(The Age 16/11/2023) ( https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/australia-s-multicultural-melting-pot-is-reaching-boiling-point-for-labor-20231114-p5ejwq.html ) The Muslim vote. The Chinese vote. After decades of multicultural policy and with the recent historically high immigration intake, the emerging phenomenon of federal electorates that are ethnically or religiously specific is reshaping our politics. Seats with large diasporic communities are deciding elections. Last year, voters of Chinese origin,… Continue reading Australia’s multicultural melting pot is reaching boiling point for Labor
Category: News
Palestinians bury dead inside Israeli-encircled Gaza hospital: What you need to know on day 40
(The Age, 15/11/2023) ( https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/palestinians-bury-dead-inside-israeli-encircled-gaza-hospital-what-you-need-to-know-on-day-40-20231115-p5ek0q.html ) Five weeks after Israel swore to destroy Hamas in retaliation for a cross-border assault by militants, the fate of Gaza City’s Al Shifa hospital has become a focus of international alarm, including from Israel’s closest ally, the United States. Palestinians trapped inside Gaza’s biggest hospital were digging a mass… Continue reading Palestinians bury dead inside Israeli-encircled Gaza hospital: What you need to know on day 40
‘MAKE A DESERT AND CALL IT PEACE’ – Tacitusby Eric Margolis | No Comments | Add a CommentEmail thisNovember 10, 2023Paris – The great Voltaire wrote ‘show me whom you cannot criticize, and I will show you who rules you.’So true. Anyone who dares criticize Israel’s Biblical punishment of Palestinians in the Gaza outdoor prison is immediately subject to a storm of calumny and threats.No matter that this mass punishment violates the 4th Geneva Convention and other international law, nor that it violates the US’s own arms export act, and has bred deep disgust around the globe for the United States and engendered rising anti-Semitism, terrible retribution is falling on Gaza’s Palestinians – who are now being bombed and shelled out of their homes for a second time.The killing and abduction of 1,600 Israelis has awakened the direst fears in Israel. The rocketing of Tel Aviv airport sent shudders of fear through Israel that the Jewish state might be cut off from American military support. Meanwhile, the US Congress just proposed another $14 billion in new aide plus $4 billion more for an improved air defense system for Israel – despite the runaway US $4 trillion debt. Some Israelis even talk of fleeing to Ukraine, ‘the second Israel.’The heavily biased western media and well-paid politicians in the US, Canada, Germany, and other members of the European Union have persisted in obscuring the real reason for the Hamas attacks. Hamas is a tiny organization of lightly armed refugees whose parents were driven from their homes in what is now Israel. Calling them ‘terrorists’ explains nothing. It’s not even a ‘war,’ as western media calls the conflict. Rather, It’s a horrifying prison riot. Israel has so far killed over 11,000 Arab Muslims and Christians, following the unwritten Israeli rule of thumb to kill 10 Arabs for every Jewish Israeli killed. More Palestinian deaths are piling up as an enraged Israel rains 1,000 and 2,000 lb bombs and 155mm shells (all US supplied) on apartments and fleeing refugees.Western media has not explained what sparked the bloody Hamas attack on Jewish settlements around Gaza. I have visited and interviewed some of these Jewish settlers.The attacks around Gaza were sparked by recent actions of Israel’s new ultra-right wing coalition government. For years, Israel’s rightist politicians and government have been promoting the expansions of legal and illegal settlements on Palestinian land, particularly around the Gaza strip.These fortified settlements were designed to surround and isolate Gaza and prevent the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state. The settlements and outposts were filled with militant settlers who were heavily armed and hated Palestinians. Many hailed from Brooklyn, New York. There are about 710,000 Jewish settlers now encamped on expropriated Arab land, another clear violation of the Geneva Conventions.I interviewed numbers of them and found them extreme fanatics who made South Africa’s Boer farmers seem almost moderate by comparison. These armed vigilantes commonly launched attacks on their Arab neighbors and cut down their olive trees, which can take a century to flower.One of their most important leaders just suggested dropping a nuclear weapon on Gaza, such has hate clouded minds in the region.Meanwhile, the world hides its eyes from the carnage in Gaza as two million Arabs flee the terror bombings. Israel always knows it can get away with anything as US elections draw close. As Pat Buchanan observed, ‘Capitol Hill is Israeli-occupied territory.’ From the president on down to lowly journalists, failing to support Israel is a career-ending move.In 1956, Israel colluded with France and Britain to invade Egypt. Its plan was to overthrow nationalist president Nasser, grab the Sinai Peninsula and dominate the Suez Canal. President Dwight Eisenhower ordered Israel to halt its attack and ordered it to get the hell out of Sinai. He was the last US president free to give orders to Israel. After that, Israel’s American supporters made sure they, not the president, had the final say.Look now at Biden, pleading with Israel’s Netanyahu to lessen the civilian death. Corridors are being set up and Israel will eventually lessen the slaughter, but it will cost Washington bigtime. The entire Muslim world is furious at the United States, wondering why the White House can’t just order its client, Israel, to pull out of Gaza.The feeble US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is even pleading for Gaza to be ruled by the totally corrupt, US/Israeli puppet Palestine Liberation Organization. What a bad joke. As bad as the cowardly response by the Arab states. Egypt, which blocks the southern exit from Gaza, is almost as guilty as Israel for the carnage, starvations, and lack of power in Gaza,Egypt is a brutal dictatorship that fears the democracy-inclined Palestinians. So too the Saudis and rich Gulf states. This is what Washington calls ‘democracy.’ (See my book, ‘American Raj’).Copyright. Eric S Margolis 2023This post is in: Gaza, Israel
Violations of International Humanitarian Law
War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity, and Genocide Committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces and Officials in Gaza Courtesy of Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, which started on October 7, 2023, is unprecedented. Israel’s stated goal is not simply “to… Continue reading Violations of International Humanitarian Law
‘Critical circumstances’: Israeli tanks outside Gaza hospital
(The Age, 14/11/2023) ( https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/israeli-tanks-outside-gaza-hospital-medics-and-patients-trapped-inside-20231114-p5ejq4.html ) Israeli tanks took up positions at the gates of Al Shifa hospital, Gaza City’s main medical facility, the primary target in Israel’s battle to seize control of the northern half of the Gaza Strip. Israel says the hospital sits atop tunnels housing a headquarters for Hamas fighters using patients… Continue reading ‘Critical circumstances’: Israeli tanks outside Gaza hospital
Voters back aid, not arms, as protests fuel safety fears
(The Age, 14/11/2023) ( https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/voters-back-aid-not-arms-as-protests-fuel-safety-fears-20231113-p5ejj8.html ) Voters are in favour of sending medical aid to Israel and Gaza but are strongly against offering military help to either side of the conflict as protests at home fuel concerns that war in the Middle East makes Australia less safe. Australians are split on whether to allow public protests… Continue reading Voters back aid, not arms, as protests fuel safety fears
Melbourne school students plan walkout in support of Palestine
(The Age, 14/11/2023) ( https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/school-students-plan-walkout-in-support-of-palestine-20231113-p5ejog.html ) A planned student strike in Melbourne to support Palestinians next week has drawn swift criticism from state and federal opposition MPs who argue students should not be used as “political pawns” in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Free Palestine Melbourne posted details of the student walkout, organised by School Students For… Continue reading Melbourne school students plan walkout in support of Palestine
Israel’s higher moral standing comes with a duty for restraint
(The Age, 14/11/2023) ( https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/wong-s-not-wrong-israel-s-higher-moral-standing-comes-with-a-duty-for-restraint-20231113-p5eji5.html ) Israel won a rare and valuable surge of international support and sympathy when Hamas launched its terrorist attack on Israeli civilians. But five weeks later, that sympathy is fast fading. Amid Israel’s fierce campaign to destroy Hamas, the daily coverage of civilian Palestinian deaths is distressing the world. Western… Continue reading Israel’s higher moral standing comes with a duty for restraint
Tens of thousands of Palestine supporters rally for fifth weekend in a row
(The Age, 13/11/2023) ( https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/thousands-of-pro-palestine-protesters-rally-for-fifth-weekend-in-a-row-20231112-p5ejb3.html ) More than 45,000 Palestine supporters rallied in Melbourne’s CBD on Sunday, according to police, the biggest turnout since the weekly protests began more than a month ago. The protest came after a heated confrontation between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups in Caulfield on Friday night, triggered by a suspected arson attack… Continue reading Tens of thousands of Palestine supporters rally for fifth weekend in a row
‘They are outside’: Heavy fighting rages near main Gaza hospital, people trapped inside
(The Age, 13/11/2023) ( https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/they-are-outside-heavy-fighting-rages-near-main-gaza-hospital-people-trapped-inside-20231113-p5ejf9.html ) Khan Younis: Health officials and people trapped inside Gaza’s largest hospital rejected Israel’s claims that it was helping babies and others evacuate Sunday, saying fighting continued just outside the facility where incubators lay idle with no electricity and critical supplies were running out. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spurned urgent… Continue reading ‘They are outside’: Heavy fighting rages near main Gaza hospital, people trapped inside