Hamas’ so-called ceasefire “acceptance” is just spin to pressure Israel
May 7, 2024 | Ahron Shapiro
Australian news headlines this morning (May 7) were remarkably consistent. Firstly, they said, Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, and secondly, that Israel had not accepted it and was instead moving ahead with an attack on the southern Gazan city of Rafah, which borders Egypt. The assumptions underlying these stories are misleading…
Aid delivery and distribution in Gaza: Logistical and security bottlenecks
May 3, 2024 | Oved Lobel
COGAT, the UN and international aid agencies have long been trading accusations about who is responsible for aid shortages and bottlenecks. The answer is that no single party is to blame: aid distribution in any warzone, and particularly in Gaza, is incredibly dangerous and complex, and Israel has to balance military and security priorities with humanitarian aid needs.
Holding on to hope in the eye of a hurricane
May 17, 2024 | Rabbi Ralph Genende
At the end of her song, Golan sings a few Hebrew sentences that make my heart sing: “You don’t need big words, just prayers. Even if it’s hard to see, you will always be for me a small singular ray of light”. In dark and dangerous times we need to reach out and grasp every bit of light we can find, and spread it wide and far.
Essay: Redeeming the hostages
April 26, 2024 | Seth Mandel
The baby-faced corporal’s return was practically a national holiday in Israel. But for Israelis today, the most salient detail of the Shalit trade might be the sobering fact that one of the men released from prison in return for Shalit’s freedom was Yahya Sinwar.
The Last Word: The iniquity of schadenfreude
April 26, 2024 | Rabbi Ralph Genende
At that time a friend of mine was driving out of Jerusalem towards his home in Tel Aviv. As he drove past several Arab villages, he noticed flares above them. His first thought these were part of the Iranian barrage, but quickly realised they were in fact fireworks in celebration of the onslaught on Israel.
Demented or just diabolical
April 26, 2024 | Judith Miller
Sinwar studied his enemy assiduously. He read Israeli newspapers, took classes in Jewish history through the prison’s “open university”, and spoke about Hamas’ goals – the expulsion of all Jews from Palestine, the duty to implement God’s laws as given to Muhammad on all sacred Muslim soil.
