From debates concerning the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the 1967 Six Day War’s titular reference to the days of creation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has often been made to resonate with biblical…
One of the casualties of Israel’s Hannibal Protocol in Rafah, August 1.
EPA/Stringer
While Israel and Hamas are still looking for ways to end their Gaza war, the UN Human Rights Council appointed a three-member panel to investigate allegations that humanitarian law was violated in the…
With a tenuous five-day ceasefire now underway, the pause in the Gaza War allows each side to consider its position. The Israeli Embassy in London reported on August 11 that: All known tunnels, 32 in total…
Two cancelled shows at the Edinburgh fringe, a theatre in London refusing to host a film festival while it was partly funded by the Israeli Embassy and now, on the other side of the spectrum, Belfast City…
The New Atheists are once again provoking controversy, this time with their comments on Gaza which has prompted divisions among those better known for presenting a united front against religion. Over the…
Comment is free - unless it is paid for…
John Stillwell/PA Wire
More than 140,000 people have signed a petition condemning the Guardian for running an advertisement that accuses Palestinian leaders of “child sacrifice”. There is outrage but also surprise: how can a…
The United Nations Security Council’s primary responsibility is maintaining international peace and security – a task aided by the veto power.
Francois Proulx/Flickr
Recent events in Gaza and Ukraine and the ongoing gridlock in Syria have dominated newspapers and airwaves – and debate in the United Nations Security Council. Despite UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon…
With the Palestinian peace camp among the casualties of the bombardment of Gaza, what does Israel expect to emerge from the ruins?
AAP/Newzulu/Eloise Bollack
If we apply Karl Marx’s dictum that “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce”, then the Gaza Strip is one of the longest-running tragicomic productions in the world today. It is not hard…
Injured child in Gaza before last week’s ceasefire: Israel is a State Party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
EPA/Stringer
Amidst the cycle of fighting and ceasefire between the Israeli military and Hamas the safety of children remains severely threatened. Young Israelis are vulnerable to the trauma of frequent air raids that…
Anti-Semitism never takes long to surface, ranging from the desecration of Jewish graves and memory to violent attacks on people.
AAP/NZN/Alastair Bull
The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has triggered a dramatic rise in global anti-Semitism. This has significantly undermined the collective well-being of the Jewish people. While the intensity of anti-Semitism…
Celebrity humanitarians have had a profound impact upon the practice of international political communication. New forms of political participation have emerged as celebrity activists have reconfigured…
Sophisticated and terrifying: Israeli firepower.
EPA/Atef Safadi
In the 1982 Lebanon war I served as an Israeli artillery forward observer, my task to pinpoint the PLO’s positions and call in fire from our artillery units. We stayed in the evacuated Al Jamous School…
The continuing slaughter of women and children in Gaza is a painful reminder of the inadequacy of international institutions and our collective inability to impose order, let alone justice, in the world…
Israel advocacy campaigns, seen recently in the context of the conflict in Gaza, are typically fought in Australia on two fronts: Jewish community mobilisation and media engagement.
AAP/Nikki Short
Jewish communal and Zionist organisations in Australia have taken the unusual step of staging mock air-raid sirens to show solidarity with Israel amid its ongoing conflict with Hamas and to build support…
Bombardment of the Gaza Strip is having devastating effects.
Mohammed Saber/EPA
It is three weeks since the current Israeli offensive against Gaza began on July 8. But it is now eight years since Israel began its blockade of Gaza. Since then unemployment has risen, public infrastructure…
Sayeeda Warsi, not the first Tory to be outraged over Palestine.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
As Israel’s Operation Protective Edge began to draw more vocal international criticism, the supposedly staunchly pro-Israel Conservative party saw the beginnings of a revolt: a number of David Cameron’s…
Western governments worked hard to secure last week’s ceasefire in Gaza, which, nonetheless, collapsed within hours on August 1. These efforts should not, however, distract attention from the West’s political…
A strike on the UN school in Jabalia killed at least 17 people.
Epa/Mohamed Saber
The shelling of Jabalia Elementary Girls’ School in Gaza on July 30 by Israeli forces was a shocking example of modern military action. The shelling was the sixth time a United Nations school has been…
If you’ve got something to say, just say it.
US Dept of State
Tragically, the 72-hour ceasefire brokered between the Israeli Defence Force and Hamas collapsed within two hours – just as shops in Gaza were opening and the fishing fleet setting out to sea for the first…
Urgent business: the UN Security Council discusses Gaza and the downing of flight MH17.
EPA/Jason Szenes
On Thursday July 17, 298 people lost their lives when Flight MH17 was downed in eastern Ukraine. Almost immediately accusations were made that the aircraft had been shot down by pro-Russian separatists…