For sheer self-serving cynicism Mike (Walk on Water) Baird's 4/4/16 Facebook post is hard to beat:
"Today, while visiting a refugee camp in the West Bank, I met a group of young kids the same age as my son. I asked one of the boys what he dreamt of becoming when he was older. 'It's hard to have dreams when you know they can't come true,' he told me. The situation here is nothing short of heartbreaking. I don't know where the cycle of thousands of years of violence ends. But I do know that all kids should be able to dream. That they should have hope of a better future. The team at the Aida refugee camp are doing a great job in a difficult situation. The money donated by the Australian Government - and therefore Australian taxpayers - is doing great work in helping these kids. These kids are funny. They love soccer (Real Madrid, specifically). They love learning at school. And the hope is that they are given a chance to chase their dreams and enjoy the peace that, in NSW, we can take for granted."
The only matter at issue here is whether was it penned by Clare Masters, Baird's senior media advisor/speechwriter, formerly at Murdoch's Daily Telegraph, or by Imre Salusinszky, his media director, formerly at Murdoch's Australian, where he was an integral part of Operation Spread the Word: BDS is Electoral Poison for the Greens.
Showing posts with label Imre Salusinszky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Imre Salusinszky. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Scribbler, Sniper, Spinner
I noticed a brief reference in this week's Sunday Telegraph (21/6) to Imre Salusinszky being a "gym rat." Remember him?
This former Murdoch scribbler and anti-Greens/anti-BDS sniper (see Salusinszky file below) is now NSW Liberal Premier Mike (Messiah) Baird's chief spinner, just another example of the corporate media/corporate politics revolving door in action.
Spinner's mindless, knee-jerk Zionism surfaces from time to time in his tweets. Two examples:
- Rare good news for Israel @greensjeremy: 'Today I resigned from Parliamentary Friends of Israel in protest at IDF violence & crimes' - 3/8/14
- I like her more every day: 'Scarlett Johansson splits with Oxfam over Israel boycott'/The Australian - 29/1/14
When Messiah visits Israel to celebrate Israel Independence Day next year, in keeping with his bizarre promise to the Israel lobby (see Baird file below), so far unreported in the ms press, I imagine Salusinszky will be along for the ride. Hopefully, his tweets will have a little more entertainment value at the time.
This former Murdoch scribbler and anti-Greens/anti-BDS sniper (see Salusinszky file below) is now NSW Liberal Premier Mike (Messiah) Baird's chief spinner, just another example of the corporate media/corporate politics revolving door in action.
Spinner's mindless, knee-jerk Zionism surfaces from time to time in his tweets. Two examples:
- Rare good news for Israel @greensjeremy: 'Today I resigned from Parliamentary Friends of Israel in protest at IDF violence & crimes' - 3/8/14
- I like her more every day: 'Scarlett Johansson splits with Oxfam over Israel boycott'/The Australian - 29/1/14
When Messiah visits Israel to celebrate Israel Independence Day next year, in keeping with his bizarre promise to the Israel lobby (see Baird file below), so far unreported in the ms press, I imagine Salusinszky will be along for the ride. Hopefully, his tweets will have a little more entertainment value at the time.
Friday, September 7, 2012
No Thanks, I'm Choosy Who I Talk To
My thoughts on Ean Higgins and Imre Salusinszky's Tight-lipped on the BDS taboo in today's Australian:
"For Greens running in inner-Sydney council elections tomorrow, the first rule is: don't mention the war. Even for Greens candidates who firmly believe in it, the pro-Palestinian campaign to boycott business with links to Israel is one topic strictly taboo when it comes to talking to the mainstream media."
Note the conceit here: Murdoch's extremist, Zio-conservative Australian is the mainstream media.
"The Greens were stung at the NSW election last year when The Australian exposed Greens Marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne's support for the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against the Jewish state."
IOW Fiona Byrne had a dirty little secret and was stung when a truth-seeking, investigative journalist from The Australian exposed it. I'm sorry, but this isn't journalism. (Salusinszky doesn't do journalism.) It's a Zionist vendetta waged against a courageous woman who dared to stand up for Palestinian rights.
"Ms Byrne's position, from which she tried to back away as the election drew closer, destroyed her otherwise good chance of seizing the state seat of Marrickville, held by Labor's Carmel Tebbutt."
Part of that vendetta has been to assert that BDS stood in the way of a Greens victory in Marrickville and so suggest that it is electoral poison. In fact, bucketloads of ink have been squandered in propagating this myth: See my 4-post series, A Myth is Born, 29/3/11 - 31/3/11).
And don't you just love the word "seizing." The reason why it's been used here instead of winning is that Carmel Tebbutt's on the 'right' side. (Why, there she is now in the latest issue of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies' newsletter At the Board, a glass of whatever in hand, standing between Peter Wertheim AM (ECAJ) and Jeremy Jones AM (AIJAC/ECAJ) at the launch of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel group.)
"Since then, strategists appear to have given their candidates in the 'green zones' of the inner city councils the instructions along the lines of the Irish folk song: 'Whatever you say, say nothing, when you talk about you know what.'"
Now if, and I repeat if, this is indeed current Greens strategy, they deserve all they get. The only correct strategy to adopt when journalists from The Australian heave into view is this: Whatever you say, say nothing, when you're talking to The Australian.
"When The Australian this week approached Marrickville Greens councillor Marika Kontellis, who is running for re-election tomorrow, she said: 'I have no comment at all on BDS.'"
If (and I repeat if again and again and again, this being The Australian) Ms Kontellis did say this, then she's unwittingly played into Murdoch's hands, and what she should have said was: No thanks, I'm choosy who I talk too.
