Clowns to the Left, Jokers to the Right

PM Scott Morrison's Wentworth by-election fizzer continues to fizz away:

"The Herald has been told that an Australian minister advised [Indonesian Trade Minister] Mr [Enggartiasto] Lukita there was only a small chance of the embassy move going ahead, raising expectations in Jakarta that Mr Morrison will reconsider his stance. Defence Industry Minister Steve Ciobo... met Mr Lukita recently at a defence event in Indonesia. The Herald was told Mr Lukita said to Mr Ciobo: 'Don't ask when [the $16.5 billion trade agreement] will be signed.' Mr Ciobo replied: 'Enggar, I know.' In one account of this conversation, Mr Ciobo is said to have told [Lukita]: 'About the possibility, I cannot say 100% we will move, but I guess the possibility is less than 5%'." (PM clears way for embassy retreat, David Crowe, Sydney Morning Herald, 15/11/18)

Wow! 5% - just like Morrison's chance of being re-elected.

Meanwhile, back in the surreal world of Australia's federal parliament, our Liberal Likudniks rush to defend Morrison's fizzer from our... Labor Likudniks.

 Here, for example, is deputy PM, Josh Frydenberg:

"There is a fundamental point here, that the government is not backing off: Australia determines its own foreign policy decisions around the locations of its embassies." (Frydenberg pushes for Israel embassy move, Primrose Riordan, The Australian, 16/11/18)

Just around the locations of its embassies, Josh? Nothing to do with how we vote on Palestine/Israel in the UNGA?

And here's defence minister Christopher Pyne:

"Christopher Pyne, a strong supporter of Israel, also backed Mr Morrison and accused Labor of wanting to 'subcontract' foreign policy to foreign governments." (ibid)

Subcontract? Now where have I heard that word before in this context? Bob Carr, of course: "We are not running an Australian foreign policy... Subcontracting our foreign policy to party donors is what this involves." (Diary of a Foreign Minister, p 214)

So what we've got here is the Liberals, who have subcontracted our foreign policy on Palestine to Israel, accusing Labor, who have also subcontracted our foreign policy on Palestine to Israel, of subcontracting our foreign policy to... Indonesia. And so, because both parties have been throwing Palestine and the Palestinians under the Israeli bus for as long as I can remember, Labor has no credible response to Pyne's accusation. Both are equally guilty in this respect.

And, for what it's worth - not much - here's Morrison, the man who lit the fizzer because he thought there'd be some votes in it in a by-election, up on his hind legs, lamely taking up Frydenberg and Pyne's hypocritical refrain:

"The Prime Minister hit back at the Opposition Leader, saying foreign governments should not have veto over Australian policies, and accusing him of being 'quick to take cues on Australia's foreign policy from those outside Australia'."

Clowns to the left, jokers to the right, as the old song has it, neatly sums up Australian policy on Palestine/Israel in Circus Australia.

Australia Sells Arms to Saudi Arabia

The Turnbull Government is now directly stoking the US-backed Saudi/UAE war on the Yemeni people:

"Australian firms have secured contracts to supply military equipment to Saudi Arabia, an autocracy accused of ongoing war crimes in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 civilians. Defence has approved four military exports to the kingdom in the past year and the Australian government has led the push for more. But the government has refused to release details of the approved military sales, citing commercial-in-confidence rules... Mr Pyne [Minister for Defence Industry]... would not comment on the value of materiel exports to Saudi Arabia... He declined to name which businesses accompanied him to Riyadh." (Defence approves military deals with Saudi Arabia, Patrick Begley, Sydney Morning Herald, 25/3/17)

See also my 2/2/16 post Australia's Dogs of War in Yemen.

Poodles Pyne: Finding Inspiration in All the Wrong Places

Poodles Pyne is now arguably the only politician on Planet Earth ever to have claimed that he was inspired by Benjamin Netanyahu:

"Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne will lead a government push to secure Australia as the Asia-Pacific maintenance and sustainment hub for the Joint Fighter F-35 warplane, according to Defence sources... In a speech to defence industry figures last week in Melbourne, Mr Pyne said he wanted Australia's defence industry 'to become a major pillar of our economy'. He said he had been inspired by meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told him France's decision under Charles de Gaulle to stop supplying high-tech arms to Israel had forced the tiny nation to develop its own domestic industry capability. 'Now Israel's defence industry is one of the great success stories of their economy', Mr Pyne said in the speech." (Pyne push to secure local hub for JSF maintenance, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 25/6/16)

The Origins of the Judeo-Christian Meme

Whence the 'Judeo-Christian' meme?

Food for thought from:

Curriculum review: where did 'Judeo-Christian' come from? (Chloe Patton, theconversation.com, 12/1/14)

"Education minister Christopher Pyne has copped it from the Left with both barrels for demanding that the Australian education curriculum teach students 'the significance of Judeo-Christian values to our institutions and way of life.' He did this in announcing his review into the national curriculum late last week...

"By simply typing 'Judeo-Christian' into [the Australian parliamentary website's] search tool, Australia's youngsters will be no doubt regaled with stirring accounts of Australians founding a modern democracy on a shared commitment to a Judeo-Christian heritage, or valiantly fighting to defend Judeo-Christian values on the battlefield at Gallipoli.

"The only problem is that they won't. The term doesn't even appear until 1974. Throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s it is used in only a handful of contexts without any apparent consistency in its meaning. In fact, the vast majority of the 855 results the search generates are dated from late 2001 onwards. Until September 11, it appears Australians didn't give a fig about Judeo-Christian values.

"The notion of a Judeo-Christian tradition is, in fact, borrowed from American public discourse. But even in the US, it is still a relatively recent idea. According to US researchers, the term only began to regularly appear during and after World War 2, when progressives sought an inclusive term that naturalised the incorporation of Jews into mainstream US society. The political intent driving its use changed from one of inclusion to one of exclusion in the post-September 11 era, however, when it most often signified the perceived challenges of Islam and Muslims.

"Even now, the term Judeo-Christian is used more commonly in the US. As Monash academic Sue Collins has found, the term appeared 6,418 times in North American newspapers between 2006 and 2013. By contrast, it was used only 765 times in all European newspapers, including the British print media, and 304 times in major Australian newspapers:

"On close analysis of Australian use of the term, Collins finds that the 'Judeo' element is merely tacked on for political expedience: 'The term has become a kind of shield for undeclared conservative interests which really want to privilege, and actually mean, the Christian tradition, but are conscious this would be politically counter-productive'...

"Christopher Pyne can dress it up in any way he likes, but the only historical significance Judeo-Christian values have in Australian public discourse is in post-9/11 conservative rhetoric."

See also my posts Onward Judeo-Christian Soldiers 1 (9/8/10) and 2 (27/4/11), and The Push for a Judeo-Christian Curriculum (12/3/14)

Pyne & Bishop Do Ramallah

Oh dear:

"A Palestinian minister has accused an Australian-led political delegation of asking rude questions during a meeting in the West Bank. The Australian industry minister Christopher Pyne, the former parliamentary speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, and Human Rights Commissioner, Tim Wilson, were among Australian and British delegates to attend the meeting in Ramallah on Sunday. 

"The Palestinian education minister, Sabri Saidam, told the ABC the meeting was 'very explosive and very challenging.' He said the group had asked 'rude and blunt' questions and Pyne had raised 'a list of complaints.' The group visited Israel as part of the Australia-Israel-United Kingdom Leadership Dialogue. Saidam suggested the delegation had 'wrong impressions accumulated after the visit to Israel.' 'The delegation had false information and twisted facts,' he told the ABC. 'It was clear the delegation was not well educated.'"  (Australian delegation asked 'rude' questions during 'explosive' West Bank meeting, Daniel Hurst, theguardian.com, 16/12/15)

Frankly, I blame the Palestinian Authority here.

As in, what did they expect?

Face it, what are we dealing with here?  

A mob of obnoxious and revolting Australian politicians who think the sun shines out of Israel's arse, on an Israeli-sponsored freebie to Israel, primed with Israeli talking points, stuffed with Israeli tucker, and only in Ramallah so that they can claim they 'talked to both sides.'

