Obama's World

From Obama's ratings for international leaders revealed (Ben Hoyle, The Australian, 30/3/16)

"One administration official told me [Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, April], 'Our allies all give us headaches, except for Australia. You can always count on Australia'."

Australia's a lapdog.

"Mr Obama said... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a source of frustration and a 'fountain of condescension' and is 'the world leader who consistently frustrated Obama the most'."

Israel's a right pain in the arse.

Magic Mike Does Upstart Nation 1

Sound the shofar, sound the shofar, sound the shofar!
Sound, sound, sound the shofar till around
You make the list'ning shores rebound.
On the sprightly hautboy play
All the instruments of joy
That skillful numbers can employ,
To celebrate the glories of this day.
(With apps apologies to Henry Purcell)

"Mike Baird is set to become the first serving NSW premier to visit Israel when he leads a trade delegation there next week. The premier says innovation, cyber security and medical and financial technologies will be the focus of the week-long visit, which will include stops in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the West Bank. 'Israel is known as start-up upstart nation for good reason, and, as we prepare to launch our own innovation strategy later this year, there can be no better time to study the successful Israeli model for nurturing new ideas and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship,' Baird said in a statement on Tuesday. Medical marijuana research will be another focus for the trade delegation which includes medicinal cannabis campaigner Lucy Haslam and NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione. The premier will also meet with Palestinian leadership when he visits the West Bank." (Mike Baird set to become first serving New South Wales premier to visit Israel, AAP, theguardian.com)

Q&A's Israeli Propaganda Water Torture

Monday's Q&A on innovation featured around a dozen references to Israel. Israeli propaganda water torture? Bloody oath!

For example:

Sandy Plunkett: Israel has been really, really focused on it since the 70s and really, really picked up in the 80s. They have strong military bases to encourage that pure R&D that then got commercialised. Israel is a place absolutely that is surrounded by hostile territory so it's invested and has pure science and other commercialised opportunities coming out of the military.

Bachir El Khoury: What lessons have you learned, Wyatt [Roy], from Israel that you can implement here?

Wyatt Roy: I'm really glad that you mentioned Israel because I think that it is a much more like comparison for our country... Israel is a small population. We're a small population. Israel is effectively an island in a commercial sense. They can't trade with their partners or their neighbours, and we're obviously an island culturally. I think there is a far greater alignment when we are at our best. So in Israel the biggest thing that they have is they have this deeply entrepreneurial culture that permeates into every aspect of their life. In Hebrew you call it chutzpah, right? This go-out-there-and-give it-a-go mentality. When we are at our best, I think we have that kind of deeply anti-authoritarian mind stance that Israelis have... "

Guys, guys, seriously now, get a grip, willya! If Australia had had US$133.132 billion thrown at it since 1949 by a sugar daddy like the US...

Think about it, or am I being too agile and disruptive for you?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

From Tony Abbott's opinion piece in today's Australian, The national security case for the Abbott government:

"The bullying of small countries by big ones, the trampling of justice and decency in the pursuit of national aggrandisement, and reckless indifference to human life should have no place in our world."

OMFG, he's talking about Isr...

- Get real, of course he's not talking about Israel and Palestine. He's talking about Russia, Ukraine and Flight MH17.

Just for a minute there...

Sheridan Speaks! You Listen!

Shhh!... Australia's "most influential foreign affairs analyst"* is speaking:

"... Islamic State is... getting stronger." (The structures of the world are trembling, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 26/3/16)

Oh, wait:

"Assad hails Syrian regime's capture of Palmyra from ISIS: Monitors say taking of historic city by government troops backed by Russian airstrikes is biggest defeat since 2014." (Guardian headline, 27/3/16)

[*According to Sheridan's bio at The Australian's website.]

Danby/Plibersek: Netanyahu's Tag Team in Federal Parliament

Fresh from Labor's shadow foreign minister Tanya (Once Was Warrior) Plibersek's linking of IS with Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation - on February 22's Q&A (See my 24/2 post Lobbyotomised) - we now have its shadow minister for Israel, Michael Danby, pushing the nakedly Netanyahu agenda of screwing the Iranian economy through international sanctions in order to preserve Israeli hegemony in the Middle East:

"Melbourne ports MP Michael Danby has won support from the Labor caucus to refer the government's decision to ease sanctions to the Senate Foreign Affairs Defence & Trade Reference Committee, but will need the support of the Greens and four crossbench senators for it to go ahead... Danby said the inquiry was needed because the decision had been made without any parliamentary debate or scrutiny. He also said the Senate would be able to determine whether any Australian goods shipped to Iran following the eased sanctions could have military use... Mr Danby said... there was also a need for the Senate to examine Iran's involvement in the Syrian conflict." (ALP seeks probe into Iran sanctions relief, Sarah Martin, The Australian, 3/3/16)

This BTW is the same man who "last year... erected [at taxpayers' expense?] a giant billboard in St Kilda of the Foreign Minister in a headscarf meeting the Iranian President, Hassan Roubani." (ibid)

In addition to her support in caucus for Danby's posturing, the shadow minister thought she'd do some posturing of her own on the coming visit of Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif:

"The Foreign Minister has been... so prepared to turn a blind eye to the anti-American rhetoric of the Iranian government, the anti-Israeli rhetoric of the Iranian government, to the human rights abuses, where people are locked up for their sexuality, for following a religion that's not approved of by the regime and, most particularly, for political organisation against an oppressive government." (Tanya Plibersek 'hysterical' on Iran, Sarah Martin, The Australian, 15/3/16)

Which merely allowed Liberal foreign minister Julie Bishop to remind her of her 2002 description of Israel as a "rogue state" led by a "war criminal," the only thing of any substance Plibersek has ever said on the subject of the Middle East.

A Quotidian Execution

Words fail in the face of the multifarious horrors and outrages routinely, casually, gleefully perpetrated by uniformed Zionist gangsters on occupied Palestinians, the latest being a bullet to the head of a young Palestinian man lying on his back, motionless, probably barely alive, in a street in occupied Hebron.*

If anyone out there still needs convincing that the murder and mistreatment of Palestinians is, and always has been, core Zionist practice, I urge them to read a copy of Our Harsh Logic: Israeli Soldiers' Testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010, compiled by Breaking the Silence, and open their bloody eyes:

"We had a commander in the unit who would just say in these words... 'I want bodies. That's what I want.' [...] From his first speech to us... he said, 'I want bodies full of bullet holes.' [...] Before we went out on an important mission he'd say, 'I want bodies full of bullets.' And if we came back with someone we'd killed, he was happy. That's how it was." (The commander said, 'I want bodies full of bullets', pp 79-80)

[*See Netanyahu's hypocritical condemnation of videotaped Hebron execution, electronicintifada.net, 25/3/16.]

