Talking Israel/Palestine post 7 October in Bali, Indonesia

I was recently a guest at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali, Indonesia. One of my sessions, to a packed house, was discussing Israel/Palestine post 7 October. Here’s the official description: Hear from Middle East experts Michael Vatikiotis and Antony Loewenstein as they shed light on a relentless and deadly conflict that has…

Public talk on From Iraq to Gaza: The Politics of Fear

Last Friday I gave the following speech at Sydney’s… Lebanese Muslim Association forum on terrorism, Gaza, ISIS and Western governments spreading fear and anger towards the Islamic faith. Labor MP Tony Burke and Liberal MP Craig Laundy both pledged to bring harmony to the community and yet both their parties have flamed bigotry. Government surveillance is…

Israel a key source of global rise in anti-Semitism

Stinging Gideon Levy in Haaretz: Israel is today the most dangerous place in the world for Jews. Since its establishment, more Jews were hurt in wars and terror attacks that took place in Israel than anywhere else. The war in Gaza took this one step backward – it endangered world Jews as well, as no…

Key aim of Israeli war plans is to kill Arabs over and over again

Gideon Levy in Haaretz: The goal of Operation Protective Edge is to restore the calm; the means: killing civilians. The slogan of the Mafia has become official Israeli policy. Israel sincerely believes that if it kills hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, quiet will reign. It is pointless to destroy the weapons stores of…

Only fools deny reality of apartheid in Palestine

After US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent comment about “apartheid” one day potentially appearing in Israeli controlled Palestine, the reality today is that apartheid already exists. Two pieces from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. An editorial: At a G-20 conference in Cannes in November 2011, then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy termed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a…

Western hypocrisy over Russia

Brilliantly strong Gideon Levy in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: Saddam Hussein has already been executed, and so has Osama bin Laden. But all is not lost for the enlightened West. There is a new devil, and his name is Vladimir Putin. He hates gay people, so the leaders of the enlightenment did not go to…

What Mandela teaches Israel (but she isn't listening)

The great Gideon Levy in Haaretz (and one of the finest columns on the death of the great South African, though Jonathan Cook’s dissenting view is vital): South African President Nelson Mandela, in his address for International Solidarity Day with the Palestinian People on December 4, 1997, said: “We know too well that our freedom…

Only a matter of time before Palestinians rise up

Gideon Levy in Haaretz in commanding style: One day the Palestinian people will rise up against their occupiers. I hope this day comes soon. It’s true that this scenario seems unrealistic right now. The Palestinians are still bleeding from the second intifada, which only brought disaster upon them (and the Israelis). They are divided and…

Echoes of German darkness in today’s Israel

Powerful Gideon Levy column in yesterday’s Haaretz: What do dogs remind you of? And what do German shepherds remind you of? And what about armed soldiers who sic German shepherds on people trying to sneak through a border in order to earn a living? These lines are being written in a hotel room in the…

Israel unleashes terror on Palestinians because it can

Beyond all the political posturing over Israel and Palestine, the reality of occupation grinds on. Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz of just one such event: The Israel Defense Forces’ Duvdevan unit is just about the very best, albeit with slightly less luster than the Shayetet, the Tayeset and “The Unit” − the IDF’s elite naval…

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