How Sweet It Is

"Strauss Group, Israel's 2nd-largest food and beverage company, has become, over the past few years, an international corporation with a steadily growing part of its business conducted outside of Israel. The Group employs 11,600 people and operates 19 production sites in 16 countries. In the last 6 years the group has consistently achieved growth that more than doubled the volume of its business during that period, generating... around $1.7 billion in turnover at the end of 2008, of which 47% came from international activities. The Group is built around 3 core businesses: Strauss Israel, which focuses on 2 major consumption trends: Health and Wellness and Fun and Indulgence; Strauss Coffee... and Strauss North America, which incorporates the Mediterranean dips and spreads company Sabra, with product lines that target the health and wellness trend, and the Chocolate Bar chain Max Brenner that targets the fun and indulgence trend." (About Us - Overview, A glimpse into the Strauss Group business world, strauss-group.com)

"Max Brenner presented the Chocolate Bar to the world as an innovative retail concept characterized by a unique chocolate culture that strengthens the social experience and the fun of eating and drinking chocolate... Max Brenner has 24 Chocolate Bars operating around the world: 6 in Israel, 2 in the US, 2 in the Philippines, 1 in Singapore and 13 in Australia." (ibid)

"Max Brenner wanted to be an author. So it seems surprising that he ended up being a world-famous chocolatier... But his passion for the cocoa bean doesn't obscure his nuanced view of the world. When asked about politics and specifically about the protests at his Sydney stores - seen as a symbol of Israel - earlier this year, Brenner was quick to respond. 'Everything that has to do with conflict seems stupid to me. I am a very peaceful person. Whether it is in Israel, or not, anything to do with violence, aggressiveness or appearing at protests or boycotts seems silly [to me]. But then again I am just a tiny person who loves beautiful things'." (Brenner on chocolate, The Australian Jewish News, 10/7/09)

"Our connection with soldiers goes as far back as the country, and even further. We see a mission and need to continue to provide our soldiers with support, to enhance their quality of life and service conditions, and sweeten their special moments. We have adopted the Golani reconnaissance platoon for over 30 years and provide them with an ongoing variety of food products for their training or missions, and provide personal care packages for each soldier that completes the path. We have also adopted the Southern Shualei Shimshon troops from the Givati platoon with the goal of improving their service conditions and being there at the front to spoil them with our best products." (Corporate Responsibility, Over 70 years of Community Involvement, strauss-group.com)

"Sayeret Golani was created in 1951. It was originally named Machleket Siyur Meyuchedet, or Special Reconnaissance Platoon; a part of the 1st Golani Infantry Brigade... They have operated all over Israel and even beyond; in Lebanon, Syria, and even Uganda. Sayeret Golani has had a bloody but illustrious history." (Israel's Sayeret Golani, specwarnet.net)

"It was the height of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which began at the end of 1987, and Rabin, then Defense Minister, ordered a policy of 'force, might and beatings' to quell the rebellion. Israeli soldiers filled hospital wards with young Palestinian men with their hands in casts, their arms swollen like sausages. The Golani Brigade was in the midst of it. One day reporters came upon some of them in a Palestinian village near Bethlehem, dragging youths into a bus packed with soldiers beating their clubs on the steel seat frames in unison and chanting wildly: 'We are Golani! We are insane! And even in Golani, it seemed, few beat the Palestinians with the enthusiasm of Pvt. Yigal Amir [Rabin's assassin]. 'In Golani, everybody hits', Mr Amir's comrade, Mr Nagar remembered. 'I wasn't clean either. But Yigal was something special, a rank unto himself'. During searches in Jabalya, a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Mr Nagar said, 'The officer says, before breaking into a house, give them a 10,000 mile tune-up. Yigal was the enforcer, with a capital E. Hit them hard, hit here, push there. Destroy stuff. He enjoyed badgering them just for fun'... The experience was not uncommon. A government report in 1989 on the effects of serving during the intifada found troops more violent in every aspect of their lives and, among the religious right [like Amir], imbued with a deeper hatred of Arabs. Three men who had served in Golani have committed widely publicized murders of Arabs and an Israeli peace campaigner." (A son of Israel: Rabin's assassin, John Kifner, The New York Times, 19/11/95)

