The 1948 Palestinian catastrophe, known to Palestinians as the Naqba, saw 750,000 of their predecessors driven from their lands, over 500 villages and towns destroyed, the extent of the killings, destruction and dispossession denied and no-one held accountable. How should Australia respond? Powerful countries’ collusion with decades of Israeli governments’ racist based cruelties towards Palestinians Continue reading »
Religion and Faith
Australia’s minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has announced Australia will return to use of the term “occupied Palestinian territories”. The Australian government will use this phrase to describe the territories in the West Bank and Gaza that Israel occupied in 1967. Australian officials have generally avoided the use of “occupied” and “occupation” in relation to Palestine since 2014. This move Continue reading »
When we hear the term “abuse” in relation to the Catholic Church, we immediately think of crimes of a sexual nature committed against children by the clergy. But there is another form of abuse taking place in the Church and it’s just as real. It’s called emotional abuse, and is most evident in the attitude Continue reading »
At the Australian Labor Party’s upcoming national conference in Brisbane, recognition of a Palestinian state — pursuant to Labor’s 2021 national platform that supports the recognition of Israel and Palestine as part of a two-state solution — is on the agenda. Senior Labor party figures, including former Foreign Ministers Bob Carr and Gareth Evans, have already come out in Continue reading »
If Palestinian leaders can’t sort out their differences and unite now, when Palestine is at the precipice of disaster, then when? The title of this article is borrowed from an inspiring and hopeful peace movement amongst young Jews in the United States of America who, after witnessing the brutality of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine Continue reading »
At the end of a Retreat together on “Spiritual Leadership in Difficult Times”, a German social scientist asked me to help her to organise a Retreat for decision-makers at the next UNCOP – the annual UN Conference of Parties focused on preventing catastrophic climate change in ways that are just. Just, yes, especially towards those Continue reading »
It’s hard to know whether to cry or laugh reading the highlights of the hour-long conversation Joe Biden had with the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman on Tuesday, after meeting President Isaac Herzog. One can cry over the impotence and uselessness of the strongest superpower in the world when it comes to its protégé, Israel. Continue reading »
We are all one and liberation is our destiny. Many friends and compatriots are asking, where are you? Why the silence, when Jenin, your birthplace is burning? Why haven’t you commented on the worst deadly assault by the Israeli Occupation forces in the last 20 years? What about the Palestinian Authority’s Security Forces’ stance during Continue reading »
The Israeli army’s recent attack on Jenin refugee camp resulted in 13 deaths (12 Palestinians, including four children, and one Israeli soldier killed by suspected friendly fire). An additional 143 Palestinians were injured, with 20 in critical condition, and up to 4,000 displaced. While this mass displacement has received less media attention than other aspects Continue reading »
Its mid-summer in Rome and last week there was a heat wave with a top temperature of 38° Celsius. Hot days in Rome are stifling, with the heat compounded by the over-whelming influx of tourists. Like most Italian institutions, the Vatican normally closes down in summer, with previous popes retiring to Castel Gandolfo on Lake Continue reading »