United in hope and grief…writes Emily Gian

I have been running my fingertips over my keyboard for hours upon hours desperately trying to find the adequate words to describe the events in Israel in a way that would do justice to what has been taking place. Read more

Chasing Hamas…writes Emily Gian

It has now been almost a fortnight  since three Israeli teens, Eyal Yifrah, Gil-Ad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel were kidnapped in Gush Etzion while making their way home from their respective Yeshivot. The search, being coordinated by the IDF is entering into its 11^th day. Read more

The joke of Palestinian unity – is anybody laughing?…asks Emily Gian

On Monday, the Fatah-Hamas unity government was sworn in. The reconciliation between the two warring factions came seven years after Hamas took over Gaza in a bloody coup. Since then, they have tried to reconcile a number of times, but things always seem to get in the way, such as the time Hamas executed 35 men from Fatah that they accused of collaborating with Israel. Seventy-five others that were spared from execution were lucky to have just been shot in the legs and have their hands broken. Read more

A letter to Tamar…from Emily Gian

Dear Tamar,

Remember me? Read more

On peace and Palestinian unity…writes Emily Gian

Some weeks ago I wrote about the peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which had then been meandering along with little progress for eight months.  Read more

Forwards and Backwards…writes Emily Gian

Returning last week to my work desk after a long maternity break, I was reminded of the famous quote from Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard that “life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards”. Read more

Will the Stephen Hawking boycott of Israel lead to peace in the Middle East?

Many of you would have read last week of a decision by renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking to join the academic boycott of Israel by pulling out of the upcoming 2013 President’s Conference in Jerusalem.

..writes Emily Gian. Read more

A Tale of Two Killings and the Media’s Moral Equivalence…writes Emily Gian

 

1 May 2013

By Emily Gian

Yesterday, two incidents occurred in relation to Israel and the Palestinians which warranted media attention. But what is interesting is the way in which the two stories played out in the international media. Read more

Israel advocacy alert

We have become accustomed to conspiracy theories linking Israel to various tragedies around the world…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Turkel Report Stage 2

Israel is no stranger to stories that make front-page news around the world. The general formula is that there is an incident, there is much media fury and speculation, and by the time the full story comes out, most journalists have already moved on to the next story…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Attacking the attackers…writes Emily Gian

Last week we talked about the television series “The Promise” and its attempt to delegitimise Israel. Read more

Burgas Bus Bombing – an analysis by Emily Gian

Last July, six people, including five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver were killed, and over 30 others wounded in a bomb attack on a bus carrying Israelis from the airport to their hotel in Burgas, Bulgaria. Read more

Emily Gian reviews “Prisoners of War”

The Israeli television series “Prisoners of War” has been airing on SBS ONE on Saturday nights for past three weeks. This is a compelling series about the return of two Israeli soldiers after 17 years of captivity in Lebanon and it is already winning the acclaim of critics and the hearts of many Australian viewers. Read more

Mazeltov Bibi

The Zionist Federation of Australia has congratulated Bibi Netanyahu on behalf of the Australian Jewish community. Read more

Gaza analysis

Just over 9 hours ago, a ceasefire  between the Israelis and Hamas came into effect but much has happened in the last 24 hours so I think it is worth taking a step back before looking over the terms of the ceasefire…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Gaza and the media

As morning breaks on the 7th day of Operation Pillar of Defence, the current number of rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from the Gaza Strip since the start of the Operation is over 665, including 67 from yesterday alone…write Emily Gian. Read more

Levy and Pollard: Ha’aretz and Fairfax: Polls, Apartheid and Rockets

On Tuesday, an article appeared in Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper entitled ‘Survey: Most Israeli Jews would support apartheid regime in Israel’ by Gideon Levy, a regular writer for Ha’aretz and a staunch critic of many of Israel’s policies…writes Emily Gian. Read more

The Age and Human Rights in Gaza

For perhaps the first time in recent history, and at least for the first time since Ruth Pollard took the reigns as Middle East correspondent at the Age, a story has run which portrays Hamas in a negative light…the last time this happened was most likely back in 2008, a good four years ago…writes Emily Gian. Read more

U.N. goings on

On Monday, Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the UN Assembly in a high level meeting on the rule of law. Having walked out in protest, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nation’s Ron Prosor made the perfect analogy when he declared, “the leader of a lawless country that repeatedly violates the basic principles of rule of law has no place in this hall. It is an absolute disgrace that this kind of man is given a voice on such an important issue…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Pappe on Q&A

As a student of literature, I find the narrative of a story is of the utmost importance. It drives the novel, and keeps us, the audience, interested in the point of view of the author. The study of history is different. It relies on facts and the retelling of those facts in the most authentic way….writes Emily Gian. Read more

The other Rachels

I must have written on countless occasions of items appearing in The Melbourne Age and other Fairfax newspapers questioning their balance, the editorial choices behind them, the use of emotive and sometimes misleading headlines and images and the general atmosphere of agenda based journalism when it comes to reporting on the Middle East…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Hatred of Israel

I came across an article a few weeks ago by Yair Lapid, a former Israeli journalist (and son of Tommy Lapid) who has now formed a new Israeli political party, “Yesh Atid”. In the article, entitled “Somebody Wants to Kill Me” he begins, “The recent terror attempt at Sinai, which was miraculously thwarted at the last minute, reminded me of a very painful truth that has been with me since I was born: Somebody out there wants to kill me….writes Emily Gian. Read more

Emily on Egypt, Hamas and the Olympics

On Sunday evening, a group of terrorists stormed an Egyptian military post, killing 16 Egyptian soldiers and capturing their armoured personnel carrier…writes Emily Gian. Read more

One minute at the Olympics

Emily Gian writes on Bulgaria, the Olympics, BBC bias and the one minute’s silence witnessed by a few hundred people instead of billions… Read more

Exhuming Arafat

When I came across some articles a few days ago about investigations into the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004, I knew our local media would take immediate interest in the story…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Revisiting Australian media

I have just returned to the office after some leave time and, as usual, my desk is piled high with newspapers. The headlines from yesterday’s papers catch my eyes: “Fairfax to shrink jobs, newspapers” (The Age), “Fairfax downsizes its future” (The Australian), and this inspired one from The Australian Financial Review, “Fairfax spearheads digital age”…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Australian media and Honest Reporting

There are two major sources of international news in print form available on the more populous eastern seaboard of the Australian continent – the increasingly far left leaning Fairfax Media newspapers (the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age) and The Australian newspaper, a Murdoch publication…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Two days – Hazikaron and Ha’azmaut

This evening marks the beginning of two of the most important days in the Zionist calendar…writes Emily Gian. Read more

Carr’s Middle East Route

Two days ago, Australia’s new Foreign Minister, the Hon Bob Carr, released a statement on Israeli settlements, which seems to be in response to a bid by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to find a way to stop the demolition of several buildings in unauthorised outposts within the West Bank and to find a legal solution to this issue …writes Emily Gian. Read more

Catherine Ashton and Toulouse

On Monday evening, Melbourne time, we heard the devastating news that four French Jews had been murdered outside Ozar Hatorah, a Jewish school in Toulouse, France…writes Emily Gian. Read more

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