"Channel 10 on Thursday released footage taken by Israel Defense Forces soldiers of themselves humiliating a bound and blindfolded Palestinian man at a West Bank checkpoint. The footage shows the Palestinian kneeling and repeating sentences given to him to say by the soldiers, who belong to the Golani Brigade. One of the lines is: 'Golani will bring you a log to stick up your ass'. As the detainee repeats the words, the soldiers are heard laughing raucously in the background." (IDF troops film themselves humiliating bound Palestinian, Haaretz, 6/11/08)

"At the eye of the Gaza storm is the Golani Brigade. Golani is currently operating in the sector in which the IDF has seen the toughest battles with Hamas, the eastern part of Gaza City... Golani has a complex image within the IDF.... [I]t is known as a brigade that struggles with no small number of disciplinary problems and scandals, caused by bad behavior ranging from revolts against commanders to abuse of Palestinians." (The IDF's Golani Brigade: always first on the scene at the front line, Amos Harel, Haaretz, 6/1/09)

Sins of Omission

Greg (Jerusalem Prize) Sheridan, foreign editor of The Australian and advertised "most influential foreign affairs analyst in Australian journalism," did not write these sentences in his opinion piece on 9 July: '[A]s usual, the Israelis have the international community bluffed. They have achieved this with the Palestinian territories in part by convincing the world that all Palestinian activists are 9/11-style terrorists.'

But he did write this: "[A]s usual, the Chinese have the international community bluffed. They have achieved this with Xinjiang in part by convincing the world that all Uighur activists are 9/11-style terrorists." (China's crackdown has the world bluffed)

Nor did he write: 'The Palestinians have a lot of grievances... When the Jewish Zionists took control of Palestine in 1948, Jews made up 33% of the poulation, with Palestinians the vast majority.'

But he did write this: "The Uighurs have a lot of grievances... When the Han Chinese communists took control of Xinjiang in 1949, ethnic Han made up about 6% of the population, with Uighurs the vast majority." (ibid)

He has never referred to Palestinians as 'a minority in their own homeland.'

He has, however, referred to Uighurs as "a minority in their own homeland." (ibid)

Likewise, he has never written about 'the danger of the nationalism and Jewish Israeli chauvinism.'

But he has written about "the danger of the nationalism and ethnic Han chauvinism." (ibid)

Go figure.

Hot on Gillard's High Heels

Look who's next in line for some of that seductive Israeli stroking:-

"Following hot on the heels of his parliamentary colleagues' trip to Israel with the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange (AICE), Victorian Senator Mitch Fifield departed for the country last Friday. The Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Carers & the Voluntary Sector was awarded a Yachad scholarship* to travel to Israel. Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop, together with other MPs**, is also visiting Israel this month as part of an Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) trip. Senator Fifield said his trip would primarily focus on matters relating to his portfolio. He will visit Israeli non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that provide help to people with disabilities, their families and their carers. He will also visit NGOs that work with youth at risk. Senator Fifield has been a long-time supporter of the Jewish community and was also one of two senators who recently defended Israel in parliament.***" (Senator's Israel scholarship, The Australian Jewish News, 10/7/09)

[*Yachad scholarship: "Mitch is an advisory board member of the Yachad Accelerated Learning Project (YALP). YALP is a unique educational program based on Israeli approaches to addressing systemic educational disadvantage. YALP began as a pilot project in Australia aimed at raising the scholastic achievements of students in regional and remote communities, particularly those with a high proportion of academically low achieving indigenous students... YALP is a partnership between: Indigenous & Non-Indigenous Communities; Government, Industry & Philanthropy; Israel & Australia." (mitchfifield.com)]