Saidam said the group had asked "rude and blunt questions."

Well, hello? You are dealing with Poodles Pyne, Chopper Bishop and Freedom Boy here.

He said Pyne "had a list of complaints."

Well, hello? Autographed by Benjamin Netanyahu himself.

He said, the delegation had "wrong impressions accumulated after the visit to Israel," and "false information and twisted facts."

Well, hello? Only after their visit to Israel? They've been reading the Murdoch press, like, for centuries, mate!

He said, "It was clear the delegation was not well educated."

Well, hello? What did Poodles Pyne have in his back pocket? Senor & Singer's Start-Up Nation.*

I mean, if you're going to let this lot into your office, you deserve what you get, right?

End of story.

[*"Despite another year of political upheaval, it is encouraging that many of our politicians still found time to reach for a book... Releasing his 'inner revolutionary', Industry Minister Christopher Pyne devoured Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer..." (The next pages in the lives of our pollies: What our representatives will be reading over the Christmas break, Troy Bramston, The Australian, 14/12/15) On this vile little propaganda tome, see my 23/4/10 post Creative Destruction.]

Israelly Home

Christopher Pyne's memoir, A Letter to My Children, was most insightfully reviewed in Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald by Gerard Windsor:

"How self analytical can a serving politician be? After all, he lives in a world of spin, evasion and equivocation. Yet Christopher Pyne says he wants to reveal at least his professional self to his children; they they deserve an explanation from such an absent father...

"The one word never mentioned is 'power', whereas the implicit message of the text is that he loves the power employed and achieved in the political process.. There is one little giveaway word - 'turn'. Everyone - Pyne, Wilson [the MP unseated by Pyne in a preselection challenge], the preselectors - is using it: 'Wait your turn... It's my turn now... You've had your turn'. This is children's talk - licking the wooden spoon, nursing the new kitten. This is not the only disjunct between what is said and a contrary implication in the choice of stories and language. In fact, this book is a great subject for textual analysis. Pyne says various experiences have made him humble, but every anecdote he tells has himself winning out, having the last word, trumping someone else not so witty or politically astute. This is vanity, not humility. And omissions are at least as interesting as inclusions. For example, Pyne tells us he has visited Israel at least seven times, and that 'Israelis are a lot like us'. The word Palestinian does not occur." (Pining for more questions and answers, 26/9/15)

Puts a whole new construction on the term 'absent father', eh?

Don't Mention Palestine at LaTrobe University

The 'Vision' statement of Victoria's La Trobe University reads in part: "La Trobe will be a University known for its excellence and innovation in relation to the big issues of our time..."

And yet, when one of its student politicians, Ryan Higginson, set out to draw the attention of the student body to what certain other student politicians had said on the subject of one of the big issues of our time, namely Israeli genocide and apartheid, he got suspended for his pains:

"In a win for the political right, student activist Ryan Higginson has been suspended from La Trobe University. For 8 months, the 19-year-old will be unable to attend classes or set foot on any La Trobe campus.

"According to its own regulations, the Misconduct Office that investigated Higginson is bound by the rules of 'natural justice'. But in La Trobe's kangaroo court, he was denied legal representation at the hearing. He was prohibited even to be accompanied by someone with legal training. And the full evidence against him was not available to Higginson or his lawyers.

"Higginson was accused of putting up posters that name and quote elected La Trobe Student Union office bearers. The quotes were taken from a student union council meeting that debated Israel's most recent assault on Gaza. The posters are alleged to have created an intimidatory atmosphere on the campus.* The charge is obviously ludicrous. Does the Labor Party create an intimidatory atmosphere when it puts up posters that quote Tony Abbott? What about a newspaper that publishes a politician's comments? Students have a right to know what happens in the student council and the arguments that their representatives make there.

"Another deeply concerning aspect of this case relates to the influence of federal politicians. Education minister Christopher Pyne published an op-ed in The Australian just days before Higginson received notice of his misconduct charges.** The minister had demanded that university administrations crack down on left wing activists and put aside concerns about 'free speech'.

"The day after Higginson received his notice, Labor MP Michael Danby announced that he had written an appeal to the university and had received a prompt phone call from the vice-chancellor in return. He declared that the disciplinary hearings would be held as a result of his representations to the university.

"There is no doubt that there is a campaign of intimidation occurring on university campuses. It is being waged against left wing activists."*** (La Trobe suspends left wing activist, Jessica Lenehan, Red Flag, 20/10/14)

In the spirit of truth in advertising, La Trobe University's 'Vision' statement should perhaps be amended to: La Trobe will be a University known for its excellence and innovation in relation to the big issues of our time, with the sole exception of Israeli genocide and apartheid... 

[* "The student making the complaints at La Trobe, Jessica Cornish, 25, is now represented by Arnold Bloch Leibler in her complaints of harassment and intimidation against the Socialist Alternative and Students for Palestine. She said she had voted down a motion condemning Israel's 'ethnic cleansing' in Gaza, posters were pasted on campus walls accusing her of supporting genocide in Gaza. She also faced taunts from the students." (Left-wing student club banned, Timna Jacks, The Age, 6/9/14);**See my 6/9/14 post Pyne Whine Deconstructed;*** See my 10/9/14 post AUJS Plays the Anti-Semitism Card.]

Behind AUJS's Campus Offensive

In my 10/9/14 post AUJS Plays the Anti-Semitism Card, I reproduced a report from the Socialist Alternative paper Red Flag on the current campaign by the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) to sabotage Palestine solidarity activism on our campuses by making "unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism and 'targeting Jewish students'."

One of AUJS's ideological 'pillars' is Zionism: "AUJS subscribes to the Zionist ideals espoused in the World Zionist Organisation's Jerusalem Program. We seek to promote a positive image of Israel on campus... and to educate the wider student population about Judaism and Israel." (Our pillars, aujs.com)

Just so we're in no doubt what AUJS is all about here, here's the preamble to the WZO's Jerusalem Program: "Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the State of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people..."

It goes without saying that, as a Zionist organisation, AUJS conflates Judaism and Zionism, a practice which allows it to play the anti-Semitism card whenever Israel or its behaviour is called into question.

AUJS also has friends in high places.

You'll remember Education Minister Christopher Pyne's tender concern for its operatives in Murdoch's Australian on August 29. (See my 6/9/14 post Pyne Whine Deconstructed.)

Then there's AUJS's recent (31/8-2/9) "political training seminar" at Parliament House in Canberra:

"The delegation of 40 students was addressed by some of the biggest names in Australian politics and beyond. The participating students are pictured with Josh Frydenberg [Liberal] MP." (The moment, The Australian Jewish News, 12/9/14)

And what a lovely pic it is too. Why, there's the beaming young Matthew Lesh, AUJS's political affairs director, seated right in front of Frydenberg, wanting only the great man's guiding hand on his shoulder.

According to one of Matthew's AUJS retweets (1/9), Frydenberg told the delegation: "You're at the front line, and what you do matters."  

The front line? An interesting choice of words, to say the least. Right after Operation Protective Edge (8/7-26/8) too. 

The front line of what exactly? Presumably, AUJS's campaign to divert attention from Israel's genocide in Gaza by attacking activists who dare to raise the issue on campus.

It's not only Lib who's stiffening the spines of AUJS's shock troops. It's also Lab. Just listen to Opposition leader, Bill Shorten, in another Lesh retweet:

"I would encourage Labor clubs to work closely with AUJS." (2/9)

Incredibly, even The Greens are in on the act, as yet another Lesh retweet indicates:

"Hearing from political staffers across Liberal, Labor and Greens." (1/9)

And we're expected to believe that AUJS are merely reacting to an upsurge of anti-Semitism on campus.

Pyne Whine Deconstructed

UNIS HIT BY ANTI-SEMITISM

Christopher Pyne, The Australian, 29/8/14

"The growth of anti-Semitism in our universities is deeply worrying."

