Showing 1 - 10 of 14
Israel, Hamas and the elusive ceasefire
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 07/05/2024
» Hamas did not need a ceasefire. It had already demonstrated that Israel could not eradicate it. It had achieved its primary goal of wrecking the anti-Iran alliance that was brewing between Israel and the major Arab Gulf states. And it doesn't care about how many Palestinians get killed; they are all "martyrs" for the cause.
Indonesian poll serves up a curious outcome
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 20/02/2024
» Indonesia's President Joko Widodo concluded his second five-year term last Tuesday with a national election in which his chosen successors won a convincing victory. "Jokowi", as everybody calls him, still enjoys 70% public approval, and he has every right to be proud of his past.
Israel vs the ICJ: Is this a waste of time?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/01/2024
» The two sides have had their day in court -- one day each, actually. The 17 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have now retired to consider what interim decisions they should make on South Africa's accusation that Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip amount to the crime of genocide. Is this just a waste of time?
2024: the year it got (really) hot
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/01/2024
» The year 2023 has probably been the hottest in the past 10,000 years -- but everybody agrees that 2024 will be even hotter. That's because we are now entering El Niño, the part of a seven-yearly oceanic cycle that heaps extra heat on whatever is already occurring.
Long ceasefire in Gaza may snooker Hamas
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 24/11/2023
» There are really three parties to the "pause" -- nobody is officially using the word "ceasefire" -- that brings at least a temporary end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Two of the three parties, Hamas and the United States, would very much like it to turn into a permanent ceasefire, but Israel emphatically does not.
The Israel-Gaza crisis: A question of numbers
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 08/11/2023
» Being the heritage minister is not the summit of achievement in Israeli politics, but it is a cabinet position, and Amihai Eliyahu, the current occupant, really should watch what he says. When Radio Kol Berama asked him whether an atomic bomb should be dropped on Gaza, he should not have replied "This is one of the possibilities."
Ukraine: Will Western tanks bring victory?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 31/01/2023
» On Tuesday last week, they reset the Doomsday Clock to 90 seconds before midnight. How did they know that Germany would agree to give Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine on Wednesday? Now we're all doomed! No time to run! Ninety seconds is barely time to tuck your head between your knees and kiss goodbye.
When 'mowing the grass' will no longer do
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 20/05/2021
» 'We didn't want this conflict, but now that it's started it has to end with a sustained period of quiet," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "That can only be achieved by Israel taking out Hamas -- their military structure, their command and control." Or, as the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) would put it, by "mowing the grass".
Myanmar's saint who lost her way
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/11/2020
» Almost completely obscured by the blanket global coverage of the US election, they are having one in Myanmar too. The outcome is even more a foregone conclusion, although in this case it will confirm the existing government in power. But it is only by condoning a great crime that democracy there survives.
Defeat snatched from jaws of victory in HK
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/11/2019
» The "silent majority" in Hong Kong, who regime supporters hoped would show that they are fed up with the pro-democracy protests that have shaken the city in the past five months, turns out to be not only silent but non-existent.