'Neither I nor anyone in my organisation...'

23/3/16:

"The University of Sydney is refusing to answer questions relating to its short-lived decision to ban a Palestinian American activist, amid claims administrators singled him out for his support of boycotts against Israel. The university first approved, then banned, then approved again less than 24 hours later an address on Monday by Ali Abunimah, a US-born Princeton and University of Chicago-educated author and journalist.

"On Thursday last week the university informed organisers they must cancel the event, then on Friday it said the problem had been Abunimah's lack of a visa and since he now had one the event could go ahead. Jake Lynch, director of the University's Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies and a supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, said the explanation 'lacks credibility'.

"The HES (Higher Education Supplement) has obtained the email correspondence regarding Abunimah's visit. The organisers sought to book a lecture hall more than a month in advance and, after filling out an application, were told by university venues acting assistant Samantha Dos Santos that 'everything should be fine.' Ms Dos Santos said that if for any reason the event was not approved, 'a reason will be given.'

"On Thursday after 4pm, Ms Dos Santos wrote to the organisers to say the event 'wasn't approved by the university and you'll have to cancel it,' without stating a reason. Soon after 2pm on Friday, though, after a storm of online protest including a petition signed by more than 750 people, university venues manager Caroline Martin-Edwards wrote to organisers to say the issue was visa-related but since Abunimah now had one, the event could proceed given the university was 'deeply committed to free speech and open debate.' In fact, Abunimah, though he had difficulties getting a visa, had received it about 36 hours before Ms Dos Santos issued the email cancelling the event, and online media such as New Matilda reported on Wednesday that the visa had been granted.

"Sceptics of the university's explanation have pointed out that the abortive move to cancel the event came after considerable reporting of the visa controversy, and a couple of days after Robert Goot, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), issued a media statement describing Abunimah as 'a leader and founder of the loathsome BDS campaign.'

"Among questions Sydney University would not answer was whether University of Michigan art history professor Patricia Simons, who also delivered a public lecture on Monday - in her case on Italian Renaissance painter Jacopo Tintoretto's Susanna & the Elders - also had been screened for whether she had a visa, and how this was done. Associate Professor Lynch said: 'The university should clarify whether it is operating a general policy of checking for itself whether intended visitors to the university have visas to enter Australia or whether Mr Abunimah was singled out. If it is the latter, the university should explain why'." (Sydney fails to clear air over activist ban, Ean Higgins, The Australian, 23/3/16)

24/3/16:

"I refer to your article 'Sydney fails to clear air over activist ban' (23/3). It implies that Sydney University's short-lived decision to cancel a speaking event by anti-Israel campaigner Ali Abinimeh was as a result of my comments criticising him. Neither I nor anyone in my organisation has had any contact with anyone at Sydney University at any time in connection with Abunimah. My statement was about Abunimah's repugnant views, and makes no mention of his visa application." (Letter to editor, Robert Goot, Executive Council of Australian Jewry, 24/3/16)

Sanders Does AIPAC

The circus clowning of a Clinton or a Trump is not the nadir of a US presidential campaign. Kissing Israel's ring at the court of King AIPAC is.

This was Obama in 2008:

"I first became familiar with the story of Israel when I was 11 years old. I learned of the long journey and steady determination of the Jewish people to preserve their identity through faith, family and culture. Year after year, century after century, Jews carried on their traditions, and their dream of a homeland in the face of impossible odds... Our alliance is based on shared interests and shared values. Those who threaten Israel, threaten us. Israel has always faced these threats on the front lines. And I will bring to the White House an unshakeable commitment to Israel's security."

This is Bernie Sanders now:

"I was invited along with other presidential candidates to be at the AIPAC conference in Washington, but obviously I could not make it because we are here. The issues that AIPAC are dealing with are very important issues and I wanted to give the same speech here as I would have given if I were at that conference. Let me begin by saying that I am probably the only candidate for president who has personal ties with Israel. I spent a number of months there when I was a young man on a kibbutz, so I know a little bit about Israel. Clearly the United States and Israel are united by historical ties. We are united by culture. We are united by our values, including a deep commitment to democratic principles, civil rights, and the rule of law." (Sanders outlines Middle East policy, berniesanders.com, 21/3/16)

No need, as you can see, to bother with the rest of his speech. Same old, same old.

As Mearsheimer & Walt noted almost ten years ago:

"America is about to enter a presidential election year. Although the outcome is of course impossible to predict at this stage, certain features of the campaign are easy to foresee. The candidates will inevitably differ on various domestic issues - health care, abortion, gay marriage, taxes, education, immigration - and spirited debates are certain to erupt on a host of foreign policy questions as well... Yet on one subject, we can be equally confident that the candidates will speak with one voice. In 2008, as in previous election years, serious candidates for the highest office in the land will go to considerable lengths to express their deep personal commitment to one foreign country - Israel - as well as their determination to maintain unyielding US support for the Jewish state. Each candidate will emphasize that he or she fully appreciates the multitude of threats facing Israel and make it clear that, if elected, the United States will remain firmly committed to defending Israel's interests under any and all circumstances." (The Israel Lobby & US Foreign Policy, 2007)

When a Sectarian State is OK

When Zionists tell you you're an anti-Semite because you can't accept Israel as a Jewish state, say:

Not really. I also reject Christian, Islamic and Buddhist states.

But then, maybe I could be persuaded to accept Israel as a Jewish state - so long as it's not bang on top of someone else's home. If it were on the moon, say.*

[*A reworking of the Angry Arab's Rejection of Israel? 20/3/16.]

Now Even the Basel Program is Anti-Semitic!

"It's time we acknowledged that Oxford's student left is institutionally antisemitic," declares Aaron Simons in The Guardian (It's time we acknowledged that Oxford's student left is institutionally antisemitic, 17/2/16).

So anti-Semitic, in fact, that the "co-chair" of the Oxford University Labour Club, Alex Chalmers, has resigned!

Apparently, wails Aaron, "the radical left interprets Israeli politics through the 'settler-colonial' paradigm," which makes Israel look more like "a skull-capped Cecil Rhodes" than "a Jewish holocaust refugee," which is sooo anti-Semitic!

Well, Aaron, if applying the settler-colonial paradigm to Israel is now anti-Semitism, I guess that makes the daddy of all Zionist programs, the 1897 Basel Program, anti-Semitic.