Now bypassing some padding here (Oh my goodness, Vic Alhadeff's popped up! What a surprise!) we come to this:
"[T]he party has chosen a hard-line anti-Israel campaigner as one of its prospective incoming candidates in Marrickville. Karel Solomon, who grew up in South Africa, last year branded Israel a racist state. 'As someone who suffered under apartheid, it is all too clear that what exists in Israel today is apartheid'... Mr Solomon said in a speech last year when he presented a letter from South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu supporting BDS to Ms Byrne. 'People were forcibly removed from their homes and dumped into refugee camps based on one criterion and one criterion alone - by race, by an accident of birth. When Israel demands to be recognised as a state that is defined by race, then it is an apartheid state. (It is) a racist policy."
Now isn't that just typical of The Australian: a man who was raised in apartheid South Africa and who, like Archbishop Tutu, knows it when he sees it elsewhere, is casually written off by a hard-line pro-Israel newspaper as a "hard-line anti-Israel campaigner." The only opinions that matter in this rag are those of Israel lobbyists such as Alhadeff, Wertheim, Jones and Rubenstein who have the run of its opinion pages.
It'd be verging on the tedious to cite the rest of the piece, with one Greens candidate reportedly (or misreportedly as the case may be) saying that "she was 'absolutely not' talking about BDS to her constituents," and another reported (or misreported as the case may be) as "avoid[ing] direct questions about BDS."
OK, assuming for the sake of argument that these Greens candidates have not been misquoted, wouldn't it be better for The Greens not to engage representatives of The Australian on any subject? After all, no self-respecting member or supporter of the party - in fact, no presentable member of the human race even - actually buys the bloody thing as it is. So why not just extend this de facto boycott of the product to include those who have a hand in producing it? Seriously, how hard is that? All together now, Greens candidates: NO THANKS, I'M CHOOSY WHO I TALK TO.
"For Greens running in inner-Sydney council elections tomorrow, the first rule is: don't mention the war. Even for Greens candidates who firmly believe in it, the pro-Palestinian campaign to boycott business with links to Israel is one topic strictly taboo when it comes to talking to the mainstream media."
Note the conceit here: Murdoch's extremist, Zio-conservative Australian is the mainstream media.
"The Greens were stung at the NSW election last year when The Australian exposed Greens Marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne's support for the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against the Jewish state."
IOW Fiona Byrne had a dirty little secret and was stung when a truth-seeking, investigative journalist from The Australian exposed it. I'm sorry, but this isn't journalism. (Salusinszky doesn't do journalism.) It's a Zionist vendetta waged against a courageous woman who dared to stand up for Palestinian rights.
"Ms Byrne's position, from which she tried to back away as the election drew closer, destroyed her otherwise good chance of seizing the state seat of Marrickville, held by Labor's Carmel Tebbutt."
Part of that vendetta has been to assert that BDS stood in the way of a Greens victory in Marrickville and so suggest that it is electoral poison. In fact, bucketloads of ink have been squandered in propagating this myth: See my 4-post series, A Myth is Born, 29/3/11 - 31/3/11).
And don't you just love the word "seizing." The reason why it's been used here instead of winning is that Carmel Tebbutt's on the 'right' side. (Why, there she is now in the latest issue of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies' newsletter At the Board, a glass of whatever in hand, standing between Peter Wertheim AM (ECAJ) and Jeremy Jones AM (AIJAC/ECAJ) at the launch of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel group.)
"Since then, strategists appear to have given their candidates in the 'green zones' of the inner city councils the instructions along the lines of the Irish folk song: 'Whatever you say, say nothing, when you talk about you know what.'"
Now if, and I repeat if, this is indeed current Greens strategy, they deserve all they get. The only correct strategy to adopt when journalists from The Australian heave into view is this: Whatever you say, say nothing, when you're talking to The Australian.
"When The Australian this week approached Marrickville Greens councillor Marika Kontellis, who is running for re-election tomorrow, she said: 'I have no comment at all on BDS.'"
If (and I repeat if again and again and again, this being The Australian) Ms Kontellis did say this, then she's unwittingly played into Murdoch's hands, and what she should have said was: No thanks, I'm choosy who I talk too.
Now bypassing some padding here (Oh my goodness, Vic Alhadeff's popped up! What a surprise!) we come to this:
"[T]he party has chosen a hard-line anti-Israel campaigner as one of its prospective incoming candidates in Marrickville. Karel Solomon, who grew up in South Africa, last year branded Israel a racist state. 'As someone who suffered under apartheid, it is all too clear that what exists in Israel today is apartheid'... Mr Solomon said in a speech last year when he presented a letter from South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu supporting BDS to Ms Byrne. 'People were forcibly removed from their homes and dumped into refugee camps based on one criterion and one criterion alone - by race, by an accident of birth. When Israel demands to be recognised as a state that is defined by race, then it is an apartheid state. (It is) a racist policy."
Now isn't that just typical of The Australian: a man who was raised in apartheid South Africa and who, like Archbishop Tutu, knows it when he sees it elsewhere, is casually written off by a hard-line pro-Israel newspaper as a "hard-line anti-Israel campaigner." The only opinions that matter in this rag are those of Israel lobbyists such as Alhadeff, Wertheim, Jones and Rubenstein who have the run of its opinion pages.
It'd be verging on the tedious to cite the rest of the piece, with one Greens candidate reportedly (or misreportedly as the case may be) saying that "she was 'absolutely not' talking about BDS to her constituents," and another reported (or misreported as the case may be) as "avoid[ing] direct questions about BDS."