Pyne means that the growth in opposition to Israeli apartheid and genocide in our universities worries the Zionist movement and its parliamentary dupes no end.

"In the past months students at at least 6 universities have reported anti-Semitic bullying."

Meaning: Zionist students have misconstrued anti-Israel activism as anti-Semitism, either as a deliberate strategy to stifle opposition to Israeli apartheid and genocide in our universities, or because they've been hopelessly indoctrinated into believing that criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism, or both.

"While the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians..."

This is how Pyne frames the slaughter of Palestinians by Israel's military machine.

"... may invoke emotive responses..."

But certainly not in Christopher Pyne.

"... there is no place for anti-Semitism."

He means there is no place for criticism of Israel.

"Students have been targeted physically and verbally just because they are Jewish."

Meaning?

"Recently five Jewish students were refused entry to a Socialist Alternative discussion on Israel because they were Jewish and were told 'only progressive-thinking people are allowed'."

OMG, practically a pogrom!

What I imagine happened - to the extent that anything happened at all - is that certain Zionist hooligans and provocateurs on a mission to disrupt turned up at a meeting on Israel's crimes in Gaza, were denied entry as known troublemakers, and so registered a complaint with the university authorities claiming they'd been excluded because they were Jews. Neat trick, eh?  (Actually, Abbott and Sheridan used to behave in similar fashion back in the 70s, although without, of course, playing the anti-Semitism card. See my 13/9/12 post Tony & Greg Do Monash 1.)

"In our universities, free speech is to be encouraged, but it does not extend to threats and physical harassment."

So being told that a meeting is for those with open, as opposed to closed minds, constitutes "threats and physical harassment"?

What?!!!

"I am not surprised that the number of anti-Semitic incidents reported in Australia last year was the second highest on record."

Reported by whom? After all, you know how it goes: one Zionist's anti-Semite is another man's anti-apartheid activist.

"The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement has made anti-Semitism fashionable again."

Oh... I see... BDS!

So that's what all this nonsense about anti-Semitism is about!

There's more Pyne whine, of course, but I think you've got the picture.

Anyway, the next time you hear about an 'anti-Semitic pogrom' at some Australian uni or other, keep in mind it's probably just a bunch of spotty Zionists doing their bit to distract other students from the appalling reality of Israeli apartheid and genocide. 

Israeli Junkets Continue During Gaza Genocide

1:

"Despite the current unrest, the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce has recently concluded another successful Trade Mission to Israel - 3rd for this year. Leading a senior group of 30 business executives, including Cameron Clyne, Group CEO at NAB and John Pataridis, Managing Director at Optus Business... The purpose of the visit was to both explore business and investment opportunities as well as understand Israel's unique entrepreneurial and innovative eco-system. Naturally there was also a strong interest in geo-politics. Delegates were briefed by Lt. General Gabi Ashkenazi, former Chief of Staff at the IDF and Carmi Gillon, former head of the Shin Bet... The visit included a reception hosted by Australia's Ambassador to Israel, his Excellency Dave Sharma and a performance by the Bat Sheva Dance Company - one of the world's leading contemporary dance groups. The group also took in many of Israel's most iconic tourist destinations, including the Old City of Jerusalem, Dead Sea/Masada, Yad Vashem, Holocaust Museum, Jaffa, Caesarea and the Bahai Temple in Haifa... The Chamber has been facilitating Trade Missions to Israel for over 25 years... Its next Trade Mission is scheduled for May 2015 and will be led by Simon McKeown, Chairman of CSIRO and former Australian of the Year." (NAB chief head of mission to Israel, jwire.com.au, 28/7/14)

2:

From 25-29 July, Israeli love-in impresario, Albert Dadon (Israeli Film Festival, Australia Israel Leadership Forum), staged his annual Australia-UK-Israel Leadership Dialogue in Jerusalem.

Typically, there was next to nothing on the subject in the Australian press. I could find only one brief report (Christopher Pyne says Australia on 'the right side of Israel now', The Canberra Times, Primrose Riordan, 2/8/14) which again, typically, cited only the attendance of revellers Pyne, Michael Danby and David Feeney. How the Australian public is ever to be informed on the subject of Australian politicians' cavortings with Israel without a full listing of all who attend such gigs is just another of those mainstream media mysteries that we, the public, are supposed to put up with.

Moreover, although regaling us on an almost daily basis with the gibberish of LNP politicians, the Australian ms media has done us no favour in failing to report the following egregious specimen of same by Education Minister Christopher Pyne, proving conclusively, for those still in doubt, what an absolute goose the man is. I've copied it verbatim from the Jewish community site, J-Wire, including all, repeat all, the typos (or not as the case may be), for your complete enjoyment. My comments are in brackets:

"Tonight I want to address why the Australians are here... But firstly I should say good friends visit their friends in tough times. It is easy to visit your friends when things are going well. Fair-weather friends who come and go when things are on the up and up are easy to come by. Friends who come when times are tough - they are the real friends.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I was approached by a young man at the reception here at the King David Hotel here on Friday, his name was Aaron, and he asked me who I was and where I was from, and I said I was from Australia and he said 'why are you here?'. And I very simply said, because Australians love freedom. And he said very simply, that freedom isn't free, right?. And I said exactly right. [Such GW Bush profundity!]

"The reason why the Australians are here today, the first reason, is because Australians value freedom. And we have been fighting for freedom for 114 years and usually alongside our UK friends, whether it has been in the Battle of Beersheeva [sic] here in Israel [sic], in the Second World War, or the First World War, or more recently in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Vietnam and Korea, wars that are now well and truly in the past.  [Iraq and Afghanistan... well and truly in the past? Has anyone told the Iraqis and the Afghans?]

"Whenever there has been a congregation of freedom loving nations versus non-freedom loving nations, Australia has always been prepared to be in the fight and always on the right side. And that's how we view the state of Israel that we are on the right side. It is the story about the King of Denmark during the Second World War when the Nazis changed their attitude towards the deportation of the Danish Jews. There weren't many Danish Jews, about 8,000 or so, but the King of Denmark when the Nazis changed their attitude and said that they would start to deport the Jews, said that the Jews are Dames and the Dames are Jews. In other words, the concerns of Jewish Dames were the concerns of all Dames.

"In the same way I believe, and I think most Australians believe, that the destruction or defeat of Israel is a concern for all of us around the world. Because Israel is the beacon of freedom and liberty in the Middle East and Australia likes to believe that it is in the world. We are two sister nations believing in the same thing - freedom of the press*, freedom of democracy, freedom of association**. It shows that Israel has existential threats that requires them to take firm action to protect those freedoms, firmer actions than Australia has had to take to protect our own existence. So that is the first reason, ladies and gentlemen, why the Australians are here. Because we regard Israel and Australia as sister countries with the same value systems and we want to show our support for that system here in the Middle East.

"The second reason is more personal, ladies and gentlemen, and it goes to the question of remembering some of the crimes of the past. The great crime of the past against the Jewish people was the Holocaust. And just coming to Israel as an Australian... we reaffirm that we will not forget the crime of the Holocaust against the Jewish people and we stand with the Jewish people. Simply by the act of making sure this dialogue was not cancelled when some people said it should have been cancelled because it was dangerous the Australians and British came here, simply by that act reaffirmed that we will not forget the Holocaust.

"This is my sixth visit to Israel. And it is important that we come again and again to Israel. To say it to those in the Islamic Jihad, the terrorists - Hamas or ISIS or whoever they are - that by their actions they won't frighten Australians into coming to Israel and supporting Israel. That is by me and my colleagues, whether they are Labor or Liberal, are here supporting this Dialogue because it proves, ladies and gentlemen, it proves that freedom is winning and tyranny is losing."

[*Freedom of the press? "A spokeswoman for Mr Abbott said: 'It was a constructive and cordial discussion and the PM looks forward to further dialogue.' The Prime Minister's office invited only multicultural media to the press conference before the meeting, meaning Fairfax Media and other organisations were not included." (Onus of proof unreasonable, Muslim heads tell Abbott, David Wroe & Daisy Dumas, Sydney Morning Herald, 19/8/14); **Freedom of association?  See my last post NSW Police Seek to Can BDS Protest.]