Since you obviously weren't paying attention back in Zionism 101, here's the text of the Basel Program, issued by the First Zionist Congress, chaired by none other than the daddy of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl:

"Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Eretz Israel secured under public law. The Congress contemplates the following means to the attainment of this end:
1. The promotion by appropriate means of the settlement in Eretz Israel of Jewish farmers, artisans, and manufacturers.
2. The organization and uniting of the whole of Jewry by means of appropriate institutions, both local and international, in accordance with the laws of each country.
3. The strengthening and fostering of Jewish national sentiment and national consciousness.
4. Preparatory steps toward obtaining the consent of governments, where necessary, in order to reach the goals of Zionism."

Don't even get me started on Herzl's 1901 Jewish-Ottoman Land Company for the "for the settlement of Palestine and Syria."

Born More Equal

Jennifer Oriel, writing in today's Australian:

"The greatest erosion of human potential arises from the belief that some of us are born more equal than others." (White, male & increasingly discriminated against, 21/3/16)

But what about the bizarre belief that a certain strip of land in the Middle East lying between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan really belongs to Jennifer Oriel and friendz, who not only have Australian citizenship, homes and jobs, but can migrate to said strip of land any time they choose and call it home, while those who were ethnically cleansed from it in 1948 and 1967- to make way for the Jennifer Orielz of this world - are not allowed to return there?

Looks like Jennifer Oriel and friendz were born more equal than they.

Stirring Times in the Senate

Meet James Paterson, 28. A Victorian Liberal, James was seriously rambammed by AIJAC in 2009 and has until now been serving this great country of ours in his capacity as deputy executive director of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), under the wing of the "visionary" John Roskam, from whom he has been learning "the indispensable role of values in political life and the importance of bold policy ambition."

Now James is serving this great country of ours in the Senate, from whence he has just delivered his maiden speech, the keynote of which was:

"I am a Liberal because I believe that we are most likely to achieve human flourishing if we give people freedom."

Which is why:

"I'm a strong supporter of the State of Israel."

Right... anyway, moving right along, James then played this familiar ditty on the shofar:

"I admire greatly what they have built in just a few short years. Today Israel stands not just as a beacon of democracy in a sea of despotism in its own region but as a shining example to the entire world of how to build a prosperous, tolerant, harmonious and creative country in the toughest of circumstances."

But that was merely an attention-grabbing flourish, as it were. As his colleagues sat there in awed silence, a mysterious nimbus of light formed around his head and, before you could say beacon of light in a sea of despotism, James was suddenly channeling JFK: Ask not what your country can do for you, but what your country can do for Israel! Or words to that effect:

"I am proud of the generally bipartisan support that Israel has enjoyed from successive Australian governments. But I think we can do more to demonstrate our solidarity."

BUT HOW? roared the assembled multitude as one. James explained patiently:

"Like many nations, Australia has chosen to locate our embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv. But Tel Aviv is not Israel's capital city. Since 1950, Israel has asserted it is Jerusalem. Since 1967, it has administered the entire city. The Israeli government have demonstrated time and again that they are the best custodians for the religious and historical sites that are of significance to people of many faiths. I do not believe that the international community can continue to refuse to recognise their capital city of choice and the clear reality on the ground."

SO? roared the assembled multitude. AND YOUR POINT IS? At which James AIJACulated the following BOLD POLICY STATEMENT:

"It would be a symbolic but important step for Australia to formally recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital city and to move our embassy there."

Roskam, who had been sitting there in the gallery, fondly observing his protege in action, suddenly leapt to his feet, punching the air and screaming: YES! YES! YES! HOW BOLD, AGILE & INNOVATIVE IS THAT?! IPA! IPA! IPA!

Still reckon the Senate's a waste of space? 

Spotlight on the 'Australia Israel Labor Dialogue' 2

More from The Australian's John Lyons on the Elbit Systems-linked Australia Israel Labor Dialogue - Carr wants friends of Israel to open books (17/3/16):

"Pressure is growing for a Labor friends-of-Israel group to open its accounts to show who has been funding trips to Israel for trade unionists and members of the Labor Party. Former NSW premier and foreign minister Bob Carr said yesterday the current situation amounted to 'a shameful look' for Labor's support base. He warned the issue could damage the ALP with its 'hundreds of thousands of voters with Arabic backgrounds'.

"The Australian reported yesterday that a key figure in the Australia Israel Labor Dialogue - Mary Easson - is a lobbyist for the Australian subsidiary of Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit. Elbit is one of Israel's largest manufacturers of bombs, mortars, cyber-warfare systems and drones and was a key supplier of the army during the 2014 war against Gaza. On its website, it says one of its newest products has 'unprecedented lethality.' Ms Easson denies Elbit has ever made a donation to AILD. But Mr Carr said any connection to Elbit was 'a shameful look - arms dealers, civilian deaths, the electronic fence. It would be common sense for party leaders to say the Dialogue must present an independently audited account of its fundraising. The party's credibility with literally hundreds of thousands of voters with Arabic backgrounds is at stake,' he said.

"Ms Easson says Elbit Systems of Australia managing director Dan Webster has assured her no donation had been made from Elbit to the AILD. Mr Carr's call was supported by NSW ALP assistant secretary Rose Jackson, who took one of the AILD's trips. 'All funding and connection should absolutely be publicly declared,' she said. However, many of those who have taken trips clearly do not want to talk about them. The candidate for the federal seat of Perth, lawyer Ted Hammond, has refused to answer questions about his trip. NSW AILD branch patron, former Queensland premier Peter Beattie said Mr Carr's comments were internal ALP warfare. 'I am not interested in a petty side argument between the warring factions in the ALP over Israel and Palestine,' he said. Mr Beattie said there had been no donations since he became patron last year, 'so there was nothing to audit'.

"The growing division within the party over the issue was further evident yesterday when Labor Friends of Palestine published a list of all union and party officials known to have taken trips. The group said Elbit's profits increased 6.1% in July 2014, during the Gaza war, and that Human Rights Watch had confirmed that Elbit's drones had been used on Palestinian civilians. It said the Norwegian State Pension Fund, Denmark's Danske bank, Sweden's largest pension funds, Germany's Deutsche Bank and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund had divested themselves from Elbit for ethical reasons. A growing number of senior ALP figures - including Mr Carr, Tony Burke, Jason Clare, Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese - have all made clear that if Israel continues to expand the population of its settlements on the West Bank and there is no progress to a two-state solution, the next Labor government will recognise Palestine."

