Tag Archives: Israel

Some Reflections on Two Years of War in Gaza

Australian, 18/10 At the Gama Junction, a few kilometers from the Gaza border,  I met Gadi Mozes.  Among the crowd of people waiting to greet the convoy bearing the last 13 of the living Israeli hostages from Gaza.  Gadi, who … Continue reading

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Jebalya, Shani Louk and the Conceptzia

I remember the light in the Valley of Ela on the day of Shani Louk’s funeral.  It was late springtime, clear light, of the kind that you get in Jerusalem.  I didn’t get enough time to travel round the villages … Continue reading

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Searching for the Last Jews of Damascus: A Journey Through Memory and Ruins

Jerusalem Post, 24/1 In Damascus again after a hiatus of nearly eight years, I decided to see what remained of the city’s once flourishing Jewish community. The dictator was gone. The new Islamist rulers had yet to fully stamp their authority on … Continue reading

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On the Road to Damascus

Weekend Australian, January 24, 2025 Kobani “You can’t extinguish fire with fire. You can’t address a mistake with another mistake. You have to correct the situation in Syria,” Mizgin Khalil tells me, as we sit in her office in Kobani, … Continue reading

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What Al-Jolani’s Past Can Reveal About Syria’s Future

Spectator, 13/12 In late February 2012 I was travelling through Syria’s Idleb province. I stayed for a few days in a town called Binnish, not far from the province’s capital. It was, at that time, under the tentative control of … Continue reading

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In the Heart of Darkness

Jerusalem Post, 18/10 A Yezidi former slave rescued from Gaza Reveals Her Horrifying experiences in Jihadi Captivity It is now two weeks since the rescue of the Yezidi hostage Fawzia Amin Sido from captivity in Gaza by the IDF, in … Continue reading

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Notes from a Long War – Israel, a year on from October 7

The Australian, 6/10 ‘We have sat, an easy generation, in houses held to be indestructible,’ wrote the German poet Bertolt Brecht, of himself and his countrymen, in 1925.  These words have returned to me on a number of occasions in … Continue reading

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Israel is Likely to Hit Back Hard against Iran

Spectator, 2/10 The Iranian launching of 181 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night followed a similar pattern to the attacks of April 14.  Israeli and allied air defences appear to have performed extremely effectively.  The damage to the military … Continue reading

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A Historic Moment: Hassan Nasrallah’s Killing is a Severe Blow  to the Iran-led Axis

Spectator Online, 28/9 The killing of Lebanese Hizballah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah by Israel in Beirut on Friday September 27 is a strategic event,  transcending the immediate context of the Israel-Hizballah confrontation under way since October 8, 2023.    Nasrallah was … Continue reading

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Israel Seeks to Drive a Wedge between Hamas and Hizballah

The Spectator, 24/9 Israel this week carried out its largest scale operation against Hizballah targets on Lebanon since the summer war of 2006.  Wave after wave, Israeli aircraft struck at 1600 targets across Lebanon, with the emphasis on targeting Hizballah … Continue reading

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