Australia's Playschool Parliament

Australia's playschool parliament in action:

"The opening of question time yesterday was a rare gem for the ideological insiders of politics... First, there was the condolence motion for the death of long-time Labor senator Arthur Gietzelt... But the condolence motions got even more ideological a moment later. Abbott, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Deputy leader Tanya Plibersek, all spoke in condolence on the death of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. All said more or less conventional things about what a significant leader Sharon was, his devotion to Israel, to building the nation and providing for its security, and his remarkable action in withdrawing Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip.

"The manager of government business, Christopher Pyne, who loves this sort of mischief making, asked if he could associate himself with the 'heartfelt' comments of Abbott, Bishop and Shorten as well as the 'comments' - no heartfelt adjective proceeding them - of Plibersek. This was an implicit reference to comments made by Plibersek more than a decade ago that Israel was a 'rogue state' and Sharon a 'war criminal'.

"Plibersek has since said she regrets those remarks, that she spoke 'injudiciously' at the time and that she no longer holds those views. Surely people are allowed to move on from views they publicly repudiate. But she didn't actually say any of that in Parliament yesterday. Rather she just rose to say she found Pyne's comments 'deeply insulting' and asked for them to be withdrawn. What she presumably found insulting was the implication that her laudatory comments on Sharon may not have been 'heartfelt'.

"The Speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, played it all with a straight face and said she didn't see how she could ask someone to withdraw a comment asking to be associated with someone else's remarks. Pyne nonetheless leapt to his feet and withdrew his wish to be associated with Plibersek's remarks.

"Tony Burke, in turn, leapt to his feet to say he didn't think people should be using someone's death to be scoring political points. Bronwyn Bishop wondered whether the way things were going was not diminishing the seriousness of proceedings." (Dead obscure, but this is all good clean fun, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 12/2/14)

Grownup parliament in action (UK, 5/2/14):

Sir Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab): I once led a delegation of 60 parliamentarians from 13 European Parliaments to Gaza. I could no longer do that today because Gaza is practically inaccessible. The Israelis try to lay the responsibility on the Egyptians, but although the Egyptians' closing of the tunnels has caused great hardship, it is the Israelis who have opposed the blockade and are the occupying power. The culpability of the Israelis was demonstrated in the report to the UN by Richard Goldstone following Operation Cast Lead. After his report, he was harassed by Jewish organisations. At the end of a meeting I had with him in New York, his wife said to me, 'It is good to meet another self-hating Jew.'

"Again and again Israel seeks to justify the vile injustices that it imposes on the people of Gaza and the West Bank on the grounds of the holocaust. Last week, we commemorated the holocaust; 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza are being penalised with that as justification. That is unacceptable. The statistics are appalling. There is fresh water for a few hours every 5 days. Fishing boats are not allowed to go out - in any case, what is the point, because the waters are so filthy that no fish they catch can be eaten. The Israelis are victimising the children above all. Half the population of this country is under the voting age. What is being done to those children - the lack of nutrition - is damaging not only their bodies and brains; it will go on for generation after generation.

"It is totally unacceptable that the Israelis should behave in such a way, but they do not care. Go to Tel Aviv, as I did not long ago, and watch them sitting complacently outside their pavement cafes. They do not give a damn about their fellow human beings perhaps half an hour away. The right hon. Member for Banbury (Sir Tony Baldry) quoted the Prime Minister as saying that Gaza is a prison camp. It is all very well for him to say that, as he did in Turkey - he was visiting a Muslim country - but what is he doing about it? Nothing, nothing, nothing!

"The time when we could condemn and think that that was enough has long passed. The Israelis do not care about condemnation. They are self-righteous and complacent. We must now take action against them. We must impose sanctions. If the spineless Obama will not do it, we must do it - even unilaterally. We must press the European community for it to be done. These people cannot be persuaded. We cannot appeal to their better nature when they do not have one. It is all very well saying, 'Wicked, wicked Hamas.' Hamas is dreadful. I have met people from Hamas, but nothing it has done justifies punishing children, women and the sick as the Israelis are doing now. They must be stopped."

More Hounding of Jake Lynch 3

November 2, Day 4 of The Australian's attack on Professor Jake Lynch, finally saw the sound and fury move from the front page into the paper's equally arid interior, probably because the attack's principal spear-carrier this time around, Ean - with an E - Higgins, was getting too little joy from Education Minister Christopher Pyne, who "condemned the BDS campaign against Israel, but backed down on a Coalition promise to cut funds to academics who promoted it." (Coalition backs off on BDS)

That "promise," of course, had come from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. However, "[i]n response to questions from The Weekend Australian, Mr Pyne... declined to say he would uphold the categoric policy enunciated by Ms Bishop..." (ibid)

Higgin's fizzer notwithstanding, one of the paper's bigger guns, associate editor Cameron Stewart (rambammed: 2005), was wheeled out to blaze away at the BDS campaign in an opinion piece, which oddly never even got around to mentioning Professor Lynch. Stewart's aim was simply to smear the campaign, in the usual fashion, as a manifestation of anti-Semitism. Much of it consisted of a recycling of the nonsense trotted out on Day 1 of the current attack.

First, there was that convenient springboard, the "violent assault on a Jewish family at Bondi... last weekend." This obviously random attack, by a group of Islander youths, although typical of countless other unprovoked, alcohol-fueled, Saturday night bashings of people of every stripe by thugs of every stripe in Sydney, allegedly had "[t]he Jewish community on tenterhooks," and, according to Cameron, became the occasion for an outpouring of support for the community by religious (including Muslim), ethnic, and sporting groups, and federal and state politicians such as Turnbull, Danby, and O'Farrell.

Juxtaposing an alleged "deep unease" in the Australian Jewish Community with a bald assertion that "anti-Semitic acts are on the rise overseas," Stewart then cited "an anti-Israel protest in Denver, Colorado, as well as demonstrations in France and Belgium" as evidence of the latter. Thus is the dross of a vicious and deplorable, but not particularly unusual, assault, having bugger all to do with genuine anti-Semitism, let alone Palestine/Israel, transmuted by the Murdoch press into yet another manifestation of a supposed rising tide of anti-Semitism, of which anti-Israel protests are, of course, merely the current manifestation.

So let's pause and take a closer look at the "anti-Israel" protest in Denver. Here's The Times of Israel account: "Advertisements accusing Israel of 'ethnic cleansing' appeared on Denver-area buses while the Jewish National Fund held its annual conference in the city. The ads, which include the slogan 'Want Peace? Stop ethnic cleansing in Palestine', were sponsored by the website Notaxdollarstoisrael.com and the Colarado BDS Campaign... Colorado BDS held what it called a 'counter-conference'... to coincide with the JNF session. It included plans for protests outside the Governor's mansion and the JNF conference..." (Denver buses carry anti-Israel ads during JNF conference, 29/10/13)

Photos of the protest at another website show people, including anti-Zionist religious Jews, holding placards reading: Jewish National Fund: Racist; JNF: Violation of Judaism & Godly compassion; Judaism Condemns the State of 'Israel' And its Atrocities.

Enough said.

Interestingly, even Stewart felt compelled to play down the hysteria being whipped up by his own paper over the incident at Bondi: "A closer examination... suggests it was almost certainly a random attack..." This statement of the bleeding obvious, however, was not going to deter him from his work of smearing criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism: "... but it has served to cast a spotlight on anti-Semitism in Australia as some anti-Israel fringe groups are blurring the boundaries between race and politics." The sly implication here, of course, is that anyone who criticises Israel is a demented fringe-dweller who just can't help crossing over to the Dark Side at times.

That other hyped 'incident' of Day 1, involving a pair of UNSW student buffoons and your stereotypical 'offended' Jewish student - "Today I had the worst experience of anti-Semitism in my life" - was again trotted out, and reflected on at length by a "child survivor of the Holocaust and an expert on trauma," called upon by Stewart to dilate on the nature of such 'suffering': "It's like their nightmares coming true again."

