Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

Afghanistan/ Pakistan

Essay: The Enduring Islamist Threat

On January 19, the Pentagon released its new National Defence Strategy for the US. The second paragr...

Afghanistan on the brink?

On June 13, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told Congress that the United States was "not winning" i...

An Al-Qaeda Resurgence? / Iraq Deteriorates

This Update discusses the apparent resurgence of al-Qaeda after 22 US diplomatic missions acro...

Africa

AIJAC expresses regret over cancellation of asylum-seeker deal in Israel, and calls for a compassionate policy going forward

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council today expressed its regret over the cancellation o...

Essay: The Enduring Islamist Threat

On January 19, the Pentagon released its new National Defence Strategy for the US. The second paragr...

Behind the News - April 2017

The Nigerian Government this month declared the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) ...

Anti-Zionism

A response to Greg Barns' claims about "Israel-style apartheid" in the Hobart Mercury

On April 16, the Hobart Mercury published a column by regular contributor Greg Barns, which not only...

AIJAC's full statement to the Australian regarding Sydney University BDS petition

Here is the full statement AIJAC provided to the Australian's Sian Powell for the story she was writ...

Australians MPs speak out in honour of Israel’s 70th, remember Evian mistakes

In honour of Israel's forthcoming 70th anniversary, Government Member Stuart Robert moved a motion i...

Antisemitism

AIJAC condemns antisemitic claims by PA President Mahmoud Abbas

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) has condemned antisemitic statements made ...

Essay: Karl Marx and the Jews

The atheist son of a Jewish convert to Lutheranism and the grandson of a rabbi, Karl Marx hated capi...

An ABC platform for a well-known antisemitic crank

With special sensitivity and acumen, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation decided to kick off the...

Asia

Asia Watch: Call and Response

Some five months after Philippine troops flushed out Islamic State-aligned militants in the southern...

The Last Word: Rules of Engagement

Having been asked by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, via a local imam, to be the main speaker in th...

Israel and South-East Asia – where is the potential?

Israel has long had deep links with some ASEAN member-states, while its relationship with others are...

Australasia

Macron’s Australia visit shows he “gets it” on the flaws of the JCPOA

In an update to our earlier article published in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, the future of th...

Media Microscope: Anti-Jew diligence

March/April felt like a turning point in the mainstream media reporting on the recrudescence in glob...

A relationship 70 years young

The relationship between two young, geographically distant, geopolitically different and historicall...

China

Biblio file: The US and Asia’s China Syndrome

The United States has repeatedly been surprised by major developments in Asia, sometimes catastrophi...

Freedom in the World 2017: Israel a leader in a dismal and worsening Middle East region

The US based Freedom House think-tank has released the initial findings of its annual Freedom in the...

An Israel-China alliance?

While next year marks 25 years of bilateral ties between the two countries, and Chinese officials we...

Documents

New report on the Australia-Israel relationship

A new report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Insitute (ASPI) in conjunction with the Be...

AIJAC response to the Canberra Declaration on Gaza

71 current and five former members of Australian Federal and State parliaments, mostly Labor and Gre...

Assad's Email, Iran and the Palestinians

As has been widely reported in the Australian press today, on Wednesday the Guardian went public wit...

Egypt

The silence over the Palestinians of Syria

The ISIS-held Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus has been bombed into submission ...

Behind the News - March 2018

American and British officials have revealed that Israel has been actively assisting Egypt in its pr...

A Middle East gas deal that is more than just a gas deal

In Israel's biggest export deal to date, Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings has agreed to buy 64 bi...

Europe

Macron’s Australia visit shows he “gets it” on the flaws of the JCPOA

In an update to our earlier article published in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, the future of th...

Macron's visit a timely opportunity to act on Iran's nuclear program

Fresh from his state visit to the White House, French President Emmanuel Macron is in Australia this...

The misguided campaign against visiting Middle East expert Daniel Pipes

AIJAC's Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein responds to the vicious campaign waged against Middl...

Events

Former IDF spokesperson to speak in Melbourne

AIJAC, in partnership with UIA, is proud to present former IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner in...

Dr Daniel Pipes to speak in Melbourne, Sydney

AIJAC, in partnership with its co-sponsors, is pleased to present top US writer and commentator Dr D...

