Every time I visit Gaza, I witness how people have sunk further into despair, with the struggle for survival consuming every hour. In the south, around Rafah, makeshift structures of plastic sheeting have mushroomed everywhere including on the streets, with people trying to protect themselves from the cold and rain. Each one of these flimsy Continue reading »
Israel / Palestine
In response to South Africa’s suit before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) charging Israel with genocide in Gaza, Australian politicians have refused to support a significant international means of ending this slaughter of Palestinians. Instead, party leaders search for words to disguise cowardice, to camouflage the lack of courage required to avoid offending Israel Continue reading »
It is hard to see how it is in Australia’s interests to support Israel’s actions in Gaza. I first came across Colin Rubenstein of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) in March 2001 – twenty three years ago – when I was involved in a debate with him about the proposed USA National Missile Continue reading »
This is extraordinary because the states supporting Israel, above all the United States, have claimed the high moral and legal ground and lectured the states of the Global South about the importance of the rule of law. Recall Samuel Huntington’s controversial, yet influential, 1993 Foreign Affairs article, “The Clash of Civilisations,” which ends with the Continue reading »
From the first days in their Jewish day schools and youth organisations, young Jews are drilled with the lie that Palestine was ‘a land without people for a people without a land’. From its inception, the Zionist movement has sought to suppress Palestinian history and narratives. Whenever there are exhibitions or events or publications featuring Continue reading »
Australian citizens are at risk of being prosecuted under Australian law if they commit, or are complicit in crimes being perpetrated by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza. Since the commencement of the Gaza war, when the Israeli government issued an order to 360,000 military reservists to engage in the onslaught of Gaza, multiple dual Continue reading »
Australia’s reluctance from afar to recognise Israel’s genocide in Gaza is being challenged by the genocide case against Israel in the World Court. Australia has finally made clear its official position on the genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Continue reading »
The transcript of the detailed and moving closing arguments for the South African case against Israel to the International Court of Justice by London-based human rights barrister Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC, in the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) Continue reading »
In their aggressive, unrelenting attempts to protect the government of Israel, groups such as the Australian Jewish Association, the Australia / Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Zionist Federation of Australia have all contributed to a groundswell of anger in Australia over Israel’s shocking treatment of the Palestinians Continue reading »
Imagine this headline: “Brits bomb Belfast to obliterate IRA – 24,000 dead, 50,000 injured, all hospitals flattened – children limbless and starving”. You have to engage your imagination to comprehend the unbridgeable gulf that exists between Israel as an entity committing alleged war crimes, and other, more civilised, nations – even those with their warts. Continue reading »