Amusingly, in stressing Australia's "relatively easy assimilation of Jews into all aspects of Australian society," Stewart must unwittingly have offended the usual suspects by citing as an example of Jewish success in Australia onetime (1931-36) governor-general Sir Isaac Isaacs, who was firmly of the view that political Zionism "is founded on principles that bear a striking resemblance to the slanderous doctrines that Hitler put forward in justifying Anti-Semitism" and "detracts from the noble principles of our religion." And how right he was when he predicted that the Zionist project in Palestine "would deny equal rights of citizenship to Arabs and others, and would imperil the security of the Holy Places of other faiths." (Isaac Isaacs, Zelman Cowan, 1967, p 234)

Finally, there was the usual spray of letters, falsely conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. Too wearisome to repeat, I'll leave you with the shorter of the two more clear-thinking efforts (the other was by Greens senator Lee Rhiannon):

"George Fishman (Letters 1/11) goes much too far saying 'supporters of the BDS are a mask for hatred of Jews.' The fact is there are many people like me who want to see Israel treat Palestinians in a humane and just way. Supporting the BDS is one small way of protesting against Israel, not the Jewish population." Judy White, Rose Bay, NSW

Judy must be one of Cameron Stewart's fringe-dwellers.

PS: Response (4/11/13) from Daniel Lewis, Rushcutters Bay, NSW: "While I'm sure Judy White would never identify with anti-Semites, there is a simple test. Besides Israel, who else are you boycotting? Syria has killed more Palestinians in the past year than Israel. Hamas killed more Palestinians in 2008 than Israel did. Jordan killed more Palestinians in a single week than Israel did in the following 50 years..." So says Daniel Lewis, but here's a question for him: What were those Palestinians doing in Syria, the Gaza Strip and Jordan in the first place?

Let Us Pray... For Israel

The Israeli-government-sponsored push to recruit and mobilise Australian politicians to work for Israel has never been more feverish.

Hot on the heels of the London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism mass sign-in in May comes this little try-on:

"A bipartisan group in Federal Parliament will form an Australian Israel Allies Caucus (AIAC) after a Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC) delegation met with politicians, including Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott last Friday. KCAC director Josh Reinstein said the delegation, which included KCAC chairman and MK David Rotem, was on a fact-finding mission... 'We want to establish an Australian Israel Allies Caucus, as Australia and Israel share values and have always enjoyed a culture of mutual support. We wanted to find out which politicians would be interested in being involved.' Reinstein said, 'They [the caucus] will take on legislation and resolutions and mobilise support for Israel.'... The delegation met with federal politicians, including Christopher Pyne, Philip Ruddock and Jewish MP Josh Frydenberg... The AIAC will join a growing network, including 5 caucases in America, 7 in Europe and 3 in Asia... The delegation also met with the NSW Parliament and more than 100 religious leaders at a forum organised by NSW Christian Democrat MP Fred Nile." (Israeli allies caucus to be founded in Parliament, The Australian Jewish News, 28/6/13)

A real can of worms this one. Let's dissect a few:

Josh Reinstein, director of the KCAC, is an American-born Israeli who works for Israel's Ministry of Public Diplomacy & Diaspora Affairs, headed by Yuli Edelstein MK (Likud), the main man behind the London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism initiative. (See my 17/5/13 post The Tel Aviv Declaration on Combating Criticism of Israel.)

David Rotem is a Yisrael Beiteinu MK. This is the party led by the thuggish former foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, once known for suggesting that Gaza be nuked and currently on trial for corruption.

In the photograph which accompanies the above report, in addition to the political fraternity, Frydenberg, Reinstein, Abbott and Rotem, we have Christian Zionists, Keith Buxton and Marisa Albert:

Buxton is director of the Queensland-based Bridges for Peace, which has links with the KCAC. His support for the Zionist project in Palestine is apparently unconditional and appears to derive from his own peculiar theological ruminations: "Firstly, I need to emphasise that we do not proselytise. Nor do we focus on an apocalyptic Armageddon scenario [in scripture]. I personally believe that references in Zachariah to Jews being converted and destroyed are a misreading. Sadly, in many ways, the destruction can be seen to have already happened, with the fall of Jerusalem and the events of the Holocaust. We stand with Isaiah's call to 'comfort my people.' We focus on the fact that God is faithful to his covenant promises to the Jewish people and to the land, going right back to Genesis 12... The Jewish people are an integral part of God's redemptive purpose." (A chat with Reverend Keith Buxton, The Australian Jewish News, 1/10/10)

Albert heads the Jerusalem East Gate Foundation, a "Filipino Christian Ministry based in Manila and Jerusalem," which has reportedly "organized and funded" the "Jerusalem-Australia initiative." (Pro-Israel caucus to be formed in Australia, Gill Hoffman, cac.org.il, 21/6/13). Here's a potted biography:

"President of Kol Adonai Foundation (Philippines) and the East Gate Foundation (Jerusalem). The partner organizations are Asia initiatives to bring spiritual, moral and practical support from Asia into Israel. Their main ventures include live praise and worship on the Mt.of Olives, the production and worldwide airing of 'Voice From Jerusalem' programs and the Asia-to-Israel Shavuot Worship Tours. As member to the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, EGFJ was the organizer and major sponsor to the first Jerusalem Summit Asia held in Manila in August 2004. Miss Albert was former President of White Stone Productions, a special events management corporation which serviced top multinational companies in Asia. She is also President of the In His Care Leadership Network Israel."  (jerusalemsummit.org)

Something of the flavour of Ms Albert's particular brand of Christian fruit juice can be gathered from this little item at koladonai.org:

"When in Jerusalem, one of the most authentic and meaningful biblical sites to visit for a time of meditation, prayer and praise fellowship is the Mount of Olives. We know that the presence of God is within us and everywhere that is sanctioned unto Him. But there is a significance also to the places that evidence biblical occurrence and biblical prophecy. The pilgrim and tourist who comes to Israel also 'comes home' to his biblical homeland and enters into a prophetic connection. Coming into the Holy Land also enhances spiritual prayer connection These are prayers of thanksgiving and honour to the Holy One who dwells in Zion; prayers for spiritual aspirations; prayers for loved ones; prayers for the church and for the community of nations; and prayers for peace for Israel. They may be prayers for the establishment of Jerusalem as the capital city of the coming King. They may be prayers calling on the love of Messiah to touch the precious people of the Middle East with His great love, hope, peace and blessings. They may be prayers that cry out, 'Come, Messiah, Come!" (At the most special Prayer Mountain in the world)

Now of course these Christian Zionists aren't always off with the pixies. They also take time off to push a very Israeli political agenda. Like Iran-bashing, for example. I wonder, could an Abbott (or Rudd) government, under the influence of their kool-aid, ever go this far:

"Edelstein and other speakers frequently cited the pressure from members of Canada's Israel Christian Allies Caucus who were successful in lobbying Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to completely sever ties with Iran last week." (Int'l Christian lawmakers vow to stop Iranian nukes, Melanie Lidman, cac.org.il, 10/3/12)

Then there's Jerusalem. Could an Abbott (or Rudd) government, under the influence, ever fall victim to UJS (United Jerusalem Syndrome) and go where no country, not even the US component of USrael, has ever gone before:

"High-profile parliamentarians and congressmen in Washington, Europe and elsewhere around the world are celebrating together the historical date of the reunification of Jerusalem,' [Former tourism minister Benny Elon & president of the Israel Allies Foundation] said, 'and at the same time they are trying to do their best to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem through legislation." (International Israel Allies representatives in US, Europe and Israel for a united Jerusalem, Gil Hoffman, cac.org.il, 6/3/13)

OK, to sum up this terminal madness, we have here a Filipino Christian Zionist happy clapper organising and funding Israeli government representatives on a trip to Australia to recruit Australian politicians to 'do the donkey' for Israel. It doesn't get much more bizarre - or brazen - than that. (In case you've forgotten what doing the donkey entails, allow me to refer you to my posts USrael: The Movie (14/2/13) and Doing the Donkey (2/3/13) - to be read in that order.)

