International relations
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US boots on the ground in Israel demolishes international law
The US decision to send troops to Israel has upended the focus of attention for all those, globally, who have attempted to stop both the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the determination of the current Israeli government to create Eretz Israel: a territory incorporating – at minimum – all Palestinian land now occupied by Israel, Continue reading »
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Australia’s shame
Open Letter to Antonio Guterres on the Australian Government’s failure to publicly defend the office of the United Nations Secretary General. Continue reading »
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As US puppets the Australian political class rejects international humanitarian law
One thing which was crystal clear from the vigils in Australia on 7 October 2024 was the almost complete unanimity between the Labor-Coalition political class at federal and state levels to only attend vigils solely commemorating the deaths of Israelis, while simultaneously completely ignoring vigils commemorating the deaths of Palestinians, or vigils commemorating the deaths Continue reading »
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Anthony Albanese has yet to grow into the prime minister’s job
The prime minister is a political operator rather than a visionary. His inability to persuade and sustain arguments is beginning to show. Continue reading »
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Imagine that we lived in a country that stood up for international law
Every day I imagine what it must be like to live in a righteous place. Really, what must that be like? Continue reading »
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From Guernica to Gaza
The bombing of the Basque town of Guernica, in Spain, in 1937 remains graphically notorious as a “wanton man-made holocaust”. Israel has made exceptional progress towards crafting a similar, enduring understanding of the hellscape it has created in Gaza. Continue reading »
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Under the shadow of a NATO-Russia nuclear war, Hibakusha awarded Nobel Peace Prize
As Vladimir Putin deploys mobile missile launchers throughout the Siberian Taiga armed with Yars heavy duty ICBMs, while making nuclear threats and claiming that these forces have been placed on a higher level of alert (though this isn’t necessarily so), NATO seems intent on compounding what seems already threatening and dangerous enough with the performance Continue reading »
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Australia, Israel and the United Nations
In 1949 Australia’s Dr H.V. Evatt was described as: “The most brilliant and effective voice of Small Powers – a leading statesman for the world’s conscience.” When will another Australian voice speak up in the name of humanity at the United Nations? Continue reading »
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While you weren’t looking: Meeting China in Sydney
While elsewhere the China discourse in the Australian media may have been on geopolitical tensions and defence and security concerns, community leaders, students and academics from seven universities in Australia and 15 universities in China and Taiwan met in Parramatta. Continue reading »
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What is really going on in Palestine
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was keen to remind Guardian readers that “Australia has not supplied any weapons or ammunition to Israel for at least the past five years”. Only, as the Albanese government was forced to clarify, that excludes components for the US F-35 combat aircraft that is used to bomb Gaza. Australia has made Continue reading »
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October 7: One year later, are we any closer to truth?
07/10/2023 has assumed much of the gravitas and the horror of 09/11/2001. In the aftermath of each, the world has/had viewed the potential for international warfare with extreme trepidation and with good reason. Continue reading »
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The unsustainable costs of war
In a world of simultaneous military and environmental crises our capacity to finance both has become unsustainable. Globally, military expenditure over the past decade has been rising at double that of GDP reaching an all-time high of $2.4 trillion in 2023. Continue reading »
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East Timor is not Palestine
Peter Job’s article in P&I, ‘Palestine – The Lessons of East Timor’, is an interesting foray into the link between international law and moral condemnation as offering a possible insight into the future of Palestine. As Job argues, one generally does need international law to be on one’s side if a just resolution is to Continue reading »
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Placing Russian mobile missile launchers on alert a dangerous game
Newsweek has recently (Oct 7) reported that Russian mobile nuclear missile launchers have been placed on combat alert. This could mean nothing – Russian mobile missile launchers do regularly go on patrol, both for scheduled alerts and for training purposes. However, the way in which the move has been telegraphed does suggest that Russia means Continue reading »
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Historic ICC war crimes complaint names 1,000 Israeli soldiers
“This complaint is not only the largest ever submitted to the ICC, but it is also a milestone in documenting Israeli war crimes for future generations.” Continue reading »
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“Acceptance” of Israel’s extreme brutality and “concern” at the slaughter of Palestinians are irreconcilable
Like most of the US allies, Australia is caught between a rock and a hard place. Continue reading »
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China unveiled: how moving East shattered my Western illusions
Moving to China has opened my eyes in a way I never expected. The stories I grew up hearing, the ones I accepted without much thought, started to unravel. One of the toughest things I’ve had to face is realising that the West, where I’ve spent most of my life, might not always be the Continue reading »
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On election day, accountability takes centre stage
If the government and Opposition think they will not be held accountable, they should think again. Continue reading »
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Palestine – The lessons of East Timor
History teaches us that Palestine, as with East Timor, will be free. Writes Peter Job in Declassifed Australia. Continue reading »
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Albanese government’s refusal to publicly challenge Paris about decolonisation “shortsighted”
The Albanese government’s silence on decolonisation is striking—the prime minister and foreign minister never use the word! Last year, Australian commentator Graeme Dobell argued that “Labor has run a grimly realist foreign policy seeking a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.” While collaboration with France may seem “realist” in this strategic framework, the refusal to Continue reading »
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Lebanese and Palestinian lives mean nothing to Western politicians
The deaths of thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians killed by Israel can be ignored, so too the misery of millions. Small wonder that protesters want to register disgust and despair. Continue reading »
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Chagossians ‘deplore’ deal allowing US-UK to keep Diego Garcia Air Base
“We remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland,” one diaspora Chagossian said in response to the agreement. Continue reading »
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Israel’s ideology of genocide must be confronted and stopped
Israel’s violent extremists now in control of its government believe that Israel has the Biblical license, indeed a religious mandate, to destroy the Palestinian people. Continue reading »
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On nuclear weapons, how long will Australia continue to be out of step with its nearest neighbours?
Last week, Indonesia, our biggest and closest neighbour, deposited its instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN. This was a major international and regional development, a good-news story with a very positive impact on international security, but we’ve heard virtually nothing about it from our government Continue reading »
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Why I can’t celebrate the Jewish new year
I am a cultural Jew because I am an atheist. I cannot celebrate the Jewish New Year because of the continuing horror in Gaza, and now in Lebanon. Continue reading »
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The United Nations pact for the future: progress or pablum?
Within the UN, it is clear that member states need to find new or re-tooled diplomatic vehicles to advance progress on the broad disarmament agenda. Continue reading »
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Nasrallah is dead but Bibi hasn’t won
Many people now mourn Nasrallah’s death, in Lebanon and elsewhere, but Hezbollah’s existence is nowhere near in question. Continue reading »
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Will the QUAD go the same way as SEATO – another lame duck?
Almost the first thing Anthony Albanese did after becoming PM was to jump on a plane for a QUAD meeting in Tokyo. He was accompanied by Andrew Shearer, the head of the Office of National Intelligence. Ever since, Albanese has been in the grip of our intelligence services which have been effectively colonised by the Continue reading »
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Australian politicians are playing NatCon politics
Peter Dutton’s campaign to make Palestinian refugees into figures of fear mirrors the provocations to the recent UK Islamophobic riots. These were inspired by politicians such as Nigel Farage as much as by far-right influencers. Both examples are connected to Donald Trump’s debate amplification of the far-right American lie that Haitian immigrants are eating the Continue reading »
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Paging a new rogue state- state sponsored terrorism
Exploding pagers and two-way radios. What a brilliant act of ….. state sponsored terrorism. Or a classic destruction of an adversary’s command and control communications ability. Continue reading »
