Few events have caused such deep fractures in our community as the Hamas attacks on October 7, and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. Moral philosopher and writer Raimond Gaita wrestles with the moral and ethical dimensions of this conflict to try to make sense of the incomprehensible. (more…)
Category: Israel Palestine
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How Israel lost its soul
If anyone still believed that political Zionism’s objective was anything less than ethnic cleansing The Fall of Israel would surely disabuse them of that delusion. (more…)
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A five-minute scroll
The world voted to support the mandate of the UNRWA in Palestine, while Israel continues to ignore international law in Syria. Syrian born British journalists advises that the media has been lying about Syria while Francesca Albanese puts Gaza back on the table as it disappears from the news. (more…)
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Who benefits from an attack on the synagogue in Melbourne?
In my condemnation of the attack on the synagogue in Melbourne, I said, “This is not acceptable by any means. Unlike the Zionists who kept silent and never condemned Israel’s destruction of 819 mosques and 3 churches in just over a year in Gaza, many of which are historic, Palestinians do not condone attacks against holy places.” (more…)
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History repeats in the most chilling of ways
Earlier this month, the Sydney Morning Herald published a cartoon by the irrepressible Cathy Wilcox. I gazed at the image for a long time. My first thought was that she’ll pay a price for this, and so might the Herald. And, true to form, there was indeed a strong reaction in some quarters. (more…)
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Settlements in Palestine
As we are potentially approaching a time when the world must address a Palestinian resolution, it is appropriate to consider possible obstacles. As Australians, our vote at the UN last week calling on Israel to end the occupation, is most unlikely to avoid the obstacle addressed here. (more…)
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They destroyed what was inside us: The children of Gaza
From the day the war began, 15-year old Ghazal’s life was irreversibly changed. “They destroyed what was inside us,” she said. Her story is a window into the larger tragedy of how war has devastated children, especially those with disabilities.
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Endless onslaught: Would Israel’s Mordechai be attacked as ‘antisemitic’ in Australia?
Haaretz, Israel’s oldest and most widely known newspaper, has just published a long, roughly 8,000 word feature article, about the work of Lee Mordechai, the Associate Professor of History at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has compiled on line a massive report entitled “Bearing Witness to the Israel-Gaza War.” (more…)
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Be alert and alarmed: Campus silencing on Palestine
In a number of countries, universities are now to the forefront of punishing and silencing those who challenge dominant constructions of the conflict in Gaza. (more…)
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Manufacturing consent with a pivotal signifier
Most of the world believes, today, that the Western use of the term, terrorism, is wilfully warped to advance a destructive political agenda. This same manipulative usage remains indispensably effective in the West, however. It fundamentally underpins, for example, the monstrous process lately identified by Stuart Rees as the “normalisation of atrocity.” (more…)
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A five-minute scroll
In 24 hours the Middle East has changed. Craig Murray gives the perspective of distances and the significance of the change, Netanyahu speaks to the opportunities and challenges while Wikileaks reminds us of notable moments. Peter Cronau reveals the lopsided outrage over the Melbourne Synagogue fire, and a former Chief Adviser to the British Prime Minister calls out the US policy on Taiwan. Ron Paul calls on the US to stop foreign aid. A new week begins. (more…)
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“WHY are we doing Netanyahu’s bidding?” Jeffrey Sachs on Syria, Assad and Putin
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, having become a staple of the disruptive discourse that is so valued on Uncensored, joins Piers Morgan yet again for a one-to-one interview on the state of the world. The most shocking development over recent days has been the rapid advance of Syrian rebel troops and their capture of the City of Aleppo. Sachs tries to explain that the conflict is extremely complicated, but that the main culprit is none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (more…)
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Thorpe’s genocide case against Netanyahu’s Australian advisor as back in court
Mark Regev is “an Australian citizen and he’s advocating for genocide,” Uncle Robbie Thorpe explained last week. (more…)
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The Melbourne synagogue fire: Antisemitism, political meddling and exceptional victimhood
In his ongoing campaign to pad and shield criticism of Israel in the conduct of its war of gross bloodletting in Gaza, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rarely misses a beat to attack critics. It has become clear that even mere disagreement from long standing allies suggests wobbliness and tilting in the direction of antisemitism. (more…)
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‘A future of dust’ – Jeff Sparrow on Gaza and why, in evil times, writers have a responsibility to take sides
“We must ask for no references to Gaza/Palestine/Israel as it’s a very sensitive topic in our area. If these topics are included it drastically changes our risk management plans for events. Thus for safety and harmony we kindly ask the guest speakers avoid these topics and any questions about it that come up.” – Sam Wallman and I received this message from our publicist, one day before an event at a suburban library about our coauthored book.
