Harry Triguboff (like Frank Lowy and the Pratts, father and son) is the Australian equivalent of conspicuous US Zionist billionaire political donors such as Sheldon Adelson and Haim Saban*. By way of an introduction to the vital content of this post, the following data has been gleaned from his Wikipedia entry - with some of the limitations one has come to expect from that source:
In 2016, Triguboff was the richest person in Australia, and is currently the third richest. He was born in Dalien, Lianing, in the former Republic of China (1912-1949) after his Russian Jewish parents left Russia in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. In 1947, Triguboff moved to Australia, becoming a citizen in 1961. Just two statements in his Wikipedia entry suggest that he is something more than just a philanthropic billionaire property developer. These read as follows: "Triguboff donates heavily to political parties and uses his influence to seek policy changes."/ "Triguboff, via the Harry Triguboff Foundation , funded a project at the Shorashim Center [in Jerusalem] to assist immigrant applicants to Israel in proving their Jewishness."
Which brings me now to the revealing profile of Triguboff by Tess Durack in the May 29, Murdoch-owned, Wentworth Courier. Titled Top of his game: Harry Triguboff AO, aged 86, is pulling no punches, here are just the plums:
"At the 86th Gala Birthday dinner of Harry Triguboff AO earlier this year, a diverse crowd descended on Darling Harbour's ICC ballroom. Titans of business intersected with Orthodox Jews, tradies and sub-contractors from an array of ethnic backgrounds and families who work for - or whose livelihoods depend on - Triguboff... [T]hey paid tribute to the billionaire property developer whose image was beamed on huge screens... and to raise funds for the hugely successful Our Big Kitchen charity which Triguboff has long backed.
"An introduction from Rabbi Dovid Slavin, founder of Our Big Kitchen, and it was time for the guest of honour to speak. 'I'm very lucky that I found you,' the founder of Meriton [Apartments Pty Ltd] told the crowd of over 200, 'and you are very lucky that you found me!'
"It was a typically candid comment from a man renowned for speaking plainly in a thick Russian accent which lingers despite calling Australia home these past six decades. But even those accustomed to Triguboff's direct conversational style were taken aback by the apparent stream of consciousness that followed that night, as he took aim at national parks and watered-down forms of the Jewish education in a speech that drew an audible gasp or two from some in the crowd.
"'Sydney is a very strange place,' he ruminated. 'The only place in the world where they have so many parks. Everywhere, national parks. They are only good for snakes. No one goes there.' Cue the gasps."
Two months later, Durack was granted an interview by Triguboff which occupies the remainder of her profile:
"In the weeks following the birthday gala he launched legal action against the NSW government - during the thick of its election campaign - over a tower he is building in North Ryde. Does he feel optimistic about the result? 'Well I have to really belt them up,' he says with that trademark pugnacity. 'It's something that has to be done. Whenever I win a case against council - which is very often - I like it to be of benefit to everyone and if I can win this case, it will be of great benefit.'... I ask him how his day has been. 'My day? Fine! I have no bad days! If somebody is giving me the shits, I knock them out.'
"Annotated financial reports sit on the table in front of him... The space [at Meriton HQ on Kent Street] is filled with Chinese ornaments, signed sports paraphernalia and a stunning indigenous artwork in vivid pinks. I ask him who the artist is. 'I don't know. I don't care,' says Triguboff, his voice gruff and commanding. 'People who know painting - they know who it's by.' [...]
"Later today he will continue a 26-year battle to gain approval to secure a block of land on the northern beaches. Infuriated by the interference of councils, he says too many bad decisions are made because aldermen are worried they'll lose their seats. That he is not worried about such considerations puts him in a good position to win. 'I don't think I well win or lose my seat. I do what I think is right,' The ability to do the right' thing is something he respects and counts Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu and John Howard among those he admires. 'I don't think I like him,' he says of the former, 'but I have to admire him because he did such a good job for the country. And everyone loves John Howard. He will do anything for anyone... without thinking what's in it for himself, he did a good job for the country.' [...]
"I press him on the speech he made in Darling Harbour... Surely he can't mean for us to build on our national parks? 'It's true what I'm saying... Sydney is the only city in Australia where we have so many national parks. The problem is... is that nobody uses them, they are just wild - all that is there are snakes so nobody can go there'."**
[*See my 10/7/15 post Her Master's Voice, on Hillary Clinton's shameless courting of this Zionist mega donor to the Democratic Party;**This attitude of Triguboff's is actually long-standing. See my 28/9/10 post Zionist Chameleon.]
Showing posts with label Jewish political donations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jewish political donations. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
What's Bill Doing?
Ah yes, Bill Shorten and the Pratts:
"Bill Shorten rebuffed an invitation to catch up with Rupert Murdoch in January and also passed on the opportunity to meet him this month after the media mogul flew into Sydney with son Lachlan. But the Opposition Leader has no such qualms about breaking bread with Anthony Pratt, Australia's richest man and generous political benefactor. On the second day of the federal election campaign... Shorten made a detour to Pratt's Sydney luxury apartment overlooking Circular Quay and Sydney Harbour. He was there for lunch with the cardboard box king who... has a net worth of $12.9 billion..." (No time for Murdochs as Shorten meets Pratt, Kylar Loussikian, Sydney Morning Herald, 13/4/19)
Loussikian goes on to review Shorten's relationship with the Pratt family, including the recent fundraiser at the Pratt mansion in Melbourne's Kew, on which I posted earlier this month.
However, the only clue we get to what this all means is the following: "And as one Labor staffer put it: 'Someone's got to pay for the fliers'."
Typical of the blinkered mainstream press, however, the question of what's in it for Pratt is never asked. How telling is that?
"Bill Shorten rebuffed an invitation to catch up with Rupert Murdoch in January and also passed on the opportunity to meet him this month after the media mogul flew into Sydney with son Lachlan. But the Opposition Leader has no such qualms about breaking bread with Anthony Pratt, Australia's richest man and generous political benefactor. On the second day of the federal election campaign... Shorten made a detour to Pratt's Sydney luxury apartment overlooking Circular Quay and Sydney Harbour. He was there for lunch with the cardboard box king who... has a net worth of $12.9 billion..." (No time for Murdochs as Shorten meets Pratt, Kylar Loussikian, Sydney Morning Herald, 13/4/19)
Loussikian goes on to review Shorten's relationship with the Pratt family, including the recent fundraiser at the Pratt mansion in Melbourne's Kew, on which I posted earlier this month.
However, the only clue we get to what this all means is the following: "And as one Labor staffer put it: 'Someone's got to pay for the fliers'."
Typical of the blinkered mainstream press, however, the question of what's in it for Pratt is never asked. How telling is that?
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Pre-Election Fundraising at the Pratt's 4
"The news [that Anthony Pratt is the richest man in the country] comes after a big week for the Visy executive chairman and Pratt Industries owner who, though he is a supporter of US President Donald Trump, hosted a $5,000-a-head fundraising function for Bill Shorten at his Raheen mansion in Melbourne mid-week. A Liberal Party fundraiser was held two weeks earlier at Raheen." (Pratt sails to top - and happiness, John Stensholt, The Australian, 30/3/19)
So Anthony Pratt supports Trump, Shorten and Morrison.
Dumb question: What could these three possibly have in common?
And far from Palestine:
"The pair [Pratt and Gina Rinehart, the second richest person in the country] reveal that Mr Pratt likes to sing the Beatles song Oh! Darling from the seminal Abbey Road album to Mrs Rinehart and flew to Cambodia to support her Cambodian Children's Fund earlier this year." (ibid)
Meanwhile, in Palestine:
"Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians, including two teenagers, and shot 46 others at gatherings on the Gaza frontier marking the anniversary of the demonstration movement, the territory's ministry of health said." (Israeli fire kills four Palestinians says Gaza health ministry, Oliver Holmes and Hazem Balousha, theguardian.com, 31/3/19)
So Anthony Pratt supports Trump, Shorten and Morrison.
Dumb question: What could these three possibly have in common?
And far from Palestine:
"The pair [Pratt and Gina Rinehart, the second richest person in the country] reveal that Mr Pratt likes to sing the Beatles song Oh! Darling from the seminal Abbey Road album to Mrs Rinehart and flew to Cambodia to support her Cambodian Children's Fund earlier this year." (ibid)
Meanwhile, in Palestine:
"Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians, including two teenagers, and shot 46 others at gatherings on the Gaza frontier marking the anniversary of the demonstration movement, the territory's ministry of health said." (Israeli fire kills four Palestinians says Gaza health ministry, Oliver Holmes and Hazem Balousha, theguardian.com, 31/3/19)
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Pre-Election Fundraising at the Pratt's 3
Sadly, some of us just don't get it:
"Bill Shorten and his colleagues constantly rail against 'the big end of town'. The billionaire, Anthony Pratt, was kind enough to throw a fundraiser for Labor. Probably the only thing that Malcolm Turnbull got right was Shorten's propensity for getting his knees under the dining tables at the top end of town." Letter of Annette James, Beauty Point, Tas, The Australian, 29/3/19)
Do you think, perhaps, our correspondent would get it if she read the following?
"In front of six billionaires and 450 of Australia's business and political elite, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday heralded a new era of closeness between Israel and Australia... Six billionaires - Gina Rinehart, Harry Triguboff, Solomon Lew, John Gandel, Jeanne Pratt and her daughter Fiona Geminder watched the leaders commit to closer relations between the two countries." (Colour me Aussie, leader tells the faithful, John Lyons, The Australian, 23/2/17) (See my 26/2/17 post 'A Sea of Billionaires & Millionaires'.)
Not, of course, that Murdoch's Australian has any interest in people 'getting it' - just the opposite - but is 'getting it' really that hard?
"Bill Shorten and his colleagues constantly rail against 'the big end of town'. The billionaire, Anthony Pratt, was kind enough to throw a fundraiser for Labor. Probably the only thing that Malcolm Turnbull got right was Shorten's propensity for getting his knees under the dining tables at the top end of town." Letter of Annette James, Beauty Point, Tas, The Australian, 29/3/19)
Do you think, perhaps, our correspondent would get it if she read the following?
"In front of six billionaires and 450 of Australia's business and political elite, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday heralded a new era of closeness between Israel and Australia... Six billionaires - Gina Rinehart, Harry Triguboff, Solomon Lew, John Gandel, Jeanne Pratt and her daughter Fiona Geminder watched the leaders commit to closer relations between the two countries." (Colour me Aussie, leader tells the faithful, John Lyons, The Australian, 23/2/17) (See my 26/2/17 post 'A Sea of Billionaires & Millionaires'.)
Not, of course, that Murdoch's Australian has any interest in people 'getting it' - just the opposite - but is 'getting it' really that hard?
Friday, March 29, 2019
Pre-Election Fundraising at the Pratt's 2
Sarah Ferguson: They're [the Israel lobby] still a very small group of people. How do you account for them wielding so much power?
Bob Carr: I think party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel.
***
We covered Morrison's fundraiser at the Pratt's in my 15/3/19 post Pre-Election Fundraising at the Pratt's. The Australian's Business Review, you'll recall, concluded it's Margin Call entry on the subject thus: "Bet you the Visy billionaire [Anthony Pratt] is back in the manor when ascendant Labor leader Bill Shorten and his troops arrive for a reciprocal fundraising event in a couple of weeks."
