In his moving feature, The women of Mosul & liberation from IS, Fairfax journalist Michael Bachelard writes that:
"Repression of all kinds was routine. Conservative Islam might require modesty but IS demanded invisibility. Under strictly enforced clothing rules, it was virtually impossible to visit the public square - certainly not without a male relative. 'Everyone was looking at you, all the time. Everyone was watching your movements,' says mother-of-five Ayat, at the Jada'ah camp near Qayyarah. 'We were to afraid to do anything... so we stopped going out at all.' Failing to wear gloves, flat shoes, or the double veil; even allowing a glimpse of flesh by lifting the veil a crack to check money at the market or to sip a drink - any of these breaches could lead to punishment. Some women were fined 50,000 ($50) or 100,000 dinars, others were whipped or hit with a wooden baton." (Sydney Morning Herald, 5/3/17)
This is Iraq 2017, 14 years on from the US overthrow of the secular, Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003. While Saddam's Iraq may now be just a distant memory for women like Ayat, older Iraqi women would perhaps remember it with more than just nostalgia, even, relative to the present, as a kind of paradise lost.
It is worth remembering just how that relative paradise was viewed in the West before it was swept away in 2003, and replaced with the current nightmare world of Shia sectarianism in Baghdad and Wahhabi sectarian madness in Mosul.
Perhaps the most influential book on the subject of pre-2003 Iraq was the best-selling Republic of Fear (1989), written by Iraqi expat, Samir al-Khalil, the nom de plume of Kanan Makiya,
Makiya's thesis is that "Fear is the cement that holds together this strange body politic in Iraq. All forms of organization not directly controlled by the party have been wiped out. The public is atomized and broken up, which is why it can be made to believe anything. A society that used to revel in politics is not only subdued and silent, but profoundly apolitical. Fear is the agency of that transformation; the kind of fear that comes not only from what the neighbours might say, but that makes people careful of what they say in front of their children." (p 275)
Makiya, it should be pointed out, along with the likes of Ahmad Chalabi and Fouad Ajami, went on to become the 'native informant' component of the US ziocons, whose strident advocacy of regime change in Iraq was critical to the Bush/Blair invasion and occupation of Iraq, and he is on record as having described the initial US 'shock and awe' bombing of Baghdad as "music to my ears."*
Needless to say, without that invasion and occupation, first Al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI), and then its even more extreme offspring, Islamic State (IS), would never have appeared on the Iraqi scene, let alone gone on to take key Iraqi cities such a Mosul and transform them into the kind of Wahhabi sectarian hellholes described by women such as Ayat.
Makiya, writing on the subject of Iraqi women under Baathist rule in Republic of Fear, depicts, relative to the lives of women in Mosul under Islamic State, what must seem to us now as a near golden age of feminism:
"The entry of women into the educational system as a whole is another noteworthy Ba'thist accomplishment. In 1970-71, there were 318,524 girls in primary school, 88,595 at the secondary level, and 9,212 at the university level. For the 1979-80 school year the absolute numbers were respectively as follows: 1,165,856, 278,485, and 28,647. By 1980 women accounted for 46% of all teachers, 29% of physicians, 46% of dentists, 70% of pharmacists, 15% of accountants, 14% of factory workers, and 16% of civil servants [...] The important thing about all the legislation on women was precisely where it chose to make the break with tradition. Islamic law has always been clear regarding its view of the subordinate status of women in relation to men as a direct consequence of their sex... Moreover, there is nothing in the very sincere and far-reaching efforts of the Bath to involve women in the labour force or to mobilize them that is un-Islamic, although it certainly represents a radical break with traditional society and deeply cherished values. One need only mention the masses of veiled women mobilized by the Islamic movement in Iran, not only against the Shah, but to break up some of the early feminist demonstrations against Khomeini's edict on the veil." (pp 89-91)
All of which only accentuates the culpability of Bush, the Ziocons, and their Arab fellow travellers, for the appalling plight of the women so vividly described by Bachelard.
