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Author: Daniel Sleiman

  • INTERNATIONAL

    The politics of vaccines

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 04 February 2021
    8 Comments

    Despite talk against ‘vaccine nationalism’ the pharmaceutical companies are ultimately beholden to investors and shareholders. Their effectiveness percentages are pitches. They will sell to those who can afford to buy. And naturally that’s wealthy countries.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    UAE-Israel peace deal and the court of public opinion

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 25 August 2020
    5 Comments

    It is an open secret in the Middle East that many Arab governments have normal diplomatic and security relations with Israel. The taboo is in its public acknowledgment.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The reconquest of Hagia Sophia?

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 28 July 2020
    7 Comments

    Erdogan’s announcement in relation to the Hagia Sophia is one that is heavily influenced and panders to his Islamist sentiments and supporters. Hagia Sophia, often touted as the pinnacle of Byzantine church architecture and design, was reverted to a museum in 1935 by the founder of the modern Turkish republic, Kemal Ataturk. Altering its status to a mosque is clearly about propping up Erdogan’s Islamist credentials and base, which have slowly been eroding civil freedoms in the Turkish nation.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Caesar Act ushers in a new phase of suffering for Syrians

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 25 June 2020
    4 Comments

    America has lost the proxy war in Syria and is now looking at punishing ordinary Syrians for the actions of the Syrian government. The so called ‘Caesar Act’, officially known as the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act, aims to cut off multilateral or direct commerce with Syria’s ruling Baath party, effectively inducing record inflation, poverty and market exclusion.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    High Court decision on palace letters

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 02 June 2020
    19 Comments

    Will former Governor General John Kerr's correspondence with the Queen shed light on what really happened in 1975? It may very well, and historians like Jenny Hocking were willing to challenge the National Archives of Australia's refusal to access such records in High Court.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Sham Palestinian peace plan is business as usual

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 04 February 2020
    8 Comments

    The Palestinians, and Arabs more generally, have gotten used to this sham of semantics and pretences of peace, watching on as America continues to fund and support Israel’s occupation of Palestine and its projection of military power in the region with impunity.

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    Smoke and the city

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 13 January 2020
    4 Comments

    Canberra has a reputation for being banal, bureaucratic and the 'bush capital'. But come 2020 it was in the news for being the city with the worst air quality in the world. What followed were four days of intense heat, sunless mornings, Blade Runner sky hues and warnings to stay indoors as much as possible. But movement is life.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Hope and trepidation amid Lebanon unrest

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 07 November 2019
    3 Comments

    Like many Lebanese Australians I've been watching the mass protests in Lebanon with hope and trepidation. Hope that government reforms, or a change of government, will bring about meaningful transformation in economic management, transparency and public services. Fearful because of the possibility of civil war.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Sympathy for the poor or bunyip aristocracy

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 17 October 2019
    9 Comments

    Adam Smith wrote 'no society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable'. Poverty and inequality lead to non-participation in work and inhibit social mobility, which negatively affects economic growth. The concentration of economic power is bad for democracy.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A close encounter with our ill health system

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 03 July 2019
    10 Comments

    When I found myself facing the prospect of thyroid surgery, I had two options: either I could get it done for free through Medicare or privately at a cost of $11,000. I've been reflecting again on that choice in light of the recent criticism of 'celebrity' brain surgeon Charlie Teo. Australia's healthcare system is not as egalitarian as we think it is.

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  • RELIGION

    Yarralumla Mosque, the day after Christchurch

    • Daniel Sleiman
    • 18 March 2019
    3 Comments

    A lady with tears in her eyes asked if I was Muslim. I told her that I am. She asked it if would it be okay if she came in and said a prayer. 'Of course,' I replied. She knelt, quietly sobbing, and said a few words. I also knelt and recited a few verses from the Quran. We were complete strangers sharing a unique and emotional moment.

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  • CONTRIBUTORS

    Daniel Sleiman

    • Daniel Sleiman

    Daniel Sleiman is a freelance writer and journalist based in Canberra.

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