The Tel Aviv Declaration on Combating Criticism of Israel

My o my, Gillard's really started something here. Have you ever seen a more blatant display of political one-upmanship than this:

"More than 40 members of the federal opposition banded together yesterday to sign the London Declaration on Combating Anti-Semitism after they were incensed by comments from the head of the Sydney Peace Foundation, Stuart Rees, attacking the document. The Australian yesterday reported Professor Rees had lashed Julia Gillard for signing the declaration, calling the gesture 'childish, thoughtless but easily populist'... She was joined last week by opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne... To counter [Professor Rees'] comments, Victorian Liberal Josh Frydenberg arranged for a group of colleagues to gather in is office immediately to sign the declaration. Close to 30 Coalition members from all states and factions joined him, ranging from veteran parliamentarians such as Philip Ruddock and Judi Moylan to newcomers such as Wyatt Roy, Scott Bucholz and George Christensen. Opposition leader Tony Abbott and frontbenchers Bruce Billson, Peter Dutton, Greg Hunt, Scott Morrison, Malcolm Turnbull and Sharman Stone also signed. As news spread, a steady stream of MPs beat a path to Mr Frydenberg's office to add their names, taking the total to 49.... Yesterday's events mean that close to a quarter of the global parliamentarians to sign the declaration are Australian. NSW Liberal senator Marise Payne is expected to repeat the process for members of the upper house today." (MPs unite to sign anti-Semitism pact, Christian Kerr, The Australian, 15/5/13)

Now in case you're inclined to applaud Frydenberg and Co. for endorsing what appears on the surface to be merely an anti-racist initiative, ask yourself just how many of those who beat a path to Frydenberg's office actually sat down and read the 'fine print', or if they did, how many fully comprehended what they were signing on to - essentially a commitment to defend Israel and all its works based on the illegitimate conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. (See my 28/4/13 post The Latest Prime Ministerial Kowtow).

To cite but one sentence from the declaration's preamble: "We are alarmed at the resurrection of the old language of prejudice and its modern manifestations - in rhetoric and political action - against Jews, Jewish belief and practice and the state of Israel." (my italics)

Not, of course, that any of this lot, even if they were aware of what they were doing, would bat an eyelid at such a conflation. Or, for that matter, having taken this first step, at going on to support legislation criminalising expressions of anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism.

Now I introduced this post by saying that Gillard had started something here. But in fact the buck didn't start with her. If you've read my earlier post on the declaration, you'll see that she's just another link in a chain of useful fools stretching back to the Steering Committee of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism, the outfit sponsoring the declaration. And at the head of the committee you'll find none other than former Minister for Public Diplomacy & Diaspora, now Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, a member of Israel's ruling Likud Party.

If honesty means anything these days - I'm a little old-fashioned here - the so-called London Declaration on Combating Ant-Semitism would more correctly be called the Tel Aviv Declaration on Combating Anti-Zionism, or more broadly, the Tel Aviv Declaration on Combating Criticism of Israel.

The irony here, of course, is that the declaration is actually bad news for anyone genuinely concerned about combating anti-Semitism, as a former Jewish member of the Zionist cult has pointed out:

"Whenever I was asked to speak on contemporary antisemitism, I took the opportunity to explain the Israel-antisemitism connection. A panel discussion organised by the Faculty for Israel-Palestine Peace at Birkbeck on 14 May [2007] focused on how the politicisation of discussion about antisemitism, through the labelling of forms of criticism of Israel as antisemitic, was hampering free and open consideration of Jew-hatred. I outlined how Israeli governments had successfully sought to control efforts to define and combat antisemitism at the international level. Increasing acceptance of the so-called 'Working Definition' of antisemitism of the European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia had helped Israel in this regard. It had led to a situation where 'We cannot discuss Israel-Palestine without getting entangled in arguments about what critique of Israel is antisemitic; and we cannot discuss contemporary antisemitism without getting entangled in arguments about Israel-Palestine'." (The Making & Unmaking of a Zionist: A Personal & Political Journey, Antony Lerman, 2012, pp 176-177)

Just Wild About Wilders

The Gillard government's woes, it seems, are legion. There are the godawful polls, there's Graig Thomson, there's Nova P, there's Eddie O, and there are resignations left, right and... but those, my friends, are mere pinpricks compared to the dreaded... BACKLASH FROM THE JEWISH COMMUNITY:

"There was also disquiet about the naming of the election day for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which had caused a backlash from the Jewish community." (Labor slumps as campaign starts, Dennis Shanahan & Sid Maher, The Australian, 4/2/13)

So these should be days of wine and roses for the Abbott opposition, right? Wrong! The Opposition too is ON THE BACKFOOT WITH THE JEWISH COMMUNITY:

"But the opposition was on the backfoot with the Jewish community yesterday after senior frontbencher Christopher Pyne said the government resembled a scene from Downfall, a movie about the decline of Adolf Hitler." (ibid)

Seems there's just no pleasing THE JC.

But what's this on the letters page? At last, one member of THE JC who's actually pleased about something!

In fact, he's more than just pleased. He's positively wild. About Geert Wilders that is:

"As a member of Melbourne's JEWISH COMMUNITY, I will be going along to hear Geert Wilders (Wilders mission to end Islamification, 2-3/2). Similar to Europe's JEWISH COMMUNITY, we are forced to spend tens of millions of dollars each year securing our synagogues, private schools, community centres, visiting Israeli Jewish politicians, athletes and entertainers because of the threat from extremists within the Muslim community... No other ethnic or religious minority has to live under this siege mentality. The fact that Geert Wilders needs to be protected by armed guards just gives credence to his criticism about the lack of tolerance about Islam." (Mark Stone, McKinnon, Vic, The Australian, 4/2/13)

Right. But wait a minute!

What's this business about "we," THE JEWISH COMMUNITY, "being forced to spend tens of millions of dollars each year securing our... private schools" against attack by the Muslim hordes?

Shouldn't that be 'the taxpayer':

"Thirteen Jewish schools have received a $4.7 million security boost in the third round of funding for the federal government's Secure Schools Program... Under the three rounds of the SSP, 17 Jewish schools received over $16 million, 56% of the program's funding." ($4.7m boost to school security, The Australian Jewish News,...)

Finally, an Honest Politician!

An honest Australasian politician:

"Two women have won seats in Papua New Guinea's elections so far, doubling the number of women MPs. The journalist, poet and singer Loujaya Toni, 46, won a seat in Lae... Ms Toni, who has a master's degree in communications, dropped to her knees when the result was announced and sang a song of praise to God in Hebrew, the Port Moresby newspaper The National reported. 'I have no blood on my hands. I did not bribe anybody. I come with clean hands,' she said. 'My heart is singing hope so loud right now!'" (PNG tally of women MPs rises to two and counting, Hamish McDonald, Sydney Morning Herald, 25/7/12)

Notice I said Australasian and not Australian. That was deliberate. No Australian politician possesses the spontaneous honesty of a Loujaya Toni MP. With our lot, you've really got to do some digging to expose the Zionist within. The most you'll get out of the Australian ms media is an occasional hint. It's all sooo very elephant-in-the-room, know what I mean?

Take Christopher Pyne for example. We all know he's got the hots for Israel, so why isn't he shouting it from the rooftops? Or at least wearing an Israeli flag badge on his lapel?

Now if only he'd take a leaf out of Ms Toni's book, drop to his knees, and warble a song of praise to Herzl in Hebrew every now and then, we'd know where the bugger was really coming from, wouldn't we?

'At last,' we'd sigh, 'an honest Australian politician. A self-confessed, unabashed, fire-breathing  Zionist.'

He wouldn't even need to add the bit about having clean hands or not bribing anybody. The sheer, naked honesty of his performance, there in the House of Reps or out in front of the meeja, would make such a declaration entirely unnecessary. I mean, what could be more transparent than outing oneself as a member of the world's most bizarre cult in this manner?

