Oh dear:
"A Palestinian minister has accused an Australian-led political delegation of asking rude questions during a meeting in the West Bank. The Australian industry minister Christopher Pyne, the former parliamentary speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, and Human Rights Commissioner, Tim Wilson, were among Australian and British delegates to attend the meeting in Ramallah on Sunday.
"The Palestinian education minister, Sabri Saidam, told the ABC the meeting was 'very explosive and very challenging.' He said the group had asked 'rude and blunt' questions and Pyne had raised 'a list of complaints.' The group visited Israel as part of the Australia-Israel-United Kingdom Leadership Dialogue. Saidam suggested the delegation had 'wrong impressions accumulated after the visit to Israel.' 'The delegation had false information and twisted facts,' he told the ABC. 'It was clear the delegation was not well educated.'" (Australian delegation asked 'rude' questions during 'explosive' West Bank meeting, Daniel Hurst, theguardian.com, 16/12/15)
Frankly, I blame the Palestinian Authority here.
As in, what did they expect?
Face it, what are we dealing with here?
A mob of obnoxious and revolting Australian politicians who think the sun shines out of Israel's arse, on an Israeli-sponsored freebie to Israel, primed with Israeli talking points, stuffed with Israeli tucker, and only in Ramallah so that they can claim they 'talked to both sides.'
Saidam said the group had asked "rude and blunt questions."
Well, hello? You are dealing with Poodles Pyne, Chopper Bishop and Freedom Boy here.
He said Pyne "had a list of complaints."
Well, hello? Autographed by Benjamin Netanyahu himself.
He said, the delegation had "wrong impressions accumulated after the visit to Israel," and "false information and twisted facts."
Well, hello? Only after their visit to Israel? They've been reading the Murdoch press, like, for centuries, mate!
He said, "It was clear the delegation was not well educated."
Well, hello? What did Poodles Pyne have in his back pocket? Senor & Singer's Start-Up Nation.*
I mean, if you're going to let this lot into your office, you deserve what you get, right?
End of story.
[*"Despite another year of political upheaval, it is encouraging that many of our politicians still found time to reach for a book... Releasing his 'inner revolutionary', Industry Minister Christopher Pyne devoured Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer..." (The next pages in the lives of our pollies: What our representatives will be reading over the Christmas break, Troy Bramston, The Australian, 14/12/15) On this vile little propaganda tome, see my 23/4/10 post Creative Destruction.]
Showing posts with label Tim Wilson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tim Wilson. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Je Suis Le Lievre & Carlton
Remember Glen Le Lievre's powerful cartoon in last year's Sydney MorningHerald, drawn as Israel was 'mowing the grass' in the Gaza Ghetto, and many Israelis - with kippahs (some incorporating the Star of David) and without - were enjoying the spectacle from a nearby hill (some sitting in lounge chairs)?
Remember the knee-jerk allegations of anti-Semitism which followed it?
Remember the equally powerful essay by columnist Mike Carlton which shared the page with it?
Remember how the Herald got the wobbles when the usual suspects began hurling the usual accusations of anti-Semitism at him?
Remember how Carlton ended up resigning from the paper rather than kiss the ring?
Remember the dark threats in Murdoch's Australian about "the organised [Jewish] community getting legal advice and looking closely at its options"?
Well, here's the final (?) chapter in the saga - Press Council Adjudication 1634 of January 15, the subject of which, I note, is exclusively Le Lievre's cartoon. What rubbish it is:
"The Press Council has considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by a cartoon in the Sydney Morning Herald on 26 July 2014. It was associated with an opinion piece on the conflict in Gaza and depicted an elderly man with a large nose, wearing the distinctively Jewish head covering called a kippah or yarmulke, and sitting in an armchair emblazoned with the Star of David. He was pointing a TV remote control device at an exploding cityscape, implied to be Gaza. Implied to be Gaza!
"The Council asked the publication to comment on whether the cartoon had placed gratuitous emphasis on race or religion. It also asked the publication whether the cartoon could reasonably have expected to cause offence and showed insufficient concern for balancing the sensibilities of some readers with the broader public interest.