OK, assuming for the sake of argument that these Greens candidates have not been misquoted, wouldn't it be better for The Greens not to engage representatives of The Australian on any subject? After all, no self-respecting member or supporter of the party - in fact, no presentable member of the human race even - actually buys the bloody thing as it is. So why not just extend this de facto boycott of the product to include those who have a hand in producing it? Seriously, how hard is that? All together now, Greens candidates: NO THANKS, I'M CHOOSY WHO I TALK TO.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Carr Doctrine So Far 3
"Ended a long day with a private fundraising dinner at the home of a businessman, Paul Binstead of Pymble. Carr was the star turn, laying into the Americans over Iraq, a scarifying 15-minute critique of their faulty strategy and how it will foster Islamic fundamentalism worldwide. It's a measure of how bad the Americans are going that someone loke Bob, an old Cold War warrior, is up them for the rent. I need him to come out publicly and say these things. The thug Armitage and his underlings are in the Murdoch papers all the time: the born-to-rule mentality of American imperialism, trying to interfere in our sovereign system, trying to help Howard. They see us as a colony, not an ally. Carr is the senior Labor head of government in this country - he could play a vital role, put them back in their box. But he won't. When push comes to shove, he's like the rest of the Labor conservatives: scared of Murdoch, scared of Packer, scared of the Americans, our great and powerful friends. Bob is going to the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue in June, the foreign policy club funded by the US. He won't repeat his comments from tonight publicly, they would throw him out of the club." (Tuesday, 20 April 2004: The Latham Diaries, Mark Latham, 2005, p 281)
So far, Murdoch court reporters love Bob Carr:
"In keeping with the early battles against what he calls the 'comms' in the Labor Party, Carr's position remains hard Right. He will not only be as pro-US as Alexander Downer, he will also be able to match his Washington hosts in Civil War history, as well as the history of the Kennedy administration. On a personal note, I spent a week in Israel with Carr and his wife Helena in 2010: his hawkishness was everywhere on display, including when he told our hosts that were terrorists threatening the citizens of NSW, he would have built a dividing wall here too." (The hard Right man cometh, Imre Salusinszky, The Australian, 3/3/12)
And yet, despite his place in Mark Latham's famous conga line of suckholes and his total ignorance of the history of Palestine/Israel, Carr is described in Salusinszky's report as having a "passion for history" (quoting Michael Egan) and a "knowledge of the issues above anybody else in Australia and far in excess of anybody in public office" (quoting Morris Iemma), and is alleged (by Salusinszky) to have "doubled the IQ of Gillard's caucus."
"Carr was always serious about foreign affairs. He founded Labour Friends of Israel. He was a passionate social democrat, which made him a serious anti-communist all through the Cold War. He gave the NSW Right whatever class and elan it had." (Carr right choice for foreign job, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 3/3/12)
However, there's a fly in Sheridan's ointment: "Going back through Carr's blog in detail yesterday, I was struck, generally, by its erudition and range, but there were one or two things to disagree with. I think he is a bit too sanguine about the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran, and a bit Pollyanna-ish in his interpretation of the Chinese government."
And what's this?:
"Bob Carr has removed an attack on the Dalai Lama from his personal blog where he decribed the spiritual leader as a 'cunning monk'. Australia's next foreign minister, Mr Carr said his views on the Thoughtlines blog were personal ones, but he did not want them to distract from his plum job." (Foreign Minister deletes Dalai Lama attack from blog, Samantha Maiden & Linda Silmalis, Sunday Telegraph, 4/3/12)
And the Carr Doctrine So Far? Well, it's still on Thoughtlines as I type, but will that too be removed or subjected to a judicious nip and tuck, I wonder?
So far, Murdoch court reporters love Bob Carr:
"In keeping with the early battles against what he calls the 'comms' in the Labor Party, Carr's position remains hard Right. He will not only be as pro-US as Alexander Downer, he will also be able to match his Washington hosts in Civil War history, as well as the history of the Kennedy administration. On a personal note, I spent a week in Israel with Carr and his wife Helena in 2010: his hawkishness was everywhere on display, including when he told our hosts that were terrorists threatening the citizens of NSW, he would have built a dividing wall here too." (The hard Right man cometh, Imre Salusinszky, The Australian, 3/3/12)
And yet, despite his place in Mark Latham's famous conga line of suckholes and his total ignorance of the history of Palestine/Israel, Carr is described in Salusinszky's report as having a "passion for history" (quoting Michael Egan) and a "knowledge of the issues above anybody else in Australia and far in excess of anybody in public office" (quoting Morris Iemma), and is alleged (by Salusinszky) to have "doubled the IQ of Gillard's caucus."
"Carr was always serious about foreign affairs. He founded Labour Friends of Israel. He was a passionate social democrat, which made him a serious anti-communist all through the Cold War. He gave the NSW Right whatever class and elan it had." (Carr right choice for foreign job, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 3/3/12)
However, there's a fly in Sheridan's ointment: "Going back through Carr's blog in detail yesterday, I was struck, generally, by its erudition and range, but there were one or two things to disagree with. I think he is a bit too sanguine about the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran, and a bit Pollyanna-ish in his interpretation of the Chinese government."
And what's this?:
"Bob Carr has removed an attack on the Dalai Lama from his personal blog where he decribed the spiritual leader as a 'cunning monk'. Australia's next foreign minister, Mr Carr said his views on the Thoughtlines blog were personal ones, but he did not want them to distract from his plum job." (Foreign Minister deletes Dalai Lama attack from blog, Samantha Maiden & Linda Silmalis, Sunday Telegraph, 4/3/12)
And the Carr Doctrine So Far? Well, it's still on Thoughtlines as I type, but will that too be removed or subjected to a judicious nip and tuck, I wonder?
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Get Rhiannon! 3
The latest round of the Australian's witch hunt against those elements of the NSW Greens sufficiently informed and principled to support the BDS campaign against Israeli apartheid continues apace:
"A cameo appearance by a Greens state MP at a meeting of a far-left group has highlighted divisions within the NSW Greens. Eyebrows were raised within the party by the presence of upper house MP David Shoebridge at the annual Socialist Alliance conference in Sydney last weekend. The Green-Left [sic] website reports Mr Shoebridge was present to deliver 'greetings' from the NSW Greens." (MP's visit to far-left meeting roils Greens, Imre Salusinszky & James Massola, 2/2/12)
A cameo appearance... highlighted divisions... eyebrows raised... roils Greens.
