In 1997, the World Health Organisation invited me to be a short-term consultant to visit Iran and advise on HIV control among people who inject drugs and the spread from them to the large low-risk general population. At the time, HIV was spreading rapidly in Iran. I felt honoured to be invited to a country with such an ancient past. (more…)
Category: Israel Palestine
-
Challenging ‘antisemitism’
The definition of antisemitism has been hijacked and devalued, most recently in the craven acceptance by vice-chancellors that it should also cover some criticism of Israel. This article argues that the time has come to push back by actively resisting the misapplication of the term and restoring it to its proper meaning – hatred of Jewish people, not criticism of a state’s illegalities and excesses. (more…)
-
Legitimising the erasure of Palestinians
“Physical violence can’t exist without violence of language.” Omar El Akkad (more…)
-
A five-minute scroll
The Chinese Embassy in the US underlines the country’s differences with the US. Marco Rubio and Boris Johnson refer to the war in Ukraine as a proxy war, while Rubio also reaffirms Trump’s warning to Hamas. Ohad Kozminsky of the Jewish Council of Australia shares his views on Western colonialism and Gaza. (more…)
-
A five-minute scroll
Justin Trudeau eloquently calls Trump’s tariffs a trade war. Miko Peled questions why the allies aren’t liberating the concentration camp that is Gaza, Jeffrey Sachs asks how many wars China has been in in the last 40 years. Peter Cronau lists our eclectic list of defence priorities. (more…)
-
Is there a shift in our appreciation of dissent?
Since the Israel/US alliance went into full-throttle war machine mode in the name of Israel’s right to self-defence, fissures have appeared in the global community, delineating various camps. Roughly speaking: those who support Israel, those who condemn Israel, and those who question Israel. (more…)
-
Reading al Nakba
The arrogance of early Victorian colonial settlement seems lost to amnesia. Maps of the time show the world as if diseased by a sprawling red virus – the British Empire. With the reach of the red went a blind and over-weening attitude of entitlement, a dictation of what would and would not be. Indigenous people were not engaged or consulted about what would decide their fate – there were a few significant exceptions to that “tendency”, including T.E Lawrence, aka “Lawrence of Arabia”, also known as “Ned”. (more…)
-
A five-minute scroll
Sarah Schwarz speaks to the silencing tactics against those speaking up for Palestine. Francesca Albanese outlines the many elements that make up genocide. Peter Cronau suggests Australia appears to have breached the International Court of Justice ruling by exporting coal from Newcastle to Israel, while Cameron Leckie suggests a peacekeeping force for Ukraine is disingenuous after Australia’s role in the proxy war. (more…)
-
Peter Slezak’s Gaza rally speech: ‘We face one of the greatest moral tests of our time’
Together with many Jews here and around the world, I’m proud to stand with you once again in solidarity with Palestine. On this occasion, I want to talk about the growing hysteria about antisemitism. (more…)
-
Australia must condemn Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians
The Australian Government must condemn Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza and its plans to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homelands. It is also the responsibility of the national broadcaster to hold Canberra to account, by demanding this condemnation of our ally Israel for its gross and indisputable violations of international law. (more…)
-
The real estate deals of the century
The world is shocked by President Trump’s solution for the ‘Palestinian Problem’. It’s similar to the one his father used to up-market his NY tenement properties – call in the police to throw the tenants out into the street. (more…)
-
A five-minute scroll
The Australian media continues its hysteria over the China warships. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledges all support for Ukraine, while Israel’s Netanyahu thanks Donald Trump for his support. Meanwhile, our US alliance has been in crisis for longer than we think. (more…)
-
This upside-down world
What an amazing thing is the human spirit. What an amazing thing is human dignity. We, the Palestinians, despite everything this cruel world has dished out to us for over a century, could give the whole world a master-class on how to survive with dignity. (more…)
-
People’s inquiry into campus free speech on Palestine to shine a light on repression
When power oppresses, civil society must hold it to account. Like media and the arts, university campuses in Australia have become sites of censorship and suppression of free speech on the question of Palestine. (more…)
-
Daniel Levy: We are all people, we are all born equal
Daniel Levy, president of the US/Middle East Project, addressed the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. (more…)
-
A five-minute scroll
Trump give his first views on China policy. Sarah Henderson criticises ABC for including Jewish Council of Australia in their programs.The LNP has confirmed that Australians will pay to see their GP under Dutton. Penny Wong welcomes 25 Somare-Whitlam scholars to Australia and a call for truth to be a key factor in political advertising. (more…)
-
What can one now say about Israel without being smeared as an antisemite?
