Mr. Obama goes to Jerusalem
February 8, 2013
US President Barack Obama has now announced that he will be visiting Israel in March, after coming under some criticism for failing to do so during his first term in office. Details on the visit and what US officials hope will accomplish are reported here. (It is worth noting the White House has been clear that a new peace plan is not part of their agenda.) This Update looks at some of the issues likely be raised during the Presidential visit, or to affect it.
Melbourne newspaper readers left in the dark about alleged Aussie Hezbollah terrorist
February 7, 2013 | Allon Lee
The revelation that an Australian passport holder was allegedly involved in last year’s bus bombing coordinated by Hezbollah which killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria understandably garnered much local media coverage. In addition to numerous radio and TV reports, news briefs in yesterday’s newspapers were followed up with more extensive reports today.
Except, bizarrely, there was no mention of the allegation by Bulgarian authorities in the hard copy editions of the national Australian Financial Review (AFR) or in either of Melbourne’s two daily newspapers – the Age and Herald Sun.
A new round of talks with Iran?
February 7, 2013
Reports are coming out about an agreement for a renewal of negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program in late February following an exchange of remarks about returning to talks between US Vice-President Biden and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on the weekend. This Update features analysis, policy advice and background on how such talks might go.
An Australian Hezbollah terrorist? No great surprise
February 6, 2013 | Ahron Shapiro
Revelations by Bulgarian investigators that one of the suspects in last July’s terrorist bombing of a bus carrying an Israeli tour group near the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria last July was both a Hezbollah operative and an Australian national should unfortunately not come as any great surprise.
Those who have closely followed the operations of Iran’s terror proxy in southeast Asia and Australasia in recent years know that its presence in the region is substantial, and that Australia is regularly listed as one of the countries in which Hezbollah operates.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s mission “To set Israel on fire”
February 5, 2013 | Talia Katz
The principle argument being made by opponents of strong action against Iran’s nuclear program is that Iran is a “rational” actor, whose regime values survival above all else and a nuclear Iran can be contained just as the Soviet Union was during the Cold War.
Now a new report offers yet more evidence to doubt whether Iran’s “rationality” is so obvious and assured. And the report concerns not the loud-mouthed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the man everyone agrees has ultimate control over Iran’s nuclear program, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Briefing on the Problematic UN Human Rights Council Report on Israeli Settlements
February 1, 2013 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Earlier today, this blog noted that Israel has been boycotting the United Nations Human Rights Council due to the Council’s habitual singling-out of Israel for unfair, unwarranted, and utterly biased criticism.
A report on settlements in the West Bank, the commission of which spurred Israel’s decision to cease cooperation with the Council, has just been released. Sadly, the Report entirely vindicates Israel’s position on the matter.
Below is an itemised critique of the Report, highlighting numerous examples of errors and misinformation…
ABC interviews offer informed perspectives on Syria weapons strike
February 1, 2013 | Ahron Shapiro
In the aftermath of reports of an Israeli attack on a Syrian weapons convoy, ABC Radio carried two interviews on Friday worthy of special notice.
On Radio National’s Breakfast program, Fran Kelly spoke with Israeli Channel 2’s esteemed journalist and analyst Ehud Yaari, who of course recently visited Australia and spoke at an AIJAC function, video available here.
Hours later, on The World Today, Simon Santow interviewed former CIA operative Robert Baer.
Media Week – Inane Faine; Spot the difference; Out of sync
January 31, 2013 | Allon Lee
ABC Radio‘s Melbourne host Jon Faine (23/1) should hang his head in shame for his line of questioning to Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the results of the Israeli election.
Even though the evidence showed the opposite, Faine claimed that “the Coalition likely to be elected in the new Knesset in Israel looks like it is going to oppose the peace process.”
International Holocaust Remembrance Day Misused and Abused
January 31, 2013 | Sharyn Mittelman
Increasingly January 27, ‘International Holocaust Remembrance Day’ is being misused and abused. This year was no exception with three prominent cases: Gerald Scarfe’s cartoon in the Sunday Times; former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s comments praising Italy’s former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini who was allied with Hitler’s Nazi Germany; and most concerning were the outrageous comments made by Fathi Shihab-Eddim, a senior figure close to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi who chose January 27 to deny the Holocaust.
Egypt’s Islamist Spring/More UN hypocrisy
January 31, 2013
Two years after the Arab Spring erupted in the Middle East, sweeping away long standing governments and leaders, the biggest winners are unquestionably the Islamists, particularly in Egypt. Today’s Update considers the strategic outlook. To the north of Israel, Syria is roiling in the blood of 60,000 dead as the Assad regime and Islamist rebels clash. To the south of Israel, Egypt’s streets are once more filling up with protesters as the Muslim Brotherhood boldly exposes its antisemitic and anti-democratic colours at breakneck speed, while its offshoot in Gaza is approaching its sixth year of rule.
