Margaret Callinan

Recent articles by Margaret Callinan

Why shouldn't we support Hamas?

... wrongly conflates opposition to Israel’s slaughter with support for Hamas. I am increasingly questioning why we cannot support Hamas. Where is our opposition to Israel’s slaughter if we do not support the only defence force Palestinians have? We take it as a given that we cannot support a terrorist organisation so we designate Palestine's only fighting force as a terrorist force. That leaves Palestinians with what protection? We designate 7 October as terrorism. But what have Israel and its predecessor gangs been doing for a century? Why is the unequal fight for Palestinian survival called terrorism,...

Subscribing to the absurd

The natural end point of those who accept the IHRA definition of antisemitism is believing that Israel is beyond criticism. Yet that is absurd. No nation on earth is perfect, all could, and should, do better. But Julian Leeser MP, in proposing his Private Member’s Bill to establish a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities, clearly subscribes to that absurdity. He fails to distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of Israeli genocide. Perhaps he is incapable of making that distinction. Many are ... because of the IHRA's nonsensical definition. What Leeser and those who think like him, both Jewish...

How many "worst" leaders can we have?

The shortest answer to Abul Rizvi's question is YES! Anthony Albanese's approach to Gaza is, as with just about everything else, limp. Some might say spineless. Must we forever wait for the US and follow if not actually do as we're told? But in Peter Dutton we have found another worst at the bottom of the barrel. We thought Howard was bad. But Abbott was something else. And then - surely it must stop with Morrison? But no, in his own way, Dutton is an equal worst. His attitude to asylum seekers was unbelievable but now ....There has...

<