Say it isn't so! Fair dinkum, comrade Shoebridge! If only you'd cameo-ed at, say, the annual conference of the state Liberal Party instead, said divisions would have been lowlighted, raised eyebrows remained as they were, and choppy waters returned instantly to calm.
But be still my leaping eyebrows, Salusinszky's really just introducing another promo for Sally Neighbour's Monthly essay on the NSW Greens, with a bit of reassurance by former Greens MLC Ian Cohen to the effect that the Greens are "not left wing or right wing," but "the whole bird," and a "party source" who followed him with: "The balance of power is shifting towards the national centre. There is a fight back... but the extremists are losing."
Then, yesterday, churnalist Christian Kerr was back for another stab at the Mother of All Comrades:
"When The Weekend Australian detailed Greens senator Lee Rhiannon's activities as a propagandist for the Soviet Union as a contributor to and editor of the Soviet-supported magazine Survey in the 1980s and early 90s, her reaction was to fudge."
This provided the opportunity for a rehash of his ASIO "revelations" of February 1, and a raising of the old eyebrow thus:
"Rhiannon seems to have moved seamlessly from the role of Soviet propagandist at Survey, 'a monthly digest of trends in the Soviet Union and other socialist countries', to loyal member of the Greens, [which] political rebirth raises questions of her credibility."
Kerr, who seems to have moved even more seamlessly from the role of Liberal Party staffer and propagandist (2008) to loyal employee of Rupert Murdoch (2008) without any credibility issues whatever, then gave the floor to Michael Danby, the Labor member for Melbourne Ports and "just one of several parliamentarians who have raised the issue." Danby, as a card-carrying Zionist and the ALP's go-to man for all things Israel, trifling matters Kerr correctly neglects to mention, also has no credibility issues.
In fact, as reported by Kerr, the great man's expressed solicitude for all victims of Soviet crimes (with the exception, of course, of those Palestinians who lost their lives and/or homes as a result of the Soviet's timely provision of arms* to the Zionist gangs engaged in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948) is an absolute credit to him.
And when Danby, as reported by Kerr, calls on Rhiannon to publicly express "regret" for "the harm caused by [her] years of advocacy and activism for the Soviet regime," it would surely be churlish for anyone to suggest he do the same for his many more years of advocacy and activism for the apartheid regime of Israel. Oh, yeah.
[*On [24 May, 1948], the Israeli army had received a large shipment of modern, brand new 0.45-calibre cannons from the Communist Eastern bloc. Israel now possessed artillery unmatched not only by the Arab troops inside Palestine, but by all the Arab armies put together. It should be noted that the Israeli Communist Party was instrumental in arranging this deal." (Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006, p 144)]
"A cameo appearance by a Greens state MP at a meeting of a far-left group has highlighted divisions within the NSW Greens. Eyebrows were raised within the party by the presence of upper house MP David Shoebridge at the annual Socialist Alliance conference in Sydney last weekend. The Green-Left [sic] website reports Mr Shoebridge was present to deliver 'greetings' from the NSW Greens." (MP's visit to far-left meeting roils Greens, Imre Salusinszky & James Massola, 2/2/12)
A cameo appearance... highlighted divisions... eyebrows raised... roils Greens.
Say it isn't so! Fair dinkum, comrade Shoebridge! If only you'd cameo-ed at, say, the annual conference of the state Liberal Party instead, said divisions would have been lowlighted, raised eyebrows remained as they were, and choppy waters returned instantly to calm.
But be still my leaping eyebrows, Salusinszky's really just introducing another promo for Sally Neighbour's Monthly essay on the NSW Greens, with a bit of reassurance by former Greens MLC Ian Cohen to the effect that the Greens are "not left wing or right wing," but "the whole bird," and a "party source" who followed him with: "The balance of power is shifting towards the national centre. There is a fight back... but the extremists are losing."
Then, yesterday, churnalist Christian Kerr was back for another stab at the Mother of All Comrades:
"When The Weekend Australian detailed Greens senator Lee Rhiannon's activities as a propagandist for the Soviet Union as a contributor to and editor of the Soviet-supported magazine Survey in the 1980s and early 90s, her reaction was to fudge."
This provided the opportunity for a rehash of his ASIO "revelations" of February 1, and a raising of the old eyebrow thus:
"Rhiannon seems to have moved seamlessly from the role of Soviet propagandist at Survey, 'a monthly digest of trends in the Soviet Union and other socialist countries', to loyal member of the Greens, [which] political rebirth raises questions of her credibility."
Kerr, who seems to have moved even more seamlessly from the role of Liberal Party staffer and propagandist (2008) to loyal employee of Rupert Murdoch (2008) without any credibility issues whatever, then gave the floor to Michael Danby, the Labor member for Melbourne Ports and "just one of several parliamentarians who have raised the issue." Danby, as a card-carrying Zionist and the ALP's go-to man for all things Israel, trifling matters Kerr correctly neglects to mention, also has no credibility issues.
In fact, as reported by Kerr, the great man's expressed solicitude for all victims of Soviet crimes (with the exception, of course, of those Palestinians who lost their lives and/or homes as a result of the Soviet's timely provision of arms* to the Zionist gangs engaged in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948) is an absolute credit to him.
And when Danby, as reported by Kerr, calls on Rhiannon to publicly express "regret" for "the harm caused by [her] years of advocacy and activism for the Soviet regime," it would surely be churlish for anyone to suggest he do the same for his many more years of advocacy and activism for the apartheid regime of Israel. Oh, yeah.