[*See Advocating a war in Iraq & offering an apology for what came after, Tim Arango, nytimes.com, 13/5/16]
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Monday, March 6, 2017
Political Sycophants vs Us
When it comes to Israel, the sycophantic, formulaic utterances of Western politicians ('historic ties/shared values') in defence of the indefensible (Israeli occupation, colonisation, apartheid, racism and genocide) are depressingly familiar to us all.
What the general public thinks of Israel, however, is quite another matter.
In Canada (one of Israel's reliable figleaves, along with Australia, in the UNGA), an EKOS poll reveals that Canadians are quite open to the idea of imposing economic sanctions on Israel. The poll found that:
1) 91% of all Canadians believe that sanctions are a reasonable way for Canada to censure countries violating international law and human rights.
2) 66% of all Canadians believe that sanctions on Israel are reasonable given its violations of international law.
3) 78% of all Canadians also believe that the Palestinians' call for a boycott of Israel is reasonable.
In Canada's case the leading political sycophants singing like canaries for Israel have been the former prime minister, Stephen Harper (coming to Australia this month to sing for Israel) and the current prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
Were a similar poll conducted in Australia, I imagine the results would be much the same as in Canada.
One recent, albeit small-scale, indication that this would be the case may be found in a most unlikely place, namely, the letters page of Murdoch's fanatically Zionist rag, The Australian.
Usually the preferred forum of right-wing nutjobs and Islamophobes, the Talking Point segment of the letters page of The Australian for February 23 this year - during Netanyahu's visit to Australia, on which the paper had lavished the kind of attention and praise one might have expected for the Messiah himself - was a notable exception. Only 3 of the 12 letters published were in praise of Israel and/or its leader.
I was particularly taken with this, from Peter Marshall, Captain's Flat NSW:
"It is intellectually lazy to describe Israel as a democracy. It is a gerrymander, with apparently unrestricted immigration by people of Jewish faith or ancestry, while Palestinian refugees are unable to return to their homeland."
And this, from John Dorman, Toowoomba, Qld:
"Mr Turnbull might deplore the UN's many 'one-sided' resolutions criticising Israel. If he cares to flip the coin he might also like to comment on how Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, saw the lie of the land: 'If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country'."
In The Australian, mind you!
What the general public thinks of Israel, however, is quite another matter.
In Canada (one of Israel's reliable figleaves, along with Australia, in the UNGA), an EKOS poll reveals that Canadians are quite open to the idea of imposing economic sanctions on Israel. The poll found that:
1) 91% of all Canadians believe that sanctions are a reasonable way for Canada to censure countries violating international law and human rights.
2) 66% of all Canadians believe that sanctions on Israel are reasonable given its violations of international law.
3) 78% of all Canadians also believe that the Palestinians' call for a boycott of Israel is reasonable.
In Canada's case the leading political sycophants singing like canaries for Israel have been the former prime minister, Stephen Harper (coming to Australia this month to sing for Israel) and the current prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
Were a similar poll conducted in Australia, I imagine the results would be much the same as in Canada.
One recent, albeit small-scale, indication that this would be the case may be found in a most unlikely place, namely, the letters page of Murdoch's fanatically Zionist rag, The Australian.
Usually the preferred forum of right-wing nutjobs and Islamophobes, the Talking Point segment of the letters page of The Australian for February 23 this year - during Netanyahu's visit to Australia, on which the paper had lavished the kind of attention and praise one might have expected for the Messiah himself - was a notable exception. Only 3 of the 12 letters published were in praise of Israel and/or its leader.
I was particularly taken with this, from Peter Marshall, Captain's Flat NSW:
"It is intellectually lazy to describe Israel as a democracy. It is a gerrymander, with apparently unrestricted immigration by people of Jewish faith or ancestry, while Palestinian refugees are unable to return to their homeland."
And this, from John Dorman, Toowoomba, Qld:
"Mr Turnbull might deplore the UN's many 'one-sided' resolutions criticising Israel. If he cares to flip the coin he might also like to comment on how Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, saw the lie of the land: 'If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country'."