How about it, Christopher?

But frankly, even if Christopher Pyne did a Loujaya Toni, he still wouldn't be fit to tie her bootlaces (or thonglaces as the case may be). After all, she's more than just your common & garden journalist, poet and singer - she's actually done something useful. She's come up with a cure for cancer! Dinkum:

"Among other things I am known for, being a naturopath since 2005 through my husband and I, our connection with the nation of Israel and its messianic Jewish community will come as a surprise to those who have known me personally. Since 2005, through our connection with the nation of Israel and its messianic Jewish community, James and Loujaya Toni have conducted fieldwork and created a product called TONIQ herbal formula bar which is said to cure cancer." (Herbal cure for cancer, Loujaya Toni, postcourier.com.pg)

Top that Christopher! That's what I call serving the community.

What Christopher Pyne Heard

Just to soften you up:

"We were getting to the root of BW's problem. He was under the impression that the PM ought to know what is happening. The basic rule for the safe handling of Foreign Affairs is that it is simply too dangerous to let politicians get involved with diplomacy. Diplomacy is about surviving till the next century - politics is about surviving till Friday afternoon. There are 157 independent countries in the world. The Foreign Office has dealt with them for years. There's hardly an MP who knows anything about any of them. Show MPs a map of the world, and many of them would have difficulty finding the Isle of Wight. Bernard was prepared to argue that MPs cannot be so ignorant. So Dick gave him a short quiz:

1. Where is Upper Volta?
2. What is the capital of Chad?
3. What language do they speak in Mali?
4. Who is the President of Peru?
5. What is the national religion of Cameroun?

Bernard scored 0%. Dick suggested that he stand for parliament." (Yes Prime Minister: The Diaries of the Hon. James Hacker, Volume 1, Edited by Jonathan Lynn & Antony Jay, 1986, pp 175-176)

Now to business. We all know that politicians, like kids, say the darndest things, but where do they get them from? What is the genesis of the tomfoolery that emerges whenever they open their mouths, which, in the case of Shadow Minister for Education Christopher Pyne, is all too often. Did I/we really hear this wannabe education minister on Q&A last Monday express the concern that BDS might "break down the harmony between Israeli and Palestinian citizens."

We sure did. And here's the sound-byte to prove it:

"The second thing I'd like to comment on with the BDS campaign... is that one of its key elements is to break down the harmony between Israeli and Palestinian citizens. So where Israelis and Palestinians are doing business together, involved in academic activities together at Al Quds University and other places, the AFL Palestinian-Jewish team that comes to Australia, came two years ago and is coming again this year, they're the kind of things that build relationships between Palestinians and Jewish Israelis to try and bring peace to the region, and yet the BDS campaign says those things must stop. So rather than adding to the peacefulness of the situation they are actually trying to make it worse. I assume to get some kind of blow up or some kind of revolution."

Now how this imaginary "harmony" gets elevated above the 63-year-old Middle East conflict, Palestinian refugees, Israeli occupation and all too frequent Israeli wildings is best known to Mr Pyne and his shrink. But where, if I may select just one strand of the above, did Pyne get his talking point about Al-Quds University? I mean, the jury's out on whether he even reads books, let alone books on the Palestine/Israel conflict.

Well, in this precise instance, I'm pretty sure I know just where Pyne has picked up his patter, directly or indirectly: ABC Radio National's The Science Show, much given these days to spruiking for Israel (See my 12/12/10 post The ABC of Zionist Propaganda. And here's the offending item, Students excel at Al-Quds (16/4/11):

Robyn Williams: Scientific research could also be a force for peace, even in the Middle East. This is Palestinian Professor Ziad Abdeen at the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem.

Ziad Abdeen: I'm amazed by the number of students I come across who are eager to go for higher degrees and who are eager to excel in the field of research... I think it's gratifying to be contributing to knowledge rather than becoming a teacher where you churn the knowledge. There is a difference there. And I truly believe our university is giving high priority to research this has given the motive and the drive for the youngsters to go forward in that area...

Robyn Williams: That will come as a surprise to many people from, say, Australia who would regard this area as almost a war zone and the last place you'd want to be thinking about a scientific career and scientific ideas.

Ziad Abdeen: It's all a matter of perception, isn't it?

Zounds! These terrorists do science! Who would have thought?

Poor Professor Abdeen. Little does he know that he has been involved in a production designed to burnish Israel's tarnished image for an Australian audience. But then that's all you get from our token Palestinian, because the rest of the item is pure hasbara:

Robyn Williams: Professor Ziad Abdeen is at the Al-Quds University on the West Bank...

Oh really - not in illegally occupied, then illegally annexed, Arab East Jerusalem?

... where Palestinian students work in tandem with Jewish students.

Palestinian students working in tandem with Jewish students! How wonderful!

... This is Dr Abdeen's colleague, Professor Mark Spigelman.

Mark Spigelman: You know, when they come to work with us, we don't notice a difference. They are students, some good, some bad. Mostly, the Palestinians are good because they are selected already...

Passed the security test, did they?

... For the last 2 years we have worked together on a German National Science Foundation grant looking at ancient DNA and several students are working on this grant. And all I can say is we work well together. We don't have any problems. We don't distinguish Israeli[s from] Palestinians and I'm pleased to say that our young students from Israel and the young students from the Palestinian Authority work together without any friction and they produce good results.

Young students from Israel and the PA working together, eh? Is Al-Quds University then a functioning joint Israeli-Jewish/PA-Arab campus? Some kind of utopian haven of Israeli-Palestinian peaceful coexistence? And whether it is or isn't, isn't this the vibe Pyne's picked up?

But before you all let that warm inner glow completely overpower your critical faculties, ask yourself this question: Are poor but worthy West Bank Palestinian students, bravely competing for places in one of the few tertiary institutions available to them, finding their way blocked because anywhere up to half of all places at Al-Quds are reserved for Jewish Israelis already well-served by superior DNA and a plethora of Israeli universities? Or this: Which language are lectures delivered in? Or this: Why has this good (if indeed that's what it is) news been kept from us until now? Or this, the biggie: If we have a joint Israeli-Palestinian university, why not a binational Israeli-Palestinian state for everyone who lives between the river and the sea? But I digress...

OK, seeing this is the The Science Show, you'll forgive me a little healthy scepticism and a desire for some, like, evidence for the suggestion that Al-Quds is a haven of Israeli-Palestinian peace and understanding. And guess what, google as I might, I could find none. That doesn't mean, of course, that I didn't come across some interesting bits and pieces along the way:

"The Shin Bet is reportedly trying to entice Palestinian medical students to join the Israeli intelligence service by promising entry to al-Quds (Jerusalem). The spying agency allegedly tried to blackmail two fifth-year medical students at al-Quds University who are pursuing internships in Palestinian university hospitals in the city, Israel's English-language Haaretz newspaper said on its website on Wednesday. A 'Captain Biran', who introduced himself as the Shin Bet agent responsible for monitoring the university, told the two to report on other students and their activities as a condition for renewing their entry permits, Haaretz reported." (Shin Bet blackmails al-Quds students, paltelegraph.com, 12/5/10)

"The project, kicking off this year between Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and the West Bank's al-Quds University, seeks to improve relations between Americans and Palestinians while boosting education in the Palestinian territories, said Bard College president Leon Botstein... The degree from Bard will be a huge benefit for Palestinian students because Israel does not currently recognize degrees from al-Quds, said al-Quds executive vice-president Hasan Dweik." (American & Palestinian colleges form partnership, Ben Hubbard, AP/stopdebezetting.com, 12/3/09)

"One group of such Israeli mathematics professors love to work with its Arab counterparts at Al-Quds University, a cooperation about which Al-Quds President Sari Nusseibeh said, 'We hope this effort will prove to be a step in showing how the universal language of mathematics can be translated into a shared language of political and moral values'. Nusseibeh, you see, is a Palestinian terrorist, who provided intelligence to Saddam Hussein's forces when he was shooting SCUD missiles at Israel. Nusseibeh spent time in Israeli prison as a terrorist, and then was allowed to leave Israel for 3 years under a plea agreement." (When it does not add up: anti-Israel mathematicians at Israeli universities, Lee Kaplan, isracampus.org.il)

You know, I'm particularly worried about those Jewish students at Al-Quds University, what with their own government not recognising their degrees and all. And yet they're going there nonetheless, so stuck on Israeli-Palestinian togetherness are they. Oh well, maybe the Shin Bet'll employ them even if their degrees are worthless. And that terrorist at the top of the Al-Quds University tree, twirling his moustache - will these idealistic Jewish students be safe do you think?

