Sydney University’s Jake Lynch, a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, writes in his weekly column about Sri Lanka and the need to continue pressure over its appalling treatment of the Tamils: The news that the Government of Sri Lanka is to close the internment camps where thousands of Tamils were illegally detained, following the…
Showing all posts tagged Kevin Rudd
Australia looks briefly at the Palestinian cause and issues a sigh
The Australian government is so close to Israel it hurts the Jewish state’s jaw. So this news shows a) the hatred of the Zionist lobby towards the Palestinians, any Palestinians and b) the belief of the Rudd elites to only give rudimentary at best support for Palestinian rights: The federal Government has denied a shift…
Our dear leader loves Israel in his toes
Isi Leibler on Australian political leaders and Israel: John Howard was instinctively, as a conservative, a friend of Israel. Kevin Rudd is a remarkable personality but I didn’t think he would maintain the course as he has. I regard him as a Christian Zionist – he understands and has some sympathy for us. Australia gives…
Compassionate and anti-war, the sign of true leadership
A fine piece of analysis from leading Australian academic Damien Kingsbury published in Friday’s Crikey. Note the opposition to war, injection of nuance into the debate, avoidance of demonisation and clear moral purpose. In other words, vastly different to most “serious” academics and journalists parading themselves in the media. There’s always a war to support…
Times changing rapidly in the Middle East
My following article appears in today’s Crikey: Times are changing fast in the Middle East. The legal affairs editor at Yediot, Israel’s largest circulation daily, wrote on the weekend that the situation in the West Bank is “apartheid”. One leading American commentator, Time’s Joe Klein, directly challenges Barack Obama to withhold US aid until Israel…
300,000 Tamils need 30 seconds of your life
An important campaign launched today in Australia: The 300,000 Reasons campaign has been launched to draw attention to the plight of 300,000 Sri LankanTamil citizens – men, women and children who are being forcibly held in military camps in their own country for no reason other than their ethnicity. It is time for all of…
Australia damns refugees because they’re not white
Australian journalist Laurie Oakes on our government’s stance towards Tamil refugees. We learn nothing from history except that bashing aslyum seekers is allegedly popular with the electorate. The shame: We’ve… heard Kevin Rudd promising tough action to stop asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat. We’ve heard him condemn people smugglers as vermin. What we…
When journalists should remember they’re not writing for a country paper
I’m down in Melbourne for a few days to launch My Israel Question tonight and speak tomorrow at Trades Hall and a large pro-Palestine rally in the centre of the city. So I opened the Age newspaper to find this embarrassingly parochial story on page one of the paper: John Howard was the man of…
Drop rose-coloured views to lift Gaza peace hopes
My following article appears in today’s Canberra Times newspaper: Hussam Abuayish lives in Gaza’s Johrel-Deik district near the Israeli border. With yellow teeth and nervous demeanour, the 24-year-old told me in July of an Israeli missile that landed near his family home a month before. His sister died and he remains in pain because of…
One state, two state”¦who cares so long as there’s a solution?
My following article appears in today’s Crikey: US President Barack Obama has consistently stated that he imagines a two state solution in the Middle East, with viable Jewish and Palestinian nations alongside each other. Israel, in a clear sign of who runs the show, announced last week that it intended to continue building colonies in…