"In response, the publication agreed that the cartoon had placed gratuitous emphasis on the Jewishness of its subject and in so doing had inappropriately emphasised religious persuasion rather than Israeli nationality, thereby causing offence. It pointed out that a 650-word apology had been published about a week later."
So the cartoon was thought too Jewish and insufficiently Israeli. The kippah is Jewish, but worn by countless Israelis, including, when it suits him, Netanyahu. The Star of David is Jewish, but is emblazoned on every Israeli flag and death-dealing fighter jet, not to mention on many Israeli kippahs.
If Le Lievre inappropriately emphasised religious persuasion that is because Israel itself, through its appropriation of Jewish religious symbols for its own political ends, inappropriately emphasises religious persuasion.
"The publication also pointed out that the newspaper's Editor in Chief and News Director had subsequently participated in seminars facilitated by the Jewish Board of Deputies to raise awareness about the imagery that could be construed as anti-Semitic. It said further seminars were planned and would be expanded to include the newspaper's senior editorial staff.
"The publication also said that a requirement for extra layers of approval had been introduced for all cartoons prior to publication."
So much for the Herald's slogan "Independent. Always."
"Conclusions: The Council emphasises that cartoons are subject to its Standards of Practice. The application of those standards however, takes account of the fact that readers can reasonably be expected to recognise that cartoons commonly use exaggeration and caricature to a considerable degree and therefore should be interpreted by them with this in mind.
"In this instance, the cartoon's linkage between the Jewish faith and the Israeli rocket attacks on Gaza was reasonably likely to cause great offence to many readers. A linkage with Israeli nationality might have been justifiable in the public interest, despite being likely to cause offence. But the same cannot be said of the implied linkage with the Jewish faith that arose from inclusion of the kippah and the Star of David. Accordingly, the Council's Standards of Practice were breached on the ground of causing greater offence to readers' sensibilities than was justifiable in the public interest.
"The Council welcomes the prominent, extensive and closely-reasoned apology by the publication and its subsequent action to reduce the risk of repetition. The Council commends this approach to other publications."
For the genesis of this complaint to the Press Council see my 7/12/14 post The Whinge Goes On.
As for Mike Carlton, our Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson referred in yesterday's Australian to Carlton "facing a complaint under 18C because of his disgraceful anti-Semitic language." (Charlie Hebdo v 18C: no contest)
Mike's tweeted response (18/1): "I used no 'disgraceful anti-Semitic language' and was not pinged by 18C. Tim Wilson is a posturing fuckwit."
Remember the knee-jerk allegations of anti-Semitism which followed it?
Remember the equally powerful essay by columnist Mike Carlton which shared the page with it?
Remember how the Herald got the wobbles when the usual suspects began hurling the usual accusations of anti-Semitism at him?
Remember how Carlton ended up resigning from the paper rather than kiss the ring?
Remember the dark threats in Murdoch's Australian about "the organised [Jewish] community getting legal advice and looking closely at its options"?
Well, here's the final (?) chapter in the saga - Press Council Adjudication 1634 of January 15, the subject of which, I note, is exclusively Le Lievre's cartoon. What rubbish it is:
"The Press Council has considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by a cartoon in the Sydney Morning Herald on 26 July 2014. It was associated with an opinion piece on the conflict in Gaza and depicted an elderly man with a large nose, wearing the distinctively Jewish head covering called a kippah or yarmulke, and sitting in an armchair emblazoned with the Star of David. He was pointing a TV remote control device at an exploding cityscape, implied to be Gaza. Implied to be Gaza!
"The Council asked the publication to comment on whether the cartoon had placed gratuitous emphasis on race or religion. It also asked the publication whether the cartoon could reasonably have expected to cause offence and showed insufficient concern for balancing the sensibilities of some readers with the broader public interest.
"In response, the publication agreed that the cartoon had placed gratuitous emphasis on the Jewishness of its subject and in so doing had inappropriately emphasised religious persuasion rather than Israeli nationality, thereby causing offence. It pointed out that a 650-word apology had been published about a week later."