[** "I take this opportunity to acknowledge that, while the parliament is in recess, a number of members of this and the other place will be travelling to Israel. At the moment, the Deputy Prime Minister, with the member for Higgins, is leading the Australia-Israel leadership dialogue, which Senator Brandis, Senator Barnett and Mr Pyne are also participating in. Also during the break there will be an Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) delegation, led by Ms Julie Bishop, going to Israel. Senator [Simon] Birmingham [Lib SA], Senator [Scott] Ryan [Lib Vic], Mrs [Louise] Markus [Lib MP for Greenway, NSW] and Mr [Bruce] Billson [Lib MP for Dunkley, Vic] will also be taking part in that. And I will be going to Israel on a Yachad scholarship to study disability issues and the role of women in the Israeli military. These high-level exchanges are important. Australia and Israel share common values. Both Israel and Australia are great and robust democracies. Israel is a beacon of hope and liberty in the Middle East. Israel needs its friends, and there are none more staunch than Australia." (Adjournment speech - Gilad Shalit, 25/6/09, mitchfifield.com)]

[*** "Those who kidnapped Gilad are terrorists. They are criminals. Gilad was defending his country, democracy and the rule of law. We should not forget that Gilad was defending his homeland - defending Israel from those we know seek its destruction." (ibid)]

Can hardly wait for Mitch's coming report on "the role of women in the Israeli army." Only one thing's bothering me: if disability issues is Mitch's thing, wouldn't Gaza be the place to go?

Highway Robbery

Here's an interesting piece from the Sydney Morning Herald's Middle East correspondent Jason Koutsoukis: "The Israeli Prime minister's closest adviser and key strategist, Ron Dermer, has admitted that Israel faces a serious public relations problem and needs aggressively to tackle negative perceptions around the world... 'We have to break out of the straitjacket', he said. 'We have to defend our own right to defend ourselves. It's not for other people to do it for us... It is not enough for Israel to say that it wants peace... You must also say that you are not a thief. We did not steal another people's land. That is the core of this conflict'... In pursuing a strategy that will centralise the Government's responses to issues raised by the foreign media into a kind of war room, and make better use of public opinion research, Mr Dermer says Israel has to start shaming countries and organisations that hold Israel to a different standard. '[People] who get together to call for a boycott against Israel, are they calling for a boycott against North Korea, the world's largest concentration camp? When you hold Israel to a standard that you won't hold another country to, what are you doing? You are being anti-Semitic... Within this story [of Israel & the Middle East] is this narrative that has grown much stronger in recent years that is essentially false: people who see us as colonialist invaders. But once the Palestinians accept that we, the Jews, are here by right, that we are not foreign colonialists and we're not invaders, even if they say [the land] it's 1% yours and 99% ours, then we're in real negotiations'. " (Israel draws up road map for image overhaul, 4/7/09)

On the allegation of holding Israel to a different standard to other international terror states, see my 17/5/09 post Sheridan in Love 4. It's Dermer's claim that Israel is not a land-grabbing colonial settler state that I wish to tackle here. True, prior to 1948, the Zionist movement in Palestine wasn't in much of a position to turf the natives off their land. It had to fork out for the territory it acquired. After 1948, however, it was a different story:-

"Having expelled the majority of the native indigenous Palestinian... people from the territories that came under the control of the Israeli army in the course of the 1948-49 war and being congnizant of UN General Assembly Resolution 194(II) of December 1948 'that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date', the Israeli authorities then pursued the systematic destruction of their homes with the aim that there be no homes for the refugees to return to. Of the 500 or so Palestinian Arab villages and cities, some 400... were destroyed and almost all razed to the ground by the Israeli army during the 1948-49 war and throughout the 1950s.