As predicted, he was! Now here's Margin Call's account of Shorten and troops, cap-in-hand:
"He's on track to be our next prime minister, but Labor leader Bill Shorten is still shy about tucking his knees under the table of Australia's richest family. Just over six weeks from the federal election, Shorten last night entered the billionaire Pratt family's historic mansion Raheen via the secret stable doors, a laneway entrance normally reserved for deliveries. Maybe the leader of the worker's party thought it was the tradesman's entrance?
"For Shorten, it was a return to the Melbourne home of the billionaire family's matriarch Jeanne Pratt, her son Anthony Pratt and his wife Claudine, after a long absence. The politician was previously a frequent guest via his first marriage to Debbie Beale, a god-daughter to Jeanne and her late husband Richard Pratt. But last night Shorten was back in the Pratt fold, with the doors of their Kew home Raheen thrown open for a left-of-centre political fundraiser featuring a powerful clutch of Melbourne business types. Amazing how the sniff of victory can pull a crowd, even at $5000 a head.
"While their leader didn't want to be photographed, his deputy Tanya Plibersek arrived through Raheen's imposing main gates to be greeted by her packaging hosts at the arched front door. Very civilised. Almost Treasurer Chris Bowen, who has become quite chummy with Anthony Pratt of late, had slipped inside much earlier. Their Labor colleague Clare O'Neill had a bumpier entree. The shadow minister for financial services... and her VW family wagon were turned back at the Pratt's threshold and directed to a car park on the street. Retiring Member for Melbourne Ports Michael Danby also drove himself in his Ford Territory.
"Rich-lister businessman Peter Scanlon was in for the night, as was former Tennis Australia chair Harold Mitchell and one-time Packer lieutenant and now Ellerston Capital chief Ashok Jacob. Former Telstra chair Bob Mansfield and leading Melbourne lawyer Mark Leibler, both at Prime Minister Scott Morrison's fundraiser at Raheen a fortnight ago, were back to play the other side, as was rich-lister and Jeanne's son-in-law Raphael Geminder. Former Victorian premier and industry super fund CBUS chair Steve Bracks came in a heavily tinted car with driver. Will Shorten soon make his New York dreams come true?
"Outgoing member for Lilley and Labor national president Wayne Swan, looking tanned and relaxed, was in bright and early, as was Member for Isaac Mark Dreyfus and Shorten's good friend and now senator for Victoria Kimberley Kitching, who Margin Call awarded best dressed on the night in a classic navy wrap dress." (Upmarket welcome for the workers' warriors, Will Glasgow & Christine Lacy, 28/3/19)
Bob Carr: I think party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel.
***
We covered Morrison's fundraiser at the Pratt's in my 15/3/19 post Pre-Election Fundraising at the Pratt's. The Australian's Business Review, you'll recall, concluded it's Margin Call entry on the subject thus: "Bet you the Visy billionaire [Anthony Pratt] is back in the manor when ascendant Labor leader Bill Shorten and his troops arrive for a reciprocal fundraising event in a couple of weeks."
As predicted, he was! Now here's Margin Call's account of Shorten and troops, cap-in-hand:
"He's on track to be our next prime minister, but Labor leader Bill Shorten is still shy about tucking his knees under the table of Australia's richest family. Just over six weeks from the federal election, Shorten last night entered the billionaire Pratt family's historic mansion Raheen via the secret stable doors, a laneway entrance normally reserved for deliveries. Maybe the leader of the worker's party thought it was the tradesman's entrance?
"For Shorten, it was a return to the Melbourne home of the billionaire family's matriarch Jeanne Pratt, her son Anthony Pratt and his wife Claudine, after a long absence. The politician was previously a frequent guest via his first marriage to Debbie Beale, a god-daughter to Jeanne and her late husband Richard Pratt. But last night Shorten was back in the Pratt fold, with the doors of their Kew home Raheen thrown open for a left-of-centre political fundraiser featuring a powerful clutch of Melbourne business types. Amazing how the sniff of victory can pull a crowd, even at $5000 a head.
"While their leader didn't want to be photographed, his deputy Tanya Plibersek arrived through Raheen's imposing main gates to be greeted by her packaging hosts at the arched front door. Very civilised. Almost Treasurer Chris Bowen, who has become quite chummy with Anthony Pratt of late, had slipped inside much earlier. Their Labor colleague Clare O'Neill had a bumpier entree. The shadow minister for financial services... and her VW family wagon were turned back at the Pratt's threshold and directed to a car park on the street. Retiring Member for Melbourne Ports Michael Danby also drove himself in his Ford Territory.
"Rich-lister businessman Peter Scanlon was in for the night, as was former Tennis Australia chair Harold Mitchell and one-time Packer lieutenant and now Ellerston Capital chief Ashok Jacob. Former Telstra chair Bob Mansfield and leading Melbourne lawyer Mark Leibler, both at Prime Minister Scott Morrison's fundraiser at Raheen a fortnight ago, were back to play the other side, as was rich-lister and Jeanne's son-in-law Raphael Geminder. Former Victorian premier and industry super fund CBUS chair Steve Bracks came in a heavily tinted car with driver. Will Shorten soon make his New York dreams come true?
"Outgoing member for Lilley and Labor national president Wayne Swan, looking tanned and relaxed, was in bright and early, as was Member for Isaac Mark Dreyfus and Shorten's good friend and now senator for Victoria Kimberley Kitching, who Margin Call awarded best dressed on the night in a classic navy wrap dress." (Upmarket welcome for the workers' warriors, Will Glasgow & Christine Lacy, 28/3/19)
Thursday, March 21, 2019
It's the Donations, Stupid
"Donations are a bigger influence on Australian politics than polls and the major parties have a history of ignoring mainstream voter opinion, social researcher Rebecca Huntley says. Australia Fair, Dr Huntley's forthcoming piece in Quarterly Essay, argues that polls are often used as a short-term weapon by political rivals but do not truly influence policy and politics. 'If only research was as influential as donations,' she told The Sun-Herald... 'The biggest change we need to crack in Australia is donation reform; we have to change the money that's involved in politics," she said. 'When you change the money, you change who the politicians listen to. Even though it seems like not as pressing an issue as as health or jobs, it's fundamental'." (Donations 'more influential' than polls, Caitlin Fitzsimmons, 17/3/19)
Huntley's research merely confirms what we already know, namely that Australia's bipartisan support for Israel is the result of significant Zionist money. To cite but one example: "No domestic house in Melbourne has had more influence on public... life than Raheen, the 1870s Italianate mansion owned for more than 35 years by the family of billionaire packaging king Richard Pratt... Raheen is used by the Pratts to court and entertain both sides of politics, to conduct fundraisers and to highlight the cause of Israel, into which the Pratt Foundation pours millions of dollars... " (More than just a home, Pratt mansion welcomes all parties, John Ferguson/Rebecca Urban, The Australian, 11/2/17)
But will this particular aspect of Australia's foreign policy find its way into Huntley's essay? After all, the Quarterly Essay, like The Saturday Paper, is owned by Zionist publisher Morrie Schwartz. Only one way to find out...
PS: I've just read Huntley's essay. Most interesting on the subject of Australian society and what the citizenry think about various domestic issues - Australian democracy, the environment, climate change, asylum seekers etc, but nothing on foreign policy issues as such.
Huntley's research merely confirms what we already know, namely that Australia's bipartisan support for Israel is the result of significant Zionist money. To cite but one example: "No domestic house in Melbourne has had more influence on public... life than Raheen, the 1870s Italianate mansion owned for more than 35 years by the family of billionaire packaging king Richard Pratt... Raheen is used by the Pratts to court and entertain both sides of politics, to conduct fundraisers and to highlight the cause of Israel, into which the Pratt Foundation pours millions of dollars... " (More than just a home, Pratt mansion welcomes all parties, John Ferguson/Rebecca Urban, The Australian, 11/2/17)
But will this particular aspect of Australia's foreign policy find its way into Huntley's essay? After all, the Quarterly Essay, like The Saturday Paper, is owned by Zionist publisher Morrie Schwartz. Only one way to find out...
PS: I've just read Huntley's essay. Most interesting on the subject of Australian society and what the citizenry think about various domestic issues - Australian democracy, the environment, climate change, asylum seekers etc, but nothing on foreign policy issues as such.
Friday, March 15, 2019
Pre-Election Fundraising at the Pratt's
Sarah Ferguson: They're [the Israel lobby] still a very small group of people. How do you account for them wielding so much power?
Bob Carr: I think party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel. (7.30 Report, 9/4/14)
***
And the latest news on the political donations front is as follows:
"Treasurer Josh Frydenberg struggled to get past security when he drove himself to the billionaire Pratt family mansion Raheen for a fundraiser last night. Life's a bit like that for the Liberals right now... Last night's event was a Liberal Party pre-election fundraiser with Melbourne's money: a $12,000-a-head dinner hosted by the billionaire family matriarch Jeanne Pratt.
"Despite the salubrious setting, selling selling tickets wasn't as easy as for events at previous elections.* All up, we're told there were fewer than 100 people at the Kew mansion. That's including the Morrison ministry. 'The Libs aren't going to bloody win, are they?' one well-connected Melbourne businessperson told us, explaining the lack of paying guests.
"Not everyone kept away from an autumnal event that, some might observe, skewed towards the pale, male and stale. Those along were each gifted two federal ministers per table... In trundled the determinedly optimistic Foreign Minister Marise Payne, the endangered Attorney-General Christian Porter, the Xavier College-alumni turned Catholic-loving Education Minister Dan Tehan... and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and his fellow Turnbull-slayer Mitch Fifield...
"Presumably paying guests spotted by Margin Call included Myer boss Garry Hounsell... Vocus Bob Mansfield (Telstra's chair back in the Howard era), Arnold, Bloch Leibler senior partner Mark Leibler and Pratt family member Raphael 'Raffy' Geminder, the billionaire chair of packaging outfit Pact.
"While Jeanne was on hosting duties, we gather that her son and Raheen housemate Anthony Pratt (Australia's richest person) was last night away on business.
"Bet you the Visy billionaire is back in the manor when ascendant Labor leader Bill Shorten and his troops arrive for a reciprocal fundraising event in a couple of weeks. Some fundraising dinners are better than others - even when they're held at your place." (More ghosts than guests at Lib fundraiser, Margin Call, Will Glasgow & Christine Lacy, The Australian Business Review, 13/3/19)
Bob Carr: I think party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel. (7.30 Report, 9/4/14)
***
And the latest news on the political donations front is as follows:
"Treasurer Josh Frydenberg struggled to get past security when he drove himself to the billionaire Pratt family mansion Raheen for a fundraiser last night. Life's a bit like that for the Liberals right now... Last night's event was a Liberal Party pre-election fundraiser with Melbourne's money: a $12,000-a-head dinner hosted by the billionaire family matriarch Jeanne Pratt.