In The Australian, mind you!
Sunday, March 5, 2017
The Agony of Egypt
Here's yet another case of the Devil looking after his own:
"Egypt's top appeals court has found Hosni Mubarak innocent of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprisings that ended his 30-year rule..." (Appeals court clears Mubarak, Lin Noueihed, Sydney Morning Herald/ New York Times, 4/3/17).
Mubarak was succeeded as president, you'll remember, by Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. His short-lived, democratically-elected government was toppled in a 2013 coup by the current Egyptian president, General Sisi, who could well be considered the new Mubarak. (Morsi, needless to say, rots in prison.)
Since US President Trump is planning to meet with his client, General Sisi, some time this month, the indefatigable ladies of Codepink are petitioning Trump to cancel the meeting.
And here's why:
"According to Human Rights Watch, at least 34,000 people have been arrested and detained since General Sisi came to power in Egypt in 2013. The Egyptian Commission for Rights & Freedoms additionally reported that 912 people were victims of politically motivated forced disappearances from August 1915 - August 2016. And throughout 2016, 433 detainees - including 8 children - reported torture and mistreatment while in custody."
Codepink go on to point out that:
"Apparently, these human rights abuses do not dishearten the new US president, as Trump has previously complimented the Egyptian dictator by stating that he has 'done a very good job' and that 'he's a fantastic guy, he took control of Egypt'. Trump is either missing the irony that Sisi literally took control of Egypt via military coup - or simply finds this action praiseworthy."
And they also remind us that Obama gave $1.3 billion a year to Sisi. They could have added that this gift-that-keeps-on-giving is Egypt's annual reward for sticking with its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, something Mubarak regarded as "untouchable compensation."* (That sum, BTW, should always be added to the already $3 billion plus that the US gifts Israel annually so that the true cost of Israel to the US taxpayer, per year, is borne in mind, namely $4-5 billion.)
[*See my 9/2/11 post That Peace Treaty...]
"Egypt's top appeals court has found Hosni Mubarak innocent of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprisings that ended his 30-year rule..." (Appeals court clears Mubarak, Lin Noueihed, Sydney Morning Herald/ New York Times, 4/3/17).
Mubarak was succeeded as president, you'll remember, by Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. His short-lived, democratically-elected government was toppled in a 2013 coup by the current Egyptian president, General Sisi, who could well be considered the new Mubarak. (Morsi, needless to say, rots in prison.)
Since US President Trump is planning to meet with his client, General Sisi, some time this month, the indefatigable ladies of Codepink are petitioning Trump to cancel the meeting.
And here's why:
"According to Human Rights Watch, at least 34,000 people have been arrested and detained since General Sisi came to power in Egypt in 2013. The Egyptian Commission for Rights & Freedoms additionally reported that 912 people were victims of politically motivated forced disappearances from August 1915 - August 2016. And throughout 2016, 433 detainees - including 8 children - reported torture and mistreatment while in custody."
Codepink go on to point out that:
"Apparently, these human rights abuses do not dishearten the new US president, as Trump has previously complimented the Egyptian dictator by stating that he has 'done a very good job' and that 'he's a fantastic guy, he took control of Egypt'. Trump is either missing the irony that Sisi literally took control of Egypt via military coup - or simply finds this action praiseworthy."
And they also remind us that Obama gave $1.3 billion a year to Sisi. They could have added that this gift-that-keeps-on-giving is Egypt's annual reward for sticking with its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, something Mubarak regarded as "untouchable compensation."* (That sum, BTW, should always be added to the already $3 billion plus that the US gifts Israel annually so that the true cost of Israel to the US taxpayer, per year, is borne in mind, namely $4-5 billion.)
[*See my 9/2/11 post That Peace Treaty...]