"As noted above, the State of Israel has consistently denied the right of return to the erstwhile Palestinian Arab inhabitants of the land, and violated UN General Assembly resolutions recognizing their right of return and calling for their repatriation. In fact, all 1948 Palestinian Arab refugees and internally displaced persons are legislated in Israel as 'absentees' through the Absentees' Property Law of 1950. Thus some four million 1948 Palestinian refugees today outside the 'Green Line' have been alienated from all rights to Israeli citizenship, to their lands, and to their properties in Israel. And of the 150,000 of the native indigenous Palestinian Arab people who found themselves in the wake of the 1948-49 armistice agreements inside the 'Green Line', the approximately one million Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel today, some 25%, 250, 000 persons, are internally displaced persons, 'present absentees', likewise denied all rights in their pre-1948 properties inside Israel... The vast number of properties classified under the Absentees' Property Law... as 'absentee property' can be further assessed if one recalls that, until 1947, individual or corporate Jewish land ownership in Palestine did not exceed 7% of the territory of British Mandate Palestine, or 10% of the territories that came under Israeli rule and occupation following the 1948-49 war. According to the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property, almost 70% of the territory of pre-1967 Israel consists of land classified as 'absentee property'... Jewish National Fund estimates, on the other hand, set the figure as high as 88%... All these massive properties have been vested under the Absentees' Property Law... with the Custodian of Absentee Property... Under the said law, every right an 'absentee' had with regard to any property is vested with the Custodian, and the status of the Custodian was legislated to be the same as that of the owner of the property... By all accounts, the properties invested in the Custodian... following the 1948-49 war constituted the primary rural and urban resources for post-1948 Israeli, exclusively Jewish, settlement projects, cultivation and development.

"As Moshe Dayan noted in his famous speech before students at the Israeli Institute of Technology (Techniyon) in 1969: 'We came here to a country that was populated by Arabs, and we are building here a Hebrew, Jewish state. In a considerable portion of localities we purchased the lands from the Arabs. Instead of Arab villages, Jewish villages were established. You even do not know the names of these villages and I do not blame you, because these geography books no longer exist. Not only the books, but also the villages no longer exist. Nahalal was established in the place of Mahalul, Gevat in the place of Jibta, Sarid in the place of Hanifas and Kefar Yehoshu'a in the place of Tel Shamam. There is not a single settlement that was not established in the place of a former Arab village'." (Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the Struggle Within, Uri Davis, 2003, pp 31-36)

Pull the other, Ron.

Our Lady of the Walkleys

According to her profile at womenofaustralia.info, the ABC's Monica Attard is the holder of "five Walkley Awards including a Gold Walkley for Excellence in Journalism." We are also told that she believes that "the journalist should not set out to provoke interviewees, but at times there is a moral obligation to speak out." Since leaving ABC's Media Watch, Attard has been interviewing the movers & shakers on Radio National's Sunday Profile.

Interviewing Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard on 2/7/09 was evidently not one of those occasions that entailed "a moral obligation to speak out." No, more a time to go with the Zionist PR flow washing over the ABC these days.

Attard's introduction set the tone for the interviews: Israel's inexorable 61-year old colonial project of swallowing the land of Palestine while spitting out its indigenous inhabitants was described as a "dispute." Hamas, not Israel's occupation and colonization of Palestine, was "the sticking point." Its "habit of firing rocket missiles [!!!] into Israel... a practice which caused a dramatic and bloody response from Israel earlier this year," was the main game, with not a peep about Israel's sadistic throttling of the Gaza Ghetto. And then, of course, the obligatory reference to Iran, which "leaves Israel feeling very nervous indeed." How very solicitous. What followed was predictably tame:-

Ayalon's risible statement that "we do not interfere with other countries' domestic issues" passed without comment from Attard. As did his hypocritical references to the Iranian elections: "an issue of freedom and human rights"; "I do hope there's no bloodshed"; Iran should abide by "international norms." Ditto for Ayalon's equally hypocritical reference to Iran's alleged "illegal nuclear activities."

