I’ve long been fascinated with people who push the boundaries of “acceptable” society. In the last year, I’ve been investigating the growth of the “doomsday prepper” movement for a feature story in one of Australia’s major magazines, Good Weekend (inserted weekly in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age with a readership of close to…
Articles in The Age
How I learned to stop worrying and love the one-state solution
Last weekend, I published the following story in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age on the one-state solution for Israel/Palestine. It’s an issue I’ve thought about for many years including in a book I co-edited in 2013 with Palestinian Ahmed Moor called After Zionism. Here’s an extract from my latest piece: The two-state solution…
The defining Israel/Palestine conflict and the challenge for Jews
Writing personally about Israel/Palestine, why I have the positions I do, is something I mostly avoid. But a notable exception is my long essay in this week’s edition of the Good Weekend magazine, inserted every Saturday into the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age. The readership is over one million people and it’s one of…
Dangers of an Israeli spy in your pocket
My book review appears in today’s Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age: Imagine a weapon so powerful that it makes every person on the planet with a mobile phone potentially vulnerable. It isn’t a scammer or traditional hacker but a new, much more virulent form of intrusion that takes control of all your personal information…
Time for new, brave leadership in the Jewish community over Israel/Palestine
My story appears in yesterday’s Melbourne Age in print and online and Sydney Morning Herald online: After the Albanese government recently announced that it would no longer recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, returning Canberra to the global consensus after Scott Morrison’s 2018 decision to imitate Donald Trump, the Jewish establishment expressed outrage.…
“August in Kabul” is compelling book on Afghanistan
My book review in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age: AFGHANISTAN August in Kabul Andrew Quilty MUP, $34.99 Matthieu Aikins is a journalist who has spent extended periods in Afghanistan, including stints with The New York Times. Early this year, he told The Columbia Journalism Review that his whole profession had often failed when…
The forgotten Iranian refugees trapped on Nauru
Investigation in the Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age… co-written with Saba Vasefi (with more details, photos and letters): On the first day of the year in Nauru, Iranian refugee Bita* sent a damning letter to the Australian Border Force (ABF) accusing it of “barbarism”. She had been refused resettlement in the United States and demanded an end…
The strange case of alleged sexual predator Malka Leifer in Israel
My investigation in the Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age: The legal pursuit in Israel of alleged sexual predator Malka Leifer took a strange turn this week. As she fought extradition attempts by Victoria Police over 74 charges of child sexual abuse, the 54-year-old first gained, then lost the support of influential Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman. Grossman…
Growing corruption scandal around Netanyahu and weird connection with James Packer
My story in today’s Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age: Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is in trouble, and it partly stems from his close relationship with Australia’s most recognisable billionaire, James Packer. The country’s second longest-serving Prime Minister is facing potential charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust after an extensive investigation by Israeli police.…
Australia's ambition to become global arms dealer
My major investigation in the Melbourne Age/Sydney Morning Herald on Australia’s surging defence industry: This year’s Avalon Air Show in Geelong was the first chance for the public to see the long-delayed Joint Strike Fighter in action. At a cost of at least $100 million per aircraft, Canberra is slated to spend $17 billion on…