Violence should be condemned but my sources tell me that the reaction of the police in Melbourne yesterday was a gross over-reaction: Capsicum spray was used on pro-Palestinian demonstrators who tried to storm a hotel where Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard spoke last night. About 200 demonstrators holding flags and placards tried to force their…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
Is Australia serious about holding (Israelis) to account?
With a bunch of Israelis currently in Australia, many of whom should face war crimes trials, Australians for Palestine sent a letter to the Attorney General demanding action: 3 December 2009 The Hon Robert McClelland MP Attorney General PO Box 6022 Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Dear Mr McClelland, Australians for Palestine brings to your…
Rudd helps the Middle East story remain one sided
My following story appears in today’s Crikey: Last weekend the Australian’s foreign editor Greg Sheridan interviewed former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and provided a platform for him to defend the 2006 Lebanon war, 2008/09 Gaza war and reveal the “most extensive concessions any Israeli leader has ever brought to the table in the search…
The state of the peace process in 2009
Overland is one of Australia’s finest literary journals. Punchy, provocative, topical, relevant and interesting, the magazine re-launched its website this week and is currently running a Subscriberthon. Do it for yourself and the country. Get into it! I was asked to write an original piece for the festivities: Antony Loewenstein is a prominent blogger, and…
Extremists should not be welcome in Australia
The following statement was released yesterday by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Sector union: Kevin Rudd is set to host an Israeli delegation to Australia led by Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom. Shalom is one of the most senior members of the extreme right wing Israeli political party, Likud, forming part of the…
Bill Clinton reads Friedman and thinks Palestinians love being bombed
Need evidence that Bill Clinton is part of the problem and not the solution, utterly disconnected from facts on the ground in the Middle East? This Foreign Policy interview will only confirm the bankrupt ideas that marinate in the American political elite (and are merely copied around the empire, including Australia): I still think there…
Nothing to see here, just crazy Jews harassing Palestinians
Would the Australian government like to discuss the reality of fundamentalist, Jewish settlers in the West Bank? Of course not: A West Bank settlement has filed a petition to the High Court of Justice demanding the demolition of a nearly-complete stadium in the Palestinian city of El Bireh, near Ramallah. The Psagot settlement and the…
Australia loves Zionist crimes, don’t you know?
Words fail me, but we shouldn’t be surprised. Israel can commit war crimes and Australia will welcome its leaders with welcome arms: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will host a delegation of senior Israeli politicians in Australia this week, including Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom. Mr Rudd will launch the Australia Israel Leadership Forum at a…
Hacks can’t spin away Olmert’s shameful record
Following the news that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrived in Australia, I submitted the following (unpublished) letter to the major papers: It is revealing that Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert swung into Australia virtually unannounced this week and was given a “warm welcome” by the Parliamentary Speaker. Olmert is currently under investigation…
Please hold and cuddle us, begs pro-settler Jew
Australian-born Zionist Isi Leibler – a believer in ex-communicating ‘dissident” Jews – appears in the Melbourne Age to plead for poor, little Israel. The whole world hates her and it’s just not fair. We’re a thriving democracy, he claims. Oh sure, the Palestinians are “suffering” but it’s their own fault. But the more spurious claim…