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Vibrant Apartheid Israel
From the horse's mouth, aka Assaf Harel of the truth-to-power Israeli TV program, Goodnight with Assaf Harel, Wake up & smell the apartheid (2/3/17):
"If you look at our life in Israel, it's pretty great. Yes, it's expensive, and we're far from earning what we'd like. Clearly, the healthcare system could be better, and yes, the politicians could be more impressive and less embarrassing. But if you look at our life from a bird's eye view, we're doing just great. Really. Great weather, great food, great people, great beaches, not bad at all,
"And that's exactly the point - that we're doing great but there are a couple of million people, that we're responsible for, who are in a horrible state - infrastructure, food, healthcare, education. Millions who are living in abject poverty. Gaza is on the verge of plague, and hours on end without electricity or water. Israel controls everything that goes in or out.
"'But they chose Hamas, let them pay for it.' 'Humaneness? What does that have to do with us? What are we, Arab lovers?' Ever since the right wing took power, more and more voices are warning of apartheid. Are you kidding? Apartheid has been here for ages. Ages. It's just that we're on its good side, so it doesn't really bother us. We've been abusing the Palestinians on a daily basis for years, denying them their basic rights. In Judea and Samaria [West Bank], we're taking their lands from them. Once, we used the Jewish National Fund to raise money to buy the lands. Today, we just pass a law saying we can just take their lands and that's it.
"Soldiers shoot stone-throwers because they're a real threat, but if, in Israel, someone throws stones they won't even be charged. Palestinian journalists are put on administrative detention without trial because they wrote something. Every time we have a holiday, they're under closure. God forbid they ruin it for us. For years we've been deepening the hatred, the same hatred that we later complain about in peace talks. 'Why do you incite your children against us? Why don't you teach your children to love us?
"Israel's most impressive innovation, more than any high-tech project or Rafael weapon, is an amazing ability to ignore what is happening mere kilometres away to our neighbours. A whole people, transparent, like it doesn't exist. Not in the news, not online, not on social media, and definitely not in the hearts of the people. Nothing.
"We've got a great country, and great restaurants, and it's fun to travel abroad, just don't tell us what's really happening. We're good, don't bum us out. But there are a few righteous in Sodom. People who see the Matrix and are trying to yell, to let us know what's happening. Maybe we'll wake up. Breaking the Silence, B'Tselem, Yesh Din... "
"If you look at our life in Israel, it's pretty great. Yes, it's expensive, and we're far from earning what we'd like. Clearly, the healthcare system could be better, and yes, the politicians could be more impressive and less embarrassing. But if you look at our life from a bird's eye view, we're doing just great. Really. Great weather, great food, great people, great beaches, not bad at all,
"And that's exactly the point - that we're doing great but there are a couple of million people, that we're responsible for, who are in a horrible state - infrastructure, food, healthcare, education. Millions who are living in abject poverty. Gaza is on the verge of plague, and hours on end without electricity or water. Israel controls everything that goes in or out.
"'But they chose Hamas, let them pay for it.' 'Humaneness? What does that have to do with us? What are we, Arab lovers?' Ever since the right wing took power, more and more voices are warning of apartheid. Are you kidding? Apartheid has been here for ages. Ages. It's just that we're on its good side, so it doesn't really bother us. We've been abusing the Palestinians on a daily basis for years, denying them their basic rights. In Judea and Samaria [West Bank], we're taking their lands from them. Once, we used the Jewish National Fund to raise money to buy the lands. Today, we just pass a law saying we can just take their lands and that's it.
"Soldiers shoot stone-throwers because they're a real threat, but if, in Israel, someone throws stones they won't even be charged. Palestinian journalists are put on administrative detention without trial because they wrote something. Every time we have a holiday, they're under closure. God forbid they ruin it for us. For years we've been deepening the hatred, the same hatred that we later complain about in peace talks. 'Why do you incite your children against us? Why don't you teach your children to love us?
"Israel's most impressive innovation, more than any high-tech project or Rafael weapon, is an amazing ability to ignore what is happening mere kilometres away to our neighbours. A whole people, transparent, like it doesn't exist. Not in the news, not online, not on social media, and definitely not in the hearts of the people. Nothing.
