The prevalence of moral equivalence in the debate over the Israel-Hamas war was evident on the ABC Radio National Breakfast program on Wednesday. Presenter Patricia Karvelas interviewed opposition Senate leader Simon Birmingham on a range of issues. Karvelas put this proposition to Birmingham: “Anti-Semitism is on the rise, Islamophobia is on the rise, in […]
Read MoreStand with Israel, PM, as you did for Ukraine
It’s Saturday morning. I wake to sunlight and fresh air streaming through my window; there’s no noise except for the birds chirping pleasantly. I’m in my home, I’m safe, and I wake up peacefully to familiar sights and sounds, something many of us take for granted. I didn’t sleep peacefully, though; I couldn’t. The night […]
Read MoreAlbanese is trying to unite Australians amid the war in Gaza — but as tensions increase, where will it all end?
The protracted war in Gaza is having a deep impact on Australian communities. Ian Cutmore) If you talk to almost any politician in Canberra at the moment, they will tell you there is something disturbing playing out in their communities. Many are deeply unsettled by it. Anger at a war, unfolding in real-time on social […]
Read MoreAnthony Albanese flags recognising Palestinian state could rest on it being ‘demilitarised’
4 February 2024, The Guardian, by Josh Butler: Prime minister says Australia backed US strikes on Houthi targets but shrugged off claims from Donald Trump that globe was on brink of new world war
Read MoreLabor Is Blind On Israel
16 January 2024, Courier-Mail, by Andrew Wallace: Only a short drive from where, over a century ago, Australia’s 4th Light Horse Brigade freed the people of Beersheba, Hamas launched the worst single-day massacre against the Jews since Hitler’s Holocaust.
Read MorePenny Wong’s Middle East trip likely to have more consequences at home than abroad
13 January 2024, ABC, Brett Worthington: In visiting Israel and the West Bank, Wong will become the most senior Australian official to visit to the region since war broke out last October. What she says will be closely monitored and not just by those in the region. Back home, fractured communities will be parsing over every word.
Read MoreSouth Africa seeks ICJ genocide order against Israel
30 December 2023, The Canberra Times South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice for an urgent order declaring that Israel is in breach of its obligations under the Genocide Convention in its ongoing crackdown against Hamas in Gaza. In the latest development in Israel’s war against Hamas, tens of thousands of newly displaced […]
Read MoreSydney Imam: Labor should have condemned ‘heinous Israeli crime’ that killed two Australian citizens
30 December 2023, The Australian, by Joanna Panagopoulos and Mohammad Alfares: Terrorist group Hezbollah should not be condemned for attacking Israel and Labor should demand Australian-Israelis leave the Jewish homeland, a prominent southwest Sydney Imam says.
Read MoreALP ‘needs progressive correction’, say former Labor ministers
22 December 2023, The Australian, by Rhiannon Down: Two former Labor ministers are leading a new push to counter misguided attitudes towards Israel “from people who claim to be progressive” – including blaming the nation for collective punishment of Palestinians – and are vowing to support pro-Israel ALP candidates running for parliament.
Read MoreIn shrinking world, even the Red Sea is part of our ‘region
23 December 2023, The Australian, by Gerard Henderson: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s 2023 Lowy Lecture on Tuesday was both newsworthy and considered. Which makes one omission from the address notable.
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