Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Senator Brandis on Q&A: Unasked Questions

Thus spake the Attorney-General Senator George Brandis on Q&A last night:

"If you are a dual Australia Israeli citizen and you choose to become a member of the IDF, there is nothing wrong with that... There is no equivalence between the standing army of a foreign friendly state like Israel and a terrorist insurgency like ISIL, and I'm not aware of a single instance that a Jewish man or woman... who has seen service in the IDF has come back to Australia and perpetrated a terrorist crime."

Brandis' assertions raise a number of questions which, unfortunately, didn't get an airing on Q&A:

First, wasn't Israel born of a sectarian (Jews only), terrorist (Hagana, Irgun, Stern Gang) insurgency which cut a swathe through British Mandate Palestine in 1947-49, expelling the majority of its non-Jewish inhabitants?

Second, Brandis needs to be reminded of the case of the ill-fated Australian Jew and Mossad recruit Ben Zygier who got up to God-knows-what in the Middle East, most likely on an Australian passport, thus, potentially, putting all Australian passport-holders at risk. (See in particular my 17/2/13 post Prisoner X 5.)

Third, and foremost, Brandis obviously has no qualms whatever about Australian Jews serving in the IDF, just so long as their terrorism is directed against Palestinians or Lebanese or whoever else takes their fancy. Nice.

What a pity no-one in the Bankstown audience raised such matters with the man, not to mention the fact that he doesn't even acknowledge that Israel is in occupation of the Palestinian territories. (See my 7/6/14 post Lap Dancing for Israel?)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Q & A audiences are always hand picked and screened and so are the questions allowed to be asked.

Could an Australian dual national join the Iranian Defence Force [IDF], for example the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force?

How about a dual national joining the North Korean Army?

Have either of these governments ever misused Australian passports for covert murderous rampages?
{like Israel]

When I was given my Australian passport I was asked if I wanted another "second passport" in case I wanted "to visit Israel".

I should have accepted as it has been my lifelong ambition to lead the charge on Haifa.