My following article appears today in Eureka Street: The Australian Jewish News (AJN) was outraged. Its editorial in late July condemned the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) for a resolution calling on Australians to boycott Israeli goods made in the occupied Palestinian territories. The AJN wrote that the move contributed to a global…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
Australian Jewish group warms to BDS step by step
A statement from the left Zionist group Australian Jewish Democratic Society. Good to see they’re standing firm in the face of Zionist lobby pressure. Shame that they only see the importance of BDS regarding the occupied territories and not much deeper against the infrastructure of occupation (alive and well in Israel proper). But it’s a…
Overland 200
Overland magazine is one of Australia’s finest independent journals. I contributed the lead essay in 2008 about the resource wars. The publication is progressive and proud. It has just released its 200th edition and a number of leading leftists were asked to briefly define the “Left” in 2010 and what it means to them. Here’s…
Better Tweeting ain’t gonna solve Israel’s massive image problem
This is as tragic as comical. When will the Zionist lobby realise that more “effective” PR isn’t the answer to their problems? Until Israel changes its behaviour, the label “apartheid state” will be an understatement: An Australian plan to spread good news about Israel via social media will be presented at an upcoming international Jewish…
The Right wakes to the Afghan fiasco
The day a leading Australian conservative, Tom Switzer, urged a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Bravo.
When will more Jews not back occupation and oppression?
Many Australian Jews see their role as simply backing anything Israel does. Nuke Gaza? No worries. Those Palestinians clearly deserved it. Here’s a letter in this week’s Australian Jewish News that perfectly captures the mood. Thanks for mentioning Independent Australian Jewish Voices! Thank goodness for the unswerving, if not always uncritical, support for Israel by…
Reporters should not be embedding
A rather curious position for a journalist to argue, this time by Lindsay Murdoch in Fairfax: Unless journalists are with the soldiers there will be little independent reporting of the war. Embedding [Australian] journalists at Tarin Kot would improve the level of respect and trust between Defence and the media, which has deteriorated over years.…
ABC talks about Afghanistan in a bubble
As news emerges of a key aide of Hamad Karzai being on the CIA payroll – along with the country’s spy service – and Australia suffering another combat loss, ABC radio features a “debate” on the war with three men who share roughly similar views. No anti-war voices and no figures clearly calling for withdrawal…
Pull out of Afghanistan now, says new Australian MP
An Australian politician who actually thinks before he speaks on Afghanistan (unlike the parrots in the major parties): Andrew Wilkie has said the justification given by both parties for keeping Australian troops in Afghanistan is a “great lie”. Mr Wilkie has argued that both parties lied during the election campaign about the relevance of the…
Political bastardry is now clear for all to see
Very incisive piece by Jeff Sparrow on ABC’s The Drum on the message from last weekend’s election result: While the result of Election 2010 remains uncertain, one message came through loud and clear. Quite simply, people loathe what parliamentary politics has become. That hatred manifested itself in the rate of informal voting, up to nearly…