I spoke last night to a packed room of around 170 people at Sydney’s Imam Husain Islamic Centre (all photos here): I was honoured to engage with a large Muslim audience (as I was told that the idea of a Jew speaking to such a group happened rarely, if ever, due to the fear of…
Showing all posts tagged Hamas
Struggle for the future
Zaki Chehab, Arab journalist and author of a seminal book on Hamas, surveys the recent war in Gaza: Walk anywhere in Gaza and the impression one gets is that the Hamas government is still a force to be reckoned with. It shows no signs of losing its grip on this tiny 25-mile by 6-mile strip…
Israel must pay for crimes
My following article appears in the Australian Financial Review today: Israel’s war against Gaza has left the blockaded strip in ruins. The president of the French section of Medecins Sans Frontieres, Marie-Pierre Allie, wrote recently that her organisation had “been present during armed conflicts for nearly four decades” but “it is difficult to recall a…
But where are the actions?
Ari Shavit, Haaretz, January 29: At its core, the Israeli majority is what it was before: realistic and pragmatic. It recognizes that the occupation is futile, but is looking for a safe way to end it. It recognizes that the Greater Israel vision is finished, but fears having a Hamas state on the outskirts of…
Isolating the Israelis
During the current Davos economic forum, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had enough of Israeli President Peres’ lies and walked off the stage saying he will never come back. Peres tried to claim the people in Gaza were not living under humanitarian stress. There is only way to deal with such people; shun them:…
A new dawn will leave some behind
Israel can commit war crimes because it’s Israel. That’s essentially the message from Harvard Law Professor and Zionist fanatic Alan Dershowitz. His upcoming book is titled, “The Case Against Israel’s Enemies: Exposing Jimmy Carter and Others Who Stand In The Way of Peace.” Try not to laugh, though I know it’s hard. Former US President…
Zionist morality must be on holiday
Time magazine reporter Tim McGirk writes for the magazine’s website with startling honesty about his experiences in Gaza: There’s something about phosphorus, the way it smoulders and burns for days, that makes it looks as though the Devil had walked by, leaving fiery footprints in the earth. I saw phosphorus today in a bombed out…
War crimes? What war crimes?
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been deeply weakened by his complicity with Israel and the Americans over the last years. The result for his people? Nothing. But his comments on Tuesday – probably as a way to defend himself from siding with Israel over his fellow Palestinians, Hamas – were necessarily strong: We will do…
Possible friends dropping like flies
While Gerry Adams, the former Irish “terrorist”, calls for engagement with Hamas, many Arab bloggers have started a campaign to cease using the word “Israel” and instead refer to the Jewish state as “Israhell“.
Respecting life would be a good start
Human rights were violated on both sides of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Chief John Holmes blasted Hamas Tuesday for its “cynical” use of civilian facilities during recent hostilities in the Gaza Strip. “The reckless and cynical use of civilian installations by Hamas and indiscriminate firing of rockets against…