"Despite the salubrious setting, selling selling tickets wasn't as easy as for events at previous elections.* All up, we're told there were fewer than 100 people at the Kew mansion. That's including the Morrison ministry. 'The Libs aren't going to bloody win, are they?' one well-connected Melbourne businessperson told us, explaining the lack of paying guests.
"Not everyone kept away from an autumnal event that, some might observe, skewed towards the pale, male and stale. Those along were each gifted two federal ministers per table... In trundled the determinedly optimistic Foreign Minister Marise Payne, the endangered Attorney-General Christian Porter, the Xavier College-alumni turned Catholic-loving Education Minister Dan Tehan... and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and his fellow Turnbull-slayer Mitch Fifield...
"Presumably paying guests spotted by Margin Call included Myer boss Garry Hounsell... Vocus Bob Mansfield (Telstra's chair back in the Howard era), Arnold, Bloch Leibler senior partner Mark Leibler and Pratt family member Raphael 'Raffy' Geminder, the billionaire chair of packaging outfit Pact.
"While Jeanne was on hosting duties, we gather that her son and Raheen housemate Anthony Pratt (Australia's richest person) was last night away on business.
"Bet you the Visy billionaire is back in the manor when ascendant Labor leader Bill Shorten and his troops arrive for a reciprocal fundraising event in a couple of weeks. Some fundraising dinners are better than others - even when they're held at your place." (More ghosts than guests at Lib fundraiser, Margin Call, Will Glasgow & Christine Lacy, The Australian Business Review, 13/3/19)
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Homework is All
And today's use of the anti-Semitism smear is:
"Democratic politician Ilhan Omar has apologised after party leaders condemned her use of 'anti-Semitic tropes' in suggesting US congressional support for Israel is a result of campaign donations." (Democrat apologises for 'anti-Semitic tropes', AP/Sydney Morning Herald, 13/2/19)
To be specific, Omar's 'offence' came in the form of a tweet to the effect that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) "was paying US politicians to support Israel." (ibid)
Her apology read, in part: "Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes." (ibid)
Really, it's beyond sad to see progressive, pro-Palestinian, rookie politicians like Omar, who have merely spoken the truth, grovel in this way.
Instead of the 'education' she speaks of here, wouldn't it have been better for her (and others like her) as a young activist, before choosing to embark on a political career in the United States, to educate herself by reading Mearsheimer & Walt's definitive 2007 study The Israel Lobby & US Foreign Policy?
Had she done so, rather than grovel after the inevitable attack from the AIPAC mob and/or its dupes, she could simply have tweeted the following extract in response:
"AIPAC's success is due in large part to its ability to reward legislators and congressional candidates who support its agenda and to punish those who do not, based primarily on its capacity to influence campaign contributions. Money is critical to U.S. elections, which have become increasingly expensive to win, and AIPAC makes sure that its friends get financial support so long as they do not stray from AIPAC's line." (p 154)
In this game, it's really all about homework.
(FYI, read my 3/11/16 post Clinton Emails Reveal the Hold of Zionist Money Over Democrats.)
"Democratic politician Ilhan Omar has apologised after party leaders condemned her use of 'anti-Semitic tropes' in suggesting US congressional support for Israel is a result of campaign donations." (Democrat apologises for 'anti-Semitic tropes', AP/Sydney Morning Herald, 13/2/19)
To be specific, Omar's 'offence' came in the form of a tweet to the effect that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) "was paying US politicians to support Israel." (ibid)
Her apology read, in part: "Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes." (ibid)
Really, it's beyond sad to see progressive, pro-Palestinian, rookie politicians like Omar, who have merely spoken the truth, grovel in this way.
Instead of the 'education' she speaks of here, wouldn't it have been better for her (and others like her) as a young activist, before choosing to embark on a political career in the United States, to educate herself by reading Mearsheimer & Walt's definitive 2007 study The Israel Lobby & US Foreign Policy?
Had she done so, rather than grovel after the inevitable attack from the AIPAC mob and/or its dupes, she could simply have tweeted the following extract in response:
"AIPAC's success is due in large part to its ability to reward legislators and congressional candidates who support its agenda and to punish those who do not, based primarily on its capacity to influence campaign contributions. Money is critical to U.S. elections, which have become increasingly expensive to win, and AIPAC makes sure that its friends get financial support so long as they do not stray from AIPAC's line." (p 154)
In this game, it's really all about homework.
(FYI, read my 3/11/16 post Clinton Emails Reveal the Hold of Zionist Money Over Democrats.)
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Dave Sharma: His Brilliant Career
2013
* "Australia's next ambassador to Israel [Dave Sharma] hopes to change what he says is 'a bit of a one-dimensional impression' of Israel among the wider Australian public." (Our man in Israel, The Australian Jewish News, 17/5/13)
Who'd have thought that burnishing another country's image was the job of an Australian ambassador?
* "Ziv Hospital is a profound example of humanity and decency at its most compelling. It is Israel at its very best, and a side of Israel that the world too rarely acknowledges." (Origin no bar to Israel lifesavers, Dave Sharma, The Australian, 31/8/13)
That, btw, was just the first of Sharma's opinion pieces celebrating the joy of Israel in Murdoch's Australian.
2014
* The highlight of Sharma's career as Australia's ambassador to Israel must surely have been his hobnobbing with Israel's housing and construction minister, Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi MP) in - wait for it - occupied East Jerusalem - which prompted Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to write in protest to Australian officials at the time: "It should noted that diplomatic recognition of the situation created by the attempted annexation of our capital is a flagrant violation of international law... Australia's Ambassador to Israel meeting with Israel officials in East Jerusalem has the effect of attempting to legitimize the illegal situation on the ground and may be deemed as aiding, abetting or otherwise assisting illegal Israeli policies... As such, Australia's actions are tantamount to complicity in ongoing Israeli violations of the international laws of war." (Bishop rebuked over envoy's East Jerusalem visit, Daniel Flitton, Sydney Morning Herald, 17/5/14)
Remember, this happened years before Trump's decision to move the US embassy to [West!] Jerusalem.
And how do we even know about Sharma's shenanigans back then? Only because of Uri Ariel's crowing about his achievement in bagging him:
"In fact, nobody would have known this meeting was happening, had if not been for a press release distributed by Ariel's bureau blatantly pointing out the fact that the talks between the two were taking place at the government compound in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Most of the international community does not recognize Israel's authority in East Jerusalem. Therefore, few diplomats or representatives of foreign nations - if at all - would come to an official meeting with Israeli politicians or government officials in that part of the city. Media outlets self-identified as right-wing and with Ariel's Habayit Hayehudi... were quick to publish that the meeting was taking place, presenting it as a sort of Australian recognition of Israel authority over East Jerusalem." (PA complains to Australia after envoy meets Israeli official in East Jerusalem, Barak Ravid, Haaretz, 15/5/14)
2018
* "And if the Liberals hold the seat of Wentworth with new candidate Dave Sharma, [PM Scott Morrison] will have one of the most brilliant young diplomats of recent decades joining an already powerful team in national security." (Morrison prepares to take his place on the international stage, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 15/9/18)
From Zionist dupe to "brilliant" diplomat in 4 years! Just wow! But how to explain how such a "brilliant" diplomat can put his foot in it to this extent: "Dave Sharma... has apologised for comments that teachers are 'underemployed'. 'School employees and teachers are similarly underemployed, working hours closer to three-quarters of a regular full-time job,' Mr Sharma wrote in an opinion peace for the Herald earlier this year. He apologize yesterday after receiving strong criticism for the comments from prominent Australian authors, educators and parents. 'I know teachers work really hard and around the clock,' Mr Sharma told the Herald yesterday. '[The article] was more provocative than it should have been; it was just meant to get people thinking about how schools are still a post-war institution even though life and families have moved on.' Mr. Sharma also wrote on Twitter this week that he owes 'all teachers an unreserve apology'. (Sharma sorry for insult to teachers, Pallavi Singhal, Sydney Morning Herald, 20/9/18)
* "Some of Sydney's wealthiest business leaders are lining up to throw money behind the new candidate for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, who has been described as 'the Liberals' Obama... Billionaires James Packer and Solomon Lew threw their support behind Mr Sharma. He also had the backing of prominent Sydneysider David Gonski and Jewish leader Rabbi Levi Wolff from the Central Synagogue in Bondi. A senior Liberal said Mr Sharma's ability to draw significant donations would be 'eye-watering'." (Billionaires lining up to back 'Liberals' Obama', Alexandra Smith, Sydney Morning Herald, 15/9/18)
Alas, that Monday's (17/9) letters to the editor, while scornful of Sharma's backers, missed the point. As, for example, this, from reader Frank H Talbot of Riverview: "Billionaires lining up to back a candidate in Wentworth? Something wrong here. Lincoln said government should be 'of the people, by the people, for the people.' This sound more like 'of the wealthy, by the wealthy, for the wealthy'."
* "Liberal Dave Sharma isn't just raising money from rich-listers for his Wentworth tilt. The entrepreneurial Sharma is also currently overseeing the raising of $10 million for an Israeli tech company - Shekel Brainweigh - which the former diplomat shares and hopes to list on the local stock exchange next month. Shekel Brainweigh - an outfit that makes weighing technology for grocery self-checkouts - is planning to float on the ASX on October 26. That is the week after the Wentworth by-election. What a busy candidate!". (Sharma weighs his options, Will Glasgow & Christine Lacy, The Australian Business Review, 28/9/18)
Happily, the above piece throws some much-needed light on Sharma's seeming star-crossed affair with Israel. Twelve-and-a-half percent of Wentworth's electors are Jewish, the bulk of whom would consider themselves to be pro-Israel to a greater or lesser degree. The electorate is, if you like, Sydney's Zionist central. Malcolm Turnbull, of course, bent over backwards to keep the Zionists there sweet, hosting a visit to these shores last year by Netanyahu, and visiting Israel in turn the same year.
Typically, what has been omitted from the msm coverage of Sharma's bid to step into the former prime minister's shoes as the MP for Wentworth is the Zionist connection. It is fair to say that he has been parachuted from his North Shore home into Wentworth largely in order to satisfy its Zionist faithful - not, as the msm would have us believe, because he is some kind of pin-up boy for billionaires, Jewish or otherwise (Packer being a mate of Netanyahu's btw). Yet again, a lazy, cowardly, self-censoring Australian msm has failed to make this Zionist connection clear in its coverage.
* "Australia's next ambassador to Israel [Dave Sharma] hopes to change what he says is 'a bit of a one-dimensional impression' of Israel among the wider Australian public." (Our man in Israel, The Australian Jewish News, 17/5/13)
Who'd have thought that burnishing another country's image was the job of an Australian ambassador?
* "Ziv Hospital is a profound example of humanity and decency at its most compelling. It is Israel at its very best, and a side of Israel that the world too rarely acknowledges." (Origin no bar to Israel lifesavers, Dave Sharma, The Australian, 31/8/13)
That, btw, was just the first of Sharma's opinion pieces celebrating the joy of Israel in Murdoch's Australian.
