Israel / Palestine
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Explaining the Gaza genocide: Settler colonialism in Palestine
In a settler colonial state, the indigenous population has to be physically erased because they are an ongoing reminder of the violence and injustice that occurred at the foundation of the political community. Their continuing existence constitutes a legal and political challenge to the state’s legitimacy. Continue reading »
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Australia has abandoned international law
Two months have passed since the events of October 7. Publicly, Australia has done nothing except perhaps indicate that it desires a two-state solution, and expects Israel to only take action which has regard to the need to protect civilians. Is this enough? The answer is no. Continue reading »
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As you read this, physicians are amputating childrens’ hands, arms and legs without anaesthesia
Doctors without Borders (the French volunteer organisation Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF]) has written a poignant letter to the United Nations Security Council imploring for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as hospitals are turned into “Morgues”. Continue reading »
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The realpolitik of the Gaza war
If this 2022-23 opinion poll is correct then a clear majority of Palestinians want a single-Islamic state, not a shared Islamic-Jewish one let alone a two-state solution. Continue reading »
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The horrors in Gaza are happening because the US empire wants them to happen
I came across an interesting quote made last month by a retired Israeli major general named Yitzhak Brick about the ongoing IDF assault on Gaza. Continue reading »
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Israel has Haaretz newspaper in its sights as it tightens screws on media freedom
The Israeli government is putting pressure on the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz to line up in support of the government in its conduct of the war in Gaza. Continue reading »
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As genocide unfolds, what can you do? Boycott. Divest. Sanction.
Israeli children sing, “We will annihilate everyone” in Gaza. The song was played on Israel’s national broadcaster Kan. This fact was exposed by the Electronic Intifada – Ali Abunimah – on 19 November. It pretty well says it all. So, what can you do about it? Well, one thing you might do is support BDS. Continue reading »
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Poem: The Second Nakba
I wake up and I check The radio News I dread I hear the authoritative voice The Newsreader then Israeli government Spokesman Terrorists, the terrorists Hiding under the Hospitals Under the Kindergartens Under the Schools The colonial narrative Always Baying for more dead No electricity, no water No food, no shelter What will happen Hapless Continue reading »
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Imagine the outrage if Al Jazeera agreed Hamas could vet its footage?
US corporate media outlets allow IDF to vet ‘all materials’ from embedded reporters in Gaza. “Israel is killing the journalists that expose their crimes, then bribing the journalists that cover for them,” said one critic. Continue reading »
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War is not abstracted anymore
Pentagon contractor Elon Musk and war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu had a conversation that they broadcast on Twitter during Musk’s apology pilgrimage to Israel in a desperate bid to salvage his public image amid costly accusations of antisemitism. Continue reading »
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A monstrous Gaza proposal is evil in plain sight
Giora Eiland is one of the “thinking officers” in the Israeli Defence Forces. He has an idea – epidemics in Gaza are good for Israel. “After all, severe epidemics in the southern Strip will bring victory closer and reduce fatalities among IDF soldiers.” One only has to wait for the daughters of Hamas’ leaders to Continue reading »
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US hypocrisy results in persistent Western failures in resolving the Palestinian crisis
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which spans over seven decades, serves as a potent illustration of the persistent failures of Western nations, particularly the United States, to facilitate an equitable and enduring resolution. Continue reading »
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You cannot reason with an abuser
You must take away their power, and protect their victims. Continue reading »
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Two solutions for the “Question of Palestine”
In these terrible times in the wake of October 7, there is one perception as to which the Israeli government and virtually all other governments now publicly profess to agree, sincerely and passionately in the Israeli case and at least rhetorically in the case of the Global West: The “Question of Palestine” can no longer Continue reading »
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Why are so many Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails?
Four in 10 Palestinian men spend time in Israel jails. Hamas says it wants to exchange captured Israelis for them. Continue reading »
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White House fears pause in fighting will let journalists see what’s been happening in Gaza
Israel and Hamas have reportedly agreed to a four-day ceasefire which will entail the release of 50 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for 150 hostages held by Israeli forces. Continue reading »
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A UN Mandate for the Gaza Strip
Israel’s military campaign to rout the war machine and government authority of Hamas in the Gaza Strip has entered its sixth week. Its steady physical destruction of the terrorist organisation’s military capabilities above and below ground has left a trail of physical ruin and a growing humanitarian tragedy as hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinian Continue reading »
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Australia’s role in the bombing of Gaza
Being part of the global supply network that supplies parts for the Israeli F-35 jet fighters used over Gaza implicates Australia in their alleged war crimes. Continue reading »
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Antisemitism and criticism of Israel: open letter to Julian Leeser MP
Shocking discrimination suffered by Jews in the past does not give Israel a warrant to make victims of others. You say anti-Zionism is a cover for antisemitism. Let me tell you why your view is wrong. Continue reading »
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Two-state solution won’t deliver peace for Israel/Palestine. But this might
At the end of October, three weeks after the brutal Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and soldiers that killed around 1200 people, US President Joe Biden said that he still firmly believed in the justness of the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. Two states for two peoples. Continue reading »
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When is genocide ever balanced?
‘Balance’ between supporters of Israel and of the Palestinians is what most police and State governments in Australia say they seek. So does the ABC. But what’s happening in Gaza isn’t balanced: it is asymmetric warfare. Continue reading »
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The most successful military raid of this century: the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel
There is a truism that I often cite when discussing the various analytical approaches to assessing the wide variety of geopolitical problems facing the world today—you can’t solve a problem unless you first properly define it. The gist of the argument is quite simple—any solution which has nothing to do with the problem involved is, Continue reading »
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Losing my religion
Theology has long been used to justify war. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it’s happening again in the Middle East. Continue reading »
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Gaza – What is the end game?
In recent weeks some frightening possibilities have come to the world’s attention. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has noted plans, by some, for high density Jewish cities in the Gaza Strip. Such plans call for total destruction and mass expulsion in Gaza. Continue reading »
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Does Israel have a right to exist?
Israel’s membership of the United Nations was approved in 1949. Unlike other states, it was approved conditionally upon Israel complying with Partition Resolution 181 as to the limits of the Israeli State, and UN Resolution 194, allowing the return of refugees. Israel has complied with neither condition. It refuses to define its borders and is Continue reading »
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West must acknowledge Israel’s rights are not untrammelled
Everyone’s talking points have in bold type – ‘Israel has the right to defend itself’. This simplistic American militarist jargon is treated as if there was an untrammelled right. International law hasn’t emerged to facilitate war, but to constrain it. Continue reading »
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US and Israeli exceptionalism and the exception of humanity
Both The US and Israel have turned out to be exceptionally brutal, exceptionally authoritarian and exceptionally unjust. The zeitgeist is peace, and Israel and the U.S. will be left behind when the world moves towards humanity and cooperation. Meanwhile they are going to dig in, stand firm on their use of blood curdling violence against Continue reading »
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Ending Jewish Israel’s domination a “re-humanising act”: UN Special Rapporteur
Invoking a “shared humanity”, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called for a rehumanisation discourse in the Israel/Palestine conflict, in which ending Jewish Israel’s domination would be a re-humanising act for Jewish Israelis as well. Continue reading »