"We've got a great country, and great restaurants, and it's fun to travel abroad, just don't tell us what's really happening. We're good, don't bum us out. But there are a few righteous in Sodom. People who see the Matrix and are trying to yell, to let us know what's happening. Maybe we'll wake up. Breaking the Silence, B'Tselem, Yesh Din... "
Friday, March 3, 2017
Phillip Adams: And the Answer Is?
ABC Radio National personality, Phillip Adams, never ceases to amaze. Here he is introducing a segment on his Late Night Live program called World's largest refugee camp (27/2/17):
"My excuse for retelling the story that I was radicalised at the age of 12 by reading The Grapes of Wrath is simply this - the book we're about to discuss [City of Thorns] begins with 3 sentences from that book. Let me read them. 'There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolise. There is a failure here that topples all our success.' John Steinbeck. And I hope the book we're about to discuss will radicalise another generation. If you look at the collection of Palestinian refugee camps in the world, in Jordan, Lebanon, in the West Bank, Gaza, and formerly in Syria, the numbers are shocking, they're beyond shocking, they're numbing, and the world's sensibility seems to be appropriately numbed. An estimated 5 million Palestinians are living throughout the region, but the world's largest refugee camp, called Dadaab is situated in the desert of Kenya, and has over half a million inhabitants, just like the camps housing generations of Palestinians... "
Let me sum that up for you. Adams is professedly NUMBED by the existence of permanent Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East, that is, camps that date back to the Palestinian Nakba of 1948 when the ancestors of these refugees were driven out of their Palestinian homeland by Zionist terror gangs.
My reaction: WOW!
To my knowledge this is an Adams first. Here he is, 77 years old; a veteran commentator on, and explorer of, the issues of today, yesterday and tomorrow; a public intellectual; almost, if not already, an Australian icon; and, importantly, an avowed man of the Left; and he's only now discovered something of the significance of the daddy-of-all contemporary refugee problems, the Palestinian refugee problem.
The standout instance of his failure on this issue for me was a 2009 LNL interview with the American-Palestinian writer Saree Makdisi. When Makdisi called for an end to Israel as a Jewish state and the creation of one state for Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, including, by implication, those in refugee exile, Adams worriedly asked how long it would take before Jewish Israelis were a minority in Israel. Makdisi, puzzled, replied, "I don't know. I don't even know that that question matters." At which Adams snapped: "It sure as hell matters to them." (For the all important context, see my 19/9/09 post He Just Doesn't Get It.)
If anyone out there is in a position to raise the issue with Adams, the obvious question to put to him now would be this: you recently indicated that you were numbed by the scale and time of Palestinian refugeedom. But are you sufficiently numbed to support the return of today's Palestinian refugees - from Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza and elsewhere in the Palestinian diaspora - to their former homes and lands in Israel, along with all that that entails by way of equal rights for all, regardless of sectarian affiliation, between the the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea?
"My excuse for retelling the story that I was radicalised at the age of 12 by reading The Grapes of Wrath is simply this - the book we're about to discuss [City of Thorns] begins with 3 sentences from that book. Let me read them. 'There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolise. There is a failure here that topples all our success.' John Steinbeck. And I hope the book we're about to discuss will radicalise another generation. If you look at the collection of Palestinian refugee camps in the world, in Jordan, Lebanon, in the West Bank, Gaza, and formerly in Syria, the numbers are shocking, they're beyond shocking, they're numbing, and the world's sensibility seems to be appropriately numbed. An estimated 5 million Palestinians are living throughout the region, but the world's largest refugee camp, called Dadaab is situated in the desert of Kenya, and has over half a million inhabitants, just like the camps housing generations of Palestinians... "
Let me sum that up for you. Adams is professedly NUMBED by the existence of permanent Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East, that is, camps that date back to the Palestinian Nakba of 1948 when the ancestors of these refugees were driven out of their Palestinian homeland by Zionist terror gangs.
My reaction: WOW!
