”). This Update focuses on the background and implications of this decision – as well as the wisdom of banning only the “military wing”, rather than the whole organisation.
TV Holiday Specials, Middle East-style
July 23, 2013 | Or Avi Guy
When watching holiday specials on TV, even cold-hearted cynics often find it hard not to get swept away by the wholesome feel-good and uplifting messages about the importance of family and friends and the meaning of the “holiday spirit” – saccharine and sentimental as these messages might be. In recent years across the Arab and Muslim world, TV holiday specials have gained popularity, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.
Unfortunately, the messages of some of these programs are less about the holiday spirit, and more about hateful incitement. The new series, “Khaybar”, airing this year is a prime example. A “prime time” example, even.
Peace talks set to resume?
July 23, 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Friday that Israel and the Palestinians had agreed on a “basis” to resume peace talks. Israel has reportedly agreed to release 85 Palestinian prisoners from the pro-Oslo period as part of the deal, but other details of this “basis for talks” remain unclear. But despite the announcement, and reported expectations that negotiators from the two sides will arrive in Washington next week, new talks do not appear to be a completely done deal yet, with a number of Palestinian spokesmen saying that the deal is not finalised and obstacles to renewed talks still remain. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has welcomed this development in a cabinet statement.
Birdbrained fact-checking at the ABC
July 22, 2013 | Ahron Shapiro
An ABC interview with the Australian organisers behind the building of a park in Gaza took a bizarre and embarrassing turn last month, when an outlandish and demonstrably false claim made during the interview was later employed to promote the interview on the ABC website.
Islamism after the Fall of Morsi
July 18, 2013
This Update looks at the future of the Islamist political movement, especially in Egypt, in the wake of the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood-led Morsi government there early this month. It also includes an analysis of the state of Islamist politics in another important nation – drawing conclusions about Turkey’s Erdogan goverment based on its handling of the recent unrest in that country.