So the cartoon was thought too Jewish and insufficiently Israeli. The kippah is Jewish, but worn by countless Israelis, including, when it suits him, Netanyahu. The Star of David is Jewish, but is emblazoned on every Israeli flag and death-dealing fighter jet, not to mention on many Israeli kippahs.
If Le Lievre inappropriately emphasised religious persuasion that is because Israel itself, through its appropriation of Jewish religious symbols for its own political ends, inappropriately emphasises religious persuasion.
"The publication also pointed out that the newspaper's Editor in Chief and News Director had subsequently participated in seminars facilitated by the Jewish Board of Deputies to raise awareness about the imagery that could be construed as anti-Semitic. It said further seminars were planned and would be expanded to include the newspaper's senior editorial staff.
"The publication also said that a requirement for extra layers of approval had been introduced for all cartoons prior to publication."
So much for the Herald's slogan "Independent. Always."
"Conclusions: The Council emphasises that cartoons are subject to its Standards of Practice. The application of those standards however, takes account of the fact that readers can reasonably be expected to recognise that cartoons commonly use exaggeration and caricature to a considerable degree and therefore should be interpreted by them with this in mind.
"In this instance, the cartoon's linkage between the Jewish faith and the Israeli rocket attacks on Gaza was reasonably likely to cause great offence to many readers. A linkage with Israeli nationality might have been justifiable in the public interest, despite being likely to cause offence. But the same cannot be said of the implied linkage with the Jewish faith that arose from inclusion of the kippah and the Star of David. Accordingly, the Council's Standards of Practice were breached on the ground of causing greater offence to readers' sensibilities than was justifiable in the public interest.
"The Council welcomes the prominent, extensive and closely-reasoned apology by the publication and its subsequent action to reduce the risk of repetition. The Council commends this approach to other publications."
For the genesis of this complaint to the Press Council see my 7/12/14 post The Whinge Goes On.
As for Mike Carlton, our Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson referred in yesterday's Australian to Carlton "facing a complaint under 18C because of his disgraceful anti-Semitic language." (Charlie Hebdo v 18C: no contest)
Mike's tweeted response (18/1): "I used no 'disgraceful anti-Semitic language' and was not pinged by 18C. Tim Wilson is a posturing fuckwit."
Friday, May 16, 2014
NZW Premier Miko Baird Bends the Knee
Individual NZW Premiers may come and go but the annual bending-of-the-knee ritual at Israel Independence (from what?) Day gigs is mandatory for whoever 'leads' the state of NZW.
Last year of course, it was Barry (Baruch) O'Farrell, who gushed: "If one was restricted to a single word to describe Israel it would be extraordinary." (See my posts Barry to Baruch in 60 Seconds (9/5/14) and NZW Inc. (3/5/14))
Poor Baruch had probably consumed a tad too much Grange Hermitage at the time, but then that's another story...
This year, of course, it's the shiny new Mike (Miko?) Baird who "announced that if [his government] is re-elected in March 2015, he will commit to personally leading a trade delegation to Israel during his second term in office saying 'perhaps I cannot quite say 'Next Year in Jerusalem' but I can say 'next term in Jerusalem'." (Next term in Jerusalem, jwire.com.au, 14/5/14)
Good one, Miko!
In addition to laying the organisers of the gig (the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the Zionist Council of Australia, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and the Zionist Federation of Australia) in the proverbial aisles, Miko also revealed his talents as a vocalist, crooning that old favourite, "Australia [was] the first country to vote in favour of the 1947 UN partition which created the Jewish State." (ibid)
No Zionist gig would be complete, however, without a reference to the Dark Side. And Miko did not disappoint, muttering darkly:
"We know there are those who make it their task to whip up fear and hatred towards Israel. Even here in multicultural Australia, one of the most distasteful examples is the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, which has such regrettable echoes of the past persecution of Jewish-owned businesses. The BDS campaign disgusts ordinary, decent Australians and attracts bipartisan condemnation." (Baird commits to visit Israel, The Australian Jewish News, 16/5/14)
Jeepers creepers, you could almost hear the sound of jackboots and shattering glass!