[*On [24 May, 1948], the Israeli army had received a large shipment of modern, brand new 0.45-calibre cannons from the Communist Eastern bloc. Israel now possessed artillery unmatched not only by the Arab troops inside Palestine, but by all the Arab armies put together. It should be noted that the Israeli Communist Party was instrumental in arranging this deal." (Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006, p 144)]
Thursday, December 15, 2011
A Girl with a Conscience
"Charlotte Salusinszky from Pymble Ladies' College topped advanced English but definitely won't be following the footsteps of her father, Imre, a journalist with The Australian. 'Never', she said." (Girls bring A game, Henry Budd, The Daily Telegraph, 14/12/11)
Most wise, Charlotte. And God bless!
Most wise, Charlotte. And God bless!
Friday, December 9, 2011
How Green are the Greens?
Just how green are The Greens? The answer is very - and I'm not talking about deep ecology here.
I am moved to this quite depressing conclusion by the NSW Greens' decision to, in the words of a December 4 media release, "replace the BDS resolution adopted by the Greens NSW in December 2010," with a recognition that, while "BDS is a legitimate non-violent political tactic seeking to alter the policies and actions of the government of Israel," there is "a variety of views within the community, NSW Greens and the Australian Greens on the BDS," and that, therefore, "each participating individual or community group may choose whether to do so and in a way which is suitable and practical for themselves."
IOW, support for BDS has been relegated from a plank in the party platform to a conscience vote for individual party members.
What this, in fact, means is that the NSW Greens, despite all that they should have learnt regarding the power, influence and tactics of the Israel lobby and its pre-eminent Murdoch mouthpiece, The Australian, over the past year, have not understood the following:
1) There is no "variety of views within the community."
Given that, like most progressive folk, the Greens shun the Murdoch press like the plague, and so are simply not wise to its tricks, it is my feeling that they mistake its periodic crusades and beat-ups (against BDS/Greens*, Lee Rhiannon, Sheik Hilali**, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Muslims in general) for actual community attitudes when these are in fact propaganda tropes concocted and broadcast by Australia's Israel lobby (or Zionist Power Configuration (ZPG) to use James Petras' more accurate terminology). The overwhelming majority of fair-minded Australians (the Greens' natural constituency), even despite the pro-Israel bias that pervades much of the corporate reporting on the Middle East conflict, either 'get it' or, with a little leadership (and guidance) from the Greens, could 'get it'.***
2) The so-called "variety of views within the NSW and Australian Greens," is merely a mix of the aforementioned ignorance and confusion and the penetration of the party by Zionists whose bottom line, whatever else they show an interest in, is heading off, blunting, or at least neutralising, the adoption of pro-Palestinian policies and initiatives by the party. It is, to say the least, bizarre that an otherwise progressive and anti-racist party should tolerate the present-day equivalents of supporters of South African apartheid in its ranks.
3) The backdown on BDS will not, as the Greens no doubt hope, stem Murdoch's crusade against the party, but simply embolden it. All the NSW Greens have succeeded in doing with their new, pale green resolution is giving Murdoch and 'friends' a stick to beat them with. Nor was the beating long in coming, with consecutive 'reports' over the following two days by Imre Salusinszky, the Murdoch foot soldier charged with spearheading the anti-Greens/BDS attack in the pages of The Australian:
a) Here's Salusinszky recycling the 'received wisdom' on former Marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne's failure to win the state seat of Marrickville for the Greens:
"The Greens in NSW have backed away from the divisive policy on Israel that was widely seen as costing them a potential lower-house seat at the state election in March." (Greens shy from Israel boycott policy, 5/12/11)
The words which give Salusinszky's game away are "widely seen." But by whom? By the Murdoch press, that's whom! Further along in his piece, Salusinszky drops even this and simply asserts: "[c]ontroversy over the party's stance on the BDS cost Fiona Byrne" the seat.
b) And here's Salusinszky cock-a-hoop over the divide within the party that he has helped generate. (Note too the blatant attempt at guilt by association. This is not objective reporting):
"The move is seen as a victory for the more conservationist element among the Greens in NSW and a defeat for NSW senator Lee Rhiannon and her former state upper house colleague Sylvia Hale, who have marched and carried anti-Israel banners with controversial Muslim cleric Taj Din al-Hilali." (ibid)
But there's more:
"Three of the party's 5 NSW upper house MPs have distanced themselves from the BDS and did not oppose a motion in parliament condemning protests outside cafes of the Israeli-owned Max Brenner chain." (ibid)
And more:
"Moderate Greens in NSW have welcomed the party's decision to ditch its official support for the 'destructive' international campaign to isolate Israel... The move... is being widely interpreted in party circles as a defeat for NSW Senator Lee Rhiannon. Former state Greens MP Ian Cohen... said last night the shift represented the 'maturation' of the Greens political organisation in NSW." (Israel move welcomed, 6/12/11)
c) And, just to remind you that The Australian's not off on some lone frolic, here's Salusinszky on the relevant ZPC connection: "NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president Yair Miller said, 'We welcome this small but significant step... but reiterate that they are still wrong to argue that BDS is a legitimate tactic'." (ibid)
It's time the Greens wised up on Palestine.
To read the whole sorry saga of how the green Greens got spooked by Murdoch and the ZPC over BDS, just click on the 'The Greens' label below.
[*See my 8/4/11 post The Australian Goes on the Warpath; **See my 20/1/11 post Get the Sheikh!; ***For example, a November 2011 Morgan Poll on Israel/Palestine indicated that, while 28% of Australians surveyed supported the Palestinians and 26% the Israelis, 21% supported neither and 24% couldn't say. Surely it's not too much to expect that a forthright and principled, which is to say a pro-BDS, position by the Greens could bring around many in the last 2 categories.]
I am moved to this quite depressing conclusion by the NSW Greens' decision to, in the words of a December 4 media release, "replace the BDS resolution adopted by the Greens NSW in December 2010," with a recognition that, while "BDS is a legitimate non-violent political tactic seeking to alter the policies and actions of the government of Israel," there is "a variety of views within the community, NSW Greens and the Australian Greens on the BDS," and that, therefore, "each participating individual or community group may choose whether to do so and in a way which is suitable and practical for themselves."