To my knowledge this is an Adams first. Here he is, 77 years old; a veteran commentator on, and explorer of, the issues of today, yesterday and tomorrow; a public intellectual; almost, if not already, an Australian icon; and, importantly, an avowed man of the Left; and he's only now discovered something of the significance of the daddy-of-all contemporary refugee problems, the Palestinian refugee problem.
The standout instance of his failure on this issue for me was a 2009 LNL interview with the American-Palestinian writer Saree Makdisi. When Makdisi called for an end to Israel as a Jewish state and the creation of one state for Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, including, by implication, those in refugee exile, Adams worriedly asked how long it would take before Jewish Israelis were a minority in Israel. Makdisi, puzzled, replied, "I don't know. I don't even know that that question matters." At which Adams snapped: "It sure as hell matters to them." (For the all important context, see my 19/9/09 post He Just Doesn't Get It.)
If anyone out there is in a position to raise the issue with Adams, the obvious question to put to him now would be this: you recently indicated that you were numbed by the scale and time of Palestinian refugeedom. But are you sufficiently numbed to support the return of today's Palestinian refugees - from Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza and elsewhere in the Palestinian diaspora - to their former homes and lands in Israel, along with all that that entails by way of equal rights for all, regardless of sectarian affiliation, between the the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea?
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Our Other Recent Visitor
Flashback:
"If the Coalition wins on September 7, Abbott, with Julie Bishop as his foreign minister, will ensure Australia more deeply and effectively engages with our region. 'More Jakarta, less Geneva' is the catchcry." (Abbott has pedigree to restore Australia's reputation in region, The Australian, 30/8/13)
OK, so how's 'More Jakarta, less Geneva' going?
We've just had heaps and heaps of Tel Aviv in The Australian, contingent on PM Netanyahu's disgracing us with his presence: fulsome reportage, glowing opinion pieces, editorial encomiums, all of which managed to refer to him correctly as Benjamin Netanyahu or Mr Netanyahu. Stay with me here, the point is coming.
Coincidentally, the Israeli PM's visit overlapped with that of Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, the leader of the world's largest Muslim nation, and one of our closest neighbours. Despite this, Widodo's visit received only a fraction of the coverage accorded to that of Netanyahu by The Australian.
As I suggested in my 1/9/13 post Heaps More Tel Aviv... An Occasional Jakarta:
"Just between you, me and the wall, I know that 'More Jakarta, less Geneva' is a catchy little slogan but wouldn't 'Heaps more Tel Aviv, only marginally less Washington, an occasional Jakarta, and maybe the odd Geneva', though admittedly more cumbersome, better encapsulate our coming foreign policy?"
Not only has the Abbott/Trumble government's 'More Jakarta, less Geneva' (for what it's worth) not been reflected in The Australian, but the latter's only editorial on the visit was titled: Joko visit shows potential (28/2/17).
And throughout the text (x3) Widodo was referred to, not as President/Mr Widodo, but as Mr Joko.
"If the Coalition wins on September 7, Abbott, with Julie Bishop as his foreign minister, will ensure Australia more deeply and effectively engages with our region. 'More Jakarta, less Geneva' is the catchcry." (Abbott has pedigree to restore Australia's reputation in region, The Australian, 30/8/13)
OK, so how's 'More Jakarta, less Geneva' going?
We've just had heaps and heaps of Tel Aviv in The Australian, contingent on PM Netanyahu's disgracing us with his presence: fulsome reportage, glowing opinion pieces, editorial encomiums, all of which managed to refer to him correctly as Benjamin Netanyahu or Mr Netanyahu. Stay with me here, the point is coming.
Coincidentally, the Israeli PM's visit overlapped with that of Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, the leader of the world's largest Muslim nation, and one of our closest neighbours. Despite this, Widodo's visit received only a fraction of the coverage accorded to that of Netanyahu by The Australian.