Top US Middle East expert to speak in Sydney, Melbourne

AIJAC, in partnership with its co-sponsors, is proud to present the highly experienced US Middle Eas...

Far Right

Austria and Israel's dilemma

Israel has not yet clearly reacted to the elections in Austria that will likely catapult the far-rig...

Kulturkampf in Merkel's Germany

In the 2013 elections, the AfD narrowly failed to cross the 5% threshold for representation in the B...

The Last Word: White Offs

Let me be quite clear - whether or not Jews had been an issue, the far-right demonstrators were repu...

Fatah

Palestinian incitement highlights Nazi themes

In a chilling instance of timing, the Jewish World noted Holocaust (Shoah) memorial day this week, j...

Fatah looks beyond Mahmoud Abbas

Abbas is starting to realise that he may have to leave his position due to his state of health, and ...

Who will lead Palestinian Authority after Abbas?/Bibi goes to Washington

Amid reports that 82-year-old Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is seriously ill, today'...

Gulf states

The misguided campaign against visiting Middle East expert Daniel Pipes

AIJAC's Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein responds to the vicious campaign waged against Middl...

Coming soon - a Nuclear Middle East

A new Israeli report (February 2018) reveals a dramatic trend of expanding nuclear capabilities amon...

An Amazing statement from the Saudi-affiliated World Muslim League

For years, Saudi Arabia has been known as the leading exporter of radical Islam in the world, with i...

Hamas

Facing the Gaza "March of Return"

Following the "March of Return" events led by Hamas on four turbulent Fridays, March 30 and April 6-...

Deconstruction Zone: The Case for Moral Clarity on Gaza

Two centuries ago, the great German poet Goethe said: "The hardest thing to see is what is in front ...

Myths and facts about Gaza’s ‘march of return’

The demonstrations along the Israel–Gaza border dubbed the ‘Great March of Return’...

Holocaust/ War Crimes

Scribblings: Foreign policy "Let's pretend"

So what does Sen. Whish-Wilson think should be done about the "abominable" gassing of Syrians by the...

Australians MPs speak out in honour of Israel’s 70th, remember Evian mistakes

In honour of Israel's forthcoming 70th anniversary, Government Member Stuart Robert moved a motion i...

Jewish world and Poland have common concern in having historical truth understood

Jeremy Jones, Director of International and of Community Affairs of the Australia/Israel & Jewis...

Immigration/ Multiculturalism

AIJAC welcomes 18C outcome

"The Senate did the right thing by Australian multiculturalism and social cohesion in rejecting the ...

Editorial: Multiculturalism and 18C

Changing Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA) makes no sense. The Parliamentary Inquiry into this provision, to which AIJAC provided a comprehensive submission and then, by invitation, extensive oral evidence, did not conclude that changing 18C was the best course....

Video: Colin Rubenstein on proposed changes to Section 18C - Sky News

AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein appeared on Sky News to discuss the Government's proposed changes to the wording of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act...

India

Video: Sadanand Dhume on why India changed its relationship with Israel

Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute discusses how India came to rethink its relationship with Israel. ...

India and Israel: When interests align

Today, as reflected by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's high-profile visit to India in January, a...

Netanyahu in India

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a historic visit to India to mark the 25th annive...

Interfaith Dialogue

The Last Word: Rules of Engagement

Having been asked by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, via a local imam, to be the main speaker in th...

Rome and Jerusalem

"Rome and Jerusalem", for many readers, will evoke the groundbreaking work by Moses Hess published i...

The Last Word: Some of my best friends...

When I received the invitation to speak at a Sydney event designed to help educate Muslims about Isl...

International Jewry

Visiting AIJAC guest David Harris warns of Iranian threat

The growing influence of Iran under the failing nuclear deal and the ongoing importance of the Austr...

Jewish world and Poland have common concern in having historical truth understood

Jeremy Jones, Director of International and of Community Affairs of the Australia/Israel & Jewis...

The fallout from Poland’s controversial new law on the Holocaust

In recent years, Poland has become one of Israel's best friends in Europe. However, that relationshi...

International Security

Editorial: Iran - Drones and Deadlines

The cold war between Israel and Iran is heating up. At the same time, the countdown to either "fix o...

