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Libs to make Jerusalem election issue
The federal coalition will take the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to the next election.
The Labor government reversed a 2018 decision by then prime minister Scott Morrison to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move Australia’s embassy.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the decision broke from decades of bipartisanship to have the issue resolved by Israel and Palestine.
Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital.
She accused Mr Morrison of using the issue as a political football to win votes.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham told AAP the coalition’s position had not changed.
“It remains the coalition’s view that West Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” he said.
“It functions as the capital for the Israeli government in all purposes.
“So long as it remains Israel’s choice, their functional capital going forward, that will be the view we take into the next election and into government if we are re-elected.”
But he maintained the final boundaries for Israel and Palestine and the status of East Jerusalem were to be negotiated by the two parties.
The coalition expressed anger at the reversal and how it had been handled by the government, with it being announced on a Jewish holiday and catching the Israeli government off guard.
But when asked why West Jerusalem should be Israel’s recognised capital in light of the reversal, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said: “We took a policy to the last election, we will make an announcement about our policy in the run-up to the next election.”
Senator Birmingham said a Liberal-National government would handle the matter more sensitively and consult with all parties if elected.
by Dominic Giannini
Australian Associated Press
Nakba Exhibition 2023 – Calling all artists!
Free Palestine Melbourne is planning an exhibition/cultural event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nakba in May 2023.
We are proposing a theme along the lines of “Palestine is …” (tentative working title only and open to suggestions) as we would like to make a positive statement that Palestine not only exists but is a vibrant creative, passionate community.
We are calling on all creatives and activists to come forward to be part of this exhibition/event in whatever medium they wish; be it painting, installations, political cartoons, posters, infographics, embroidery, literature, music, film, dance, digital and a whole lot more.
Once responses to the initial callout are received, we will facilitate a curatorial group to further develop and implement the project.
Please submit expressions of interest to Free Palestine Melbourne at info(OMIT,ANTI-SPAM)@freepalestinevic[REMOVE-ME].org with the subject line: Nakba Exhibition EOI by 30 November 2022.
No place like home: my bitter return to Palestine
At 22 years old, I set foot in my country for the first time. My parents were Palestinian, but in 1970 they had gone into exile. We had been living in Cyprus after fleeing the war in Lebanon. Now, a new era of reconciliation had arrived.
Canterbury-Bankstown Council is poised to be the first in Australia to sign onto the Sydney Statement on Anti-Palestinianism, which aims to counter prejudice against the Palestinian people.
Labor councillor Christopher Cahill will move a motion at Thursday’s council meeting to recognise the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine, how it is of concern to Canterbury-Bankstown residents and note how the Palestine perspective is rarely given media attention.
How Zionism attempts to silence Activism against Apartheid – and to pervert Activism against Anti-Semitism
On the 15th August, 2022, the University of Melbourne’s Student Union passed a resolution against anti-Semitism and apartheid Israel (see https://bdsaustralia.net.au/university-of-melbourne-student-union-stands-with-palestine-and-supports-bds/ ). One student of Melbourne University thinks this resolution is “anti-Semitic”, published this perversity in mainstream media and threatens legal action against the Student Union.[1] The fallacy that being against racism in all its manifestations is “anti-Semitism”, is a product of the recent history of Israeli propaganda. Let’s look at it.
Deadly Israel strikes on Gaza trigger rocket fire retaliation
Israel pounded Gaza with air strikes on Friday, killing more than 15 people, including a top militant, and triggering a barrage of retaliatory rocket fire from the territory.
Analysis | Why Didn’t Hamas Join Islamic Jihad Against Israel? Ideology
“Hamas is the backbone of the resistance, and we’re in an eternal pact against the enemy,” Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhalah declared this week after the cease-fire with Israel. It doesn’t seem that such a declaration was necessary. It’s taken for granted that the two groups have been brothers in arms in recent years, but Hamas violated this alliance when it stayed out of the three days of fighting.
Israel shutters Palestinian rights groups, drawing diplomatic backlash
TEL AVIV — Israel closed the offices of five leading Palestinian rights organizations in an early-morning raid in Ramallah on Thursday, tightening its restrictions on civil society nearly a year after it labeled the organizations terrorist groups in an internationally criticized move.
Israel reopens Gaza crossings as truce with Palestinians holds, after 44 people killed in Israeli air strikes
Israel has reopened border crossings into Gaza following an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with the militant Islamic Jihad group that ended the bloodiest escalation of fighting around the volatile Palestinian enclave in more than a year.
Key points:
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 44 people were killed and hundreds injured during the 56 hours of violence before the ceasefire
The opening of border crossings has allowed fuel trucks to supply Gaza’s only power plant which had decreased its output
There were no serious casualties on the Israeli side, thanks largely to the Iron Dome air defence s