Spotlight on the 'Australia Israel Labor Dialogue' 1

Before you read the following expose by The Australian's John Lyons - Labor Friend of Israel a lobbyist for weapons firm (16/3/16) - keep in mind that Israel's arms manufacturing Elbit Systems 'won' a $349m contract with the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) to develop a command, control and communications system for the Australian army in 2010 (See my 17/3/10 post Passports: Finally, Some Action) and is linked to Israel's illegal (ICJ 2004 ruling) West Bank apartheid wall* (See my 26/10/11 post Sucked in at Sydney University):

"A key figure behind a Labor Party friends-of-Israel group is also a lobbyist for the Australian subsidiary of one of Israel's largest arms manufacturers. Mary Easson has also played an active role in the emotive debate within the Labor Party over its policy towards Israel. Ms Easson is one of five members of the NSW branch of the Australia Israel Labor Dialogue. At the same time, she is a lobbyist for Elbit, according to her latest listing on the federal registrar.

"The fact that Ms Easson's company, Probity International Pty Ltd, is lobbying for Elbit is almost certain to lead to anger within the ALP from those who have taken trips organised by the AILD. Ms Easson has been locked in a brutal fight inside the Labor Party with former minister Bob Carr over policy towards Israel. Ms Easson wants the ALP to retain its bipartisan support for Israel while Mr Carr wants a deadline for Israel to cease its expansion of settlements in the West Bank and to return to negotiations with the Palestinians.

"Elbit is one of Israel's largest manufacturers of bombs, mortars, cyber warfare systems and drones and much of its ordnance was used in the 2014 war with Gaza. On its website, Elbit says one of its products - the Soltam Spear - has 'unprecedented lethality.' The patron of the NSW branch of the AILD, former Queensland premier Peter Beattie, said he was unaware of Ms Easson's connection to Elbit. 'I am very comfortable saying if there is any contribution made in NSW and that is made available for trips to Israel, that information should be publicly available.' Since it was formed in 2010, the AILD has sent 33 union and Labor Party officials to Israel. Ms Easson told The Australian most of those had been sent by the Victorian branch and she did not know of any being sent by the NSW branch.

"NSW convener Greg Holland said he took a group of unionists in 2014, which included now NSW ALP secretary Kaila Murnain and the Labor candidate for the federal seat of Perth, Tim Hammond. Yesterday, Ms Murnain would not answer any questions related to her trip and Mr Hammond said he was conscious  these trips were 'highly sensitive' and would make no comment.

"When asked whether her role as a lobbyist for Elbit presented a conflict of interest when being part of a Labor Party group, Ms Easson at first said she worked for Elbit Australia, not the parent company. Later she said: 'I am employed by Intech Strategies and Intech Strategies is employed by Elbit Australia.' Ms Easson said she did not know who funded the trips for unionists. 'I'm not being coy, I really don't know the answer,' she said. 'How they get their funds I don't know - I guess I should have asked.'

"She said she joined the NSW branch of the AILD twelve months ago when it formed and it had not raised any funds or sent anybody on overseas trips. No one associated with the AILD contacted by The Australian was prepared or able to say who funded the trips. She said Elbit Systems of Australia managing directer Dan Webster had yesterday assured her no donation had been made from Elbit to the AILD. In October last year, three key NSW Labor officials went on an AILD trip - the secretary of the NSW branch of the Rail Tram and Bus Union, Alex Claasens, the secretary of the NSW Police Association, Peter Remfrey, and the Transport Workers Union's Polo Guilbert-Wright. Mr Claasens said he was approached by the Victorian branch and did not know of the Elbit connection when he went. 'The question for the people who run the organisation and the individual concerned is should it be put out there for people to see? Mr Claasens said.

"One of the key figures in the AILD, ACTU assistant secretary, Michael Borowick, would not give any specifics about who funded the AILD trips. 'Many individuals pay for their participation in the trips. AILD does respond favourably to individuals who make requests for a subsidy where it is available to do so,' he said. When asked who funded the AILD he said: 'AILD employs a variety of funding methods to support its activities.'

"Ms Easson has written in support of the current ALP policy - she was not a delegate but wrote a live blog from the NSW Labor conference in February. When the conference rejected motions she opposed, she wrote that 'the moment the fanatical anti-Israel forces were stopped and stood up to by sensible people in NSW Labor.' Several motions called for the banning of products made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and mandating that all Labor MPs who visited Israel on paid trips should spend equal time on the Palestinian side. The conference accepted a motion that 'encouraged' party members to spend 'substantial time in both Israel and Palestine.'

"Mr Holland did not think the AILD should have to reveal who funded trips. Asked if unionists who had been on these trips should have been told of Ms Easson's connection to Elbit, he said: 'That's up to Mary to do.' Asked about the possible conflict between the AILD, whose stated aim was a peaceful solution, and an arms manufacturer, Mr Holland said: 'I'm not sure what they (Elbit) do and how they do it. They might have peaceful solutions to conflicts.' He had the utmost confidence in Ms Easson and her probity.

"Federal Labor MP Melissa Parke - who has not taken one of the trips - said: 'Given the significant numbers of ALP members who are apparently being taken on these trips to Israel, it is a concern to know who is providing the funds, particularly where there is a person associated with an Israeli weapons manufacturer on the AILD committee. The Israel-Palestine conflict is a matter of ongoing and sometimes heated debate within the ALP. The best antidote to distrust and suspicion is full disclosure and full transparency'."

[* This puts Mary Easson's 2007 comment on the wall in a whole new light: "A wall in principle sounds like a terrible thing, but you go and see it and you think, 'Oh well, yeah, I can see why you would need that." See my 19/6/12 post A Family Affair.]

The Psychopathology of False Accusations of Anti-Semitism

Katie Miranda's interview with Rich Forer at mondoweiss.net - Understanding the fundamental roots of conflict & suffering: An interview with Rich Forer (11/3/16) - is well worth a read. Forer is the ex-Zionist author of Breakthrough: Transforming Fear into Compassion, A New Perspective on the Israel-Palestine Conflict (2010). Here he is on the subject of false accusations of anti-Semitism:

Katie Miranda: Accusations of anti-Semitism are a common phenomenon in the debate over Israel-Palestine. Can you explain what is going on in the minds of the people who use these accusations even against Jews who are upset with Israel's behaviour?

Rich Forer: Identifying as the victims in this struggle, accusers reject historical fact and allege that criticism of Israel or acknowledging embarrassing facts is motivated by anti-Semitic bigotry. David Ben-Gurion admitted that Israel had 'stolen' the land from the Palestinians. Was he an anti-Semite? Was Yitzhak Rabin an anti-Semite for lamenting that 'ruling over another people has corrupted us'?