2014
* The highlight of Sharma's career as Australia's ambassador to Israel must surely have been his hobnobbing with Israel's housing and construction minister, Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi MP) in - wait for it - occupied East Jerusalem - which prompted Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to write in protest to Australian officials at the time: "It should noted that diplomatic recognition of the situation created by the attempted annexation of our capital is a flagrant violation of international law... Australia's Ambassador to Israel meeting with Israel officials in East Jerusalem has the effect of attempting to legitimize the illegal situation on the ground and may be deemed as aiding, abetting or otherwise assisting illegal Israeli policies... As such, Australia's actions are tantamount to complicity in ongoing Israeli violations of the international laws of war." (Bishop rebuked over envoy's East Jerusalem visit, Daniel Flitton, Sydney Morning Herald, 17/5/14)
Remember, this happened years before Trump's decision to move the US embassy to [West!] Jerusalem.
And how do we even know about Sharma's shenanigans back then? Only because of Uri Ariel's crowing about his achievement in bagging him:
"In fact, nobody would have known this meeting was happening, had if not been for a press release distributed by Ariel's bureau blatantly pointing out the fact that the talks between the two were taking place at the government compound in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Most of the international community does not recognize Israel's authority in East Jerusalem. Therefore, few diplomats or representatives of foreign nations - if at all - would come to an official meeting with Israeli politicians or government officials in that part of the city. Media outlets self-identified as right-wing and with Ariel's Habayit Hayehudi... were quick to publish that the meeting was taking place, presenting it as a sort of Australian recognition of Israel authority over East Jerusalem." (PA complains to Australia after envoy meets Israeli official in East Jerusalem, Barak Ravid, Haaretz, 15/5/14)
2018
* "And if the Liberals hold the seat of Wentworth with new candidate Dave Sharma, [PM Scott Morrison] will have one of the most brilliant young diplomats of recent decades joining an already powerful team in national security." (Morrison prepares to take his place on the international stage, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 15/9/18)
From Zionist dupe to "brilliant" diplomat in 4 years! Just wow! But how to explain how such a "brilliant" diplomat can put his foot in it to this extent: "Dave Sharma... has apologised for comments that teachers are 'underemployed'. 'School employees and teachers are similarly underemployed, working hours closer to three-quarters of a regular full-time job,' Mr Sharma wrote in an opinion peace for the Herald earlier this year. He apologize yesterday after receiving strong criticism for the comments from prominent Australian authors, educators and parents. 'I know teachers work really hard and around the clock,' Mr Sharma told the Herald yesterday. '[The article] was more provocative than it should have been; it was just meant to get people thinking about how schools are still a post-war institution even though life and families have moved on.' Mr. Sharma also wrote on Twitter this week that he owes 'all teachers an unreserve apology'. (Sharma sorry for insult to teachers, Pallavi Singhal, Sydney Morning Herald, 20/9/18)
* "Some of Sydney's wealthiest business leaders are lining up to throw money behind the new candidate for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, who has been described as 'the Liberals' Obama... Billionaires James Packer and Solomon Lew threw their support behind Mr Sharma. He also had the backing of prominent Sydneysider David Gonski and Jewish leader Rabbi Levi Wolff from the Central Synagogue in Bondi. A senior Liberal said Mr Sharma's ability to draw significant donations would be 'eye-watering'." (Billionaires lining up to back 'Liberals' Obama', Alexandra Smith, Sydney Morning Herald, 15/9/18)
Alas, that Monday's (17/9) letters to the editor, while scornful of Sharma's backers, missed the point. As, for example, this, from reader Frank H Talbot of Riverview: "Billionaires lining up to back a candidate in Wentworth? Something wrong here. Lincoln said government should be 'of the people, by the people, for the people.' This sound more like 'of the wealthy, by the wealthy, for the wealthy'."
* "Liberal Dave Sharma isn't just raising money from rich-listers for his Wentworth tilt. The entrepreneurial Sharma is also currently overseeing the raising of $10 million for an Israeli tech company - Shekel Brainweigh - which the former diplomat shares and hopes to list on the local stock exchange next month. Shekel Brainweigh - an outfit that makes weighing technology for grocery self-checkouts - is planning to float on the ASX on October 26. That is the week after the Wentworth by-election. What a busy candidate!". (Sharma weighs his options, Will Glasgow & Christine Lacy, The Australian Business Review, 28/9/18)
Happily, the above piece throws some much-needed light on Sharma's seeming star-crossed affair with Israel. Twelve-and-a-half percent of Wentworth's electors are Jewish, the bulk of whom would consider themselves to be pro-Israel to a greater or lesser degree. The electorate is, if you like, Sydney's Zionist central. Malcolm Turnbull, of course, bent over backwards to keep the Zionists there sweet, hosting a visit to these shores last year by Netanyahu, and visiting Israel in turn the same year.
Typically, what has been omitted from the msm coverage of Sharma's bid to step into the former prime minister's shoes as the MP for Wentworth is the Zionist connection. It is fair to say that he has been parachuted from his North Shore home into Wentworth largely in order to satisfy its Zionist faithful - not, as the msm would have us believe, because he is some kind of pin-up boy for billionaires, Jewish or otherwise (Packer being a mate of Netanyahu's btw). Yet again, a lazy, cowardly, self-censoring Australian msm has failed to make this Zionist connection clear in its coverage.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Poor Old Malcom
Oh dear:
"Turnbull himself was of course the biggest donor to his own re-election in 2016, giving a declared $1.75 million... This year, party officials hope to trot the Prime Minister out as a regular attraction in the hope his presence will loosen wallets for party events." (War chest divides the Libs, Pamela Williams, The Australian, 5/3/18)
What ever happened to the Zionist donations of yore?
I mean, it's not as if Turnbull hasn't sung for his supper.
Let me remind you how he wined and dined Benjamin Netanyahu in Australia in February 2017, surrounded by what one journalist described at the time as "a sea of [Zionist] billionaires and millionaires" (see my 26/2/17 post 'A Sea of Billionaires & Millionaires' ), and was wined and dined in return in Israel in October (see my 3/11/17 post Same Sex Marriage in Beersheba), with Netanyahu declaring that the ANZACS "opened the gateway for the Jewish people to reenter history," and Turnbull declaring that they were "fulfilling history."
Same songbook. Same page. No daylight.
Surely, no Australian PM has done more to suck up to Israel while in office than Turnbull.
But for what?
I mean, what more does the poor man have to do to loosen those wallets? How much lower can he go?
Follow the American and Guatemalan example and officially recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital?
Jesus wept!
And you thought his biggest problem was Barnaby Joyce...
"Turnbull himself was of course the biggest donor to his own re-election in 2016, giving a declared $1.75 million... This year, party officials hope to trot the Prime Minister out as a regular attraction in the hope his presence will loosen wallets for party events." (War chest divides the Libs, Pamela Williams, The Australian, 5/3/18)
What ever happened to the Zionist donations of yore?
I mean, it's not as if Turnbull hasn't sung for his supper.
Let me remind you how he wined and dined Benjamin Netanyahu in Australia in February 2017, surrounded by what one journalist described at the time as "a sea of [Zionist] billionaires and millionaires" (see my 26/2/17 post 'A Sea of Billionaires & Millionaires' ), and was wined and dined in return in Israel in October (see my 3/11/17 post Same Sex Marriage in Beersheba), with Netanyahu declaring that the ANZACS "opened the gateway for the Jewish people to reenter history," and Turnbull declaring that they were "fulfilling history."
Same songbook. Same page. No daylight.
Surely, no Australian PM has done more to suck up to Israel while in office than Turnbull.
But for what?
I mean, what more does the poor man have to do to loosen those wallets? How much lower can he go?
Follow the American and Guatemalan example and officially recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital?
Jesus wept!
And you thought his biggest problem was Barnaby Joyce...
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Those with 'Foreign Policy Fixations'
Bob Carr on political donations from those with - ahem - "foreign policy fixations":
"Sooner or later Canberra is going to decide to reset its relationship with Beijing... Here are seven things that can make it possible... Two, on foreign donations... Ban those from any source that may reasonably be thought to be seeking to influence Australian foreign policy, even from Australian citizens who may have foreign policy fixations." (Seven steps to ease fears over dragon at our door, The Australian, 12/12/17)
"Sooner or later Canberra is going to decide to reset its relationship with Beijing... Here are seven things that can make it possible... Two, on foreign donations... Ban those from any source that may reasonably be thought to be seeking to influence Australian foreign policy, even from Australian citizens who may have foreign policy fixations." (Seven steps to ease fears over dragon at our door, The Australian, 12/12/17)
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Understanding Australia's Bipartisan Support for Israel
Isn't it beyond amazing that, despite their political differences, there is only one nation (apart from the lucky ducky country, of course) that has the power to move both PM Trumble and Opposition leader Bill Short-on to near constant declarations of undying love and affection - namely, Israel.
This remarkable coincidence, of course, is no doubt due, in both cases, to years of research and rapt contemplation of respective moral compasses by both parties.
Or could there be an another explanation?
"Bill Shorten first became a household name in 2006, surfing a wave of favourable publicity when the news broke that two men had survived the dreadful Beaconsfield mine disaster. It was a brief burst of fame, still more than a year before Shorten resigned as head of the Australian Workers Union to enter parliament and have a shot at realising his dream of becoming prime minister one day...
"Dick Pratt, the super-wealthy cardboard industry king, was Shorten's enabler on that occasion. It was a Sunday night and all hope of finding survivors of the mine collapse was lost. Shorten was stranded at home in Melbourne when the stunning news came through - he'd just returned from the mine site and there were no domestic flights back to Tasmania until the next day. Shorten's first thought? Naturally, call Pratt and ask to borrow his private jet... In quick time, Shorten was back in Beaconsfield. With the mine's management falling silent, he happily filled the void for an information-starved national media... It was a mark of Shorten's closeness to one of Australia's richest men that just a phone call to Pratt could secure his private jet free of charge.
"But that was far from the first, or last, time that Shorten would fly Air Pratt. He and his then wife, Deborah Beale, flew to the US on board Pratt's jet for family holidays at the packaging magnate's New York apartment... Privately, Shorten has always been keen to say the Pratt connection was because of Beale... Those close to Shorten say he conveyed the impression, indeed encouraged the idea, that Pratt was Beale's godfather... The marriage to Beale, say Shorten insiders, offered much more to a man who relished mixing with the rich and powerful... Beale helped open doors... to the Melbourne establishment [and] assisted with introductions for Shorten to captain's of industry.
"[Shorten] also got to know retail giant Solomon Lew. The Lew relationship was based in large part on their shared pro-Israel stance. As leader of the right-wing AWU in Victoria, Shorten devoted much time to battling the Left over Israel. He mixed easily with Lew and other Australian Jewish businessmen. It was good politics, too, for Shorten, to win the support of Melbourne's Jewish business community." (High-flying fake or workers' champion? Brad Norington, The Australian, 11/2/17)
"No domestic house in Melbourne has had more influence on public and philanthropical life than Raheen, the 1870s Italianate mansion owned for more than 35 years by the family of billionaire packaging king Richard Pratt... Raheen is used by the Pratts to court and entertain both sides of politics, to conduct fundraisers and to highlight the cause of Israel, into which the Pratt Foundation pours millions of dollars... Last week Mr Turnbull and his wife Lucy were invited to a party at Richard Pratt's son Anthony's Fifth Avenue apartment above New York's Central Park... " (More than just a home, Pratt mansion welcomes all parties, John Ferguson/ Rebecca Urban, The Australian, 11/2/17)
This remarkable coincidence, of course, is no doubt due, in both cases, to years of research and rapt contemplation of respective moral compasses by both parties.