I read the definition of antisemitism adopted by Australian universities and my first thought was “we need a list”, not of what is considered antisemitic, but of what is not considered antisemetic. Now it would be helpful to have a prescriptive list of what one can say about Israel without being smeared as an antisemite. And I am not being facetious. Perhaps those who developed this definition could provide such a list. It would be a very short list. Nevertheless, it would be greatly appreciated by all those who are morally caught between the need to speak up against a genocide and the fear of losing their livelihoods and reputations. (more…)
-
A five-minute scroll
While questioning Penny Wong, Michaelia Cash advises the LNP under Peter Dutton will reject international law and the arrest of Netanyahu should he come to Australia. Penny Wong reminds her of the previous government’s hate speech. In the UN, Noa Argamani describes the moment when the building she was in collapsed under Israeli bombardment, while former peace negotiator and president of the US/Middle East project, Daniel Levy, speaks to all people being equal and says a minute of silence for the Bibas children would extend to 300 hours should it include the 18,000 children killed in Gaza. Meanwhile, Australia’s universities repress freedom of speech. (more…)
-
Jewish Council slams Uni adoption of dangerous, politicised and unworkable antisemitism definition
The Jewish Council of Australia says Australia’s 39 Universities have endorsed a dangerous and politicised definition of antisemitism which threatens academic freedom, will have a chilling effect on legitimate criticism of Israel, and risks institutionalising anti-Palestinian racism. It adds that they did so without meaningful consultation with Palestinian groups or diverse Jewish groups who are critical of Israel. (more…)
-
Cultural McCarthyism in Australia: The new battleground for artistic freedom
McCarthyism — the infamous anti-communist witch hunt of the 1950s — is thought of as a dark chapter in American history, where accusations alone could destroy careers, reputations, and entire artistic movements. Figures such as screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, playwright Lillian Hellman, and actor John Garfield saw their careers derailed, with many blacklisted from the industry. That frightening era is upon us again with elements of the pro-Israel lobby and governments working over weak cultural institutions such as Creative Australia to ban artists. (more…)
-
Explaining Trump’s foreign policy
When analysts seek to explain Donald Trump’s approach to government they inevitably focus on his personality: an unstable and capricious transactional negotiator with no fixed ideology who seems to be a narcissist and a pathological liar. (more…)
-
What the Bankstown Hospital nurses’ affair teaches us
Like heated milk boiling over in a saucepan, the sad Bankstown Public Hospital nurses’ affair has brought to a public head a long-simmering debate, rarely mentioned in polite company, about the extent and legitimacy of Zionist Israel’s interference in Australian political and public life and in our most vital community institutions like national broadcasters or health systems . This is a debate, however awkward, that Australia needs to have. (more…)
-
A five-minute scroll
Jewish Australians publish their names in support of Gaza, while Sydney Writers’ Festival boss Kathy Shand has quit. Germany invites Netanyahu to visit, while he faces a backlash at a military event for showing photos of Shiri Bibas and her family. (more…)
-
Wendy Turner wins Al Quds Peace Prize
“Don’t send that little red Pommie Commie up here again!” (more…)
-
Vote no to genocide
If people want to know how genocide can occur, just look to our politicians who have done nothing to stop the crime of the century, Israel’s live-streamed mass slaughter of Palestinians and erasure of Gaza. (more…)
-
A five-minute scroll
The BBC has bowed to pressure and removed the documentary “Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone”. An Israeli soldier shows affection to a Hamas fighter on release. The Jewish Council of Australia shares an excerpt from the interview between Dr Gabor Maté and Emeritus Professor Andrea Durbach about Zionism, trauma and the Palestinian experience. Owen Jones exposes leaflets dropped on Gaza. (more…)
-
J’accuse!… the Jew who accuses his fellow Jews of being antisemites
A rally on the steps of the Victorian Parliament under the banner of Jews for a Free Palestine was arranged for Sunday 9 February. At 11:11pm on the eve of that rally, Mark Leibler — lawyer, who claims to have a high profile and speak on behalf of Jews by the totally unelected organisation AIJAC — put out a tweet on X (and paid for an advertisement of the same posting) as follows: (more…)
-
Could present horror possibly trigger future hope? One unlikely human attribute just might help…
Amid the hideous chaos erupting around the world at the moment, might there be some possible silver lining? Something existing at a deeper, more fundamental level than all the uproar, wars, terrorism, inflicted hunger, wretched misery? A tiny chink through which we might glimpse, if not a radical solution, at least a glimmer of light? Some hopeful candle flickering in the window? (more…)