Most accusations of anti-Semitism are projections. The actual bigotry occupies the minds of those who are afraid to ask why someone is critical of Israel. Indifferent to the suffering of an entire people and refusing to do honest research to refute or confirm the criticism, these accusers scapegoat anyone who challenges their historical narrative. Abdicating personal responsibility for their feelings, they project onto Israel's critics fear, confusion and anger, all of which are animated by unexamined beliefs and images within their minds.

It is true that a small percentage of critics is anti-Semitic and would like to do to Israel what Israel does to the Palestinians. But most critics simply want Israel to comply with international law. They don't want to harm Israelis. They want to prevent Israelis from harming Palestinians. But even their compassion for Palestinians is conflated with indifference to Jewish lives and judged anti-Semitic. If compassion for Palestinians is bigotry then virtually all Palestinians must be anti-Semites. And if criticism of deliberate violations of international law is bigotry what is turning one's back on the suffering of millions?

Are we to presume that the proof that someone is not an anti-Semite is that they accept Israeli justifications for its contempt for international law and its denial of human rights to non-Jews? If so, doesn't this make a mockery of Judaism and characterize the Jewish people as inhumane? But such a characterization would itself be considered anti-Semitic. This creates an absurdity. The proof that you are not an anti-Semite proves that you are an anti-Semite. This is the dualistic mind infected with existential fear and confusion.

For the most part, accusations of anti-Semitism are moral blackmail and they debase Judaism. Real anti-Semites incite anti-Semitism. I don't know anyone who does that more effectively than the Israeli government and its defenders. And after inciting anti-Semitism, they complain that they are victims of an anti-Semitic world.

No, No, Nadim

I notice that a bloke called Hussain Nadim keeps popping up on the opinion pages of the Sydney Morning Herald. Nadim is of Pakistani origin and is billed as "a doctoral candidate at the University of Sydney and co-ordinator of South Asia Study Group." He is elsewhere touted as an anti-radicalisation expert.

In an opinion piece in yesterday's Herald, Nadim had this to say:

"A few months ago, I had the opportunity to attend a fundraiser hosted by an Islamic organisation in Australia. To my surprise, in a matter of four hours, the organisation raised more than $2 million to build yet another mosque. The organisation's head said at the event he was committed to building a mosque every two miles in Australia. This is just one of the hundreds of Muslim organisations in Australia... For too long, the discourse has been focused on building mosques, instead of universities... Unless the Muslim world and the Muslim communities living in the West re-prioritise and start investing in people and scientific knowledge with their oil wealth or charity, the field will remain wide open for militant-minded individuals to carry the flag of Islam." (Islam needs to invest in people, not mosques, 14/3/16)

If that is indeed what is going on at these fundraisers, I couldn't agree more. Any group prepared to cough up a cool $2m for a mosque, church, synagogue, temple, whatever, every X mile or so, are people who have a priority problem.

But I'm not sure what he's on about with regard to universities. These, like our schools, should all be secular, free and publicly funded, not the recipients of funding by religious or corporate interests. If the organisation Nadim is writing about is Arab, that $2m should go to the victims of Israeli apartheid and genocide. No ifs, buts, or maybes. Moreover, the only mosque which should be at the forefront of any Muslim's mind now and in the foreseeable future is Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is in imminent danger of demolition by Zionist fanatics.

Not that Nadim would know anything about that. After all, he reckons its time for Pakistan to talk to Israel. Seriously. In Time to talk to Israel (The Express Tribune, 22/8/15), he unveils the extent of his 'understanding' of the apartheid state:

"There are better ways to show solidarity with Palestine than refusing to have any diplomatic relations with a country that is as old as ours and has the same rationale for independence."

That sentence alone shows that Nadim knows SFA about Palestinian history, and by implication Pakistani history.

"When even a country like Saudi Arabia, which has historically maintained close backdoor channels with Israel, is pondering over [sic] taking Saudi-Israeli relations to the next level, what then is holding Pakistan back?"

I would have thought that maybe Wahhabi Saudi Arabia exercised enough of a malign influence over Pakistan already, wouldn't you?

"Even if the rationale to boycott Israel has been to offer solidarity to Palestine, the best way to do that would be to recognise Israel, and mount pressure on it to play a part in resolving the crisis."

So Pakistan is going to succeed, where no one before has succeeded, in extricating the Palestinian rabbit from the gut of the Israeli python? Best of luck with that, Hussain.

When Reality is Anti-Israel

Here we go again:

"McGraw-Hill Education has taken the unusual step of withdrawing a textbook and planning to destroy all copies of it - following criticism that four maps in the book are inaccurate and anti-Israel. The book is a political science textbook, Global Politics: Engaging a Complex World. The McGraw-Hill Education website no longer features the book. But a page on Amazon describes the book this way: 'This contemporary presentation stresses the importance of global events and offers students a number of lenses through which to view the world around them'." (McGraw-Hill Education withdraws textbook with maps viewed as anti-Israel, Scott Jaschik, insidehighered.com, 8/3/16)

OK, let's just pause there.

"Inaccurate"? What, Jerusalem's Haifa and vice versa?

No, if that were the problem, you wouldn't be reading about this matter. The problem clearly has to do with the maps being "anti-Israel." And for our mysterious, faceless critics, anything anti-Israel is ipso facto inaccurate or... worse! And to hell with this namby pamby multi-lens approach to the world. There is only one lens for these guyz. But I digress...

"The book features 4 maps of what is now Israel, Gaza and the West Bank and say that it shows 'Palestinian loss of land' from 1946 to 2000."

Now we're getting close. There's a word there that is to these mysterious critics as garlic is to vampires.

Can you see it? Suffice it to say that it begins with the letter 'P'.

"Many Palestinian advocates agree with the maps, but many historians and supporters of Israel strongly disagree...."

Oh, I see, Scottie...

Advocates agree with the maps, but HISTORIANS (& supporters of Israel) disagree.

End of matter. After all, HISTORIANS (& supporters of Israel), have HISTORY on their side, and must be right, right?

And just so you get it, Scottie adds: "Supporters of Israel have fought the use of these maps elsewhere and quickly demanded urged McGraw-Hill to change or withdraw the textbook. Here is one such blog post which outlines objections to the maps and includes alternative ways to think about land in the region."

Thanks for putting us all on the ztraight and narrow, Zcottie.

And thanks, McGraw Hill for protecting our students from that awful creature, reality. Can't have that ugly bastard messing with their impressionable young minds, now can we?

