Leaders of the US, Britain, Australia and Western countries, instead of learning from history, are failing to bear their responsibility for the creation of an Israeli colonial regime in Palestine at the expense of the Palestinian people. Despite the massacres, ethnic cleansing, aggression, wars, occupation and gross violations of international law committed by Israel since its inception, Western countries, especially the group of Anglo Saxon countries of the so-called “Five Eyes”, whom I call the Five Eyes plus Israel, continue with their policy of blind support to Israel, giving it a green light to continue its policy of illegal occupation with impunity. (more…)
Category: Religion
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Genocide: Israel uses cover of Gaza crisis to Judaise “Area C”
An aside to what is happening in Gaza is events occurring in the West Bank, where there has been little focus. Reports in recent days have drawn attention to attempts by settlers – read the Israeli government – to “Judaise” Area C and to push Bedouins out of the West Bank. (more…)
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Israel will never be safe until Palestine is free
No attempt to “explain”, rationalise, find some counter-“equivalence” for, nor any attempt to see matters through the eyes and the experiences of the murderers rather than the immediate victims can justify or forgive the barbaric massacre of Israeli children, women and men by Hamas warriors after they broke out of Gaza. It does not forgive collective punishment, or the counter-massacre of Palestinians it inspired either. But one of the starting-off points for dealing with the latest upsurge of irrational violence must be the sheer enormity of what was done to southern Israelis. (more…)
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Gaza genocide exposes fundamental bias in the state-corporate news media
On BBC Newsnight, host Kirsty Wark listened to Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, describe how six of his family members had been killed by Israeli air strikes. Wark reacted oddly: ‘I’m sorry for your own personal loss. I mean, can I just be clear, though, you cannot condone the killing of civilians in Israel, can you?’ This captures an essential element of western media coverage in the region. (more…)
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Israel’s culture of deceit
Israel, which always seeks to blame Palestinians for the atrocities it carries out, is the least trustworthy source about the bombing of the hospital in Gaza. (more…)
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Western reporters’ shameful cover-up of Israel’s hospital massacre: A postscript
As a postscript to Caitlin Johnstone’s piece in yesterday’s P&I, I wish to comment further on who is responsible for the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital on the 17th October. (more…)
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The Crumpled Heart and the role now of wounded healers
The scars from mean words and actions can last a long, long time. After the outcome of the Voice Referendum, and as the suffering in Israel and Gaza intensifies, can the choice to heal rather than to reciprocate harm take us out of a spiralling set of retaliations which just cause more suffering? Perhaps we can all learn from an exercise called the ‘Crumpled Heart’. (more…)
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Advocate of evil: Biden is complicit with Israel
As reported in the New York Times, US President Joe Biden has accepted the summons from his master and will be in Israel to physically manifest his full support for the further enhanced genocidal assault against the people of Gaza which Israel has publicly announced its intention to launch. (more…)
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To my brothers and cousins, the Jewish community of Australia
Your fear is our fear, your safety is our safety, your blood is our blood, our blood is your blood, make no mistake. When I see a Jewish mother crying for her loss, I feel with her. I want you to feel with the thousands of Palestinian mothers that have been crying for years and years; make no mistake. Your future is our future, your freedom is our freedom; make no mistake. Don’t let an Apartheid state speak in your name. If there was no ongoing occupation, there would be no violence (more…)
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“Extreme escalation”: Hospital destruction an unconscionable war crime
The Medical Association for Prevention of War renews its call of last week for the Australian government to express in the strongest possible terms that Australia supports the application of the rule of law impartially and in all circumstances, and explicitly condemns violations of it not only by Hamas but also by Israel in the horrific war unfolding in the Middle East. (more…)
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You reap what you sow in Israel
“Freedom is never given. It must be taken.” (Ursula Le Guin) . You cannot be well in a home you stole. (more…)
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Saving Israel and Palestine through the UN
Following Hamas’s heinous attack on innocent Israeli civilians, senior Israeli military strategists are threatening the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. This would be another Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), akin to the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948. If Israel commits massive war crimes in Gaza in the face of global calls for restraint, Israel would put its fundamental national security at risk. (more…)
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Palestinian genocide: History whispers until it shouts
There is a genocide happening on our watch. Can we rally from the brink of despair? (more…)
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Rejected by the people who dispossessed and colonised them