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That Christmas Carols event and remembering the birth of Jesus
Is your local community, like mine, preparing for that enjoyable Christmas Carols event? Will there be a reference to the place where it all began and, if so, what will be said? Will there be any reference to the current plight of its citizens? (more…)
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Australia and a Palestinian state—a dance of the seven veils?
Australia’s vote this week in support of a UN General Assembly resolution aimed at creating an “irreversible pathway” to a Palestinian state caps a year of important symbolic changes by the Albanese Government on this issue. (more…)
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The demon in the mirror
Incoming US President Donald Trump will force us, as citizens of the ‘West’, to face the demon in the mirror. (more…)
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A five-minute scroll
Trump announces the head of NASA and the USA’s future among the stars. Barbara Pocock speaks out on nuclear waste in our own backyard. An Israeli professor speaks out on the genocide, while Israel has continued attacks in Gaza overnight. On the anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death we are reminded of his views of the US. (more…)
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Courage in public office and Australia’s recognition of Palestine
“No room for robust debate” within ALP caucus. “There is so much courage that Australia could exercise. We could come out and be the real champions of human rights, and human life, that we claim to be – especially within the Labor party.” High profile Senator Fatima Payman and former Labor Senator Margaret Reynolds discuss courage in public office, Australia’s recognition of Palestine, Australia’s Voice, and the difficulties of standing up for one’s principles within a party political system. (more…)
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Misleading reports on antisemitic incidents by ECAJ
It is very unfortunate that the new Executive Council of Australian Jewry Report, Anti-Jewish Incidents in Australia 2024 is marred by fundamental flaws, accidental or otherwise. This problem is in line with other reports emerging from the pro-Israel lobby, reports that get considerable media coverage. (more…)
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A call to all Christians in Australia to strive for a just peace in the holy land
In the Name of Christ, Our Peace – The time has come for people of faith to hear the cries of the people of Palestine, Gaza and Lebanon and to do everything in our power towards the ending of the death and destruction they are suffering. (more…)
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A five-minute scroll
Bob Carr reminds the Israel lobby that Australia has voted in the UN alongside our partners. In Gaza, realities of bombings in displacement camps, the challenges of winter and fleeing attacks. Ben Gvir has banned the call to prayer (not the first time). In London, a “Yes it is genocide” flag is rolled out in Parliament Square. Francesca Albanese speaks to the monstrosity of our time, Jeffrey Sachs speaks to US wars and “Netanyahu’s list” and Peter Garrett sends a climate message to the Australian government, while Putin speaks of respect to sovereignty. (more…)
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Can Australian political leaders enjoy their holiday season while Palestinians starve?
How much longer can the Australian Government hide from the horrific atrocities that continue in Gaza?
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Survival of a people: Threats to Palestine’s existence as Israel kills 45,000
Israeli leaders insist that all the people of Gaza are Hamas. In the same breath, Prime Minister Netanyahu boasts that victory in his war depends on the complete annihilation of Hamas, by which he presumably means a whole people? (more…)
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A five-minute scroll
Australia will pay an increasingly heavy price for its belief in US propaganda, writes Scott Burchill. IDF film shows soldiers damaging humanitarian aid, while the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails is brought to light. CCTV footage shows the moment a bomb explodes in a University hospital in Idlib, Syria. In Asia, South Korea’s parliament revokes President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law. (more…)
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A five-minute scroll
Trump seeks a currency commitment from BRICS or 100 percent tariffs will apply. The man feeding up to 3,000 Gazans daily has been targeted and killed, while Al Jazeera investigates IDF use of quadcopters with sounds of babies crying luring Gazans from their homes. A soldier tells Hareetz that what he has seen in Gaza will define our future. Gabriel Shipton speaks to the optimism that Biden might parden Julian Assange. The Australian Institute decried interest rates as the only way to fix inflation while ABC News still reports on Gaza with ambiguity. (more…)
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The holocaust of our time
If the world were watching the livestreamed systematic annihilation of Jews in real time, there would be no debating whether that constituted terrorism or genocide. (more…)
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Terminology: The trap that is being carefully set
Terminology, take care. Take care Pearls & Irritations that you don’t fall into the trap – fall into the trap that is being carefully set. (more…)
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A five-minute scroll
Jeffrey Sachs speaks of the covert war operation that underpins the fight in Syria. Lidia Thorpe speaks to a nation that needs to grow up. Activists in London speak to Middle Eastern Eye about their favourite journalists in Palestine in response to David Lammy. Images of the damaged sacred site of Apostle Simon Peter. Author Max Porter delivers a compelling thought experiment, if Bath was Gaza, while the IDF recruits young Australians. A young boy in a critical condition in the ICU at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital reminds us of the horror in Gaza as another week in our world begins, on X. (more…)