IOW, support for BDS has been relegated from a plank in the party platform to a conscience vote for individual party members.
What this, in fact, means is that the NSW Greens, despite all that they should have learnt regarding the power, influence and tactics of the Israel lobby and its pre-eminent Murdoch mouthpiece, The Australian, over the past year, have not understood the following:
1) There is no "variety of views within the community."
Given that, like most progressive folk, the Greens shun the Murdoch press like the plague, and so are simply not wise to its tricks, it is my feeling that they mistake its periodic crusades and beat-ups (against BDS/Greens*, Lee Rhiannon, Sheik Hilali**, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Muslims in general) for actual community attitudes when these are in fact propaganda tropes concocted and broadcast by Australia's Israel lobby (or Zionist Power Configuration (ZPG) to use James Petras' more accurate terminology). The overwhelming majority of fair-minded Australians (the Greens' natural constituency), even despite the pro-Israel bias that pervades much of the corporate reporting on the Middle East conflict, either 'get it' or, with a little leadership (and guidance) from the Greens, could 'get it'.***
2) The so-called "variety of views within the NSW and Australian Greens," is merely a mix of the aforementioned ignorance and confusion and the penetration of the party by Zionists whose bottom line, whatever else they show an interest in, is heading off, blunting, or at least neutralising, the adoption of pro-Palestinian policies and initiatives by the party. It is, to say the least, bizarre that an otherwise progressive and anti-racist party should tolerate the present-day equivalents of supporters of South African apartheid in its ranks.
3) The backdown on BDS will not, as the Greens no doubt hope, stem Murdoch's crusade against the party, but simply embolden it. All the NSW Greens have succeeded in doing with their new, pale green resolution is giving Murdoch and 'friends' a stick to beat them with. Nor was the beating long in coming, with consecutive 'reports' over the following two days by Imre Salusinszky, the Murdoch foot soldier charged with spearheading the anti-Greens/BDS attack in the pages of The Australian:
a) Here's Salusinszky recycling the 'received wisdom' on former Marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne's failure to win the state seat of Marrickville for the Greens:
"The Greens in NSW have backed away from the divisive policy on Israel that was widely seen as costing them a potential lower-house seat at the state election in March." (Greens shy from Israel boycott policy, 5/12/11)
The words which give Salusinszky's game away are "widely seen." But by whom? By the Murdoch press, that's whom! Further along in his piece, Salusinszky drops even this and simply asserts: "[c]ontroversy over the party's stance on the BDS cost Fiona Byrne" the seat.
b) And here's Salusinszky cock-a-hoop over the divide within the party that he has helped generate. (Note too the blatant attempt at guilt by association. This is not objective reporting):
"The move is seen as a victory for the more conservationist element among the Greens in NSW and a defeat for NSW senator Lee Rhiannon and her former state upper house colleague Sylvia Hale, who have marched and carried anti-Israel banners with controversial Muslim cleric Taj Din al-Hilali." (ibid)
But there's more:
"Three of the party's 5 NSW upper house MPs have distanced themselves from the BDS and did not oppose a motion in parliament condemning protests outside cafes of the Israeli-owned Max Brenner chain." (ibid)
And more:
"Moderate Greens in NSW have welcomed the party's decision to ditch its official support for the 'destructive' international campaign to isolate Israel... The move... is being widely interpreted in party circles as a defeat for NSW Senator Lee Rhiannon. Former state Greens MP Ian Cohen... said last night the shift represented the 'maturation' of the Greens political organisation in NSW." (Israel move welcomed, 6/12/11)
c) And, just to remind you that The Australian's not off on some lone frolic, here's Salusinszky on the relevant ZPC connection: "NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president Yair Miller said, 'We welcome this small but significant step... but reiterate that they are still wrong to argue that BDS is a legitimate tactic'." (ibid)
It's time the Greens wised up on Palestine.
To read the whole sorry saga of how the green Greens got spooked by Murdoch and the ZPC over BDS, just click on the 'The Greens' label below.
[*See my 8/4/11 post The Australian Goes on the Warpath; **See my 20/1/11 post Get the Sheikh!; ***For example, a November 2011 Morgan Poll on Israel/Palestine indicated that, while 28% of Australians surveyed supported the Palestinians and 26% the Israelis, 21% supported neither and 24% couldn't say. Surely it's not too much to expect that a forthright and principled, which is to say a pro-BDS, position by the Greens could bring around many in the last 2 categories.]
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Australian Goes on the Warpath
"In the self-indulgence stakes it is hard to beat The Australian. Newspapers are supposed to talk to their readers about interesting events. Too often The Australian talks to itself about itself. Barely an edition passes without the denigration of its imagined foes, defined as those who disagree with its editorial line and/or work for rival media companies... Have no doubt The Australian considers itself one of the most important institutions in Parliament House. It has moved beyond the dissemination of news and into the distribution of political power." (Yes, it's you I'm talking about, Mark Latham, The Weekend Australian Financial Review, 29/12/10) See my 7/1/11 post Running Amok at The Australian for more.