This morning, I call to mind the Aboriginal woman who spoke at the end of a forum we held in Darwin on the Voice. She told us: ‘A lot of my people don’t understand all the law and politics about this Voice. All I know is that when they wake up on Sunday 15 October and if the answer is NO, they will think that they have been rejected once again by the people who dispossessed and colonised them without their consent.’ She wept. (more…)
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Palestine’s unending torment: A stain on the world’s conscience
Mainstream Western coverage of the recent Hamas foray into Israel and its aftermath has been marked by sensationalism, lack of historical context, and superficial moralising. (more…)
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100 years of ethnic cleansing: Quo Vadis Palestine
Israel has spoken of “erasing Gaza”. Don’t turn away. Stop. And think about what that might mean. (more…)
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‘Netanyahu is finished’
The Bibi doctrine—his belief that he could control Hamas—compromised Israeli security and has now begat a bloody war. (more…)
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Deafening silence as Israel kills over 320 children in Gaza
“Where is the outrage we saw when Israeli children were killed?” asked a co-founder of IfNotNow. (more…)
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Netanyahu’s cries for revenge
Terrible violence and massive loss of life in this latest Palestine/Israel conflict is tragic and regrettable, but commentary from western politicians and their media backers is also tragic. The US rush to generate sympathy for Israel, and with scant regard for the traumatised citizens of Gaza, repeats years of thoughtless commentary that depicts the more powerful nation, Israel, as always, the victim and a people under siege as terrorists. (more…)
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Israel can’t imprison two million Gazans without paying a cruel price
Behind all this lies Israeli arrogance; the idea that we can do whatever we like, that we’ll never pay the price and be punished for it. We’ll carry on undisturbed. (more…)
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MAPW Statement on Israel and Palestine: “Assert the right of all peoples”
The current escalation in bloodshed in Israel and Palestine reflects the fact that peace cannot be built on decades of oppression; it can only be built on justice. The Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) condemns not only the recent attacks, but also the failure – despite concerns expressed by many leaders and governments around the world – to address the oppression directed over a long period towards the Palestinian people.
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Gaza shatters the facade of ‘calm’
Palestinians have long warned that Israel’s blockade and repeated aggressions would eventually lead to an explosion. But few of us in Gaza expected this. (more…)
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Jailbreak from prison Gaza
Since when do we praise Occupiers for brutal oppression? Words are used to confuse, obfuscate and detract from the truth of Palestine-Israel. Words such as terrorist, enemy, militants and murderous are often used to describe Palestinians who are, in essence, victims, freedom fighters, oppressed, occupied and ignored. (more…)
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Palestine: The right to defence of stolen land
PM Albanese supports indigenous Australians but not indigenous Palestinians, whose land has also been stolen from them. Why? (more…)
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Selective enforcer: ICC must warn Israel on crimes against humanity
The International Criminal Court (ICC) faces a test of its credibility in how it monitors and deals with the conduct of Israel as it strikes back against the horrific attacks committed by Hamas. (more…)
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Climate disaster: Pope Francis repudiates developed world’s economics and culture
‘It is no longer possible to doubt the human origin of climate change’ (Pope Francis). (more…)
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UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese to visit Australia
On 11 November the Australian Friends of Palestine Association, (AFOPA), based in Adelaide, will host the nineteenth Edward Said Memorial Lecture (ESML), at the Hawke Centre in Adelaide. The event is news-worthy particularly as the Australian Labor Party (ALP) struggles with the issue of Palestine at this time. (more…)
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When will Israel seek forgiveness for its crimes against Palestinians?
Over the weekend, Israel marked Yom Kippur when it is supposed to atone for its collective sins. Yet Israel never thinks to ask for forgiveness from its biggest victims: the Palestinians. (more…)
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In the chorus of Yes, why aren’t the bishops joining in?
The official position of the church on the Voice referendum is curious, because, despite overwhelming support for a YES vote from an extraordinary range of Catholic agencies, religious orders and congregations, and voluntary Catholic organisations, the highest national church authority, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has not followed suit. This is surprising because the whole trajectory of debate within the church seemed to be leading in that direction. Most importantly, the ACBC has not followed the advice of its own Indigenous advisory body despite claiming to listen to it. (more…)
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Korean Catholics continue fight against coal power
South Korea is among the nations with the highest coal power generation. (more…)