Pew's Portrait of Fugly Israel

What a surprise that 48% of the citizens of a sectarian (Jewish), apartheid (Jewish/non-Jewish) state, founded on a monstrous act of ethnic cleansing, expulsion and larceny, dressed up as a 'War of Independence', want the remnant native, non-Jewish population OUT NOW!:

"Most Israeli Jews [48/46%] want to expel Palestinian citizens of Israel... This documentation of racism... inside Israel is contained in a new in-depth survey of Israeli attitudes by the Pew Research Centre." (Most Jews want to expel Palestinians - Pew's ugly portrait of Israel, Philip Weiss and Adam Horowitz, 8/3/16, mondoweiss.net)

Not "Pew's ugly portrait of Israel," guys: Pew's portrait of fugly Israel.

Travel Tart 2

Oh dear:

"Taxpayers footed the bill for family members of two Coalition MPs to fly to one of Australia's farthest-flung territories, the idyllic Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, for a weekend stay. The $10,000-plus bill to fly the wife and two daughters of West Australian Liberal Luke Simpkins and the husband of Northern territory Country Liberal Natasha Griggs to and from the tropical islands is the equivalent of a business-class round trip ticket to Honolulu for each of the four family members."  (Public pays $10k for family trips to tropical isles, Heath Aston, Sydney Morning Herald, 9/3/16)

Hm...

I wonder, is rambamming responsible for whetting our politicians' appetite for travel at someone else's expense? I mean, take Luke Simpkins, for example.

Back in 2012, a nice man, quite out of the blue, for no apparent reason, slipped Luke a ticket to Israel. To put it mildly, the experience messed with his head something terrible. On his return, he began muttering about halal meat turning us all into Muslims and squawking from his parliamentary perch that unless we ratcheted up sanctions against Iran, we'd all be rooned. Then, in 2013, he conceived the urge to visit the "homelands" of "major non-English speaking communities in his electorate." He did Vietnam. He did Greece. He did Thailand. And he did Macedonia, which he found to be "complex."

And now this...

Zionist Pot Calls Islamist Kettle Black

"The term Islamophobia is used so routinely to silence dissent, it has come to signal the presence of a freethinker in a field of PC censors." (No place here for Islamist bias, Jennifer Oriel, The Australian, 9/3/16)

Great Moments in Turning the Other Cheek

Here's a recent news report on the plight of Palestinian Christians, which, surprise, surprise, is the exact same plight as all other Palestinians. Who would have thought?

"Palestinian Christians scuffled with Israeli border police near Bethlehem Wednesday after dozens of them, including priests, gathered to protest new work on Israel's West Bank separation barrier in a sensitive Christian area. An AFP journalist said the protesters... gathered in the Christian town of Beit Jala to protest building a stretch of the barrier... The three Roman Catholic priests tried to pray among olive trees that bulldozers and mechanical diggers were seeking to uproot but were stopped by police. One demonstrator was arrested as he tried to plant an olive sapling in front of the excavators. Police wrestled with protesters who chanted, 'Israel is a terrorist state. It doesn't scare us.'... One of the most iconic symbols of the occupation, [the barrier] will cut off more than 9% of Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem from the majority, in places separating farmers from their fields or villagers from water sources, the UN says." (Palestinian Christians scuffle with Israeli police over divisive wall, AFP/news.yahoo.com, 19/8/15)

It's not rocket science, folks. Palestinian Christians, like all other Palestinians, have a clear & present ISRAEL problem, OK?

Why then does the latest edition (March 1916) of the Uniting Church of Australia's magazine ACCatalyst contain a centrefold called Persecution of Christians Worldwide Intensifies, containing a list of 50 countries where Christians are allegedly persecuted, beginning with the worst (North Korea) and ending with the least worst (Oman), and featuring the PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES as no. 24?

Not ISRAEL, mind you - Palestinian territories!?

And why O why has the editor of this magazine, one Max Champion, gone out of his way to republish an article from the Australian Jewish News (introduced as "an interesting news and opinion piece"!!!) which:

a) wags a finger at the Uniting Church for daring to entertain a proposal that the church 'establish an awareness-raising campaign throughout the church on the plight of Palestinian Christians and the Palestinian people, including the promotion of the boycott of goods from the illegal settlements in the West Bank as part of the campaign';

b) quotes a Zionist lobbyist to the effect that "a handful of activists" have "infiltrated" the Uniting Church and "bombarded" its members with "a dishonest, one-sided view of the conflict, demanding that the organisation support the activists' position and proposals,";

c) and announces that the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) will be involved in "formal meetings" with the Uniting Church to talk about "Christian and social anti-Semitism, and the theology of land as it relates to Israel"? (Yes, you read right!)

I've heard about turning the other cheek, but this is beyond ridiculous.

Boo Bloody Hoo

The Israeli Foreign Ministry wanted Israel's president, Reuven Rivlin, to visit Straya. Straya being Straya, it just couldn't say no. Those Israeli pheromones are just too good to resist:

"The Australians were surprised at the short notice. However, as they attach tremendous importance to what would be the first visit by an Israeli president in 11 years (and that was one they'd rather forget, by Moshe Katsav)*, they went out of their way and agreed to it. Australia's governor-general, who is Rivlin's counterpart, canceled a scheduled trip abroad; the prime minister rearranged his schedule. The Jewish community was in seventh heaven. A series of meetings and festive meals was arranged for Rivlin with Australia's elite, in three cities. 'We admire Rivlin,' an official Australian source told me. 'We consider him a positive figure, unifying and tolerant'."  (Shock & humiliation in Australia after Israeli president cancels official visit, Yossi Verter, Haaretz, 5/3/16)

What, as opposed to PM Netanyahu?

But then? Rivlin got a better offer. Putin invited him around for a bear hug. Straya, who'd been wetting her pants in anticipation, was - shock! horror! - stood up!!!

Hell hath no fury like a Straya scorned:

"It's hard to overstate the shock of the Australian leadership when they got the phone call from Jerusalem. 'We were stunned,' the official source related. 'We didn't know the first thing about Moscow. We couldn't understand why Russia couldn't be postponed for a few days. We didn't understand why we, your best friend, deserved this public humiliation. And in favor of the Russians, who are not exactly your friends. You are the ones who suggested and requested the visit, we did all we could to organize it with unprecedented speed, and then you postpone'. It's equally difficult to overstate the scale of the unpleasantness that was felt in the president's Residence. On Tuesday, Rivlin's office called the office of the governor-general of Australia, Peter Cosgrove, to apologize. Cosgrove refused to take the call. Rivlin was told that the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, would agree to speak to him. The two spoke for about 15 minutes. Ostensibly, things were set right, but not really."

