In trying to Palestine’s prospects of independence and peace with Israel, one is reminded of Tolstoy’s observation that ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’. This is to say that, successful claims to independence share common features, but the circumstances of Palestine’s aspiration for independence are distinctively its Continue reading »
Israel / Palestine
A well-known Australian band, The Cat Empire, has decided not to perform three shows scheduled with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra over the treatment meted out to Australian-British classical pianist Jayson Gillham. In addition, MSO musicians passed a vote of no-confidence in senior management following which the board said it would carry out an independent review Continue reading »
Readers note that it is a month since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) handed down its advisory opinion on the Palestinian occupation (on 19 July). No doubt some are wondering what is happening. I am one of you. We are aware of course that the Australian Government has done next to nothing: refer The Continue reading »
Australia bears ultimate responsibility for how Australian weapons are being used in conflict zones around the world. Republished from DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA, August 02, 2024 It is almost literally true that Australia cannot go to war without the consent and support of the US.’ This statement, made in 2001, is key to understanding the deceit and Continue reading »
American supplied Israel bombs killed at least 100 people as they stood while performing Fajr (dawn) prayers at the Al-Tabin school in the Daraj area of Gaza City on August 10th. This is the latest of numerous schools attacked in the last month, illustrating a clear pattern of killing and maiming. Continue reading »
Australia’s foreign policy elite has held a romantic view of Israel which extends back to its birth in 1948. By internalising Zionist mythology, Canberra has afforded the Jewish state a latitude it rarely extends to others: the freedom to attack its enemies without mercy and in violation of international law. It does this by casting Continue reading »
Major international media outlets face a dilemma over whether to adapt newsroom practices to the World Court’s judgment last month on Israel’s illegal occupation. Major international media outlets face a dilemma over whether to adapt reporting to the World Court’s judgment last month that Israel is an apartheid state illegally occupying Palestinian territory or continue to Continue reading »
They bombed the Tabeen school in Gaza City with so much explosive force that not a single full body was recovered. It was just pieces of people everywhere. They bagged body parts in 70-kilogram piles to try and estimate a death toll. It was impossible to identify bodies or sort out which parts belonged where. Just one big stretch of undifferentiated Continue reading »
Iran may be about to launch a proper missile strike on Israel for the first time ever – in retaliation for the attack on Tehran last month which killed Ismail Haniyeh. Israeli intelligence says an attack is likely to come within days. The Jerusalem Post on 11 August quoted Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a member of Continue reading »
Isn’t it time that the western ruling structures raised their eyes from their reverie, and read the runes that manifest all around them? The signposts are there for all to read: The West – in deliberately overlooking such explicit markers – cannot then complain, or escape, the ensuing consequences. No, the ‘tin ear’ is not Continue reading »