As I suggested in my 1/9/13 post Heaps More Tel Aviv... An Occasional Jakarta:
"Just between you, me and the wall, I know that 'More Jakarta, less Geneva' is a catchy little slogan but wouldn't 'Heaps more Tel Aviv, only marginally less Washington, an occasional Jakarta, and maybe the odd Geneva', though admittedly more cumbersome, better encapsulate our coming foreign policy?"
Not only has the Abbott/Trumble government's 'More Jakarta, less Geneva' (for what it's worth) not been reflected in The Australian, but the latter's only editorial on the visit was titled: Joko visit shows potential (28/2/17).
And throughout the text (x3) Widodo was referred to, not as President/Mr Widodo, but as Mr Joko.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Sir Gerald Kaufman (1930-2017) RIP
"Tributes are pouring in for veteran [UK] Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman, who died yesterday at the age of 86. Sir Gerald had been suffering from an undisclosed illness.
"As the longest-serving Member of Parliament, Kaufman had the title Father of the House of Commons. Although, as the BBC has pointed out, he was a 'practicing Jew', Sir Gerald was also one of the most vocal critics of Israel in Westminster. Over the decades that he was an MP, he called for sanctions against the Zionist state for its policies towards the Palestinians; described the country as being born out of Jewish terrorism; and compared the Israeli army to Nazis...
"Prior to his election as an MP in 1970, Kaufman worked as a journalist... He visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories on numerous occasions and published a book - Inside the Promised Land - in which he expressed his personal view of Israel and his disillusionment with the country...
"In April 2002, at the start of Israel's Operation Defensive Shield, Kaufman called Israel an 'international pariah', and accused its then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of ordering his troops 'to use methods of barbarism against the Palestinians.'
"The veteran politician served as shadow foreign secretary from 1987 to 1992 and said that it was 'time to remind Sharon that the Star of David belongs to all Jews and not to his repulsive government. His actions are staining the Star of David with blood.' He urged South Africa-style economic sanctions against Israel in a 2004 Guardian article.
"During the 2008/9 Israeli military offensive against Gaza - so-called Operation Cast Lead' - Kaufman accused Israel of exploiting Holocaust guilt to justify its actions in the Palestinian enclave. He also compared Hamas's fighters in Gaza to the Jewish resistance during the Second World War, making special reference to the construction of tunnels that ensured both groups' survival.
"Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, himself a strong critic of Israel, described Kaufman as an 'iconic' figure within the party." (UK veteran Labour MP who called for sanctions against Israel dies at 86, palestinechronicle.com)
"As the longest-serving Member of Parliament, Kaufman had the title Father of the House of Commons. Although, as the BBC has pointed out, he was a 'practicing Jew', Sir Gerald was also one of the most vocal critics of Israel in Westminster. Over the decades that he was an MP, he called for sanctions against the Zionist state for its policies towards the Palestinians; described the country as being born out of Jewish terrorism; and compared the Israeli army to Nazis...
"Prior to his election as an MP in 1970, Kaufman worked as a journalist... He visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories on numerous occasions and published a book - Inside the Promised Land - in which he expressed his personal view of Israel and his disillusionment with the country...
"In April 2002, at the start of Israel's Operation Defensive Shield, Kaufman called Israel an 'international pariah', and accused its then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of ordering his troops 'to use methods of barbarism against the Palestinians.'
"The veteran politician served as shadow foreign secretary from 1987 to 1992 and said that it was 'time to remind Sharon that the Star of David belongs to all Jews and not to his repulsive government. His actions are staining the Star of David with blood.' He urged South Africa-style economic sanctions against Israel in a 2004 Guardian article.
"During the 2008/9 Israeli military offensive against Gaza - so-called Operation Cast Lead' - Kaufman accused Israel of exploiting Holocaust guilt to justify its actions in the Palestinian enclave. He also compared Hamas's fighters in Gaza to the Jewish resistance during the Second World War, making special reference to the construction of tunnels that ensured both groups' survival.
"Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, himself a strong critic of Israel, described Kaufman as an 'iconic' figure within the party." (UK veteran Labour MP who called for sanctions against Israel dies at 86, palestinechronicle.com)
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