Silly tart!

[*Now serving time for rape.]

The Unbearable Cluelessness of Graham Richardson

"That war is a dirty business is a proposition that cannot be challenged. Both innocence and the innocent are the victims, and when the war has been going on for years..."

That's how colorful Labor identity and Murdoch muppet Graham 'Richo' Richardson begins his column on NSW MLA Shaoquett Moselmane's threatened defamation action against Richo's fellow Murdoch muppett Sharri Markson. (Talk at lunch, not in court, The Australiam, 4/3/16)

And that's how he misrepresents what has been going on "for years" in Palestine. Nothing to do with colonisation. Or dispossession. Or ethnic cleansing. Or occupation. Or apartheid. Just another "dirty war" between equals. That's what this boofhead thinks is/has been going on over there. That's what he thinks it's all about.

Clearly, he knows SFA about the issue. Still, he insists he's learnt 'wisdom' of a practical kind from his late "legendary" Labor mates, bruvver Ducker and Jack Ferguson, namely 'Never sue anyone': "You risk hundreds of thousands of dollars you can't afford and you make certain you relieve [sic] the horror you're trying to forget." And this sage advice he's now dishing out to Moselmane whom he represents as a Richo protege: "I have known Moselmane for quite some time and more than any other individual I am responsible for getting the Labor party to put him into parliament."

So Shaoquett, maaate, listen up!

To clarify the details of Moselmane's defamation action: he said in state parliament in 2013: "I accept the right of people to express their views, even when they are wrong, naive, ill-informed, indoctrinated and blinded by the power of a lobby group that is cancerous and malicious and seeks to deny, misinform and scaremonger." Not apropos nothing, of course, but after coming under attack by another Murdoch muppet, Cassandra Wilkinson.

"These harsh words," says Richo, "were used to describe what could be called 'the Jewish lobby'."

(You can read it all in context in my 27/5/13 post Shaoquett Moselmane Speaks Truth to Power.)

This is what Murdoch muppet Markson wrote in response: "He didn't utter them in the privacy of his own home. He felt comfortable enough broadcasting this anti-Semitic sentiment within the walls of the NSW Parliament..."

Richo apparently has no problem with that malicious, career-destroying, mother-of-all-smears. But Moselmane's words, now that's a different matter: "Parliamentary privilege is a wonderful weapon in the hands of a politician with something nasty to say... It is hard to describe those words as anything but extreme."

Harsh... nasty... extreme. This is supposed to justify Markson hurling the A-bomb at Moselmane, calling him, in effect, from her public perch over at News Corpse, an anti-Semite. For Richo this is merely "free speech" and "commentary."

He puts in a plug for Markson:

"I want a society where strong debate with strong language is welcomed... I don't agree with all that is contained in the Markson commentary. Bob Carr, a friend of mine for more than 40 years, would have every right to be grievously offended by the column. Carr, though, would not call in the lawyers in a bid to shut Markson down. He knows debate is vital to democracy... Markson is tenacious and fearless. She can be irritating and sometimes can go too far. It should be noted, though, that the task of a good journalist is not to make us feel relaxed and comfortable. While I don't agree with much of her column, it would be a great shame if anyone succeeded in shutting her down. Markson is a good advertisement for modern journalism. It doesn't matter to me whether she has crossed some indiscernible legal line. This matter should not finish up in a court of law. Moselmane should rethink and back off. He would be far better to take Markson to lunch and debate the issue. You gave it, Shaoquett, now you have to man up and take it on the chin."

Is he for real? If Markson is "a good advertisement for modern journalism," then God help modern journalism!

It's not as if Richo is unfamiliar with Moselmane's background:

"Moselmane hails from a village in southern Lebanon. When the Israelis last ventured into Lebanon, I can vividly recall Moselmane's reaction when up to 12 children in his village died from aerial and artillery bombardment. Moselmane was quite emotional when discussing this with me. He vented his feelings about the Israeli army and the people who ordered them into his part of southern Lebanon. He would be less than human if the deaths of those children had no effect on his views about Israel and its inhabitants."

So Moselmane's got some skin in the vicious, expansionist games that Israel, as a hyper-aggressive, apartheid state, has been playing for decades in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Jordan, in Egypt, and in Iraq. And then, when he speaks out against the influence and reach of Israel's Australian cheer squad, who, in the words of Richo mate Bob Carr, derive their extraordinary power from "political donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists"* (such as Markson (rambammed: 2015) and Sheehan), he cops The Smear of Smears from Markson, who - and here's the rub - has no skin in the game whatever, other than to have been indoctrinated at some stage with the false Zionist notion that occupied - River to Sea - Palestine is her birthright as a Jew, a bizarre conceit she appears too thick or too full of herself to see through.

But I guess that's all a bit too subtle for Richo.

[*7.30 Report, 9/4/14]

Paul Sheehan: Going, Going...

... but still not bloody gone!

Only "stood aside until further notice"? (Paul Sheehan suspended by Sydney Morning Herald over false rape story, Amanda Meade, theguardian.com, 4/3/16)

That's all? Just a suspension? What a joke! Principal Goodsir is so half-arsed.

Look, the bugger will be off school for a week or so having the time of his life. Then before you can say good riddance, he'll be back in class again annoying the bejesus out of his teachers as usual.

Either that or he'll give Fairfax High the finger and pop up at Murdoch. For the life of me I could never understand why he didn't go to that bloody hole in the first place.

Air Apartheid

"A local technology start-up is channeling the know-how of the Israel military to lure Australian former defence personnel as pilots for its fleet of commercial drones. Ninox [Robotics]managing director Marcus Ehrlich said its first group of two pilots and two maintenance staff undergoing training were all ex-Australian Defence Force men. 'They're all out of the army drone regiment which makes them fantastic to train and great utilisers of the system,' he said... Last year Sydney's Ninox Robotics was the first Australian drone operator to conduct test flights at night... 

"Now Ninox pilots and technicians are in Israel for one month, honing their flying skills using drones made by Bluebird Aero Systems. Bluebird operates from Kadima, a small town 35km from Tel Aviv. It makes a variety of drones... According to Bluebird's website, it is used for 'covert, real-time, life-saving intelligence to the Israeli forces performing their missions in the war on terror and supporting the Israel homeland security situation'. Bluebird's drones were used in Operation Brother's Keeper, launched in response to the 2014 kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, and Operation Protective Edge, Israel's response to rocket attacks from Gaza in the same year..." (Israeli army trains drone pilots, Chris Griffith, The Australian, 26/2/16)

Melissa Parke MP: Nice Girl in a Place Like This

New Matilda journalist Max Chalmers' excellent piece on Labor MP (Freemantle, WA) Melissa Parke, who has announced she will be stepping down at the next election, is called Labor's conscientious objector: inside Melissa Parke's war on indifference (28/2/16). It could just as well have been called What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? 