Asked about Gillard's trip to Israel, Ayalon cooed these now familiar sweet nothings: "We see Australia not only as a sister democracy, but as a very good friend and ally which has historic ties here in Israel. There were Australian soldiers... that participated in... liberating the land of Israel from the Ottoman Empire during World War I. [!!!] They were again here in World War II. We have very good trade relations and are really kindred spirits in many, many ways when it comes to the rule of law, democratic values, ethics. You also had come to a barren land and made it bloom, [!!!] so the relations are very good and we were very happy and pleased and delighted to have here the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, and the more visits the better, and we also intend to reciprocate with visits in Australia as well." Neither his liberties with history, nor his humbug, elicited so much as a groan from Attard, allegedly "one of Australia's most respected news and current affairs journalists (womenofaustralia.info).

"There are some things we don't have in common," Attard finally piped up, referring merely to Gillard's parroting of Obama's call for a "freeze" on Israeli settlements. The former Israeli Ambassador to Washington was more than a match for her though: "We understand, but friends may agree to disagree." And then, having touched on that Incarnation of Evil and Insuperable Impediment to Lasting Peace in the Middle East, Hamas, came this gobsmackingly gormless question from Our Lady of the Walkleys: "Can you accept Hamas having a role in a Palestinian government in return for more settlements?" Think about it.

"Was there any discussion of military cooperation between us?" Attard asked. The otherwise fluent Israeli pollywaffle sounded lost for words: "No, but... we... you know... as like-minded states in many areas of course... that we will always share everything that we can and we will continue with that." Share what? she neglected to ask. "Was an international peace-keeping force discussed?" she did. "We're not there yet," replied Ayalon. Yet? she didn't ask.

A particularly bizarre question arose in the context of Attard's reference to Ayalon's chairmanship of "an organisation dedicated to increasing the number of immigrants to Israel." Referring to Jews who live outside Israel as a "diaspora," Attard asked, "Would you consider helping Australian Jews move to Israel considering that Australia has the highest proportion of Jews outside Israel?" Were they perhaps in some kind of danger that only Attard could divine? Apparently, the distinct possibility that Australia's Jewish community might actually consider Australia their real home seems to have eluded her. Ayalon, of course, didn't miss a beat. "Australia could be a very great place for us to work," he chirped.

At that, it was Gillard's turn. "How did the idea of a settlement freeze go down with the Israeli leadership," Attard asked her: "I don't think that they were surprised by Australia's position. Our foreign minister Stephen Smith had made it well known. Clearly, for the Israeli government... this is a difficult issue. What the prime minister would say is that he does agree with the need to halt the further development of new settlements, but he would seek to continue to have natural growth within current Israeli settlements, whereas the Americans have made it very clear that they're talking about a halt on all settlement activity. The Australian view is that we do need to see a halt if we are going to have a peace process and dialogue in the Middle East that leads to a two-state solution... and it only makes the striking of that agreement more complicated if we continue to see settlement activity..."

Asked about possible "obstacles" in the way of such a scenario, Gillard proceded to tie herself in knots: "I walked away from my conversation with the Israeli prime minister believing there was a real preparedness for a genuine discussion. He genuinely wants to step forward and engage in a discussion about peace. He has obviously made his predispositions as the prime minister of the nation clear, but he's also said he's prepared to participate in a discussion with the Palestinian leadership with no preconditions." This was apparently too hard for Our Lady of the Walkleys to unravel, and so the contradiction inherent in Netanyahu having "predispositions" (no Palestinian army, no Palestinian control over airspace, no sharing of Jerusalem, no right of return for Palestinian refugees, Palestinian recognition of Israel as an ethnocracy), but "no preconditions," was left dangling.

Past this point, Gillard started sounding like Ayalon himself. When asked if the Australian government could see itself dealing with Hamas, she positively took the words right out of his mouth: Hamas was a "terrorist organization" that needed to "renounce violence." If images of Israeli state terror rose before her eyes, the Walkley Winner remained mum.