But Miko was merely the icing on Israel's birthday cake:
Among the 500 glitterati, "diplomats [34 + Israeli ambassador, Shmuel Ben-Shmuel], politicians and community, faith and business leaders," were to be found "John Robertson (Opposition Leader), David Clarke (Parliamentary Secretary), David Elliott (Parliamentary Secretary), Matt Kean (Parliamentary Secretary) and Paul Fletcher (Federal Parliamentary Secretary)." (Celebrating Israel's Independence Day, theindiansun.com.au, 15/5/14)
What particularly struck me, however, as a compulsive chronicler of such things, was this:
"Other notable people attending the celebration included Vic Alhadeff (Chairman, Community Relations Commission), Stepan Kerkyasharian (President, Anti-Discrimination Board), Dr Tim Soutphommasane (Race Discrimination Commissioner), and Tim Wilson (Human Rights Commissioner)." (ibid)
That is, almost all of the heads of all of the official, taxpayer-funded, multicultural, anti-racist, anti-discrimination, and pro-human rights bodies in Australia were gathered together in celebration of a state, founded on a monstrous act of ethnic cleansing, that has become a byword for ethno-religious exclusivism and human rights abuses.
You wouldn't read about it... at least not in the mainstream press.
Last year of course, it was Barry (Baruch) O'Farrell, who gushed: "If one was restricted to a single word to describe Israel it would be extraordinary." (See my posts Barry to Baruch in 60 Seconds (9/5/14) and NZW Inc. (3/5/14))
Poor Baruch had probably consumed a tad too much Grange Hermitage at the time, but then that's another story...
This year, of course, it's the shiny new Mike (Miko?) Baird who "announced that if [his government] is re-elected in March 2015, he will commit to personally leading a trade delegation to Israel during his second term in office saying 'perhaps I cannot quite say 'Next Year in Jerusalem' but I can say 'next term in Jerusalem'." (Next term in Jerusalem, jwire.com.au, 14/5/14)
Good one, Miko!
In addition to laying the organisers of the gig (the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the Zionist Council of Australia, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and the Zionist Federation of Australia) in the proverbial aisles, Miko also revealed his talents as a vocalist, crooning that old favourite, "Australia [was] the first country to vote in favour of the 1947 UN partition which created the Jewish State." (ibid)
No Zionist gig would be complete, however, without a reference to the Dark Side. And Miko did not disappoint, muttering darkly:
"We know there are those who make it their task to whip up fear and hatred towards Israel. Even here in multicultural Australia, one of the most distasteful examples is the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, which has such regrettable echoes of the past persecution of Jewish-owned businesses. The BDS campaign disgusts ordinary, decent Australians and attracts bipartisan condemnation." (Baird commits to visit Israel, The Australian Jewish News, 16/5/14)
Jeepers creepers, you could almost hear the sound of jackboots and shattering glass!
But Miko was merely the icing on Israel's birthday cake:
Among the 500 glitterati, "diplomats [34 + Israeli ambassador, Shmuel Ben-Shmuel], politicians and community, faith and business leaders," were to be found "John Robertson (Opposition Leader), David Clarke (Parliamentary Secretary), David Elliott (Parliamentary Secretary), Matt Kean (Parliamentary Secretary) and Paul Fletcher (Federal Parliamentary Secretary)." (Celebrating Israel's Independence Day, theindiansun.com.au, 15/5/14)
What particularly struck me, however, as a compulsive chronicler of such things, was this:
"Other notable people attending the celebration included Vic Alhadeff (Chairman, Community Relations Commission), Stepan Kerkyasharian (President, Anti-Discrimination Board), Dr Tim Soutphommasane (Race Discrimination Commissioner), and Tim Wilson (Human Rights Commissioner)." (ibid)
That is, almost all of the heads of all of the official, taxpayer-funded, multicultural, anti-racist, anti-discrimination, and pro-human rights bodies in Australia were gathered together in celebration of a state, founded on a monstrous act of ethnic cleansing, that has become a byword for ethno-religious exclusivism and human rights abuses.
