Terrorism: “(adjective) unlawfully using violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in pursuit of political aims.” Has any term more fully captured what the state of Israel inflicts on Palestinians? The descriptive of ‘terrorist’ is bandied about regularly and without consideration of the ramifications on the individual, group or country. The average reader of any news Continue reading »
International Relations
Behind all this lies Israeli arrogance; the idea that we can do whatever we like, that we’ll never pay the price and be punished for it. We’ll carry on undisturbed. We’ll arrest, kill, harass, dispossess and protect the settlers busy with their pogroms. We’ll visit Joseph’s Tomb, Othniel’s Tomb and Joshua’s Altar in the Palestinian Continue reading »
Engaging China: How Australia can lead the way again (Sydney University Press 2023) reviews most aspects of the Australia-China relations and proposes useful ways to develop them for the national benefit. Jointly edited by Jamie Reilly and Jingdong Yuan, it includes contributions from thirteen scholars, journalists and former diplomats, a foreword by former Foreign Minister Continue reading »
“Where is the outrage we saw when Israeli children were killed?” asked a co-founder of IfNotNow. Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes across the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ weekend attack have killed at least 1,100 people in the besieged enclave, including 326 children, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Wednesday. Gaza-based Hamas launched a major surprise attack against Israel on Continue reading »
Palestinians have long warned that Israel’s blockade and repeated aggressions would eventually lead to an explosion. But few of us in Gaza expected this. More than five days have passed since Hamas broke out of its Gaza cage, launching an unprecedented attack that caught the Israeli army completely off guard. The infiltration of Palestinian militants Continue reading »
The current escalation in bloodshed in Israel and Palestine reflects the fact that peace cannot be built on decades of oppression; it can only be built on justice. The Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) condemns not only the recent attacks, but also the failure – despite concerns expressed by many leaders and governments Continue reading »
PM Albanese supports indigenous Australians but not indigenous Palestinians, whose land has also been stolen from them. Why? Albanese claims that the recent Hamas attack is “a dreadful circumstance that people didn’t see coming”, a damning admission of his ignorance about the genesis and history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Anyone who didn’t see this coming Continue reading »
Since when do we praise Occupiers for brutal oppression? Words are used to confuse, obfuscate and detract from the truth of Palestine-Israel. Words such as terrorist, enemy, militants and murderous are often used to describe Palestinians who are, in essence, victims, freedom fighters, oppressed, occupied and ignored. Settler-colonial occupation! What strange words to be using Continue reading »
Afghan war crimes whistleblower David McBride is facing a secret trial on November 13 that could result in him serving a life sentence for leaking classified information that formed the basis of ‘The Afghan Files’, a 2017 ABC exposé revealing allegations of misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan. Although the allegations were substantiated by Continue reading »
The International Criminal Court (ICC) faces a test of its credibility in how it monitors and deals with the conduct of Israel as it strikes back against the horrific attacks committed by Hamas. It must send a clear warning that while Israel has a right to defend itself, crimes against humanity and war crimes will Continue reading »