Human Rights
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“Some of these people seek Armageddon”: An encounter with Norman Finkelstein
Like his mentor Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein is effectively banned from entering the Palestinian territories by Israeli authorities. This constitutes a very exclusive club: Jews welcome in Ramallah but not in Tel Aviv. Continue reading »
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Israel and Australian law on sanctions. Will we act?
The imposition of sanctions on Israel by the Australian government is a logical step now that Foreign Minister Penny Wong has finally bowed to the inevitable in calling Israel’s West Bank settlements ‘illegal’. As Wong told the federal party caucus yesterday, it was time to “strengthen the government’s objection to settlements by affirming that they Continue reading »
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If not now, when? The ‘fiction’ of the two-state solution
If Palestinian leaders can’t sort out their differences and unite now, when Palestine is at the precipice of disaster, then when? Continue reading »
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Government is failing our most vulnerable children
Australia urgently needs a national plan to effectively address child and youth homelessness. Continue reading »
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What have you done for US lately?
If Albanese is such a buddy of Biden’s, why is Assange still in jail? Especially after our titanic strategic favours. Continue reading »
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Narendra Modi is using brutal repression to silence the people of Kashmir
For decades, the Indian state has suppressed the democratic rights of Kashmiris. Narendra Modi’s hard-right government is taking this pattern of repression to new extremes, with the complicity of Indian intellectuals who seek to toxify the cause of Kashmir. Continue reading »
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OHCHR ‘politicised’ to make anti-China claims on Xinjiang: new report
It isn’t something we expect from an august body that forms part of the United Nations but, according to CO-WEST-PRO Consultancy’s recently released fourth paper, the report issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on alleged atrocities in Xinjiang is “of substandard quality and is not a reliable source for Continue reading »
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Palestine lives
We are all one and liberation is our destiny. Continue reading »
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Jenin attack created 4,000 new refugees, part of the endless cycle of Palestinian displacement since 1948
The Israeli army’s recent attack on Jenin refugee camp resulted in 13 deaths (12 Palestinians, including four children, and one Israeli soldier killed by suspected friendly fire). An additional 143 Palestinians were injured, with 20 in critical condition, and up to 4,000 displaced. Continue reading »
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Albanese: Time to dismantle Israel’s “carceral regime”
“Over 56 years, Israel has governed the occupied Palestinian territory through stifling criminalisation of basic rights and mass incarcerations,” said Albanese in a report to the UN Human Rights Council on 10 July. Continue reading »
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The Voice and the problem of race
Defeat for the Voice referendum will reverberate internationally. Surviving suspicions about our racist past will be refreshed. It will come at the same time as our renewed embrace of our ‘forever friends’ in Britain and the United States and our growing enthusiasm for closer ties with NATO. Continue reading »
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A Human Rights Act for Australia
In 2005 we commenced a campaign for a Human Rights Act for Australia. In 2009 as part of our campaign a Bill was drafted to ‘respect, protect and promote Human Rights for Australia’. This model Bill formed the core of our group’s submission to the National Human Rights Consultation, chaired by Frank Brennan SJ OA. Continue reading »
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American cluster bombs in Ukraine
According to the UN Human Rights Office, 9,083 civilians have been killed in 500 days of fighting in Ukraine, and 15,779 wounded. These figures are likely to increase dramatically once American cluster munitions are deployed. Continue reading »
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Put people’s rights first in Syria sanctions
US, UK, EU should amend humanitarian exemptions to facilitate aid. Continue reading »
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Ostensibly Voice campaigns are binary – support for yes or no
But underneath the overall campaign are a multitude of subsets of campaign groups and tactics. Continue reading »
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The promise
The film had us mesmerised. It felt too close. ‘The Promise’, created and directed by, Terry George, could so easily have been telling the on-going story of Palestinian genocide. There was one moment in the film when a group of orphans and villagers are seen hiding in a cave. That was me, 75 years ago, Continue reading »
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Yes, of course we need a Human Rights Act!
Australia is the only democratic country in the world without a charter of human rights in either legislation or the Constitution. Continue reading »
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Are human rights abuses of the Chinese judicial system worse than that of the land of the free? A difficult call
Doing the rounds on YouTube is the case of a black American Tyshon Booker arrested when he was 16 for being present (with a gun) at a murder which he did not commit (the murderer confessed). He was given a 51 year minimum sentence. This case is, of course, is only the disgraceful tip of Continue reading »
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In Australia, reality bites back
Australia is fast approaching a reckoning with its past, its present and the state of the nation’s soul. And if the last month is any indication to go by, we will be found wanting. Continue reading »
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The Spark
Maybe it’s a quirk in my character that in times of calamity I always look for the silver lining. It doesn’t often appear, but in this darkest hour of despair, when nothing seemed possible and the collapse of hope was profound, I found it. The spark. Continue reading »
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Israeli Defence Force shoots and kills a 3-year-old
Most people can focus to see if they’re looking at a bird, a car or a person. Throw in a military scope and the sharp eyes of youth and ask yourself if you would spot the difference before you pulled the trigger. Continue reading »
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Shirtfronting Australia
Australians are more used to pointing the accusing finger at other countries than having it pointed at us. Continue reading »
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LGBTIQ+ persecution in Africa: Australia’s responsibility to protect
Atrocities don’t happen overnight. They ramp up over time. The Nazi death camps, were preceded by at least a decade of smaller, selective and escalating removals of human rights for Jewish and LGBTIQ+ peoples. Similar patterns allowed for the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia – incremental and selective removals of minority rights built momentum and Continue reading »
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Australia and apartheid Israel: “not to act is to condone”
The recent Robert Gregory blog in Australian Jewish News demands a response. Continue reading »
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Don’t forget the Nakba
With the passing of the 75th remembrance of the Nakba this May, Palestine and its Occupation can often be forgotten from one May to another. Continue reading »
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Migration policy and modern slavery: no sex worker left behind?
While minds turn to an overhaul of Australia’s migration policies, anti-sex work sentiment may have created a parallel policy reality for some. Continue reading »
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Stella Assange in Australia
For those familiar with the ongoing prosecution of Julian Assange by the United States, a brutal carnivalesque endeavour that continues to blight that legal system, there is not much to be said. Assange is a political prisoner who must be freed. But the task remains for those like Stella Assange to convince politicians and journalists Continue reading »
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Julian Assange: hung by the thread of ignorance
If you witnessed a war crime, what would you do? Since the US led capture of Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy into the UK’s Belmarsh prison, he has served four torturous years of detainment. Julian’s family, their international team of lawyers along with a growing number of leaders, scholars, concerned citizens – and especially Continue reading »
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The ongoing Palestinian Nakba
Today, May 15th, is the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe). And counting. I say ‘and counting’ because the theft of our land, the occupation, the siege on Gaza, the disposition of our people, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and replacement of the Palestinian nation, with Jews, often of dual nationality, from around the Continue reading »
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The doors to Assange’s cell will not open by themselves
Despite a year of grace given to the Prime Minister for ‘quiet diplomacy’ to work, the release of Julian Assange from political incarceration and extradition looks as remote as ever – so it seems it’s time to get out the loudhailer once more. Continue reading »