You wouldn't read about it... at least not in the mainstream press.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Q&A Flakes
Tim Wilson, Human Rights Commissioner:
"My view is that whenever Australia is siding up with only China and Iran when we are voting on things [at the UN], it is probably not a good sign."
Hello? This effusion hardly reflects the reality of our voting pattern in the UN General Assembly. Reality would dictate something more along these lines:
'My view is that whenever Australia is siding up with only the United States and Israel when we are voting on things, it is most definitely not a good sign.'
But then, reality (or even human rights) is not really Wilson's thing. Certainly not since he was rambammed - see my 23/2/14 post I Want My Money Back.
Mona Eltahawy, Egyptian activist and commentator:
- Well, you're talking to someone who got arrested for spray-painting over a racist and bigoted ad in the New York subway and I'm going to stand trial very soon in New York for this...
TJ: What did it say? Are you allowed to tell us?
- I can tell you because it - I mean it's outrageous. It said: 'In the war between the civilised man and the savage, always choose the civilised man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.' And I thought: are you fucking kidding me? In my subway? How can you put this up?
I don't get it. I always thought Eltahawy had the hots for Israel.
After all, she too was rambammed; wrote for the Jerusalem Post; declared that "Israel was the opium of the Arabs"; and (with exquisite timing, after Israel had just bombed the crap out of Gaza in 2008-09) described herself as a "self-hating Arab," pontificating that "the real challenge when it comes to the Middle East [conflict] is to sit on the fence."
But now she's not only off the fence, she's running around defacing pro-Israel posters! From Self-hating Arab to Existential Threat in 5 seconds flat! WTF?
[For more on Mona, see my 31/1/11 post Homely Mona.]
"My view is that whenever Australia is siding up with only China and Iran when we are voting on things [at the UN], it is probably not a good sign."
Hello? This effusion hardly reflects the reality of our voting pattern in the UN General Assembly. Reality would dictate something more along these lines:
'My view is that whenever Australia is siding up with only the United States and Israel when we are voting on things, it is most definitely not a good sign.'
But then, reality (or even human rights) is not really Wilson's thing. Certainly not since he was rambammed - see my 23/2/14 post I Want My Money Back.
Mona Eltahawy, Egyptian activist and commentator:
- Well, you're talking to someone who got arrested for spray-painting over a racist and bigoted ad in the New York subway and I'm going to stand trial very soon in New York for this...
TJ: What did it say? Are you allowed to tell us?
- I can tell you because it - I mean it's outrageous. It said: 'In the war between the civilised man and the savage, always choose the civilised man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.' And I thought: are you fucking kidding me? In my subway? How can you put this up?
I don't get it. I always thought Eltahawy had the hots for Israel.
After all, she too was rambammed; wrote for the Jerusalem Post; declared that "Israel was the opium of the Arabs"; and (with exquisite timing, after Israel had just bombed the crap out of Gaza in 2008-09) described herself as a "self-hating Arab," pontificating that "the real challenge when it comes to the Middle East [conflict] is to sit on the fence."
But now she's not only off the fence, she's running around defacing pro-Israel posters! From Self-hating Arab to Existential Threat in 5 seconds flat! WTF?
[For more on Mona, see my 31/1/11 post Homely Mona.]
Thursday, February 27, 2014
George Brandis, 'Hitch-22' & Some Burning Questions
I'm always fascinated by what our politicians do and don't read. Herewith, for example, is an insight into the reading habits of Attorney General Senator George Brandis:
"Senator Brandis has defended, as within his rights, spending almost $13,000 over 4 years on books and magazines including cartoons, [Mickey Mouse? Batman?] the thriller The Marmalade Files and Christopher Hitchens' memoir Hitch-22." (Brandis orders library ladder, Jared Owens, The Australian, 25/2/14)
Just dealing with Hitchens' book, and assuming he's actually read it from cover to cover, a most interesting question arises. Might this singular event constitute some kind of Australian record? I mean, could this be the very first time a sitting federal politician has actually read something on Palestine/Israel that in any way deviates from the hermetically-sealed, Israel lobby-mandated party line?
