Author: professor-stuart-rees

Free speech about Israel/Palestine

Posted by Professor Stuart Rees | 2 Jan, 2019 | Featured, Media Scan, Ummah |

Anti-Semitism is on the rise across Europe and the United States. So too are accusations of anti-Semitism as a means of stifling any criticism of Israeli policies towards Palestinians. As with any racially motivated prejudice, anti-Semitism is completely unjustifiable. So too are the attempts by governments and by the managers of major institutions to not tolerate strong criticism of Israeli government policies towards Palestinians. In a recent edition of the New York Review of Books, Katherine Franke describes a purge of critics of Israel on American campuses. She maintains that ‘not since the McCarthy anti-Communist purges have we seen...

Labor for Palestine: It’s about time

Posted by Professor Stuart Rees | 22 Dec, 2014 | Australia, Sub Featured |

It’s time for the ALP to ask itself serious questions about the situation in Israel and move to new policy platform, writes Stuart Rees Earlier this week a meeting was held in western Sydney to discuss whether the Federal Labor Party should support Palestinians’ rights to self-determination. In response to the unspeakable suffering of all Palestinians – Gazans, West Bankers, Arab citizens of Israel, and the 5 million refugees still served by the UN Refugee Works Association (UNRWA) – why would the ALP not take a stand for Palestine? But change from adherence to the Israeli narrative to fearless...