The UN General Assembly is set to debate and vote on a resolution calling on Israel to end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within six months. Given that the General Assembly, unlike the exclusive 15-member Security Council, allows all members to vote and there is no veto in the General Assembly, this is an opportunity Continue reading »
Israel / Palestine
“This is a genocide of children,” said Heba Gowayed, a sociology professor at the City University of New York’s Hunter College. Gaza’s Ministry of Health on Sunday released a document containing the names and ages of Palestinians killed by Israel’s assault since the Hamas-led 7 October attack, an incomplete list that nonetheless runs to 649 Continue reading »
The exclusive ‘US urges Australia over UN’s Israel vote’, published in Tuesday’s The Australian by Ben Packham, demands a response. The article addresses a draft UN resolution advanced by the Palestinian Authority to be voted on in the General Assembly on Thursday (AEST). In essence the resolution demands immediate Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the Continue reading »
The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted in favour of a Palestinian resolution demanding Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year. The vote in the 193-member world body was 124-14, with Australia one of 43 members states to abstain. The United States voted against it. Australia’s Continue reading »
As protests grow, Benjamin Netanyahu clings to power in what appears to be a gambit to shape his own political and legal future, regardless of the cost. War-weary and angry, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are taking to the streets week after week, calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut a deal and bring Continue reading »
If the genocide in Gaza is not stopped we all face a very dark future Continue reading »
We are all appalled by the scale of the deaths and destruction in Gaza. Every day brings more terrible news. That is why we all want, or at least say we want, a ceasefire in Gaza. Certainly, with the possible exception of Benjamin Netanyahu, almost all Israelis want a ceasefire so they can get their Continue reading »
Pulling children out of rubble, witnessing ill-treatment of Palestinian civilians by Israeli soldiers, witnessing the displaced Gazan population work its way through destroyed streets. In Australia, the Senate debate on housing. These are the items we found on our five-minute scroll on X. Civil defence teams rescue children from rubble @swilkinsonbc Civil defense teams rescue Continue reading »
The nature of human cruelty is vastly complex, so I am focusing on some valued insights that have enlightened my activism.
For years, like others, I was utterly baffled by the question: how do the perpetrators sleep at night? Continue reading »
Last April a man from Bethlehem visited Australia. Like an earlier man born in Bethlehem he delivered some well directed words that did not always settle on welcoming ears. Continue reading »