What an interesting morning. Today all us writers of the For God’s Sake book appeared on Channel 7’s Weekend Sunrise program. It was strange watching this segment back and noticing that under my name on the screen it read, “Jew”. It was a unique opportunity to explain that Judaism and Zionism aren’t the same thing…
Showing all posts tagged Judaism
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…
Tony Abbott’s foreign policy would be as clueless as George W. Bush
My following article appears today in the Guardian: In April 2010, as the war in Afghanistan was raging and US president Barack Obama… “surged” 30,000 more troops… into the country, Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott suggested that under his leadership, a Coalition government would have considered increasing involvement. “The government should explain why it’s apparently right that…
Introductory passages in For God’s Sake
Following great media coverage over the last week for my new book, For God’s Sake, with Jane Caro, Simon Smart and Rachel Woodlock, here’s an extract by me from the introduction. Please buy the book! Birth is a beginning And death a destination. Rabbi Alvin Fine This poem has remained with me since childhood, when…
How much does religion cause violence and war in the world?
This week sees the official launch of a book I’ve co-written, For God’s Sake. Today the Guardian runs extracts from one of its chapters, Doesn’t religion cause most of the conflict in the world?, by all four contributors: Rachel Woodlock (Islam) Religion is powerfully motivating and belligerent humans fight over it. Heck, religion has caused…
Believe the hype, BDS against Israel is growing and feared
To all the politicians, journalists, Zionist lobbyists and hacks who continually claim that BDS is irrelevant, the fact that it’s being fought at the highest levels of the Israeli government proves otherwise. Alex Kane in Mondoweiss reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is directly involved in growing efforts to combat the boycott, divestment and sanctions…
The Australian reviews “For God’s Sake”
The following appears in today’s Weekend Australian written by Gerard Windsor. For the record, the writer’s description of my relationship with my father is false and not reflected in the text of the book. I am extremely close to my dad, though years ago this was very different, something I explicitly explain in the book:…
Standing up to Murdoch bullies over Palestine
Short and sharp letter in today’s Australian refuting the almost daily barrage against anybody who dares challenge Israel (some background to Jake Lynch here and here): Your campaign to equate the call for an academic boycott of Israel with anti-Semitism is an attempt, as sinister as it is absurd, to stifle an important debate. There…
Israeli speaks of necessity of one-state solution
During my visit to Israel and Palestine last year discussing my book, After Zionism, I spoke in Tel Aviv to a large and mostly sympathetic crowd. One of the people in the audience was Yoav Haifawi, founder of the Free Haifa blog and advocate for the one-state solution. Here he is talking about why it’s…
World War Z zombies as Israel/Palestine metaphor
This is a big-budget, Hollywood action film about zombies taking over the world with Brad Pitt as the hero. It’s fun in parts and exciting, with stunning special effects, though it also feels disjointed, as if the whole doesn’t quite come together. It’s pro-UN, pro-American and and (largely) pro-Israel. This is what I want to…