History's real lessons on Iran

Several recent articles have called on President Donald Trump to change the Iran policy of the Unite...

Assad regime escalates chemical weapons use, but does anyone care?

According to numerous reports, the Syrian government is still using chemical weapons against its civ...

Iran

Macron’s Australia visit shows he “gets it” on the flaws of the JCPOA

In an update to our earlier article published in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, the future of th...

Behind the News - May 2018

A report published in late March 2018 about the Palestinian Authority (PA) exposed corruption at the...

Video: Danielle Pletka on Hezbollah, Turkey

Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute spoke at an AIJAC event in Melbourne on 26 April 2018. This post contains two short excerpts from her talk, relating specifically to the challenges posed by Hezbollah and Turkey....

Iraq

Iran and the Fall of Kirkuk

Iraqi forces took Kirkuk city from the Kurds in mid-October with hardly a shot fired. Twenty-two Kur...

The Road to Kurdistan

Stateless and persecuted, Kurds have been the target of oppression, intimidation and violence. Tens ...

The Kurdistan referendum – the aftermath

As discussed here on FreshAIR a few weeks ago, despite significant opposition, Iraq's Kurds proceede...

Islamic Extremism

Asia Watch: Call and Response

Some five months after Philippine troops flushed out Islamic State-aligned militants in the southern...

Jihad in the Suburbs redux

"This nation [Muslims] should know that it was [...] created to spread Allah's religion and lead the...

The misguided campaign against visiting Middle East expert Daniel Pipes

AIJAC's Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein responds to the vicious campaign waged against Middl...

Israel

Celebrating 70 Years of Democracy and Debate

Seventy years after declaring independence, Israel is (by one reckoning) the world's tenth oldest co...

Behind the News - May 2018

A report published in late March 2018 about the Palestinian Authority (PA) exposed corruption at the...

Video: Danielle Pletka on Hezbollah, Turkey

Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute spoke at an AIJAC event in Melbourne on 26 April 2018. This post contains two short excerpts from her talk, relating specifically to the challenges posed by Hezbollah and Turkey....

Jordan

Cash-strapped Jordan may yet fully embrace Israel peace dividend

Nearly a quarter-century since signing a peace agreement with Israel, there are increasing signs tha...

Danby vs the ABC

You'd think that, with its $1 billion budget, the ABC could handle a little criticism. Not so, as Me...

Essay: Inside a War Cabinet

The security cabinet of 1967 appears in these never-published transcripts as a group of serious, pro...

Lebanon

Video: Danielle Pletka on Hezbollah, Turkey

Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute spoke at an AIJAC event in Melbourne on 26 April 2018. This post contains two short excerpts from her talk, relating specifically to the challenges posed by Hezbollah and Turkey....

Scribblings: Look who else is worried about UNRWA

UNRWA does provide valuable health, education and welfare services to Palestinians who are often in ...

Behind the News - March 2018

American and British officials have revealed that Israel has been actively assisting Egypt in its pr...

Libya

Unlucky 7

Seven years after it was ignited by an unassuming street vendor in Tunis, the consequent chain react...

Crisis in Baghdad/ ISIS in Libya

This Update deals with two major crisis areas in the Middle East, both with profound effects on the ...

The End of the Era of Arab States?

This Update deals with a worrying trend some distinguished scholars are beginning to to identify...

Media Releases

AIJAC condemns antisemitic claims by PA President Mahmoud Abbas

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) has condemned antisemitic statements made ...

Former IDF spokesperson to speak in Melbourne

AIJAC, in partnership with UIA, is proud to present former IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner in...

AIJAC's full statement to the Australian regarding Sydney University BDS petition

Here is the full statement AIJAC provided to the Australian's Sian Powell for the story she was writ...

Media/ Academia

Media Microscope: Anti-Jew diligence

March/April felt like a turning point in the mainstream media reporting on the recrudescence in glob...

AIJAC's full statement to the Australian regarding Sydney University BDS petition

Here is the full statement AIJAC provided to the Australian's Sian Powell for the story she was writ...

In Her Criticism of Daniel Pipes, Patton Continues to Miss the Point

I am pleased that, in her latest article replying to me, Chloe Patton has been prepared to engage mo...