Or could there be an another explanation?
"Bill Shorten first became a household name in 2006, surfing a wave of favourable publicity when the news broke that two men had survived the dreadful Beaconsfield mine disaster. It was a brief burst of fame, still more than a year before Shorten resigned as head of the Australian Workers Union to enter parliament and have a shot at realising his dream of becoming prime minister one day...
"Dick Pratt, the super-wealthy cardboard industry king, was Shorten's enabler on that occasion. It was a Sunday night and all hope of finding survivors of the mine collapse was lost. Shorten was stranded at home in Melbourne when the stunning news came through - he'd just returned from the mine site and there were no domestic flights back to Tasmania until the next day. Shorten's first thought? Naturally, call Pratt and ask to borrow his private jet... In quick time, Shorten was back in Beaconsfield. With the mine's management falling silent, he happily filled the void for an information-starved national media... It was a mark of Shorten's closeness to one of Australia's richest men that just a phone call to Pratt could secure his private jet free of charge.
"But that was far from the first, or last, time that Shorten would fly Air Pratt. He and his then wife, Deborah Beale, flew to the US on board Pratt's jet for family holidays at the packaging magnate's New York apartment... Privately, Shorten has always been keen to say the Pratt connection was because of Beale... Those close to Shorten say he conveyed the impression, indeed encouraged the idea, that Pratt was Beale's godfather... The marriage to Beale, say Shorten insiders, offered much more to a man who relished mixing with the rich and powerful... Beale helped open doors... to the Melbourne establishment [and] assisted with introductions for Shorten to captain's of industry.
"[Shorten] also got to know retail giant Solomon Lew. The Lew relationship was based in large part on their shared pro-Israel stance. As leader of the right-wing AWU in Victoria, Shorten devoted much time to battling the Left over Israel. He mixed easily with Lew and other Australian Jewish businessmen. It was good politics, too, for Shorten, to win the support of Melbourne's Jewish business community." (High-flying fake or workers' champion? Brad Norington, The Australian, 11/2/17)
"No domestic house in Melbourne has had more influence on public and philanthropical life than Raheen, the 1870s Italianate mansion owned for more than 35 years by the family of billionaire packaging king Richard Pratt... Raheen is used by the Pratts to court and entertain both sides of politics, to conduct fundraisers and to highlight the cause of Israel, into which the Pratt Foundation pours millions of dollars... Last week Mr Turnbull and his wife Lucy were invited to a party at Richard Pratt's son Anthony's Fifth Avenue apartment above New York's Central Park... " (More than just a home, Pratt mansion welcomes all parties, John Ferguson/ Rebecca Urban, The Australian, 11/2/17)
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Clinton Emails Reveal the Hold of Zionist Money over Democrats
This is a MUST-READ (from Mondoweiss) on the Faustian pact between the US Democratic Party and Zionist money: to the extent that the Dems cosy up to/ accommodate/ go soft on/ shut up about (however you care to put it) Israel, they will get big $$$ and immunity from being smeared as anti-Semitic:
"The latest emails from the Clinton campaign are radioactive. Two emails last year to campaign chairman John Podesta from Neera Tanden, head of the Clintonite thinktank Center for American Progress (CAP), lay bare the influence of Zionist money on the political process as nothing else has.
"The emails relate to Tanden's controversial invitation to right wing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyau to come to the thinktank, months after he had tried to destroy President Obama's Iran deal - for a fawningly-positive 'interview' in which Tanden barely touched on the prime minister's racist appeals to win reelection in Israel earlier that year.
"On November 11, the morning of the Netanyahu lovefest, Podesta asked Tanden for a bottom line on the event: 'What has been gained and what has been lost?' Tanden wrote back to him that afternoon that it was awful, but worth it, because CAP scored a big donor, and we won't be called anti-Semitic again.
'Nothing we have [ever] done [before] has pitted being a thinktank and being ideologically action-oriented against each other more harshly. At the end of the day we had to choose. So [the] answer is complicated. If I could have [had] the whole thing not happen, [I] would definitely have [had] it not happen. But it happened to us.
'Things gained: We will never be called anti-Semitic again. No matter what anyone writes. [The] mainstream press and people think we handled it just right - tough questions. I think for any dismissers, not that I think there were a lot, but we have definitely proven we're a thinktank. And it may have sealed the deal with a new board member.
'Things lost: Staff is riven. On both sides. We are holding a lot of meetings on that. Worse [sic] thing - someone leaked [a] staff statement. That kind of thing really changes the culture. How to keep that culture with that kind of leaking is going to be hard, but [we] need to navigate [it]. And far left hates me.'
"Tanden followed up with this jubilant email to Podesta on December 23: 'Jonathan Levine... is joining the board. So Netanyahu was worth it:)...'
"We noted how much Jonathan Levine, of Bain Capital, and his wife Jeannie, are committed to Israel in this post also based on a Tanden email. As to CAP's fears re a reputation for anti-Semitism, that is because a bunch of neoconservative Israel lobbyists bird-dogged it in 2011-2012 for staffers who were writing letters critical of Israel and the Israel Lobby on Think Progress. All those staffers were in essence purged/ walked out the front door in the end...
"So the dead hand of the past inside Jewish life - rich old donors - are controlling ME policy in liberal institutions... " (Invite to Netanyahu brought a big donor to Dem thinktank - and 'we'll never be called anti-Semitic again', Philip Weiss, mondoweiss.net, 31/10/16)
"The latest emails from the Clinton campaign are radioactive. Two emails last year to campaign chairman John Podesta from Neera Tanden, head of the Clintonite thinktank Center for American Progress (CAP), lay bare the influence of Zionist money on the political process as nothing else has.
"The emails relate to Tanden's controversial invitation to right wing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyau to come to the thinktank, months after he had tried to destroy President Obama's Iran deal - for a fawningly-positive 'interview' in which Tanden barely touched on the prime minister's racist appeals to win reelection in Israel earlier that year.
"On November 11, the morning of the Netanyahu lovefest, Podesta asked Tanden for a bottom line on the event: 'What has been gained and what has been lost?' Tanden wrote back to him that afternoon that it was awful, but worth it, because CAP scored a big donor, and we won't be called anti-Semitic again.
'Nothing we have [ever] done [before] has pitted being a thinktank and being ideologically action-oriented against each other more harshly. At the end of the day we had to choose. So [the] answer is complicated. If I could have [had] the whole thing not happen, [I] would definitely have [had] it not happen. But it happened to us.
'Things gained: We will never be called anti-Semitic again. No matter what anyone writes. [The] mainstream press and people think we handled it just right - tough questions. I think for any dismissers, not that I think there were a lot, but we have definitely proven we're a thinktank. And it may have sealed the deal with a new board member.
'Things lost: Staff is riven. On both sides. We are holding a lot of meetings on that. Worse [sic] thing - someone leaked [a] staff statement. That kind of thing really changes the culture. How to keep that culture with that kind of leaking is going to be hard, but [we] need to navigate [it]. And far left hates me.'
"Tanden followed up with this jubilant email to Podesta on December 23: 'Jonathan Levine... is joining the board. So Netanyahu was worth it:)...'
"We noted how much Jonathan Levine, of Bain Capital, and his wife Jeannie, are committed to Israel in this post also based on a Tanden email. As to CAP's fears re a reputation for anti-Semitism, that is because a bunch of neoconservative Israel lobbyists bird-dogged it in 2011-2012 for staffers who were writing letters critical of Israel and the Israel Lobby on Think Progress. All those staffers were in essence purged/ walked out the front door in the end...
"So the dead hand of the past inside Jewish life - rich old donors - are controlling ME policy in liberal institutions... " (Invite to Netanyahu brought a big donor to Dem thinktank - and 'we'll never be called anti-Semitic again', Philip Weiss, mondoweiss.net, 31/10/16)
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
A MSM Political Donations/Junkets Roundup
Left until the final paragraph:
"Mr [Anthony] Albanese said he was concerned about foreign political funding and said China, Israel and Taiwan were among the biggest spenders of sponsored travel and donations in Australia." (Labor seeks foreign donations revamp as Dastyari row festers, Tom McIlroy, Sydney Morning Herald, 5/9/16)
OMG, Albo's only just noticed that politicians have been popping off to Israel in rather LARGE numbers (including his mate, Plibersek, in 2014).
***
It seems that Australian politicians can always be relied upon to burst into song if the price is right:
"Enjoying a glass of red wine, Chinese businessman William Chiu announced he would donate $25,000 if the NSW attorney-general Greg Smith sang him three songs. Mr Smith obliged with Elvis and Sinatra." (Secret past of China donor, Kirsty Needham, The Sun-Herald, 4/9/16)
But it's not just China that gets Greg Smith going. Here he is in fine voice in 2011:
"The BDS resolution against Jewish businesses passed in December 2010 by the Marrickville Council and, more recently, violent activist protests against Jewish businesses, in particular Max Brenner chocolate and coffee stores, are eerily reminiscent of Jewish pogroms of earlier times." (Israel ban bid 'is anti-Semitic', Imre Salusinszky, The Australian, 24/8/11)
***
Now here's music to Israeli ears:
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, currently in Israel, has just invited Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Australia, cooing, "The Australian public would warmly embrace you, welcome you," and brushing aside Israel's stated intention to try World Vision employee Mohammed Halaby in a secret court with a cheery, "Closed proceedings are not unknown in legal systems around the world." (AM, Radio National, 5/9/16)
OMFG, if that doesn't reflect the influence of Israel-linked donations and propaganda trips in Australian political life, I don't know what does. But will our MSM join the dots? Purely rhetorical question, of course.
***
There are many references to China in George Williams' (Dean of Law, UNSW) opinion piece in today's Sydney Morning Herald, but I'm afraid you've got to read between the lines for any hint that Zionist money and junkets are impacting Australia's foreign policy position on Palestine/Israel:
"When it comes to foreign donors, there can be no suggestion that these corporate, national and other interests are acting out of altruism. They are investing in the hope of a return. That might be a favourable decision in regard to a foreign investment, or to shape Australia's foreign policy. They seek to secure these outcomes by direct payments and all-expenses paid study tours." (Dastyari the canary in coal mine for donations reform, 5/9/16)
"Mr [Anthony] Albanese said he was concerned about foreign political funding and said China, Israel and Taiwan were among the biggest spenders of sponsored travel and donations in Australia." (Labor seeks foreign donations revamp as Dastyari row festers, Tom McIlroy, Sydney Morning Herald, 5/9/16)
OMG, Albo's only just noticed that politicians have been popping off to Israel in rather LARGE numbers (including his mate, Plibersek, in 2014).
