In his 2003 "address"* to the Zionist Council of Victoria, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott briefly noted (and, just as briefly, brushed aside) something mighty peculiar about the State of Israel: "Israel's immigration rules might struggle to pass Australian anti-discrimination tests but so would the immigration rules of many other countries." [*See my 2/12/09 post Tony Abbott: Mouthpiece, Patsy, Tool]
Israel's immigration rules essentially boil down to one: Do you, prospective immigrant, have a Jewish mother? If you can answer Yes to that little corker, you're In Like Flynn. If not, it's All Over, Red Rover. Called the Law of Return, it works a treat on ethnically-cleansed (48 & 67), out-on-their-ears, Palestinian Arab refugees who unfortunately have Christian and Muslim mums.
Blimey! Bit rich, ain't it? I hear you say, Wouldn't stand up in a court of law over here! And you'd be right:
"Britain's Supreme Court has ruled it illegal for a Jewish school that favours Jewish applicants to base its admissions policy on a classic test of Jewishness - whether one's mother is Jewish. 'One thing is clear about the matrilineal test; it is a test of ethnic origin', Lord Phillips, president of the court, said in his majority opinion. Under the law, he said, 'by definition, discrimination that is based upon that test is discrimination on racial grounds'." (Court rules school test of Jewishness is illegal, Sarah Lyall, Sydney Morning Herald/New York Times, 18/12/09)
Tony? Kevin?
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Why not have it both ways? In the U.K., N.Z., Australia {state and federal}a "jew" has the additional protection of the "ethno-religious groups" provisions of various anti discrimination acts.Muslims were excluded by the U.K. precedent,{not a single ethnic group}.this leaves Jews with Sikhs just scraping in to bring up the plural"groupS".Hmmm,not a single ethnic group?
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