Middle East

Behind the News - May 2018

A report published in late March 2018 about the Palestinian Authority (PA) exposed corruption at the...

Video: Danielle Pletka on Hezbollah, Turkey

Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute spoke at an AIJAC event in Melbourne on 26 April 2018. This post contains two short excerpts from her talk, relating specifically to the challenges posed by Hezbollah and Turkey....

Beyond Trump's strike on Syria

Let's give credit where credit is due. First, US President Donald Trump set a red line and enforced ...

Monographs/ Submissions

The misguided campaign against visiting Middle East expert Daniel Pipes

AIJAC's Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein responds to the vicious campaign waged against Middl...

AIJAC's submission to the Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into Freedom of Speech and article 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act

AIJAC's submission to the Australian Federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry into Freedom of Speech in Australia - including into the operation of Part IIA of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (RDA) (including ss. 18C and 18D) and the complaints-handling procedures of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) - has now been published by the Parliamentary Committee...

New report on the Australia-Israel relationship

A new report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Insitute (ASPI) in conjunction with the Be...

Multimedia

Audio: Daniel Pipes on US Embassy move to Jerusalem

On ABC Radio National, presenter Tom Switzer discusses the controversial US decision to relocate the...

Video: Sadanand Dhume on why India changed its relationship with Israel

Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute discusses how India came to rethink its relationship with Israel. ...

Videos: Daniel Pipes on SkyNews and the ABC

US academic and commentator Dr Daniel Pipes appeared on SkyNews' "Outsiders" program, with SkyNews' Peta Credlin (6 March) and ABC-TV's "Matter of Fact", discussing Donald Trump, Jerusalem, Israeli-Palestinian issues, Islamism, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East. ...

NGOs

Scribblings: Look who else is worried about UNRWA

UNRWA does provide valuable health, education and welfare services to Palestinians who are often in ...

UNICEF's war on the IDF

Anti-Israel activity at the United Nations is mainly associated with UNRWA and UNESCO. UNRWA, the a...

Addressing UNRWA as an obstacle to peace

One of the greatest obstacles to Israeli-Palestinian peace, and certainly the least acknowledged, is...

Op-eds

Macron's visit a timely opportunity to act on Iran's nuclear program

Fresh from his state visit to the White House, French President Emmanuel Macron is in Australia this...

Myths and facts about Gaza’s ‘march of return’

The demonstrations along the Israel–Gaza border dubbed the ‘Great March of Return’...

In Her Criticism of Daniel Pipes, Patton Continues to Miss the Point

I am pleased that, in her latest article replying to me, Chloe Patton has been prepared to engage mo...

Palestinians

Behind the News - May 2018

A report published in late March 2018 about the Palestinian Authority (PA) exposed corruption at the...

AIJAC condemns antisemitic claims by PA President Mahmoud Abbas

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) has condemned antisemitic statements made ...

Facing the Gaza "March of Return"

Following the "March of Return" events led by Hamas on four turbulent Fridays, March 30 and April 6-...

Quartet

Negotiation is the only path to sustainable peace

The idea that peace can successfully be imposed on the Middle East through an "impartial" body like ...

The Mideast Quartet strikes a constructive note

The Middle East Quartet (the US, UN, EU and Russia), which met in Washington on Wednesday, issued a ...

Back to the table?

Lead Israeli negotiator Yitzhak Molcho met with his Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat in Amman on ...

Reference

Ten years of Hamas rule in Gaza: Some facts everyone should know

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist organisation, Hamas wresting control of Ga...

Israel and its conflicts with the Arab world: A Brief Guide for the Perplexed

Events in the Middle East continue to fill the front pages of newspapers and arouse heated debate ar...

Key points against unilateral Palestinian recognition

An enduring peace can only be achieved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians...

Russia

Beyond Trump's strike on Syria

Let's give credit where credit is due. First, US President Donald Trump set a red line and enforced ...

The Dangerous US-Russia game in Syria

The US-Russian relationship in Syria has been a frosty one with its share of risks. Russia's direct ...

Russia and the Israel-Iran confrontation

The scorecard for those actively involved in the events over the skies of Israel and Syria on Saturd...