The Australian's unrelenting jihad against the Greens over the NSW branch's embrace of the BDS strategy against Israel, which began in the weeks leading up to the NSW state election of March 26, not only shows no sign of tapering off in the post-election period, but has lately moved to the front page. For those familiar with the beast, of course, the current hue and cry is simply the latest in a long line (See, for example, my 20/1/11 post Get the Sheik!). To illustrate the dimensions and sustained nature of Murdoch's assault on the Greens, I've placed the headlines of relevant 'news' reports, features, opinion pieces, editorials, letters etc in chronological order. I may well have missed one or two, but I doubt it. I'll also be updating the list below as the campaign continues in the coming weeks. By way of contrast, the rival Sydney Morning Herald has run only 3 stories on the issue:
22/4/11:
Greens splash out but not at the pool, Paul Pottinger, Daily Telegraph
21/4/11:
Second council takes aim at Israel
20/4/11:
Greens forced to back down on Israel boycott, Aikman & Shanahan
Celebrities back council on boycott of Israel, Aikman & Shanahan
19/4/11:
Beware as Green turns Red, Ron Boswell
Greens' boycott rebounds, Leo Shanahan
Middle East shames inner west, editorial
Marrickville demands a two-state solution & for Queensland to withdraw to the Tweed, Cut & Paste
18/4/11:
Israeli boycott set to lose its teeth, Shanahan & Maley
Drop Israel boycott, Labor's Anthony Albanese urges Marrickville Council, Lanai Vasek
The Left a gift that keeps on giving, Tim Blair, Daily Telegraph
17/4/11:
Ban on Israel dead in the water, Jesse Phillips, Sunday Telegraph
Greens wilting appeal, Miranda Devine, Sunday Telegraph
Marrickville Bin Night, Kudelka cartoon, Sunday Telegraph
16/4/11:
Israel boycott anger grows, Shanahan & Maley
They're nuts, you're crackers, Daily Telegraph
Political bacon is cooked in our Inner West Bank, Joe Hildebrand, Daily Telegraph
15/4/11:
Boycott call 'cost Greens state seat', Salusinszky & Shanahan
Israel ban move opens rift in unions, Salusinszky & Franklin
The Byrne ultimatum: Greens Mayor told to drop Israel boycott or face sack, Simon Benson, Daily Telegraph
14/4/11:
Ratepayers' $3.7m bill for Israel boycott, Aikman & Salusinszky
Meddle East mayor, Simon Benson, Daily Telegraph, p 1
Council faces $4m bill for Israel bans, Simon Benson, Daily Telegraph
Angry locals slam mayor's 'ridiculous' boycott, Alice Coote, Daily Telegraph
Voters see true colour of Greens, editorial, Daily Telegraph
13/4/11:
Greens MP marched with Islamic cleric, Imre Salusinszky, p 1
11/4/11:
New Greens MP picking on Jews, George Newhouse
9/4/11:
Brown 'double standard' on rallies, Kelly & Wilson
Denial of a watermelon gives us the pip, Talking Point, letters
8/4/11:
Founding fathers turn on urban Greens, Walker & Fraser, p 1
Brown backs arms export ban, Matthew Franklin
Israel boycott harms Arabs, too, Mendes, Dyrenfurth & Rutland
Greens are on the record as opposing Israel, Talking Point, letters
7/4/11:
Greens senators caught out over Israel, Franklin & Vasek, p 1
A party of ignorant extremists, Greg Sheridan
Lots for Left to learn on Israel, editorial
6/4/11:
Greens angry over new senator's 'meddling', Salusinszky & Don
5/4/11:
Greens' new MP in storm on Israel, Sallie Don
4/4/11:
New greens MP silent on Jewish comments, Jodie Minus
It's not easy being Green or Independent when you get trashed at the polling booths, Cut & Paste
3/4/11:
Radicalism may force Greens to change tunes, Paul Howes, Sunday Telegraph
2/4/11:
Brown puts Greens Left on notice, Packham & Shanahan, p 1
Business slaps down boycott talk, Minus & Massola
Knowing the truth will scare off voters, Michael Danby
This policy is the stuff of pre-schoolers: Rudd
I'm no watermelon: Rhiannon
Party's Israel stance 'hypocritical', Greg Sheridan
Labor has a light on the hill & it's not green, editorial
Boycott Israel & do without a host of mod-cons, Talking Point, letters
1/4/11:
Brown told to rein in anti-Israel senator, Kelly & Wilson, p 1
Greens leader Bob Brown slaps down Lee Rhiannon on Israel boycott policy, Massola & Kelly
Sadly, it seems to be Swampies 1, Greens 0, Norman Sanders, letter
31/3/11:
Green dream turns to ashes, Peter Van Onselen
Weak in the eyes of the world, Greg Sheridan
30/3/11:
NSW Labor has lost its base, and the plot, Graham Richardson
29/3/11:
Credit where it's due - they just didn't see him coming, Gerard Henderson
28/3/11:
Anti-Israeli stance focus of Greens review, Franklin & Aikman
Party's two-seats dream slipping away, Franklin & Aikman
Labor was seriously wounded, but it will not die, David Burchell
26/3/11:
NSW STATE ELECTION
25/3/11:
Mayor dodges on Israel boycott, Salusinszky & Aikman
Green foolish to liken Israel & apartheid, Bruce Loudon
22/3/11:
Greens' Israel boycott confusion, Imre Salusinszky
15/3/11:
Byrne's Israel boycott slammed, Imre Salusinszky
As far as this Murdoch toe rag and the Israel first crowd are concerned, the Greens (some more than others) have committed the most heinous of all offences - daring to speak out against Israeli apartheid and its decades-long crimes against the Palestinian people. For that, there can be no forgiveness. And so they will be eternally pilloried from hereon in - even if, God forbid, they should ignominiously roll over and abandon their support for BDS. The only principled strategy, in the face of the kind of Zionist bullying we are now witnessing in the pages of The Australian, is for the Greens to stand up to it and wear their support for BDS as a badge of pride. To be sure, the likes of Brown and Faehrmann will need to be educated - no small task it would seem - however, if the Greens are to be taken seriously as a party of vision, integrity and courage, so be it.