***
It seems that Australian politicians can always be relied upon to burst into song if the price is right:
"Enjoying a glass of red wine, Chinese businessman William Chiu announced he would donate $25,000 if the NSW attorney-general Greg Smith sang him three songs. Mr Smith obliged with Elvis and Sinatra." (Secret past of China donor, Kirsty Needham, The Sun-Herald, 4/9/16)
But it's not just China that gets Greg Smith going. Here he is in fine voice in 2011:
"The BDS resolution against Jewish businesses passed in December 2010 by the Marrickville Council and, more recently, violent activist protests against Jewish businesses, in particular Max Brenner chocolate and coffee stores, are eerily reminiscent of Jewish pogroms of earlier times." (Israel ban bid 'is anti-Semitic', Imre Salusinszky, The Australian, 24/8/11)
***
Now here's music to Israeli ears:
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, currently in Israel, has just invited Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Australia, cooing, "The Australian public would warmly embrace you, welcome you," and brushing aside Israel's stated intention to try World Vision employee Mohammed Halaby in a secret court with a cheery, "Closed proceedings are not unknown in legal systems around the world." (AM, Radio National, 5/9/16)
OMFG, if that doesn't reflect the influence of Israel-linked donations and propaganda trips in Australian political life, I don't know what does. But will our MSM join the dots? Purely rhetorical question, of course.
***
There are many references to China in George Williams' (Dean of Law, UNSW) opinion piece in today's Sydney Morning Herald, but I'm afraid you've got to read between the lines for any hint that Zionist money and junkets are impacting Australia's foreign policy position on Palestine/Israel:
"When it comes to foreign donors, there can be no suggestion that these corporate, national and other interests are acting out of altruism. They are investing in the hope of a return. That might be a favourable decision in regard to a foreign investment, or to shape Australia's foreign policy. They seek to secure these outcomes by direct payments and all-expenses paid study tours." (Dastyari the canary in coal mine for donations reform, 5/9/16)
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Political Donations: The View from Murdoch
The rag you'd least expect to focus on the subject of foreign policy donations, given its slavish devotion to, and promotion of, all things Israel, is Murdoch's Australian.
And yet yesterday's issue has devoted almost a (broadsheet) page-and-a-half to the matter!
Sam Dastyari, of course, gets special treatment, referred to as a 'Manchurian candidate', and there are dark warnings by the outgoing US ambassador John Berry about the influence of 'soft power' by non-democratic countries. (Sam mired by soft power's hard sell, Anthony Klan & Sarah Martin)
There's also a profile ofThe Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu Minshen Zhu, Dastyari's benefactor, and a report, Junkets searching for a cause, in which we have to wait until the final paragraph for a mention of trips by politicians to Israel.
The centrepiece of the Australian's coverage, however, is an alphabetical list of "House of Representatives MPs' sponsored travel. Top five most-visited countries," with ISRAEL, not China, in first place with 24 visits. (China comes in second with 20 visits.)
According to the list the following 22 politicians have been to Israel, some more than once: John Alexander (L/NP); Sharon Bird (ALP); Bronwyn Bishop (L/NP); Gai Brodtmann (ALP) (x2); Mal Brough (L/NP); Terri Butler (ALP); Jim Chalmers (ALP); Michael Danby (ALP); Peter Hendy (L/NP); Stephen Jones (ALP); Craig Kelly (L/NP); Andrew Leigh (ALP); Russell Matheson (L/NP); Rob Mitchell (ALP); Christopher Pyne (L/NP); Wyatt Roy (L/NP) (x2); Andrew Southcott (L/NP); Tim Watts (ALP) (x2); Ken Wyatt (L/NP).
The list, however, is far from complete. MPs Bruce Bilson, Nick Champion, David Feeney, Joel Fitzgibbon, Richard Marles, Kelly O'Dwyer, Tanya Plibersek, Bernie Ripoli, Bill Shorten, Luke Simpkins and Dan Tehan are listed as junketeers but no mention is made of their trips to Israel.
Add those 11 to the Australian's 22, and the total of MPs who have been to Israel rises to 35.
Curiously, the following 25 MPs who have also been to Israel since 2007 are missing from the list: Penny Wong, Josh Frydenberg, Amanda Rishworth, Belinda Neal, Stuart Robert, Alex Hawke, Mathias Cormann, Kevin Rudd, Kim Carr, Stephen Conroy, Anthony Byrne, Mike Kelly, Julie Bishop, Kevin Andrews, Steve Ciobo, Julia Gillard, Peter Costello, Mark Dreyfus, Tony Abbott, Jacinta Collins, Jason Clare, Peter Dutton, Michael Keenan, and Shayne Neuman. Add them in and our total is now 59. (Note that senators and state politicians have been omitted.)
That's 59 visits to Israel and a mere 20 to China! Israel wins, hands down.
(See my 30/3/09 post I've been to Israel too for a fuller, regularly updated, list of Israel junkets by Australian politicians, journalists and other useful fools.)
And yet yesterday's issue has devoted almost a (broadsheet) page-and-a-half to the matter!
Sam Dastyari, of course, gets special treatment, referred to as a 'Manchurian candidate', and there are dark warnings by the outgoing US ambassador John Berry about the influence of 'soft power' by non-democratic countries. (Sam mired by soft power's hard sell, Anthony Klan & Sarah Martin)
There's also a profile of
The centrepiece of the Australian's coverage, however, is an alphabetical list of "House of Representatives MPs' sponsored travel. Top five most-visited countries," with ISRAEL, not China, in first place with 24 visits. (China comes in second with 20 visits.)
According to the list the following 22 politicians have been to Israel, some more than once: John Alexander (L/NP); Sharon Bird (ALP); Bronwyn Bishop (L/NP); Gai Brodtmann (ALP) (x2); Mal Brough (L/NP); Terri Butler (ALP); Jim Chalmers (ALP); Michael Danby (ALP); Peter Hendy (L/NP); Stephen Jones (ALP); Craig Kelly (L/NP); Andrew Leigh (ALP); Russell Matheson (L/NP); Rob Mitchell (ALP); Christopher Pyne (L/NP); Wyatt Roy (L/NP) (x2); Andrew Southcott (L/NP); Tim Watts (ALP) (x2); Ken Wyatt (L/NP).
The list, however, is far from complete. MPs Bruce Bilson, Nick Champion, David Feeney, Joel Fitzgibbon, Richard Marles, Kelly O'Dwyer, Tanya Plibersek, Bernie Ripoli, Bill Shorten, Luke Simpkins and Dan Tehan are listed as junketeers but no mention is made of their trips to Israel.
Add those 11 to the Australian's 22, and the total of MPs who have been to Israel rises to 35.
Curiously, the following 25 MPs who have also been to Israel since 2007 are missing from the list: Penny Wong, Josh Frydenberg, Amanda Rishworth, Belinda Neal, Stuart Robert, Alex Hawke, Mathias Cormann, Kevin Rudd, Kim Carr, Stephen Conroy, Anthony Byrne, Mike Kelly, Julie Bishop, Kevin Andrews, Steve Ciobo, Julia Gillard, Peter Costello, Mark Dreyfus, Tony Abbott, Jacinta Collins, Jason Clare, Peter Dutton, Michael Keenan, and Shayne Neuman. Add them in and our total is now 59. (Note that senators and state politicians have been omitted.)
That's 59 visits to Israel and a mere 20 to China! Israel wins, hands down.
(See my 30/3/09 post I've been to Israel too for a fuller, regularly updated, list of Israel junkets by Australian politicians, journalists and other useful fools.)
Friday, September 2, 2016
Just Chinese-Linked Donations?
This rings true:
"Everyone in Australian politics is chasing cash. It's not a random or rogue activity. Everyone. That's the hard fact of the matter. In the 1980s and for most of the 1990s, political fundraising was highly centralised - a handful of people, controlling a single pipeline. The prize was drumming up dollars for television advertising campaigns. Now the process is hardwired into organisational structures of political parties and their associated thinktanks: lots of people, chasing dollars to fund their campaigning activities (which cover a much greater field of activity than during the quaint analogue period) and also cover their own operating costs. It's more prolific, and it's more diffuse, and inside the system, effective fundraisers are rewarded - it helps them aggregate power. For someone like [Sam] Dastyari, who has been a state secretary and who would probably struggle to tell you accurately how much cash he's raised for Labor over the years, an inconvenient bill just north of $1,000 is lunch money, nothing you'd give even 10 seconds thought to." (On political donations, Canberra is sleepwalking into its own integrity crisis, Katharine Murphy, The Guardian, 2/9/16)
This too is revealing:
"As for China's interest in Australian politics - a recent investigation by the ABC found Beijing is now the largest source of foreign-linked donations in this country. Businesses with connections to China coughed up more than $5.5m between 2013 and 2015, according to that report. A separate report by Fairfax Media said the Western Australian division of the Liberal party had benefited to the tune of half a million dollars in the past couple of years from donations from Chinese businesspeople with links to the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop." (ibid)
But can you imagine the ABC, or Fairfax, or Jonathan Freedland's Guardian ever raising the issue of Zionist-linked donations in Australia, let alone investigating them?
"Everyone in Australian politics is chasing cash. It's not a random or rogue activity. Everyone. That's the hard fact of the matter. In the 1980s and for most of the 1990s, political fundraising was highly centralised - a handful of people, controlling a single pipeline. The prize was drumming up dollars for television advertising campaigns. Now the process is hardwired into organisational structures of political parties and their associated thinktanks: lots of people, chasing dollars to fund their campaigning activities (which cover a much greater field of activity than during the quaint analogue period) and also cover their own operating costs. It's more prolific, and it's more diffuse, and inside the system, effective fundraisers are rewarded - it helps them aggregate power. For someone like [Sam] Dastyari, who has been a state secretary and who would probably struggle to tell you accurately how much cash he's raised for Labor over the years, an inconvenient bill just north of $1,000 is lunch money, nothing you'd give even 10 seconds thought to." (On political donations, Canberra is sleepwalking into its own integrity crisis, Katharine Murphy, The Guardian, 2/9/16)
This too is revealing:
"As for China's interest in Australian politics - a recent investigation by the ABC found Beijing is now the largest source of foreign-linked donations in this country. Businesses with connections to China coughed up more than $5.5m between 2013 and 2015, according to that report. A separate report by Fairfax Media said the Western Australian division of the Liberal party had benefited to the tune of half a million dollars in the past couple of years from donations from Chinese businesspeople with links to the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop." (ibid)
But can you imagine the ABC, or Fairfax, or Jonathan Freedland's Guardian ever raising the issue of Zionist-linked donations in Australia, let alone investigating them?
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Is Australia's Foreign Policy for Sale?
This is certainly concerning:
"The role of Chinese donations to Australian political parties has been in the spotlight, with Mr Swan, a former treasurer and deputy prime minister, warning foreign donations could be 'skewing' Australian democracy. Last week the ABC reported $5.5 million had been donated by Chinese interests to the Labor and Coalition between 2013 and 2015. 'I certainly think we should be having a stronger debate about the role of political donations and how that potentially is leading to political decision-making being skewed in favour of foreign countries,' Mr Swan told the ABC." (Senator had Chinese interests pay for part of his travel bill, Latika Bourke, Sydney Morning Herald, 31/8/16)
But would either the ABC, Wayne Swan or the Herald ever question the role of Zionist donations to LibLab in skewing Australia's political decisions in favour of Israel?