Saudi Arabia

Videos: Daniel Pipes on SkyNews and the ABC

US academic and commentator Dr Daniel Pipes appeared on SkyNews' "Outsiders" program, with SkyNews' Peta Credlin (6 March) and ABC-TV's "Matter of Fact", discussing Donald Trump, Jerusalem, Israeli-Palestinian issues, Islamism, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East. ...

An Amazing statement from the Saudi-affiliated World Muslim League

For years, Saudi Arabia has been known as the leading exporter of radical Islam in the world, with i...

Essay: The Missiles of November

Since the 2011 outbreak of what some still call with macabre humour the "Arab Spring", a bloody civi...

Somalia

Somali-American suicide bomber calls for Muslims to fight Jihad in Australia

Abdisalan Hussein Ali, a 22-year-old Somali who grew up in America and is believed to be one of...

UN Resumes Aid to Somalia as Terrorists Vanish

It is not often that "ignore the problem and hope it goes away" is a particularly effective strategy...

US funding for Somali aid may go to terrorists

As explained in a previous post, the drought that is currently besetting East Africa has become a fu...

Speeches

What 1961 can teach us about 2016

It's particularly worthwhile from time to time, in an effort to better understand the core issues in...

Rally for Peace: Statements by Vic. Premier Denis Napthine and others

Further our previous blog featuring the statement of Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews, this post includes further statements made by parliamentarians at the Rally for Peace in Melbourne on Sunday August 10......

Colin Rubenstein's remarks at rally for peace and Israeli security in Melbourne on Aug. 10

The text of the remarks made by AIJAC Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein, AM, at the "Rally for...

Sudan

From Sudan's Mahdi to IS' Caliph

The idea of the Mahdi in Islam is strongly linked to Muslim messianic, apocalyptic traditions. Accor...

Foxes guarding the Human Rights henhouses: A UN tradition continues

UN agencies dedicated to the promotion of human rights, mandated with the protection of the world's ...

Palestine's spurious UN bid relied on some unsavoury supporters

"Mr President: independence, freedom, the right to self-determination; these are principles that ha...

Syria

The silence over the Palestinians of Syria

The ISIS-held Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus has been bombed into submission ...

Scribblings: Foreign policy "Let's pretend"

So what does Sen. Whish-Wilson think should be done about the "abominable" gassing of Syrians by the...

Israel's Iranian danger next door becomes real

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has long warned of the danger posed to Israel, not many ye...

Terrorism

Australia should fund Palestinian welfare, but not "pay to slay"

A key obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians is the institutionalised incitement to ant...

Jihad in the Suburbs redux

"This nation [Muslims] should know that it was [...] created to spread Allah's religion and lead the...

US cuts funds to the Palestinian Authority over its "pay to slay": Should Australia follow suit?

The US Congress officially passed the Taylor Force Act on March 23, which requires that the US halt ...

Tunisia

Unlucky 7

Seven years after it was ignited by an unassuming street vendor in Tunis, the consequent chain react...

Deconstruction Zone: A BDS Lesson from Tunisia

To get a sense of what really lies beneath the campaign to boycott Israel - which is about much more...

These are the children

These are the children whose funerals are tragically considered to be a greater celebration than the...

Turkey

Video: Danielle Pletka on Hezbollah, Turkey

Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute spoke at an AIJAC event in Melbourne on 26 April 2018. This post contains two short excerpts from her talk, relating specifically to the challenges posed by Hezbollah and Turkey....

Behind the News - March 2018

American and British officials have revealed that Israel has been actively assisting Egypt in its pr...

Conspiracy theories about the Kurds and the Mossad

In the wake of Kurdistan's recent independence referendum, all manner of creative accusations have e...

United Kingdom

Europa Europa: The final frontier

Israelis do not hanker for a return to the days of the British Mandate. Nor do they hide secret rese...

It's time Australia recognised Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organisation

THERE is a group that was described by a senior US security official 15 years ago as the "...

The Decline of Amnesty International

It seems that officially partnering with pro-jihadists was not off limits for the once great and gre...

United Nations

Scribblings: Foreign policy "Let's pretend"

So what does Sen. Whish-Wilson think should be done about the "abominable" gassing of Syrians by the...

AIJAC expresses regret over cancellation of asylum-seeker deal in Israel, and calls for a compassionate policy going forward

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council today expressed its regret over the cancellation o...