Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

The recent passing of the Associated Press' acclaimed journalist Hal McClure at the age of 92 coincides closely with the event that brought him his greatest fame - his coverage of the 1967 Six Day War, which began 46 years ago yesterday.

His passing is yet another reminder of a bygone era when a journalist took pride in reporting the news, rather than acting as a partisan advocate for or against the newsmakers themselves.

Before refecting on that, however, the anniversary of the Six Day War offers us an opportunity to review some of the coverage of the war at the time in two of Australia's leading newspapers - the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age.

This document looks at the Israeli legal process regarding Palestinian minors in the West Bank (hereinafter, the "Area") accused of using stones as weapons, including a specific analysis of a recent two month period, August and September 2011.

KEY ISSUES

It will not establish a Palestinian state under international law

• It is expected that the UN resolution will be blocked in the Security Council by US veto, and will pass in the General Assembly where it is non-binding.  The General Assembly cannot by itself establish or recognise a state, it can only admit new members after being nominated by the Security Council.
• The General Assembly has already recommended the creation of a Palestinian State previously and the resolutions have not created a Palestinian state.
• the Palestinians do not meet the traditional test for statehood – particularly the test of effective government – premature and unilateral recognition of an “unripe” Palestinian state could have a prejudicial effect on other regional conflicts. 
• While it is arguable that the West Bank, or Gaza could meet requirements for statehood, the resolution being sought does not meet requirements for statehood as it seeks recognition of a united and independent Palestinian state on Gaza, West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Overnight, a border clash between Israeli and Lebanese troops left five people dead. While statements from both sides have been reported in most Australian media, some contextualising facts have been excluded by some media.

Israel considers itself to be in a state of war with Hamas-ruled Gaza; Being at war with Hamas, Israel is within its rights to enforce a maritime blockade on Gaza in order to prevent Hamas from obtaining weapons and other materiel that would aid its war effort

During the twelve months ending September 30, 2008, 652 reports were recorded of "racist violence" against Jewish Australians. These incidents included physical assault, vandalism, threatening telephone calls, hate mail, graffiti, leaflets, posters and abusive emails. This exceeded by 2% the previous highest total, recorded in the year ending September 30, 2007. It was more than twice the previous average annual total.

Selected quotes calling for and/or approving of an anticipated destruction of Israel

The late Professor Julius Stone was recognised as one of the twentieth century's leading authorities on the Law of Nations. Israel and Palestine, which appeared in 1980, presented a detailed analysis of the central principles of international law governing the issues raised by the Arab-Israel conflict.