Ah, but I've disrupted Mark Spigelman's platitudes long enough. Now what was it he was saying? Oh yes:

... It is a step. And so the work is good and if only the politicians would see what happens between young people I think we would have less problems and more peace.

Robyn Williams: Is the reality of the situation that you have most of the population on both sides wanting, as you said, peace, and a minority, which unfortunately includes the politicians, going in the other direction?

Mark Spigelman: Yes. If you really ask the people 'do you want your child to carry a gun or a pen?' 80% would say, 'I'd rather a pen'.

Well, duh, Mark, what else are they going to say if you put it to them like that?

... And the reality is that we are being led by a minority of the population that prevents peace.

Name names, Mark! Do you mean the dreaded Hamas?

... I don't know when peace will come. We are two people living together, we are going to live together. Sooner or later we are going to have peace.

Robyn Williams: Well, mostly, in a democracy, which it is on both sides, if there is a constituency, in other words a majority of the population wanting something, eventually it happens. Why isn't it happening here?

Mark Spieglman: That's a good question. If I knew the answer I'd probably get the Nobel Peace Prize. It isn't happening here, but it will. I'm optimistic. And maybe not in my lifetime, but I'm getting on a bit. There will be peace between the two people and they will coexist and will live togther and will do great things together.

Robin Williams: Amid the turmoil, the scientists and the students get on with it. Professor Mark Spieglman from Sydney, working now in Jerusalem.

Surely that's the source of Pyne's propaganda. And here's how it comes to lodge in his grey matter: Williams is sent by the ABC - at taxpayers' expense - to record some 'good news' about Israel, which, as it happens, needs all it can get right now, returns with all sorts of highly dubious factoids and propaganda snippets, packages them nicely for an unsuspecting ABC audience, including our pro-Israel pollies, who then regurgitate the nonsense on ABC television in an effort to shield Israel from the burgeoning BDS campaign. Damn if Israel isn't getting its money's worth here!

Q&A

ABC Television's Q&A, where a panel of 5 high profiles is quizzed by a studio audience, is one of those rare mainstream shows that occasionally open the Israeli colonisation of Palestine to real debate. Last night's Q&A was a case in point:

The Question - a typical Zionist finger-pointing exercise - came from one, Ronny Schnapp* and was addressed to British comedian (and Israel critic) Alexei Sayle: "Alexei Sayle has called for a cultural boycott of Israel but would he support a cultural boycott of such human rights luminaries as Sudan, Zimbabwe, North Korea and Britain? The list goes on."

[*Ronny who? Well, here's an insight into his 'thinking': "Why are so many letter writers paranoid about having their doors knocked down by federal agents in the middle of the night? Do they have something to hide? Those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear." (Ronny Schnapp, letter to SMH, 11/3/02) You can imagine 'good' Germans saying something similar about the Gestapo in the 30s.]

Alexei's half-way* decent answer went thus: "Well... your criticism is kind of saying that because I criticised Israel... I won't criticise Zimbabwe or Sudan. I am perfectly happy to do that. Zimbabwe is a foul country... But... Israel is an adjunct of the West in a sense. Israel is a western colony, the last [such] colony in a sense. It was founded in 1948. People came from central [and] eastern Europe, took over Arab land and formed their state there. And I think, because it is an extension of us, we have to try and ensure that it sticks to the levels of decency we expect of a western democracy and which it significantly fails to do right now... By raising the idea of a boycott, what I'm trying to do is - I mean, I'm in a group called Jews for Justice for Palestinians. A lot of the members are these ferocious little Jewish guys in their 60s and 70s. A lot of them actually fought in the Israeli army in the earlier wars and whatever the argument is about the founding of Israel, all of them feel Israel became a colonial power once it occupied the West Bank and refused to give it back and stood on the necks of the 3 million people who lived there, denied them all civil rights, any kind of life. Israel became, as President Jimmy Carter said, as Bishop Desmond Tutu said, an apartheid state and that's why I called for a boycott." [* Israeli occupation and apartheid began in 1948, not 1967]

Labor's Minister for Infrastructure Anthony Albanese predictably toed the party line: "No [I don't support the boycott of Israel], I support engagement. I am very critical of a lot of Israel's policies*. I, with Joe Hockey, helped set up the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine** as a cross-party group to restore some balance to the debate. But I think if you were about promoting peace, you've got to be about promoting dialogue and discussion, and certainly this arose out of the Leonard Cohen concert there." [*Albo was a little more forthcoming in defence of the Palestinians in a speech in the House of Representatives on 15 September 2002. Since then, however, if his website is any indication, he's said nothing; **Try getting a result from Google on that elusive creature!]

Liberal Likudnik (& Opposition education spokesman) Christopher Pyne just as predictably wore his Zionist heart (liver and kidneys) on his sleeve: "I don't agree with a cultural boycott of Israel at all. I understand Alexei's very strong [extremist!] views. He has held them for a very long time and they're very well known. But I don't believe that all the blame in the Middle East can be laid at the feet of the state of Israel. Israel is a country in many respects like Australia, like the United States, like Great Britain. It's a democracy. It believes in liberty and freedom, and it has been fighting a war for its very survival since 1948. We agree - the Coalition obviously supports a two-state solution - both countries living in peace together, but we also believe that the Palestinian side should recognise the right of the state of Israel to exist and, of course, Hamas still doesn't do so and it's questionable whether, in fact, Fatah and the Palestinian Legislative Council has accepted wholeheartedly the right of Israel to exist. So I think there are arguments on both sides but I fall down on the side that Israel needs to be able to live free of terrorism and, in the situation where it found itself, where it could, I think Israel would treat its Palestinian minority population and the West Bank and Gaza quite differently."

The token youngster on Q&A, Indian Youth Climate Network Executive Director Deepa Gupta, had - like - no idea: "I think with any - like, when you get in a war - like - there's so much hurt done on both sides that you can keep arguing for one side or you can keep arguing for the other side, and I don't think you actually get anywhere, and that's what's been happening. Like, people don't understand the hurt that has been done on the other side. And, furthermore, like on the issue of cultural boycotts, like I understand the effectiveness of cultural boycotts but, at the same time, like I think music plays a really big role in bringing peace. Like earlier this year in India we did a climate solutions road tour and we had a solar-powered rock band travelling with us and a dance troupe and - and these people were from America and they sang songs in Hindi and the most amazing thing was - you know, often, especially with rural communities, it takes weeks to build up trust with them and to help them understand what these issues are. With music and dance we were able to break down these cultural barriers within 30 minutes. Like people were happy and dancing and open and really open to listen and I think that we need to acknowledge that music plays a really big role in connecting with people's hearts and helping them understand each other." Deepa, it's OK to say you simply don't know anything about the issue, really.

Alexei Sayle had the last word - and didn't waste a syllable: "Well, I don't think that dialogue with Israel has worked. I think that the people of Israel have been - I made the analogy that Israel is kind of like a teenage bully who has been indulged by his parents, you know, and has never been set any boundaries. Obama says stop. You know as soon as they signed the Oslo Accord, they kept building settlements. President Obama says, 'Please don't build any more settlements'. They say, 'Up yours', carry on building settlements. Dialogue doesn't work with Israel. It has to be like a kind of recalcitrant child. You have to express your disgust at its behaviour. I think a boycott is - we did it with South Africa. I think we need to do it with Israel."