Read these two passages from Hitch-22 and you'll see why I'm asking:
"Actually - and this is where I began to feel seriously uncomfortable - some such divine claim underlay not just 'the occupation' but the whole idea of a separate state for Jews in Palestine. Take away the divine warrant for the Holy Land and where were you, and what were you? Just another land-thief like the Turks or the British, except that in this case you wanted the land without the people. And the original Zionist slogan - 'a land without a people for a people without a land' - disclosed its own negation when I saw the densely populated Arab towns dwelling sullenly under Jewish tutelage. You want irony? How about Jews becoming colonizers at just the moment when other Europeans had given up on the idea?"
"Suppose that a man leaps out of a burning building - as my dear friend and colleague Jeff Goldberg sat and said to my face over a table at La Tomate in Washington not two years ago - and lands on a bystander in the street below. Now, make the burning building be Europe, and the luckless man underneath be the Palestinian Arabs. Is this a historical injustice? Has the man below been made a victim, with infinite cause of complaint and indefinite justification for violent retaliation? My own reply would be a provisional 'no', but only on these conditions. The man leaping from the burning building must still make such restitution as he can to the man who broke his fall, and must not pretend that he never even landed on him. And he must base his case on the singularity and uniqueness of the original leap. It can't, in other words, be 'leap, leap, leap' for four generations and more. The people underneath cannot cannot be expected to tolerate leaping on this scale and of this duration, if you catch my drift. In Palestine, tread softly, for you tread on their dreams. And do not tell the Palestinians that they were never fallen upon and bruised in the first place. Do not shame yourself with the cheap lie that they were told by their leaders to run away. Also, stop saying that nobody knew how to cultivate oranges in Jaffa until the Jews showed them how. 'Making the desert bloom' - one of Yvonne's stock phrases - makes desert dwellers out of people who were the agricultural superiors of the Crusaders."
Moreover, keeping in mind Brandis' 2009 and 2010 rambammings, what terrible tsunami of cognitive dissonance must have swept over him on reading the above, and with what, if any, result? For example, could Brandis now be the weakest link in the Israel lobby-forged chain of the federal Liberal government?
Oh yes, and will he be lending his copy of Hitch-22 to his recently rambammed protege, Tim (Freedom Fighter) Wilson? (See my 23/2/14 post I Want My Money Back!)
"Senator Brandis has defended, as within his rights, spending almost $13,000 over 4 years on books and magazines including cartoons, [Mickey Mouse? Batman?] the thriller The Marmalade Files and Christopher Hitchens' memoir Hitch-22." (Brandis orders library ladder, Jared Owens, The Australian, 25/2/14)
Just dealing with Hitchens' book, and assuming he's actually read it from cover to cover, a most interesting question arises. Might this singular event constitute some kind of Australian record? I mean, could this be the very first time a sitting federal politician has actually read something on Palestine/Israel that in any way deviates from the hermetically-sealed, Israel lobby-mandated party line?
Read these two passages from Hitch-22 and you'll see why I'm asking:
"Actually - and this is where I began to feel seriously uncomfortable - some such divine claim underlay not just 'the occupation' but the whole idea of a separate state for Jews in Palestine. Take away the divine warrant for the Holy Land and where were you, and what were you? Just another land-thief like the Turks or the British, except that in this case you wanted the land without the people. And the original Zionist slogan - 'a land without a people for a people without a land' - disclosed its own negation when I saw the densely populated Arab towns dwelling sullenly under Jewish tutelage. You want irony? How about Jews becoming colonizers at just the moment when other Europeans had given up on the idea?"
