Where is the Jewish outrage?

Gideon Levy, Haaretz, February 8: Lieberman and his soldiers are borne on the tides of hatred for Arabs, hatred of democracy and the rule of law, and the stink of nationalism, racism and bloodthirstiness. These have turned, horrifically, into the hottest electoral assets on the market. Like all others of his political ilk, he cynically…

Get Up! takes on Israel/Palestine

Get Up! is Australia’s biggest progressive organisation, modelled on US MoveOn.org. Get Up! has shied away from tackling the Israel/Palestine issue, preferring to focus on more domestic concerns. Its success in Australia is undeniable, though I know a number of members have been frustrated with its silence over the Middle East. But maybe that is…

Mired in failure

Gideon Levy, Haaretz, January 22: On the morrow of the return of the last Israeli soldier from Gaza, we can determine with certainty that they had all gone out there in vain. This war ended in utter failure for Israel. This goes beyond the profound moral failure, which is a grave matter in itself, but…

Israeli spin and its failings

Below are some of the more interesting Gaza-related pieces online over the last days: – Ezra Klein, associate editor at The American Prospect, explains that being ‘pro-Israel’ means more than simply mouthing Israeli press releases. Yet another prominent young Jewish American speaks out against Israeli brutality. – The Economist: “Despite devoting unparalleled attention to the…

A violent nation and proud of it

The free state of Israel? Hardly, writes Gideon Levy in Haaretz: That’s how it is here: Opposition to peace is always legitimate and patriotic; opposition to war is always traitorous, anti-Israel and should be hushed while broadcasting his television show “London & Kirschenbaum” this week, Yaron London acknowledged they had run into problems: “We had…

Shifting sands of Israel/Palestine

My following talk was presented today to a full room at Harvard University: Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government/Centre for Middle Eastern Studies ME Forum, 24 November 2008 The Shifting Sands of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: An Australian Perspective Antony Loewenstein Australian Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, speaking in March this year at a United Israel…

When a voice is so important

Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz, perfectly skewers the profound failures of the Israeli left: The Israeli peace camp was born in sin and died because of a lie: It was born as the legitimate son of the sin of occupation, and died the illegitimate son of the lie that “there is no partner” with whom…

Friendship isn’t enough

Why we have to hope that Barack Obama will not be a “friend of Israel.” Instead, as former Haaretz editor David Landau said, the Jewish state needs to be “raped” by America to achieve any semblance of peace with the Palestinians.

The daily Jewish pain

Gideon Levy, Haaretz, October 16: It’s routine under the occupation: On any night soldiers are liable to raid any house in the territories and do as they wish. Sometimes it ends with nothing, a futile search. Sometimes it ends with arrests. It always involves great fear and sometimes even death, as in the tragic case…

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