Even with this appearing on the same website and on the same day as the above:
"Most of the world considers the Jewish settlements on the West Bank to be illegal, a conclusion that the Israeli government rejects and which Foreign Minister Julie Bishop - who is about to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories before attending the launch of the EU-Australia Leadership Forum - has questioned." (As Julie Bishop prepares to visit the Holy Land, one village tells whole story, William Booth, Washington Post/Sydney Morning Herald, 31/8/16)
You may recall Bob Carr in his Diary of a Foreign Minister quoting Kevin Rudd as saying that one fifth of the money raised for his 2007 election campaign had come from the Jewish community. (See my 20/4/14 post The Carr Diary 12: Reflections 6.)
"The role of Chinese donations to Australian political parties has been in the spotlight, with Mr Swan, a former treasurer and deputy prime minister, warning foreign donations could be 'skewing' Australian democracy. Last week the ABC reported $5.5 million had been donated by Chinese interests to the Labor and Coalition between 2013 and 2015. 'I certainly think we should be having a stronger debate about the role of political donations and how that potentially is leading to political decision-making being skewed in favour of foreign countries,' Mr Swan told the ABC." (Senator had Chinese interests pay for part of his travel bill, Latika Bourke, Sydney Morning Herald, 31/8/16)
But would either the ABC, Wayne Swan or the Herald ever question the role of Zionist donations to LibLab in skewing Australia's political decisions in favour of Israel?
Even with this appearing on the same website and on the same day as the above:
"Most of the world considers the Jewish settlements on the West Bank to be illegal, a conclusion that the Israeli government rejects and which Foreign Minister Julie Bishop - who is about to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories before attending the launch of the EU-Australia Leadership Forum - has questioned." (As Julie Bishop prepares to visit the Holy Land, one village tells whole story, William Booth, Washington Post/Sydney Morning Herald, 31/8/16)
You may recall Bob Carr in his Diary of a Foreign Minister quoting Kevin Rudd as saying that one fifth of the money raised for his 2007 election campaign had come from the Jewish community. (See my 20/4/14 post The Carr Diary 12: Reflections 6.)
Friday, June 24, 2016
The Price of Politics
Here's Wendy Carlisle's introduction to Background Briefing's latest (19/6/16) feature, The Price of Politics, on Radio National:
"If you want to know who's funding your politician's election campaign before voting on Saturday week, you'll be waiting a very long time. In fact, you'll have to wait a year after next. Australia's political donations laws are so lax the full list of donors and what they've spent won't be known until February 2018. But now there's a new report into political spending by the big end of town which shows just how little we really know about what our top companies are up to. For the first time the top ASX companies have been given a transparency score which is designed to measure just what those companies are up to and what they're telling their shareholders about their political spend. Di Martin has this report for Background Briefing.
"This federal election will be the first since explosive allegations about political donations were made in NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). It heard how the Liberal Party got around the strictest donation laws in the country, laws that banned property developers' donations in NSW. Yet donations made by property developers to a federal Liberal fundraising body were then routed back into NSW party coffers."
Then came a familiar, gravelly voice:
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2016 annual general meeting of Westfield Corporation."
Di Martin continued:
"Frank Lowy's Westfield is one of the property developers whose donation of $150,000 ended up with the NSW Liberals."
Lowy again:
"The meeting is now open for questions and general discussion."
Then Martin:
"One of the first is from Stephen Mayne. He's standing in the federal election on a ticket of reforming political donations law. He's also a Westfield shareholder: 'When we made that donation in December 2010 were we aware that that money was going to be finishing up with the NSW Liberal Party when developer donations in NSW had been banned at that point?'"
To which Lowy predictably replied:
"We made the donations appropriately according to the law and the inquiries that were held after that have said we have not been advised of anything that we have done contrary to what is expected of us."
The underlying assumption here, of course, is that Westfield's 2010 donation was all about greasing the wheels for more shopping malls. But is there any real need to keep a naturally neoliberal, Liberal government sweet? Could there, perhaps, be another reason for the donation?
I have no idea. None whatever. But what I do know is that Lowy is an unabashed supporter of Israel and that the Liberal regimes of NSW premiers Barry O'Farrell (2011-15) and Mike Baird (2015-) have outdone all previous NSW and other state governments in demonstrating their love and affection for the apartheid state. (Simply click on the O'Farrell/Baird labels below and marvel at its manifestations and extent.)
Needless to say, this bizarre phenomenon is not touched on in Background Briefing's otherwise invaluable report.
"If you want to know who's funding your politician's election campaign before voting on Saturday week, you'll be waiting a very long time. In fact, you'll have to wait a year after next. Australia's political donations laws are so lax the full list of donors and what they've spent won't be known until February 2018. But now there's a new report into political spending by the big end of town which shows just how little we really know about what our top companies are up to. For the first time the top ASX companies have been given a transparency score which is designed to measure just what those companies are up to and what they're telling their shareholders about their political spend. Di Martin has this report for Background Briefing.
"This federal election will be the first since explosive allegations about political donations were made in NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). It heard how the Liberal Party got around the strictest donation laws in the country, laws that banned property developers' donations in NSW. Yet donations made by property developers to a federal Liberal fundraising body were then routed back into NSW party coffers."
Then came a familiar, gravelly voice:
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2016 annual general meeting of Westfield Corporation."
Di Martin continued:
"Frank Lowy's Westfield is one of the property developers whose donation of $150,000 ended up with the NSW Liberals."
Lowy again:
"The meeting is now open for questions and general discussion."
Then Martin:
"One of the first is from Stephen Mayne. He's standing in the federal election on a ticket of reforming political donations law. He's also a Westfield shareholder: 'When we made that donation in December 2010 were we aware that that money was going to be finishing up with the NSW Liberal Party when developer donations in NSW had been banned at that point?'"
To which Lowy predictably replied:
"We made the donations appropriately according to the law and the inquiries that were held after that have said we have not been advised of anything that we have done contrary to what is expected of us."
The underlying assumption here, of course, is that Westfield's 2010 donation was all about greasing the wheels for more shopping malls. But is there any real need to keep a naturally neoliberal, Liberal government sweet? Could there, perhaps, be another reason for the donation?
I have no idea. None whatever. But what I do know is that Lowy is an unabashed supporter of Israel and that the Liberal regimes of NSW premiers Barry O'Farrell (2011-15) and Mike Baird (2015-) have outdone all previous NSW and other state governments in demonstrating their love and affection for the apartheid state. (Simply click on the O'Farrell/Baird labels below and marvel at its manifestations and extent.)
Needless to say, this bizarre phenomenon is not touched on in Background Briefing's otherwise invaluable report.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Sweet Charity
"Heloise Waislitz was only 13 years old when her parents, Richard and Jeanne Pratt, took her to South Africa on a family holiday... I was completely traumatised... I thought 'How can you separate people by the colour of their skin?' And that's why I got into philanthropy,' she tells The Australian in the first wide-ranging interview." (The heiress who keeps on giving, Damon Kitney, The Australian, 8/6/15)
Yes, Heloise, it's dreadful what they got up to in apartheid South Africa back then. Of course, separating people by religion so that you and yours can go and live in Israel but Ahmed Bloggs in Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp just across the border in Lebanon can't, that's perfectly OK, right? But I digress:
"In 1995 Richard Pratt made Heloise... the chairman of the Pratt Foundation. He implored her to give and give, declaring he had never heard of an unworthy charity... Few know Waislitz as one of the nation's leading philanthropists, for which she is today [8/6] being awarded a Member of the Order of Australia. The Pratt Foundation... run by distinguished [Zionist] journalist Sam Lipski for the past 17 years... donates to causes in Australia, the US and Israel, giving away $15-$17 million a year."
Tax deductible of course.
The Pratt Foundation's best known project in Israel is probably Beersheva's Park of the Australian Soldier, where rambammed Australian politicians go to learn that Australian troops, by ejecting the Turks from the southern Palestinian town of Beersheba (as it was then known) in World War I, were not engaged in paving the way for the implementation of the proclaimed Allied war aim of a post-war settlement based on the principles of the 'right of self-determination' and the 'consent of the governed' for Palestine's then 90% Arab population, but rather paving the way for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.
This deliberate linking of the military exploits of Australian troops in Palestine in World War I with the lobbying exploits of the Zionist movement in London at the same time has, as I have shown in previous posts on the subject, become a staple of Zionist propaganda directed at uninformed Australians.
Pratt Foundation CEO Sam Lipski, for example, put it this way in a recent issue of the Spectator magazine:
"On the same afternoon that the 4th and 12th Light Horse regiments... raced towards Beersheba... Lloyd George's war cabinet met in London. It agreed to support 'the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people...' A few days later, on 2 November, Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote to lord Rothschild advising him of the British government's decision... More than any other political event... the [Balfour] Declaration... greatly invigorated the Zionist movement [and] paved the way for Israel's emergence 31 years later... If the Turks had held the line at Beersheba... and if the first world war had ended with the decaying Ottoman empire still ruling Palestine, then the Balfour Declaration would have been meaningless. The Light horse victory ensured that didn't happen." (Beersheba Diary, 31/5/15)
What Lipski doesn't tell us, of course, is that, instead of making illegitimate promises to the Zionists in London in 1917, the British had a clear moral and legal obligation to honour their earlier 1915 pledge to the Arabs, given by the British High Commissioner in Cairo to the Arab nationalist Sharif of Mecca, to support Arab independence in the Middle East, including in Palestine, if the Arab forces agreed to join with the British in driving the Turks out of the Middle East.
That Anglo-Arab pact of 1915 was scrupulously observed by the Arab forces who fought and died (alongside the British and the Australians) all the way from Mecca to Damascus for an independent and unified Arab state in the region. Unfortunately, the Arabs were betrayed by Anglo-Zionist collusion and deal-making far from the scene of battle.
The sad truth is that if the Australian troops who'd captured Beersheba had had any inkling of what was afoot in the smoke-filled backrooms of Whitehall, they may well have had second thoughts about the entire Palestine campaign, let alone Beersheba.
Lipski concluded his piece thus:
"Legendary the Beersheba victory may be for many. But for most Australians it's not as legendary as the Gallipoli defeat. For most Israelis, and many Australian Jews, the Light Horse's contribution to Israel's eventual establishment is virtually unknown."
Not if Lipski or the mayor of Beersheva have anything to do with it, however:
"Come the centenary in 2017, Mayor Ruvik... wants thousands of Australians and Israelis to come to Be'er-Sheva, not just to mark the the 100th anniversary, but to honour and celebrate his city's permanent Anzac legacy. I am booking early."
So too, I imagine, will Heloise Waislitz.
Yes, Heloise, it's dreadful what they got up to in apartheid South Africa back then. Of course, separating people by religion so that you and yours can go and live in Israel but Ahmed Bloggs in Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp just across the border in Lebanon can't, that's perfectly OK, right? But I digress:
"In 1995 Richard Pratt made Heloise... the chairman of the Pratt Foundation. He implored her to give and give, declaring he had never heard of an unworthy charity... Few know Waislitz as one of the nation's leading philanthropists, for which she is today [8/6] being awarded a Member of the Order of Australia. The Pratt Foundation... run by distinguished [Zionist] journalist Sam Lipski for the past 17 years... donates to causes in Australia, the US and Israel, giving away $15-$17 million a year."