"Suppose that a man leaps out of a burning building - as my dear friend and colleague Jeff Goldberg sat and said to my face over a table at La Tomate in Washington not two years ago - and lands on a bystander in the street below. Now, make the burning building be Europe, and the luckless man underneath be the Palestinian Arabs. Is this a historical injustice? Has the man below been made a victim, with infinite cause of complaint and indefinite justification for violent retaliation? My own reply would be a provisional 'no', but only on these conditions. The man leaping from the burning building must still make such restitution as he can to the man who broke his fall, and must not pretend that he never even landed on him. And he must base his case on the singularity and uniqueness of the original leap. It can't, in other words, be 'leap, leap, leap' for four generations and more. The people underneath cannot cannot be expected to tolerate leaping on this scale and of this duration, if you catch my drift. In Palestine, tread softly, for you tread on their dreams. And do not tell the Palestinians that they were never fallen upon and bruised in the first place. Do not shame yourself with the cheap lie that they were told by their leaders to run away. Also, stop saying that nobody knew how to cultivate oranges in Jaffa until the Jews showed them how. 'Making the desert bloom' - one of Yvonne's stock phrases - makes desert dwellers out of people who were the agricultural superiors of the Crusaders."
Moreover, keeping in mind Brandis' 2009 and 2010 rambammings, what terrible tsunami of cognitive dissonance must have swept over him on reading the above, and with what, if any, result? For example, could Brandis now be the weakest link in the Israel lobby-forged chain of the federal Liberal government?
Oh yes, and will he be lending his copy of Hitch-22 to his recently rambammed protege, Tim (Freedom Fighter) Wilson? (See my 23/2/14 post I Want My Money Back!)
Sunday, February 23, 2014
I Want My Money Back!
"[Tim] Wilson says his agenda at the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) will be to promote liberal human rights, 'like freedom of speech, of association and of movement, of religious worship, of property rights, and the rights of individuals to determine how to live their lives'." (Freedom fighter, Tim Elliott, GoodWeekend, 22/2/14)
Hm... with an agenda like that, you'd imagine that Australia's new Human Rights Commissioner would have a pretty damn good nose for human rights abuses, though I must say that the qualification "liberal human rights" doesn't look all that promising.
Still, with the taxpayer forking out $325,000 per year for Wilson's salary, you'd expect some value for money, right?
For example, you wouldn't expect him to shoot his mouth off about an issue without first brushing up on it, would you?
And you'd probably expect him to have sufficient intellectual and moral wherewithal to see through a transparent attempt to suck him in.
Sorry to disappoint:
"I was very fortunate to go on the Rambam Israel Fellowship program by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), so I did a tour of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and we went down to Sderot... it was an incredibly rewarding trip in terms of seeing Israel, understanding Jerusalem, how the West Bank is divided, and that you really can't understand it until you go and see it. It was one of the most rewarding and fascinating experiences." (Speaking his mind, The Australian Jewish News, 21/2/14)
Hm... You really can't understand it until you go there. Really?
Oh well, I guess then he won't be requiring $20,000 worth of taxpayer-funded books and bookshelves like Senator Brandis, the bloke who appointed him - just enough for airfares. Lots of airfares.
OK, so maybe Wilson's just not at his deepest in an interview. How about on paper then:
"In Tel Aviv I met up with my media colleagues participating in the Rambam Israel Fellowship programme organised by AIJAC. The comprehensive introduction to Israel included a tour of the old city of Jerusalem and the ancient fortress of Masada, and meetings with politicians, academics and journalists. Our Palestinian guide took us to the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem for an uneventful, educational experience about how the locals live. The local Palestinian kids decided to perform and threw rocks at the nearby Israeli soldiers. The soldiers also performed by firing two tear gas canisters in the sky, before one landed 5 metres away, bounced and laid to rest at my feet. Sadly I couldn't find a T-shirt that said 'I was tear gassed by the IDF and all I got was this T-shirt, stinging eyes and a decongested nasal passage.'" (Notes from abroad, The Spectator, timwilson.com.au, 29/11/13)
Right...
OK, so his wit's a bit on the limp side. What about Sderot then? Surely, surely, if anything will, a visit to Israel's Stalingrad should elicit the kind of scepticism you'd expect from someone hoovering up 325,000 taxpayer dollars per annum?
