Human Rights
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Equality under the law: the differing treatment of Hezbollah and Israel in Australia
Last week the federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was asked by a journalist about the process for making Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based political and militant group, a ‘proscribed terrorist organisation’. As is usually the case for a politician caught out because they don’t know the answer, he became aggressive and sought to belittle the journalist. Continue reading »
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One year after 7 October: statement by the Australian Jewish Democratic Society
If any lesson can be drawn at this dismissal juncture, it must surely be that violence engenders violence … Continue reading »
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Life in Gaza and on the West Bank: Political leaders invited to interpret humanity
In the current global turmoil of revenge and war, Australians want to see political leaders speaking about humanity and negotiation, not the old rhetoric which chooses winners and losers. In the following letter to party leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate, we urge all parliamentarians to support their leaders by making their Continue reading »
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Resilience amongst ruin: 12 months of genocide and resistance in Gaza
Just weeks into Israel’s current genocide in Gaza, I spoke with my cousin as she watched the violence unfold from her home in Khan Yunis. She declared, “We are used to this; it is temporary and will pass.” Continue reading »
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The media campaign against Julian Assange
The liberation of the Australian journalist, late June, closes an ordeal lasting fourteen years. On the other hand, it doesn’t lighten the responsibility of his persecutors. Continue reading »
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Julian Assange gets a positive hearing at last
Appearing in public for the first time since he returned in June to Australia from Britain’s Belmarsh Prison, Julian Assange will give his first official testimony since 2019 on 1 October. Continue reading »
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A five-minute scroll
A five-minute scroll of X uncovers abhorrent settler behaviour, questions about Peter Dutton’s nuclear platform, South Africa speaking out for Palestine in the UN, Chris Sidoti on the Israeli Army, Genocide Tourism and news of Julian Assange. Continue reading »
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On war crimes and Western hypocrisy
The death toll has risen to 12 from Israel’s terror attack in Lebanon on Tuesday which detonated explosive materials hidden in thousands of pagers. Another 20 people were then killed in another attack on Wednesday with a second wave of explosions, this time using walkie talkies and home solar energy systems. Continue reading »
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These are the things I’ve learnt you can’t ask about Israel
In recent years, I have been asked to comment on the Middle East “impasse”, though I am no foreign policy expert. I am merely one of many humanists who mourn this tragic history and rail against the failure of the international community to exert the great influence it has to bring peace and justice to Continue reading »
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Sudan’s nightmare: 150,000 civilians killed
UN estimates suggest 2.5 million people will die by the end of 2024 and six million by 2027. World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on the world to “wake up and help Sudan out of the nightmare it is living through”. Continue reading »
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Israeli hostages, Palestinian prisoners: the worthy and unworthy
Israeli citizens’ demand to bring home an estimated 100 Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas is assumed to depend on a Gaza ceasefire which would include a Palestinian prisoner release. Continue reading »
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How human rights are disappearing before our eyes
The moral distinction between liberal democracies and dictatorships is being flattened by the carnage in Gaza. Continue reading »
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ABC – Ignorant, fearful or biased journalism?
