AFOPA MEDIA REPORT, 4 AUG 2017

Selections from Australian newspapers.

Writers and Palestine review: When bearing witness becomes a challenge, Sydney Morning Herald, 04-AUG-2017

Book Review by Jeff Sparrow: In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Ayelet Waldman (author of, most recently, A Really Good Day) and Michael Chabon (Moonglow) collect the testimony of authors who visited Palestine/Israel in 2016 in delegations facilitated by the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence, while, in This is Not a Border, Ahdaf Soueif and Omar Robert Hamilton present pieces emerging from the Palestine Festival of Literature, an event that, since 2008, has tried to offer a world-class literary event in defiance of Israeli occupation. ...

James Packer tightens virtual reality ties with Inception investment, Sydney Morning Herald, 03-AUG-2017

James Packer may have been keeping a low profile in Israel thanks to the corruption investigations surrounding his buddy, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, but he is obviously still an avid fan of the country's tech start-ups. ...

Israel losing the public relations war against Palestinians, Caroline Overington, The Australian, 31-JUL-2017

Where do you stand on Israel? Has your opinion changed over time? I ask because it seems to me that the tide on Israel is turning. Seventy years ago, a clear majority of the world’s leaders believed in Israel’s right to exist as a home for the Jewish people. How could it be otherwise? ...

Middle East debate sparks Labor warfare, John Lyons, The Australian, 31-JUL-2017

The Labor Party has broken into open warfare over Israel-Palestine, with Bob Carr accusing former federal cabinet colleague Mark Dreyfus of holding a secret meeting to try to “silence” him. ...

Queensland Labor conference to back Palestinian recognition, Sarah Elks, The Australian, 28-JUL-2017

Queensland Labor will tomorrow vote for the next federal Labor government to “immediately recognise” the state of Palestine. Delegates at tomorrow’s crucial pre-election Queensland Labor state conference in Townsville are expected to back the motion by the dominant Left faction, without much debate on the conference floor. It reaffirms a motion carried by the Queensland branch of the ALP at their state conference last year. ...