Media Week – Hack by Name…
May 20, 2013 | Allon Lee
ABC Radio “Triple J”‘s Sophie McNeill is probably quite proud of a half hour “special” aired on the “Hack” program she hosts dedicated to a recent visit she made to Gaza (May 2). But she really shouldn’t be.
Iranian Election dramas/ Western Apologists for Iran
May 17, 2013
Western governments will be closely observing the Iranian election process in the leading up to the Presidential poll on June 14 in the hopes that the outcome may encourage a change that will allow a diplomatic resolution to the impasse over Iran’s nuclear program – though of course, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is actually the key decisionmaker and is unaffected by the poll. The contest – which looked likely to be dominated by conservative Khamanei loyalists – was on May 11 rocked by the last minute entry of two candidates; former President Rafsanjani, and a top aide to current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad named Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. The next drama will be the decision of a clerical body called the Guardianship Council about which of the candidates are allowed to run – it has reportedly already ruled that all of the 30 registered female candidates are disqualified by virtue of their gender – and is expected to issue a ruling shortly, though there will likely be a further round of appeals.
A vote of confidence in Israel from Warren Buffett
May 13, 2013 | Or Avi Guy
Israeli industry has received another vote of confidence, this time from near-legendary American business mogul and philanthropist Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett recently completed the acquisition of the last 20% of the Israeli company Iscar (IMC) for US$2 billion – twice the value of the shares offered during the first stage of the transaction in 2006.
The End of the Era of Arab States?
May 10, 2013
This Update deals with a worrying trend some distinguished scholars are beginning to to identify in the aftermath of the so-called “Arab Spring” – the decline of unified Arab nation-states in the Middle East.
Australia’s first honorary citizen: Raoul Wallenberg
May 9, 2013 | Sharyn Mittelman
AIJAC welcomes the Australian Government’s decision to honour Raoul Wallenberg as Australia’s first honorary citizen at a Canberra ceremony on Monday. The tribute not only pays respect to Wallenberg’s heroic legacy of moral courage but it also makes a tremendous statement about Australian values.
Media Week – A sprinkle of BDS; Minority report
May 9, 2013 | Allon Lee
In a bizarre move, the hardcopy edition of the Daily Telegraph failed to run any coverage before or after a BDS protest on April 30 at the University of NSW against a planned Max Brenner outlet set to open on campus in June.
However, in the paper’s “They Said It” section (May 1) which highlights quotes of the day, this appeared:
“‘These brigades have committed war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and are involved in Israel’s continual ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Students and staff of conscience demand that the Max Brenner be shut down! We don’t want companies that endorse the apartheid state of Israel and it’s apartheid practices.’ A Facebook page set up by UNSW students opposes a campus chocolate shop.”
Red lines and calculated risks for Israel in Syria
May 9, 2013 | Ahron Shapiro
A pair of apparent Israeli cruise missile strikes on Syrian military targets this month brought with it near-unanimous public criticism from the regime of Bashar Assad, Syrian rebels and opposition groups, and Arab and Islamist countries in the region (although scattered Syrian opposition voices were quietly observed supporting the move).
While both Israeli and Syrian officials were reluctant to discuss details, it appears that, like a previous strike on January 30, these strikes were intended to enforce a red line Israel had laid out to Syria against the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah – reportedly in this case the highly-accurate Fatah-110 missile, which could pinpoint targets over most of Israel.
Fayyad and the problem of Palestinian leadership
May 9, 2013
Today’s Update deals with the aftermath of a candid interview recently “allegedly” given to the New York Times by Salam Fayyad – the Palestinian Authority PM who resigned last month but is still in office in an interim role – and especially what it says about the problematic state and policies of the Palestinian leadership. The nature of this problem is partly highlighted by the word “allegedly” in the previous sentence, because Fayyad is now denying having given the interview at all, calling the whole story a ” forgery that carries political dimensions with the goal of causing damage and fomenting strife.”
Stop the presses – No Arab League breakthough
May 3, 2013 | Ahron Shapiro
Contrary to recent headlines, the Arab League as a collective body did not substantially “sweeten” its 2002 Peace Initiative (API) for Israel on Monday.
Nonetheless, there is some reason to see this diplomatic movement, while relatively minor, as a small, positive step.
Pro-BDS Facebook page descends into bigot versus bigot hate-fest
May 3, 2013 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Earlier this week, AIJAC reported the vile anti-Jewish hate-speech that appeared on the Facebok event page for an anti-Israel rally opposing the opening of a Max Brenner outlet at the University of NSW…
Consequently, the dynamic on the page was transformed … it seems that the page has been overrun by semi-literate keyboard warriors with axes to grind…