Chalmer's essay is a fascinating reflection on the interface between a thoroughly decent, principled, and beautiful human being and a thoroughly indecent, unprincipled, ugly-as-sin party machine. Or, to put it another way, the interface between a human being so morally and intellectually courageous that the issue of Palestine is central to her outlook on life and a party machine committed to ensuring that it is consigned to history's dustbin. Which is to say, a rotten-to-the-core Zionist party.

I would urge all of you to read the essay in its entirety. For now I wish only to highlight the following passages and say a few words:

"The issue of BDS in Australia, and of the Israel/Palestine conflict generally, remains politically unrewarding. Support begets accusations of anti-Semitism, and as The Greens have learnt, dogged attacks from the conservative press. If you are unlucky you might even end up in court. Meanwhile, most Australians couldn't tell you the first thing about the aging conflict. The repercussions for pushing it onto the public consciousness are severe, and the political payoffs somewhere between questionable and nonexistent."

Now isn't that the naked truth?! And yet, it seems to me, that even as good a journalist as Chalmers is afraid to spell out the bleeding obvious; whether Lib, Lab or Green, the Zionist lobby has Australian politics by its non-existent balls.

Example? Melissa Parke MP is tabling a petition in support of BDS by a dissident Israeli academic resident in Australia, Marcelo Svirsky. Writes Chalmers: "Despite being delivered to a near-empty chamber, Parkes' remarks were punctuated by outraged interjections."

Near-empty chamber... outraged interjections. Says it all, really.

So why has Parkes embraced the cause of Palestine? Simple. Being the intellectually and morally courageous individual she is, and having seen what she's seen, she simply cannot look away. From this:

"As the Second Intifada raged [2000-2005]... Parke was in Gaza... working as a Legal Officer for a UN refugee agency... At the time, Israel was deploying what Parke describes as 'a sort of shock and awe bombing campaign.' She says thirty-six bombs were dropped on her first night in Gaza city, shaking her building and its surrounds. She lay awake. Then Israel started targeting leaders of Hamas - too bad if you're the one who gets stuck in traffic behind them when the IDF locks on. 'You could be driving behind the car targeted with Hamas in it and you're gone as well,' Parke says. She was scared, and her fears were soon vindicated. The same year as Parke arrived in Gaza, a place she stayed for two and a half years, fellow UN worker Ian Hook was shot in the back by an Israeli sniper from a nearby building. Hook was in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank but was inside a UN compound at the time he was shot. He'd been there to help rebuild homes. Israel contests the exact details of the killing, but those like Parke believe the shooter must have known who they were about to slay. Despite some outrage, and conciliatory calls from Israel's then foreign minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to the English government, a UN resolution condemning the murder was vetoed by the United States.

"The killing of Hook and lack of international response outraged Parke, and she carries the injustice of it with her still. So too the many others she witnessed directly in the shelled and reshelled streets of Gaza. 'I didn't go there with a preconceived view,' Parke insists. 'I obviously had read about the situation. But it's not until you're there on the ground that you come to appreciate the absolute imbalance of power. You're talking about the fourth largest military power in the world with the latest technology and with an army, navy, airforce, versus an occupied people - an impoverished, occupied people.' These experiences soaked deep into Parke. When I tried to move the interview on, at one point, she moves us back to Palestine. This is what she wants to talk about and part of the reason she came to Parliament: to grab the megaphone and to use it."

Inevitably, the subject of Tanya (Once was warrior) Plibersek arises:

"Both Parke and Plibersek secured progressive inner-city seats and have an affinity for development and international affairs. Both are used as counter-examples by party faithful disillusioned with the middling leadership of Bill Shorten. Both have a powerful charisma and independent streak. But only one has played the disciplined insider game: Plibersek now finds herself on the ladder's penultimate rung. Yet... Tanya Plibersek underwent a transformation over the period of her ascent, especially in regards to international affairs. In earlier times, Plibersek decried Ariel Sharon as a war criminal and blasted the US but by the time he died in 2014, she was thanking the former Israeli leader for his 'courageous stand' for peace."

Yet another example, if one were needed, of the extraordinary power of the Israel lobby in this country. The appalling reality of Australian political life, as of American, is that the path to the the political ladder's penultimate rung passes through the Zionist lobby.

Finally, a quibble: "[Parke] is drawn to Labor's history and points to Doc Evatt... as [a source] of inspiration."

Melissa, should ever get around to reading this post, please, please, please take the trouble to click on the Dr Evatt label below and find out a little more about this Zionist icon.

The Herald 'Apologises'

Blink and you'd have missed it. The Sydney Morning Herald 'apologises' for its Islamophobe-in-residence, Paul Sheehan, without mentioning his name:

"In last Monday's paper, the Herald reported the details of an alleged sexual assault under the headline 'The horrifying untold story of Louise.' A subsequent column printed in last Thursday's edition, 'The story of Louise: why the police have no case to answer, but I do,' acknowledged key elements of the original story were unable to be substantiated. The original story, which has been corrected, included aspersions against the Middle Eastern community and raised untested allegations of inaction against the NSW Police. The Herald sincerely regrets the hurt and distress this report caused to these groups, and unreservedly apologises." (Apology, 29/2/16)*

And then, adding insult to 'apology', the Herald publishes the following letter of appreciation to Sheehan/concern for 'Louise' in the same edition:

"I very much appreciate Paul Sheehan's honesty and admission to his mistake but am a little perplexed. Does this mean 'Louise' was never raped or beaten up and spent two months in hospital? I would very much appreciate an explanation. It appears in the second article that Louise is a troubled soul. However, if any of her comments are true they need to be considered. I am also concerned that the police advised her that they were unable to assist as she reported the incident four months after and therefore it was too late; this does not ring true. I do hope that you can get to the bottom of this unpleasant situation." Linda Ward, Tweed Heads South

[*Compare the above paragraph with the Herald's elaborate, multi-paragraph grovel to the Israel lobby for the supposed offence of its cartoonist Glen Le Lievre in depicting Israel's enjoyment of Gaza's agony under Israeli attack in 2014. (See my 4/8/14 post Sustained Israel lobby barrage cripples SMH.)]