More fool you:
"Tear gas is nothing compared to the experience of the small township of Sderot. If Sderot residents hear the words 'red colour' in Hebrew, they have 15 seconds until it rains Qassam rockets sent from the Gaza Strip only a kilometre away. That isn't very long, especially as it took 5 for our bus to stop and open its door. I counted. Fortunately, Hamas weren't in the performing mood the day we visited. I have only one bit off advice if you are considering travelling to Israel: go!"
Hm... another blank. This is getting kinda frustrating. I mean, I'm actually starting to wonder if we're getting value for money out of our freedom fighter.
Maybe he'll come good on the premier free speech issue of the day, BDS:
"I want to make it clear that I want BDS advocates to 'out' themselves, so people can hold them to account." (tweet, 17/12/13)
Jeeesus! Enough already, I want my money back!
Hm... with an agenda like that, you'd imagine that Australia's new Human Rights Commissioner would have a pretty damn good nose for human rights abuses, though I must say that the qualification "liberal human rights" doesn't look all that promising.
Still, with the taxpayer forking out $325,000 per year for Wilson's salary, you'd expect some value for money, right?
For example, you wouldn't expect him to shoot his mouth off about an issue without first brushing up on it, would you?
And you'd probably expect him to have sufficient intellectual and moral wherewithal to see through a transparent attempt to suck him in.
Sorry to disappoint:
"I was very fortunate to go on the Rambam Israel Fellowship program by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), so I did a tour of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and we went down to Sderot... it was an incredibly rewarding trip in terms of seeing Israel, understanding Jerusalem, how the West Bank is divided, and that you really can't understand it until you go and see it. It was one of the most rewarding and fascinating experiences." (Speaking his mind, The Australian Jewish News, 21/2/14)
Hm... You really can't understand it until you go there. Really?
Oh well, I guess then he won't be requiring $20,000 worth of taxpayer-funded books and bookshelves like Senator Brandis, the bloke who appointed him - just enough for airfares. Lots of airfares.
OK, so maybe Wilson's just not at his deepest in an interview. How about on paper then:
"In Tel Aviv I met up with my media colleagues participating in the Rambam Israel Fellowship programme organised by AIJAC. The comprehensive introduction to Israel included a tour of the old city of Jerusalem and the ancient fortress of Masada, and meetings with politicians, academics and journalists. Our Palestinian guide took us to the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem for an uneventful, educational experience about how the locals live. The local Palestinian kids decided to perform and threw rocks at the nearby Israeli soldiers. The soldiers also performed by firing two tear gas canisters in the sky, before one landed 5 metres away, bounced and laid to rest at my feet. Sadly I couldn't find a T-shirt that said 'I was tear gassed by the IDF and all I got was this T-shirt, stinging eyes and a decongested nasal passage.'" (Notes from abroad, The Spectator, timwilson.com.au, 29/11/13)
Right...
OK, so his wit's a bit on the limp side. What about Sderot then? Surely, surely, if anything will, a visit to Israel's Stalingrad should elicit the kind of scepticism you'd expect from someone hoovering up 325,000 taxpayer dollars per annum?
More fool you:
"Tear gas is nothing compared to the experience of the small township of Sderot. If Sderot residents hear the words 'red colour' in Hebrew, they have 15 seconds until it rains Qassam rockets sent from the Gaza Strip only a kilometre away. That isn't very long, especially as it took 5 for our bus to stop and open its door. I counted. Fortunately, Hamas weren't in the performing mood the day we visited. I have only one bit off advice if you are considering travelling to Israel: go!"
Hm... another blank. This is getting kinda frustrating. I mean, I'm actually starting to wonder if we're getting value for money out of our freedom fighter.
Maybe he'll come good on the premier free speech issue of the day, BDS:
"I want to make it clear that I want BDS advocates to 'out' themselves, so people can hold them to account." (tweet, 17/12/13)
Jeeesus! Enough already, I want my money back!
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