Gazans asked to help Israel oppress them

Some Israeli kindness: The Israel Air Force on Thursday dropped several thousand leaflets over the Gaza Strip, warning residents not to come within 300 meters of the border fence between Gaza and Israel and to avoid cooperating with terror operatives. Another leaflet called on Gaza residents not to sit idly by while operatives digging tunnels…

J Street still has a little fight left for the struggle ahead

I have many issues with J Street (see here), but good on its head Jeremy Ben-Ami challenging the Israeli government over its increasingly erratic public statements: Being an Israeli ambassador these days can’t be easy. On the one hand, you’re working for a prime minister whose strong suit is public relations, who at least talks…

Britain and Israel on a path to diplomatic conflict?

Pithy comments by Omar Barghouti, a leader of the BDS campaign: Forty two (yes 42!) Knesset members (a third of the total), from across the Zionist political spectrum (including Labor), are “recommending [to] the citizens of Israel to reconsider using the services of companies that operate in Great Britain …” Perhaps it is time for…

War crimes can’t be hidden through smoother talking points

Is Israel half-acknowledging its legal failings while at the same time trying to convince the world that its “war on terror” is justified? IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has issued an order requiring the Israel Defense Forces to consult with the army’s legal advisers while military operations are underway and not just when they…

Burn, settlement products, burn

Symbolism matters (even if the key players are on the US payroll): Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday took part in a demonstration in which products made in Jewish settlements were burned. On Sunday the Palestinian PM said the future Palestinian state will be “free of fences and of settlements.” In a conference held…

SBS Radio interview on Gaza Freedom March

I was interviewed in Cairo on New Year’s Eve about the Gaza Freedom March for SBS Radio in Australia. We discussed the Israeli and Egyptian led siege of Gaza and the reasons behind the global attention on the Strip’s plight.

Zionists continue to be alert and alarmed about IAJV

I co-founded Independent Australian Jewish Voices (IAJV) nearly three years ago. Since then, our achievements have been modest, but the key aim has always been to expand public debate over the Middle East and show to the wider community that not all Jews back Israeli apartheid in the occupied territories. It’s therefore pretty amusing to…

Here’s to the importance of Israeli reality TV

Maybe Big Brother is an important program, after all: Two right-wing public figures are calling for the criminal investigation of a contestant on the reality TV show “Big Brother” who said on the show that “the occupation would be over” if the Palestinians were to “rise up” and refuse to listen to Israeli soldiers performing…

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