Bob Carr's 'Run for Your Life' 2

Apart from the issue of Israeli settlements, which "slowly wormed its way into my consciousness, but not enough to undermine my instinctual support for the Jewish state," it was "the storm of criticism" unleashed by the Israel lobby, following his presentation, as premier of NSW, of the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize to the Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi which gave Bob Carr pause for thought on the subject of Israel - even though he reveals that his motive was merely to "reward a Palestinian leader who has signed up for a peaceful path to Palestinian statehood," and that that had to be "good for Israel." Carr describes the hue and cry as follows:

"Soon after my participation was announced, Jewish leaders launched an 'international petition' to force me to withdraw from the award. Sam Lipski, a prominent member of the Jewish community in Melbourne, denounced Hanan Ashrawi as a Holocaust denier. There was not a shred of evidence, and he was forced to withdraw and apologise. There were threats of funding being withdrawn from Sydney University. Its chancellor, Justice Kim Santow, barred Ashrawi from even appearing in the Great Hall. So much for academic freedom. Letters of protest were dispatched about the award going to a Palestinian, switchboards set aflame with indignation. This campaign had two objectives: to see that no Australian politician attended the presentation of the peace prize and that the peace prize be withdrawn. Lucy Turnbull, then the lord mayor of Sydney, withdrew her attendance. Her husband was running for Liberal Party preselection in the seat of Wentworth, home to a large and influential Jewish community. Kathryn Greiner was a member of the board which had made the decision to award the prize, but she phoned Stuart Rees, the director of the Sydney Peace Prize Foundation, and told him: 'I'll tell you how serious this is. Bob Carr won't come to the dinner. He'll flick the responsibility to [his deputy, Andrew] Refshauge at the last minute. And you won't get the Town Hall. It is more than Lucy's life is worth.' An article in The Australian suggested that by accepting this invitation I had damaged the federal Labor leadership of Simon Crean and quoted an anonymous member of his staff to that effect. Just as federal Labor is lifting its game, the NSW premier does this unconscionable thing that sets us back - this was the tone of the story planted by a member of Crean's staff but not, I am convinced, by Crean himself." (pp 176-7)

The proverbial penny had finally begun to drop:

"The day it appeared I received a call from a former colleague, Laurie Brereton, now serving in the federal parliament, who told me in strong language that I should not back down. He said, 'This group [he meant the Israel lobby, especially in Melbourne] is used to bullying to get its way. They do it all the time. You get nothing by backing off. Stand firm.'... I had already reached the same view as Brereton. If I had backed down it would have sent a melancholic message to all Australians of Arabic or Palestinian background: namely that, through its political clout, the other side - 'the lobby', 'the community' - will always crush you. I had given my word I would present this prize (ironically, because in one tiny way it would make a contribution to Israel being more secure). I would not back down. I have never received more support on any single issue in my time in public life. I was stopped in the street by strangers who said, 'Congratulations on not backing down... ' and seeing me look puzzled would add by way of explanation, '... in meeting...' and, not being able to recall the Arabic name would add, '... that woman.' It was the only controversy I can recall where this continued a month after publicity ceased. The award dinner was a sellout full of people from boardroom Sydney, who, I realised, had an instinctive understanding of what had gone on here: a plain bullying attempt to silence a side in the debate as legitimate as its opposite." (ibid)

The Israel lobby had overreached itself - and, critically, its bullying ways had come, via the media spotlight, to the attention of the man/woman on the street, as evinced by Carr above. He continues:

"The bullying Jewish leadership began to realise they had gone too far. I received a phone call from Frank Lowy, not to threaten or cajole but to ask out of curiosity, 'I just wondered why you did this?' Looking back I'm struck by the assumption there must be something perverse in treating a Palestinian with courtesy, as someone who might have an equal right to attention. I told him I did it because I believed encouraging peaceful Palestinians would be something one might do for a more secure Israel. But it dawned on me - with his phone call and the other reaction - what had been behind this campaign. I came to recognise it as a phenomenon that I later saw discussed on Mondoweiss, an American Jewish website, as 'Jewish Narcissism'. Maybe it's more fairly seen as an acute defensiveness and anxiety about losing friends. Whatever, there was a strong tone of 'How dare you'. That is, how dare you break ranks with us. How dare you criticise Israel. I later encountered this mentality when I was foreign minister." (ibid)

"The assumption that there must be something perverse in treating a Palestinian with courtesy"? The mind boggles. One cannot help but think at this point that if only Carr had spent a little more time reading about Israel's brutal treatment of occupied Palestinians on the ground at the time, instead of stroking Israel lobby egos, then he would have seen the idea of Ashrawi's receiving courteous treatment from Australia's Israel firsters as plainly risible. Still, it must be admitted that the transition from brainwashed Zionist dupe to pro-Palestinian activist is hardly ever a 'road to Damascus' thing.

To be continued...