Category: Israel Palestine

This is a time of seismic change in the Middle East. At the heart of this region, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees – UNRWA – is a stabilising force. Today, an insidious campaign to end UNRWA’s operations is underway, with serious implications for international peace and security, says Philippe Lazzarini. (more…)

It is time for Israel to recognize the force of the rapidly growing international movement to recognize Palestinian statehood, not as the final outcome of a political settlement but as a path to achieving it. (more…)

‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less’. ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things’.
 ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all’. – Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass. (more…)

The Australian government is obscuring weapons exports to Israel despite International Court’s ruling to oppose ‘plausible genocide’. (more…)

UNSC approval of the application for Palestine to become a full UN member state this week would necessarily lead to the end of the occupation. One UN member state cannot occupy the land of another. In the present circumstances, a US veto of Palestinian statehood would make America look ridiculous. It would be seen as a puppet of the State of Israel, incapable of thinking for itself and doing considerable injury to US standing in world affairs. (more…)

Iran has carried out its long-promised retaliation for Israel’s attack on its consulate building in Damascus, launching a massive barrage of drones and missiles which it claims hit and destroyed Israeli military targets, while Israel says they dealt only superficial damage with a few injuries. The US and its allies reportedly helped shoot down a number of the Iranian projectiles. (more…)

Liberal democracies remain shamefully complicit with Israel, despite its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. (more…)

I think if I hear again, in some attempt at a supposed even-handedness an interviewer ask a representative of the Palestinian people in this terrible time, ‘do you also oppose the actions of Hamas on 7th October?’ I will puke. That is not a pleasant prospect. (more…)

Visits to the historical sites of Israel and beyond provide stark reminders that the past – including the recent past – is always with us, with places and monuments marking conflicts of ideologies and conflicts of people. (more…)

Iran has never had a nuclear bomb—why does Israel insist that it’s an imminent threat? (more…)

The Jewish Council of Australia today welcomed Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Senator Penny Wong’s speech overnight which signaled a shift in the Australian Government’s otherwise steadfast support for Israel and its actions. (more…)

Who would not condemn the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 when hundreds of Israeli civilians, as well as hundreds of military and security personnel were killed? Why then is Hamas so popular amongst Palestinians and in the wider Muslim world? (more…)

The order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 28 March 2024 to stop genocide in Gaza is not a go-to-jail card for Israel. So Israel just ignored it. In so doing, it followed the example of the US which had ignored an ICJ decision against the US and in favour of Nicaragua in 1986 and, again, in 2004, in favour of Mexico. (more…)

The Bank of New Zealand blocks a donation to UNRWA, then thinks again. (more…)

Australia’s Defence Department has refused a Freedom of Information request about the details of an arms deal with Israel on the grounds that such information “could harm Australia’s international standing and reputation,” which suggests the details must be pretty damning. Equally as scandalous, this refusal was reportedly made in consultation with the Israeli government. (more…)

The death of young aid worker Zomi Frankcom in Gaza last week was a tragic reminder that we have all failed to stop this unrelenting violence against the innocent. Many Australians have been horrified that the six months war continues, because governments fail to uphold international law and even our own leaders have hidden from their obligations. (more…)

As paediatricians and child health professionals we have committed our professional lives to promoting the physical and psychological health of children. (more…)

I recently heard the British-Palestinian Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah tell of the horrors of Israel’s total destruction of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare system. Many children who have lost both parents and extended family in Israel’s inhumane and incomprehensible slaughter of Gazans, have also lost their limbs, eyes and certainly their futures. Dr. Abu-Sittah alerts the world that these children are destined for what can only be described as an appalling and destitute future. When one toddler drowns in a pool in Australia, we all mourn and sympathise with the family. Why are 13,000 children not mourn-worthy? (more…)

Writing on the heels of Stuart Rees’s recent article in P&I, A Plea for Gaza: ‘Remember humanity & forget the rest’, and as a participant in last Wednesday’s Gaza plea for humanity event at Parliament House, Canberra, I’d like to commend Stuart for his leadership, courage and tireless efforts to bring peace with justice to the Palestinian people. (more…)