Becoming the latest recruit in a well-organised global program, Australia has joined the 24 nations which have appointed envoys to combat anti-Semitism. We still await an envoy for resisting Islamophobia. On 9 July, Australia’s Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus weighed into the perennial debate about what constitutes anti-Semitism, telling the National Press Club that anti-Semitic statements are Continue reading »
Israel / Palestine
Readers of P&I may recall my earlier papers on the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICJ), and the International Criminal Court (ICC), and their recent forays into the Middle East quagmire. Some may have thought that this is a positive development, perhaps humanity is enlisting international law which will finally bring some common sense to Continue reading »
The recent report by the Community Security Group (CSG) detailing 91 Jewish community incidents on university campuses until May 31, 2024, warrants a closer examination, particularly considering its implications and the nuances it omits. Of these incidents, 84 were classified as containing hostile or hateful rhetoric, while the remaining were deemed suspicious activity, including individuals Continue reading »
Melbourne tabloid The Age has done its already sagging reputation no favours by running, as an exclusive, an article that claims to detail what it calls the “denial and disinformation facing October 7 survivors” – Israelis who were attacked by Hamas – with the centrepiece of the article being an interview with an Israeli reservist Continue reading »
The British Labour Party (BLP) won 32% of the vote but with First Past the Post voting it won 62% of the seats. That was the biggest gap on record between votes won and the number of seats. If the UK had preferential voting as we have, the result would have been much closer. The Continue reading »
The strategic and tactical geniuses inside the prime minister’s office and the man they serve may take time to appreciate how comprehensively they have mismanaged popular discontent about Labor’s passive support for Israel during the war against the Palestinians of the past eight months. Instead, they are deluding themselves about being politically outplayed by a Continue reading »
From air strikes to field executions, Fault Lines investigates the killings of civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the role of the United States in the war. As Israel’s bombing campaign continues in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis deepens to catastrophic levels, the Biden administration has not wavered in its support for Israel. Continue reading »
The birth of Israel on 14 May 1948 is said to be based on three related claims. Some people regard these claims as questionable. They form the basis for why Israel’s birth is said to be illegitimate. Firstly, a claim much set in concrete is that Israel is the “promised land” of the Jews. However, Continue reading »
Reflecting on some relevant aspects of just war thinking that I mentioned in my recent contribution to Pearls and Irritations on “Why Israel’s war violates just war principles” I decided it would be worth addressing some of those issues further and also broaching some important ones that I then did not discuss. I do so Continue reading »