She did, however, raise the issue of Amnesty International's recent accusation of Israeli war crimes in Gaza (See Amnesty accuses Israel over Gaza, Jason Koutsoukis, SMH, 3/7/09). Gillard, continuing to channel Ayalon, responded: "We do need to remember this was an Israeli response to continued rocket attacks out of Gaza into Israeli civilian areas." And when asked about Israel's "level of force," Gillard-Ayalon was quick to assert "Israel's need to defend its people," before adding that "we've continued to express concerns about the humanitarian circumstances of the Palestinian people." And to whom in Israel did you express these concerns, and with what result? Attard didn't bother asking.

More 'Quality' Journalism at The Australian

"Saddam Hussein was evil, but he was no genius. According to declassified FBI prison interviews with the Iraqi dictator he wanted the world to believe he was armed with weapons of mass destruction. His purpose was to intimidate Iran, which he feared more than the US... But by encouraging the US and its allies to overestimate his arsenal he designed his own destruction. These revelations end arguments the US invaded Iraq to make it an American puppet... And the way US energy companies pulled out of the bidding for petroleum concessions on offer in Iraq this week demonstrates arguments the war was all about oil were always nonsense. While the West's intelligence effort was utterly inadequate, all GW Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard are guilty of is being gulled by Saddam. He did his best to make them believe he was armed with chemical and biological weapons... [I]n invading Iraq the allies acted in good faith. Saddam wanted the world to believe he was armed and dangerous - and he succeeded." (As inept as he was evil: Saddam wanted the world to believe he was dangerous, The Australian editorial, 4/7/09)

Run that past me again: "[H]e wanted the world to believe he was armed with WMD." Did he now? What did Saddam really say in those declassified prison interviews?

"Saddam acknowledged Iraq had made a mistake in destroying some weapons without UN supervision. In Saddam's view UN inspectors wanted all their expenses... paid for by Iraq. Instead of waiting for the inspectors and bearing these expenses, Iraq commenced destruction of the weapons. Iraq did not hide these weapons. Regarding destruction of weapons, Saddam stated, 'We destroyed them. We told you, with documents. That's it.' When asked about restrictions placed on locations... Saddam replied, 'By God, if I had such weapons, I would have used them in the fight against the United States'." (The Saddam Files: His final interviews, The Independent, 5/7/09) Nothing here about wanting the world to believe he had WMD.

Or here: "Saddam stated the development of WMD was for the defence of Iraq's sovereignty. Iraq demonstrated this with the use of WMD during the Iran-Iraq War, as Iran had threatened the sovereignty of Iraq. Yet Iraq did not use WMD during the 1991 Gulf War as its sovereignty was not threatened... Saddam claimed his position was that Iraq prior to the invasion did not have them." (ibid)

In fact, in the years leading up to the invasion of Iraq, Saddam denied having WMD. Hans Blix, head of the UN's Monitoring, Verification & Inspection Commission in Iraq (2000-2003), quotes from a letter of Saddam's (7/2/02) to the Turkish PM (cited by US Assistant Secretary of State for Non-Proliferation Robert Einhorn): "As pertains to the WMD, Iraq, which no longer has any of these weapons, and has no intention of producing them, is in the forefront of those who are keen that our region be free of WMDs." (Disarming Iraq: The Search for WMD, p 60)

The Australian's editorial is quality alright - quality bullshit.

Quality Journalism Heads South

"Quality journalism,"* as produced by the "most influential foreign affairs analyst in Australian journalism"** Greg (Jerusalem Prize) Sheridan: "Latin America is a vast treasure house of cultural and human richness. But, at the moment, too much of it is going badly awry. Too much chilli in the burrito, not enough sweetness in the tortilla." (Where democracy heads south, The Sunday Telegraph, 5/7/09)

And in case you were wondering, it's supposed to be about the coup in Honduras.

Viva "quality journalism"!

[*See my 2/7/09 post Corrupting Serious Debate; **About Greg Sheridan, The Australian's website]