Back in 2004, I interviewed a stateless refugee housed on Manus Island by the former Australian government. Aladdin Sisalem was a kind, quietly-spoken man who simply craved a better life for himself, but John Howard’s system wanted him to suffer for this desire. I met with Aladdin a few times in Melbourne after his release.…
Showing all posts tagged Kevin Rudd
A celebration that ignores the plight of Palestine
My following piece in the Melbourne Age, co-written with Michael Shaik, reflects on Israel’s 60th anniversary: “If you will it,” wrote Theodore Herzl, the founding father of the Zionist movement, in 1902, “it is no dream.” The dream to which he referred was the establishment of a Jewish state in the Arab country of Palestine.…
Is Iran next?
My following article appears in today’s ABC Unleashed: The fifth anniversary in March of the Iraq war should have given the political and media elite time to reflect on their actions since 2003. Virtually ignored by the mainstream media were stories such as life in Fallujah, where citizens remain mired in poverty and resentment. Despite…
Time to talk about Palestine
Peter Manning, Sydney Morning Herald, April 29: Australia’s a remarkable country. Cambodian, Yugoslav and Vietnamese Australians who once shot at each other now live in the same city, sometimes the same suburb. The same goes for Arab and Jewish Australians. There are Jewish fighters from 1948 who successfully established the state of Israel and there…
An Australian future (without just celebrities)
Australia’s 2020 Summit currently taking place in Canberra is being described in the following way by Reuters: Hollywood star wattage outweighed intellectual light at the opening of an Australian thinkers summit on Saturday, with cameras firmly focused on Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and her newborn son. The event is actually far more than this –…
Smog, Rudd and Hu Jia
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: The international outcry over China’s human rights abuses was temporarily disrupted this week with news from Beijing that the regime was determined to manage the city’s pollution problems by halting building construction after July for two months. Unfortunately, many…
Get out of Afghanistan
As a regular contributor to ABC Unleashed, I was asked to offer a suggestion for this weekend’s 2020 Summit on Australia’s future: Australian troops are causing more harm than good in Afghanistan. Engaged in an unwinnable war against a so-called enemy that enjoys widespread public support and growing anger at NATO’s indiscriminate bombing of civilians,…
The Israeli Diaspora soul-searching
My following article appears in today’s Online Opinion: During Israel’s recent bombardment of Gaza, the Australian Jewish establishment reacted with unreserved support. Israel’s leading human rights organisation B’Tselem reported that the majority of Palestinian victims of the onslaught were civilians. David Knoll, from the New South Wales Board of Deputies, wrote that, “Israel is using…
Some people are more occupied than others
The following letter in today’s Age newspaper simply explains Kevin Rudd’s selective belief in human rights: How dare Kevin Rudd tell the Chinese that there have been human rights violations in Tibet. Would he do the same and tell the Israelis that there are gross human rights violations in Palestine? On the contrary, at a…
Time to get a room
Britain’s The Independent has a crush on Kevin Rudd: We were looking forward to Kevin Rudd’s term as Australia’s Prime Minister, and so far we have not been disappointed. On the contrary, with his plain speaking, his firm principles as a politician and – a bit of a luxury, this – his fluent Mandarin, Mr…