Having just read journalist John Lyons’ book Balcony Over Jerusalem, I’m acutely aware of the ways in which the pro-Israeli Lobby in Australia exerts its influence on the media here to disparage journalists and their work and to even try to have them removed from their positions, if this lobby deems there is adverse critique Continue reading »
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‘Insane torture’: Israeli soldiers confirm horrific abuse of Palestinians at Sde Teiman
“Teeth were broken, bones were broken,” said one soldier. “You notice how easy it is to lose your humanity,” said another. Continue reading »
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Israel’s Australian ‘hostages’
Hundreds of Australians’ family members holding valid Australian visas are being prevented from fleeing devastated Gaza – by the Israeli military, and the impotence of the Australian government. Continue reading »
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Israeli MP condones sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners
What democracy would accept a member of parliament agreeing that it was permissible and acceptable for it’s solders to sexually abuse political prisoners Continue reading »
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Is the government fair dinkum? Response to the Royal Commission
I am not surprised by the disappointment felt by people with disability and their advocacy groups concerning what appears to be the Commonwealth Government’s limp-wristed and overly cautious response to the Disability Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Continue reading »
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UN probe finds ‘Appalling Acts’ of torture against Palestinians detained by Israel
The U.N. report found evidence of sexual violence, waterboarding, and the use of dogs against detainees, many of whom were deprived of food, water, sleep, and toilet access. Continue reading »
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When children’s wellbeing becomes a political football, it’s time to change the game
Governments and politicians should be investing in community initiatives and addressing the social determinants of crime, and health, instead of focusing on “tough on crime” policies, according to two members of the National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Tabitha Lean and Debbie Kilroy. Continue reading »
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UNRWA must not be criminalised by the Israeli Parliament
The conflict in Gaza has created both a humanitarian crisis and a public health emergency. Both are still worsening. Yet despite this, Israel is moving to declare UNRWA (United Nations Relief Work Agency) a terrorist organisation. This would massively reduce the ability of UNRWA to deliver (already totally inadequate) food, health care and shelter to Continue reading »
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Federal parliamentary committee presents a decisive case for an Australian Human Rights Act
Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has tabled a report that makes a persuasive argument for comprehensive legislation to protect Australians’ fundamental human rights. Its Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework (2024) identifies a catalogue of deficiencies in the nation’s disaggregated systems of human rights protection. The report provides a new and compelling case for Continue reading »
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Legislating for homelessness
“To be good citizens means owning your own home. If you don’t, you’ve failed in some way” – Sophia Maalsen, University of Sydney. Continue reading »
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Julian Assange’s fifty-third birthday party
A week after Julian Assange’s release from Belmarsh prison, a boisterous gathering of 200 very happy Assange supporters packed the St Kilda Bowls Club in Melbourne to celebrate Julian Assange’s 53 birthday on July 3. Assange, who was in seclusion still recovering from his ordeal, did not attend. Continue reading »
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Australia could be the first nation in the world to eliminate poverty
The Australia Institute has recently argued for the introduction of a system for measuring the extent of poverty in Australia, pointing out that the government’s recently established wellbeing measurement framework, Measuring What Matters, does not measure the number of Australians living in poverty. Greg Jericho and the other researchers at the Institute have argued that Continue reading »
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Afghanistan women’s cricket team seeks recognition
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan almost three years ago, women’s sport has been cast into darkness there. Continue reading »
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Poverty alleviation is not forced labour
Between the months of April and August of last year, I drove my EV and trailer RV to more than 40 locations and 15,000 kilometres in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region while I documented my experience. Continue reading »
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For Labor, Payman breaching caucus rules is worse than Israel committing genocide
Instead of concern about continuing slaughter in Gaza and the West Bank, the major controversy surrounding Senator Payman’s support for a Palestinian state and for Palestinians’ lives has focused on her non-compliance with rules and discipline in the Labor caucus. That seems astounding. Continue reading »
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The legacy media hate Julian Assange
It is often said that the reason the legacy media hate Julian Assange so much is that they are jealous of Assange’s rock star status. But it is much more than that. Not only did Assange make the MSM look dishonest; by reinventing Fourth Estate journalism with WikiLeaks, Julian Assange challenged the control of the Continue reading »
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The Assange non-verdict: the threat remains
The champers toasting the release of Julian Assange was delightful after many years of struggle against his clearly unjust indictment and years of imprisonment. I am sure we all enjoyed sipping it. After the excitement and sweetness has assuaged however, a certain bitterness still remains, a cold realisation just what his plea bargaining signifies. Continue reading »
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The release of Julian Assange
It would be the political persecution of the 21st Century. A publicly orchestrated campaign of mobbing, libelling and black balling by the most powerful country on the planet of a publisher who, using novel technological means, enlivened a moribund fourth estate by linking, ever more closely, the leaking whistleblower and the scribbling journalist. Continue reading »
