Was Israel’s response to Oct 7 disproportionate?

 

Was Israel’s response to Oct 7 disproportionate?

Accusations against Israel stem from emotive, unverified tolls and a shallow grasp of moral standards.

My latest article, in the Australian Jewish News, argues against the accusation that Israel's actions against Hamas are "disproportionate." I argue that such actions confuse proportionality (the measures needed to neutralise a threat) with symmetry (the number of casualties). I conclude that Israel's response has been justified and that responsibility for the casualties rests with Hamas-- the unjust aggressor.

https://www.australianjewishnews.com/was-israels-response-to-oct-7-disproportionate/

ISIS Brides and the ghosts of Raqqa

 The ‘Brides of ISIS’ narrative is a seductive myth that blinds us to reality.

These women weren’t brides in a fairy tale; they were cogs in a death cult. To repatriate them blindly means that Australia courts the ghosts of Raqqa on our own soil.

To read the article, please go to https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/10/isis-brides-and-the-ghosts-of-raqqa/

Why peace with Hamas remains an elusive dream Peace with Hamas is impossible because the group's religious dogma demands apocalyptic jihad

 

The Australian Jewish news just published my latest article, “Why peace with Hamas remains an elusive dream: Peace with Hamas is impossible because the group's religious dogma demands apocalyptic jihad.”

I conclude: “Leaders such as Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong think of Middle East peace in political terms. That may work for Israel and rational actors, but peace with Hamas falters not on politics but theology. Its covenant enshrines Israel’s elimination as an immutable truth, jihad as obligatory salvation. … Until Hamas renounces its genocidal creed... dialogue remains a delusion. The path to stability demands confronting this unholy alliance of faith and fury, not appeasing it.”

https://www.australianjewishnews.com/why-peace-with-hamas-remains-an-elusive-dream/ 

The teachers’ exodus An urgent overhaul of education is needed

 My latest article in the The Spectator Australia challenges the view of the WA Education Minister that "the record number of teachers leaving the profession is due in part to graduates who are ‘particular’ about their working arrangements and ‘fussier’ about their work than older teachers."...

"Research, which was kindly supported by the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation, highlights the real causes, which include inadequate teacher training.

Up to half of new teachers leave within five years after graduation.

10-20 per cent of education graduates never enter the classroom.

This high attrition is caused not by teacher ‘fussiness’ but by frequent failures in teacher training, declining entry standards, inadequate preparation for real-world challenges, and broader policy failures in higher education......"

For more, please go to https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/10/the-teachers-exodus/

Let’s abandon the cult of Net Zero

 

"While Australia’s commitment to Net Zero has close to net zero impact on the world, it is destroying our economic base."

Net Zero is not only bad policy and harmful to the economic climate, but also a serious threat to national security.

Ordinary Australians are being forced to embrace solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. But where do they come from?

To read more, please see the Spectator, 28 July 2025 https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/07/lets-abandon-the-cult-of-net-zero/

Understanding Pope Francis

 

For every opinion about Francis, or perception of him, there seems to be ample evidence to support a contrary viewpoint. ... 

Francis did not have the clarity of the previous Popes, but he had a magnetic personality, and he even encouraged young Catholics to ‘make a mess’. The problem for interpreting Francis from the West is that most of us are accustomed to divisions on the left-right spectrum, or a liberal-conservative range of worldviews. Francis, however, was not located anywhere on either spectrum, but he came from a completely different perspective and worldview.

Francis was heavily influenced by Peronism, the political movement heralded by Juan Peron and which had been ironically influenced in its formation by elements of Catholic social teaching.

As a political ideology, Peronism regards praxis and personality as more important than principles. ..... [To read more, please see my article in The Spectator, at  https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/05/understanding-pope-francis/

How Jewish values led to liberal democracy

Liberal democracy, as we know it, could not exist without the values introduced to our culture by Judaism.

American Founding Father John Adams claimed that “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” In that light, it is important to affirm that Jewish tradition gave us the concepts of humanity and God that made our liberal democracy possible. ...

To read more, please go to the Australian Jewish News at https://www.australianjewishnews.com/how-jewish-values-led-to-liberal-democracy/