The Australian's unrelenting jihad against the Greens over the NSW branch's embrace of the BDS strategy against Israel, which began in the weeks leading up to the NSW state election of March 26, not only shows no sign of tapering off in the post-election period, but has lately moved to the front page. For those familiar with the beast, of course, the current hue and cry is simply the latest in a long line (See, for example, my 20/1/11 post Get the Sheik!). To illustrate the dimensions and sustained nature of Murdoch's assault on the Greens, I've placed the headlines of relevant 'news' reports, features, opinion pieces, editorials, letters etc in chronological order. I may well have missed one or two, but I doubt it. I'll also be updating the list below as the campaign continues in the coming weeks. By way of contrast, the rival Sydney Morning Herald has run only 3 stories on the issue:
22/4/11:
Greens splash out but not at the pool, Paul Pottinger, Daily Telegraph
21/4/11:
Second council takes aim at Israel
20/4/11:
Greens forced to back down on Israel boycott, Aikman & Shanahan
Celebrities back council on boycott of Israel, Aikman & Shanahan
19/4/11:
Beware as Green turns Red, Ron Boswell
Greens' boycott rebounds, Leo Shanahan
Middle East shames inner west, editorial
Marrickville demands a two-state solution & for Queensland to withdraw to the Tweed, Cut & Paste
18/4/11:
Israeli boycott set to lose its teeth, Shanahan & Maley
Drop Israel boycott, Labor's Anthony Albanese urges Marrickville Council, Lanai Vasek
The Left a gift that keeps on giving, Tim Blair, Daily Telegraph
17/4/11:
Ban on Israel dead in the water, Jesse Phillips, Sunday Telegraph
Greens wilting appeal, Miranda Devine, Sunday Telegraph
Marrickville Bin Night, Kudelka cartoon, Sunday Telegraph
16/4/11:
Israel boycott anger grows, Shanahan & Maley
They're nuts, you're crackers, Daily Telegraph
Political bacon is cooked in our Inner West Bank, Joe Hildebrand, Daily Telegraph
15/4/11:
Boycott call 'cost Greens state seat', Salusinszky & Shanahan
Israel ban move opens rift in unions, Salusinszky & Franklin
The Byrne ultimatum: Greens Mayor told to drop Israel boycott or face sack, Simon Benson, Daily Telegraph
14/4/11:
Ratepayers' $3.7m bill for Israel boycott, Aikman & Salusinszky
Meddle East mayor, Simon Benson, Daily Telegraph, p 1
Council faces $4m bill for Israel bans, Simon Benson, Daily Telegraph
Angry locals slam mayor's 'ridiculous' boycott, Alice Coote, Daily Telegraph
Voters see true colour of Greens, editorial, Daily Telegraph
13/4/11:
Greens MP marched with Islamic cleric, Imre Salusinszky, p 1
11/4/11:
New Greens MP picking on Jews, George Newhouse
9/4/11:
Brown 'double standard' on rallies, Kelly & Wilson
Denial of a watermelon gives us the pip, Talking Point, letters
8/4/11:
Founding fathers turn on urban Greens, Walker & Fraser, p 1
Brown backs arms export ban, Matthew Franklin
Israel boycott harms Arabs, too, Mendes, Dyrenfurth & Rutland
Greens are on the record as opposing Israel, Talking Point, letters
7/4/11:
Greens senators caught out over Israel, Franklin & Vasek, p 1
A party of ignorant extremists, Greg Sheridan
Lots for Left to learn on Israel, editorial
6/4/11:
Greens angry over new senator's 'meddling', Salusinszky & Don
5/4/11:
Greens' new MP in storm on Israel, Sallie Don
4/4/11:
New greens MP silent on Jewish comments, Jodie Minus
It's not easy being Green or Independent when you get trashed at the polling booths, Cut & Paste
3/4/11:
Radicalism may force Greens to change tunes, Paul Howes, Sunday Telegraph
2/4/11:
Brown puts Greens Left on notice, Packham & Shanahan, p 1
Business slaps down boycott talk, Minus & Massola
Knowing the truth will scare off voters, Michael Danby
This policy is the stuff of pre-schoolers: Rudd
I'm no watermelon: Rhiannon
Party's Israel stance 'hypocritical', Greg Sheridan
Labor has a light on the hill & it's not green, editorial
Boycott Israel & do without a host of mod-cons, Talking Point, letters
1/4/11:
Brown told to rein in anti-Israel senator, Kelly & Wilson, p 1
Greens leader Bob Brown slaps down Lee Rhiannon on Israel boycott policy, Massola & Kelly
Sadly, it seems to be Swampies 1, Greens 0, Norman Sanders, letter
31/3/11:
Green dream turns to ashes, Peter Van Onselen
Weak in the eyes of the world, Greg Sheridan
30/3/11:
NSW Labor has lost its base, and the plot, Graham Richardson
29/3/11:
Credit where it's due - they just didn't see him coming, Gerard Henderson
28/3/11:
Anti-Israeli stance focus of Greens review, Franklin & Aikman
Party's two-seats dream slipping away, Franklin & Aikman
Labor was seriously wounded, but it will not die, David Burchell
26/3/11:
NSW STATE ELECTION
25/3/11:
Mayor dodges on Israel boycott, Salusinszky & Aikman
Green foolish to liken Israel & apartheid, Bruce Loudon
22/3/11:
Greens' Israel boycott confusion, Imre Salusinszky
15/3/11:
Byrne's Israel boycott slammed, Imre Salusinszky
As far as this Murdoch toe rag and the Israel first crowd are concerned, the Greens (some more than others) have committed the most heinous of all offences - daring to speak out against Israeli apartheid and its decades-long crimes against the Palestinian people. For that, there can be no forgiveness. And so they will be eternally pilloried from hereon in - even if, God forbid, they should ignominiously roll over and abandon their support for BDS. The only principled strategy, in the face of the kind of Zionist bullying we are now witnessing in the pages of The Australian, is for the Greens to stand up to it and wear their support for BDS as a badge of pride. To be sure, the likes of Brown and Faehrmann will need to be educated - no small task it would seem - however, if the Greens are to be taken seriously as a party of vision, integrity and courage, so be it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)