Tax deductible of course.
The Pratt Foundation's best known project in Israel is probably Beersheva's Park of the Australian Soldier, where rambammed Australian politicians go to learn that Australian troops, by ejecting the Turks from the southern Palestinian town of Beersheba (as it was then known) in World War I, were not engaged in paving the way for the implementation of the proclaimed Allied war aim of a post-war settlement based on the principles of the 'right of self-determination' and the 'consent of the governed' for Palestine's then 90% Arab population, but rather paving the way for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.
This deliberate linking of the military exploits of Australian troops in Palestine in World War I with the lobbying exploits of the Zionist movement in London at the same time has, as I have shown in previous posts on the subject, become a staple of Zionist propaganda directed at uninformed Australians.
Pratt Foundation CEO Sam Lipski, for example, put it this way in a recent issue of the Spectator magazine:
"On the same afternoon that the 4th and 12th Light Horse regiments... raced towards Beersheba... Lloyd George's war cabinet met in London. It agreed to support 'the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people...' A few days later, on 2 November, Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote to lord Rothschild advising him of the British government's decision... More than any other political event... the [Balfour] Declaration... greatly invigorated the Zionist movement [and] paved the way for Israel's emergence 31 years later... If the Turks had held the line at Beersheba... and if the first world war had ended with the decaying Ottoman empire still ruling Palestine, then the Balfour Declaration would have been meaningless. The Light horse victory ensured that didn't happen." (Beersheba Diary, 31/5/15)
What Lipski doesn't tell us, of course, is that, instead of making illegitimate promises to the Zionists in London in 1917, the British had a clear moral and legal obligation to honour their earlier 1915 pledge to the Arabs, given by the British High Commissioner in Cairo to the Arab nationalist Sharif of Mecca, to support Arab independence in the Middle East, including in Palestine, if the Arab forces agreed to join with the British in driving the Turks out of the Middle East.
That Anglo-Arab pact of 1915 was scrupulously observed by the Arab forces who fought and died (alongside the British and the Australians) all the way from Mecca to Damascus for an independent and unified Arab state in the region. Unfortunately, the Arabs were betrayed by Anglo-Zionist collusion and deal-making far from the scene of battle.
The sad truth is that if the Australian troops who'd captured Beersheba had had any inkling of what was afoot in the smoke-filled backrooms of Whitehall, they may well have had second thoughts about the entire Palestine campaign, let alone Beersheba.
Lipski concluded his piece thus:
"Legendary the Beersheba victory may be for many. But for most Australians it's not as legendary as the Gallipoli defeat. For most Israelis, and many Australian Jews, the Light Horse's contribution to Israel's eventual establishment is virtually unknown."
Not if Lipski or the mayor of Beersheva have anything to do with it, however:
"Come the centenary in 2017, Mayor Ruvik... wants thousands of Australians and Israelis to come to Be'er-Sheva, not just to mark the the 100th anniversary, but to honour and celebrate his city's permanent Anzac legacy. I am booking early."
So too, I imagine, will Heloise Waislitz.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Palestine & Labor's Funding Dilemma
Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr is confidently predicting a shift to a more pro-Palestine position in the ALP:
"If a backbencher in the next Labor government rises at caucus to move that Australia recognise a Palestinian state, I would expect it to be carried overwhelmingly - even on the voices as it was at the recent Queensland and NSW party conferences." (Letter to The Australian, 12/11/14)
A potential problem for the party, however, lies in its need to fund election campaigns. Without a system of taxpayer-funded elections, raising funds can be an expensive business, and political donations from wealthy individuals in the Jewish community have long been an important source of campaign funding for the party.
In his recent book, Diary of a Foreign Minister, for example, Carr quotes former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd as saying that Jewish political donations made up about one-fifth of Labor's funding for the 2007 federal election. This money, of course, is predicated on Labor adopting a position of blind, uncritical support for Israel. Should it deviate from this, ever so slightly, as Rudd found in 2010, this is what can happen:
"Australia had long been one of Israel's 3 most supportive friends, along with the US and Canada. But now there were troubling signs that Rudd had decided to distance himself from the Jewish state... It started in February [2010] with the news that assassins with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad had forged 3 Australian passports to enter the United Arab Emirates to kill a Hamas military commander... It sharpened a week later when Australia switched its vote in the UN to signal a weakening of support for Israel... The concern intensified last month when the government expelled an Israeli diplomat as a punishment for the passports abuse... All through this, the Israeli ambassador to Australia and some members of the Jewish community felt a chill in their dealings with the government. Phone calls went unreturned, normal dealings seemed to be suspended. The Jewish community reciprocated. When Labor approached key groups to hold fund-raising events for the coming election, they feigned busyness, but it was a deliberate and unmistakeable retaliation. The Jewish community was an important source of Labor funds for the 2007 election. A single lunch in Sydney raised $100,000. A Toorak tennis court party for 200, attended by Rudd and Julia Gillard, raised more. But as this year has unfolded, it became increasingly clear such effort would not be repeated." (What am I, chopped liver? How Rudd dived into schmooze mode, Peter Hartcher, Sydney Morning Herald, 22/6/10)*
It seems that British Labor too is in a similar bind:
"The Labour party is facing desertion by Jewish donors and supporters because of Ed Miliband's 'toxic' anti-Israel stance over Gaza and Palestine. In a fresh headache for the Labour leader, it is understood that Mr Miliband has been warned that Jewish backers are deserting the party in droves over what community leaders perceive to be a new, aggressive pro-Palestine policy at the expense of Israeli interests... [A] previous donor said they had been asked by the party to arrange a fundraising dinner for Jewish Labour supporters but had found no takers. 'Miliband won't get that [money], I can tell you that now,' he said. 'I was going to do a couple of dinners and invite prominent members of the community, who are quite wealthy, to raise funds. They just wouldn't touch it. It was too toxic for them to even consider. There is a lot of reluctance to support Miliband financially, unfortunately.'... Prominent Jewish supporters say problems started in the summer with Mr Miliband's aggressive condemnation of Israel's ground incursion into Gaza last August, which he described as 'wrong and unjustifiable'. He accused David Cameron of being wrong not to have condemned the land operation and claimed that 'Israel was losing friends in the international community day by day'. This was followed by a decision to whip a vote calling on the Government to unilaterally recognise Palestine - against long-standing British and Labour policy that recognition should only be part of a negotiated two-state settlement. That decision was opposed by a number of senior Labour MPs - including at least two shadow cabinet ministers - who warned it would haemorrhage Jewish support... A number of Jewish former Labour supporters also compared Mr Miliband's stance on Gaza unfavourably with David Cameron's, which, they suggested, had been calibrated to ensure that prominent Tory Jewish supporters stayed on board." (Labour funding crisis: Jewish donors drop 'toxic' Ed Miliband, Oliver Wright, independent.co.uk, 9/11/14)
What a fine state of affairs, where political parties must calibrate their foreign policy to suit those who, while comfortably domiciled in places such as Australia or Britain, entertain fantasies that Palestine actually belongs to them.
[*See my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy.]
"If a backbencher in the next Labor government rises at caucus to move that Australia recognise a Palestinian state, I would expect it to be carried overwhelmingly - even on the voices as it was at the recent Queensland and NSW party conferences." (Letter to The Australian, 12/11/14)
A potential problem for the party, however, lies in its need to fund election campaigns. Without a system of taxpayer-funded elections, raising funds can be an expensive business, and political donations from wealthy individuals in the Jewish community have long been an important source of campaign funding for the party.
In his recent book, Diary of a Foreign Minister, for example, Carr quotes former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd as saying that Jewish political donations made up about one-fifth of Labor's funding for the 2007 federal election. This money, of course, is predicated on Labor adopting a position of blind, uncritical support for Israel. Should it deviate from this, ever so slightly, as Rudd found in 2010, this is what can happen:
"Australia had long been one of Israel's 3 most supportive friends, along with the US and Canada. But now there were troubling signs that Rudd had decided to distance himself from the Jewish state... It started in February [2010] with the news that assassins with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad had forged 3 Australian passports to enter the United Arab Emirates to kill a Hamas military commander... It sharpened a week later when Australia switched its vote in the UN to signal a weakening of support for Israel... The concern intensified last month when the government expelled an Israeli diplomat as a punishment for the passports abuse... All through this, the Israeli ambassador to Australia and some members of the Jewish community felt a chill in their dealings with the government. Phone calls went unreturned, normal dealings seemed to be suspended. The Jewish community reciprocated. When Labor approached key groups to hold fund-raising events for the coming election, they feigned busyness, but it was a deliberate and unmistakeable retaliation. The Jewish community was an important source of Labor funds for the 2007 election. A single lunch in Sydney raised $100,000. A Toorak tennis court party for 200, attended by Rudd and Julia Gillard, raised more. But as this year has unfolded, it became increasingly clear such effort would not be repeated." (What am I, chopped liver? How Rudd dived into schmooze mode, Peter Hartcher, Sydney Morning Herald, 22/6/10)*
It seems that British Labor too is in a similar bind:
"The Labour party is facing desertion by Jewish donors and supporters because of Ed Miliband's 'toxic' anti-Israel stance over Gaza and Palestine. In a fresh headache for the Labour leader, it is understood that Mr Miliband has been warned that Jewish backers are deserting the party in droves over what community leaders perceive to be a new, aggressive pro-Palestine policy at the expense of Israeli interests... [A] previous donor said they had been asked by the party to arrange a fundraising dinner for Jewish Labour supporters but had found no takers. 'Miliband won't get that [money], I can tell you that now,' he said. 'I was going to do a couple of dinners and invite prominent members of the community, who are quite wealthy, to raise funds. They just wouldn't touch it. It was too toxic for them to even consider. There is a lot of reluctance to support Miliband financially, unfortunately.'... Prominent Jewish supporters say problems started in the summer with Mr Miliband's aggressive condemnation of Israel's ground incursion into Gaza last August, which he described as 'wrong and unjustifiable'. He accused David Cameron of being wrong not to have condemned the land operation and claimed that 'Israel was losing friends in the international community day by day'. This was followed by a decision to whip a vote calling on the Government to unilaterally recognise Palestine - against long-standing British and Labour policy that recognition should only be part of a negotiated two-state settlement. That decision was opposed by a number of senior Labour MPs - including at least two shadow cabinet ministers - who warned it would haemorrhage Jewish support... A number of Jewish former Labour supporters also compared Mr Miliband's stance on Gaza unfavourably with David Cameron's, which, they suggested, had been calibrated to ensure that prominent Tory Jewish supporters stayed on board." (Labour funding crisis: Jewish donors drop 'toxic' Ed Miliband, Oliver Wright, independent.co.uk, 9/11/14)
What a fine state of affairs, where political parties must calibrate their foreign policy to suit those who, while comfortably domiciled in places such as Australia or Britain, entertain fantasies that Palestine actually belongs to them.
[*See my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy.]
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