Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

A consistent Palestinian strategy for seeking statehood while blaming Israel for its absence has been codified through the narrative of "occupation." The anniversary of the 1967 war brought this to the forefront in endless accusations regarding the Israeli "occupation" of the West Bank. There is even an assertion that Gaza is still "occupied."

In a historic reawakening, Iran is once again meddling in the internal affairs of the Palestinians. This does not bode well for the future of "reconciliation" between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Fatah faction run by PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The re-emergence of Iran, as it pursues its efforts to increase its political and military presence in the region, does not bode well for the future of stability in the Middle East.

The death in Marawi of the top two leaders of the Islamic State-aligned forces in Southeast Asia was a significant achievement for the Philippines military. However, few believe it will end Islamist terrorism in the southern Philippines and neighbouring regions, as the remnants of the Marawi campaign scatter to remote areas to reconvene and reorganise.

With the looming defeat of ISIS, and with many of the surviving fighters unable to return to their homes, the question arises as to where the remaining ISIS fighters will scatter as they look for safe havens and attempt to rebuild a territorial stronghold.

If you are a high profile supporter of Israel and criticise the reporting of a Middle East correspondent, prepare for blowback, even if what you say is completely correct.

Federal Labor MP Michael Danby experienced trial by media over two ads in the Australian Jewish News (Sept. 28/Oct. 5) questioning ABC Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill's story selection.

Israel has not yet clearly reacted to the elections in Austria that will likely catapult the far-right Freedom Party into the government, but this outcome poses a clear challenge to Jerusalem: Should it engage with European far-right parties if they become a part of a government?

The evidence is mounting that Iran is not only violating the spirit of the no-nukes deal, but that it is also violating its letter. The prologue to the deal explicitly states: "Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons." This reaffirmation has no sunset provision: it is supposed to be forever.

AIJAC's Jamie Hyams appeared on ABC News24 on 2 November 2017, discussing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories and barriers to a two-state peace.

Court judgements in Europe have legitimised acts of violence and vandalism as acceptable political protest - including attacks on synagogues!

Some mainstream left and right wing political parties have removed any real stigma from antisemitism, tolerating, rationalising and excusing political allies who, objectively, crossed the lines from unpleasant to unacceptable.

Surveys of Israeli Arabs continue to make one thing perfectly clear - people who say Israel is some sort of "Apartheid" state are flying in the face of the majority view of the people who are supposed to the be the primary victims of that Apartheid - Israel's Arab minority. Israel's Arab citizens have their concerns, but overall, most view their country as a good place to live...

Ardern's views on Israel are simply unknown. While she spent time in Israel as president of the International Union of Socialist Youth, she hasn't yet made any public comment about Israel-related issues.

Balancing out these uncertainties is Peters who will become both Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Peters publicly opposed 2334 and has long been a vocal supporter of Israel.

Iraqi forces took Kirkuk city from the Kurds in mid-October with hardly a shot fired. Twenty-two Kurdish fighters were killed in the sporadic and disorganised resistance, while seven Iraqi soldiers also lost their lives. It is a remarkable setback for the Kurds, who just a few weeks ago held an independence referendum.

Two years ago, I urged US Senators to vote "no" on the Iran nuclear deal. My goal was not to have them scrap the accord, which had numerous positive benefits, but to give President Barack Obama leverage to repair its serious flaws. "No," I argued, "doesn't necessarily mean ‘no, never.' It can also mean ‘not now, not this way.' It may be the best way to get to ‘yes.'"

November 2, this Thursday, marks exactly 100 years since Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Minister at the time, issued his famous Declaration. The Balfour Declaration was a letter sent to Lord Rothschild, head of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain, stating that:

"His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

This Update looks at the background to and actual significance of that historic document, correcting some myths along the way.

US President Donald Trump made a tough call on Oct. 13. European diplomats and an "echo chamber" in the mainstream media were insisting he "recertify" the nuclear weapons deal his predecessor concluded with Iran's rulers in 2015.

Half a year after its arch-rival set out to choke it, Hamas appears to have effectively surrendered.

What began with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas' decision in April to cease paying for Gaza's fuel shipments from Israel has now culminated in Hamas' ostensible agreement to relinquish civilian rule of the coastal strip to the PA.

Trump's decision not to certify the agreement does not mean the US has withdrawn from the JCPOA, only that the US Congress will now consider the agreement with fresh eyes.

US President Donald Trump's "decertification" of the Iran nuclear deal has been the subject of much debate this past week.

Trump's tendency to be impulsive and his antagonistic style have led some commentators to dismiss the merits of this particular decision without examining the details.

Two federal MPs.

The high profile Turnbull Government backbencher George Christensen from Queensland. The other, federal Labor Victorian MP Michael Danby.

Both use their electoral allowances to run ads in local newspapers to attack the ABC for its coverage of completely unrelated topics in the same week.

Only one ended up on ABC TV "Media Watch".

Australia has achieved a significant international win in being elected to join the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for a three-year term starting in January 2018.  However, Australia may face great challenges in promoting its agenda for human rights at the UNHRC, as the Council has long been marred by politicisation and undermined by the election of members who are serial human rights offenders, and not human rights advocates.

The likeliest explanation for Hamas' sudden shift is the change in its leadership. Earlier this year, the results of the group's secret internal elections were announced as Ismail Haniyeh, a former prime minister in the unity government of 2007, and Yahya Sinwar, a hardline leader of Hamas' military wing, became the number one and number two leaders of the faction. Both represent a shift in Hamas' centre of gravity from the exiled political class abroad back to the Gaza-based military leadership.

Kepel is particularly knowledgeable about the history and process of radicalisation that takes place in his nation's heavily Muslim banlieues (the depressed housing projects ringing Paris and other major cities), and Terror in France is informed by decades of fieldwork in these volatile locales.

A little-reported stabbing incident, coupled with a large dose of Palestinian Authority-generated fake news, has revealed pretty much everything you need to know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump made a speech announcing his Administration's new Iran policy - which includes not only new sanctions on the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but also, most controversially, a refusal to again certify to the US Congress that the nuclear deal with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action (JCPOA) is in the US national interest and “appropriate and proportionate” to the measures Iran has taken on its nuclear program. 

Talking about building settlements and actually building them are two different things. It's an important distinction that isn't made often enough.