The Israeli Occupation of Federal Parliament 4

The Istralian's 12 March exorcism of the Nakba ad (See TIOOFP 2) continued on 13 March. In what must have been a first, the entirety of its letters page (excepting the First Byte column) was given over to letters on and around the offending ad, 14 of them - 11 to 3 in Israel's favour, of course - under the banner headline: An island of civilization in a sea of barbarism. All the old, familiar Zionist talking points were there:-

Bill James of Bayswater, Vic, who contributed the above header (hereinafter known as the 'stream of bat's piss' argument, deriving from Monty Python: "Your Highness, when I say you are like a stream of bat's piss, I only mean that you shine out like a shaft of gold when all around it is dark."), holds that Israel is a miraculous, liberal democratic survivor "surrounded by enemies dedicated to its destruction and the extermination of its inhabitants," hereinafter known as the Amalek-Dalek exterminator assertion. [Amalek: the archetypal Biblical enemy of the Jews, against whom King David waged a war of extermination. Some Israeli settler fanatics are wont to see the present indigenous Palestinan Arabs as Amalek.] "It would be interesting to know how many of the individuals and organisations in the anti-Israel advertisement...have ever protested against the dictatorship, torture, sexism, racism, censorship, military imprisonment and denial of human rights rife among Israel's opponents," he asked, combining the classic Zionist defensive technique of finger-pointing (hereinafter known as the 'Why are you pickin' on me, Miss? They're doin' it too' diversion) at other, presumably Arab countries (and Iran of course), with broad brush smear, obviating the need for specifics which might invite rebuttal. In this treatment Israel is as white as Arabs/Muslims are black.

Merv Morris of East St Kilda, Vic, in a staple of Zionist propaganda, trades on the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust (hereinafter known as the 'My Holocaust is bigger than your holocaust' boast) to justify Israel's existence at the expense of Palestinian national rights, suggesting that if Israel had been around then it would've provided "sanctuary" for its victims. [See my previous post] Merv, like Bill, uses a variant of the 'stream of bat's piss' argument, describing Israel as "a beacon of enlightenment, egalitarianism and democracy in an area of repression, fundamentalism and black hatred," and concludes with a grizzle about how Israel is "misrepresented internationally," hereinafter known as the 'Nobody likes me, everybody hates me. I think I'll go eat worms' whine.

George Adamowicz, of Brighton, Vic, having dusted off his battered copy of Leon Uris' propaganda novel, Exodus, trots out the old Amalek-Dalek exterminator assertion in his reference to "the invasion of the fledgling state by Arab armies intent on wiping it out." He then hilariously castigates the defenders of Amalek-Dalek as "lacking compassion for the other side."

Mark Reid, Doncaster, Vic, invokes the 'My Holocaust is bigger than your holocaust' boast to falsely claim, in response to a correspondent from the day before, that, no, Israel was not "founded on the blood of hundreds and thousands of Palestinians" but rather "on the ashes of millions who were executed in the Nazi Holocaust." In reminding us "how much better off the Palestinians would be if, over the last 60 years, they had shed their victimhood to develop a democratic government," he uses a variant of the 'If only they'd pull their finger out' lament.

Paul Howes, National Secretary, AWU (Australian Workers Union), Sydney, NSW, in lamenting "those union leaders...and Labor MPs who line up in support of Hamas," asserts that Hamas has "a history of hostility to labour unions," a wonderful example of the 'Please Miss, the dog ate my homework' excuse: one assumes that Mr Howes' complaint about Hamas and labour unions relates to the Hamas takeover of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) Gaza offices in the context of Hamas' preemptive coup against Fatah in June 2007. [See my post Mainsewer Media Clueless in Gaza]. But really now, is it too much to expect a former "Research Officer with the Labor Council of NSW (awu.net.au, Personality Profiles: Paul Howes) to do a little homework before opening up on an issue like this? With a little googling, for example, he might have come across the aljazeera.net report of 14/7/07 by Omar Khalifa, Palestinian union hit on all sides. Khalifa writes that "The PGFTU, in the West Bank and Gaza, has been attacked from all sides - by Hamas, a Fatah militia and Israel..." Yes, Fatah and Israel. It is even more of a worry that Paul cannot distinguish between a matter of internal Palestinian wrangling and the overarching contextual issue of Palestine's comprehensive mugging by the Zionist colonial-settler project aka Israel. But perhaps there's another explanation: Howes, high school dropout, ex-Trot, member of the NSW Right and advocate for debate over whether Australia should go nuclear , is a protege of ex-AWU head, (& now federal Labor MP) Bill Shorten, who, in turn, is a mate of Visy chief Dick Pratt (fined $36 million recently for price-fixing), whose Pratt Foundation "donates more than $14 million a year to philanthropy in such [needy] countries as Australia, Israel and the US." (Rhapsody: Linking Culture between Israel & Australia, Jan-Mar 2008 p 13). Bill Shorten has, of course, like so many of our mainstream political and civic leaders, been Rambammed. (See my earlier post Rambammed)

Dr Philip Mendes & Professor Douglas Kirsner of Monash University, Vic, are of the opinion that those "who felt the need to advertise their continuing prejudice towards Israel...need to come to terms with reality," given that Israel was born of a 1947 UN resolution which the Amalek-Daleks just couldn't hack [See my previous post], causing them to attempt "to drown Israel at birth," yet another example of the Amalek-Dalek exterminator assertion. They further claim that "the Palestinian refugee tragedy" was "a direct by-product of that decision to go to war, " (another example of the use of the 'Why are you picking on me, Miss? They're doin' it too' diversion). Think about that. These two are are falsely claiming that there were no Palestinian refugees prior to the Amalek-Daleks hitting the warpath, another example of the 'Please, Miss, the dog ate my homework' excuse. So much for the credibility of Dr's & Prof's. In their letter we see our first example of the diversionary flying pig invocation, with Dr & Prof asserting that Palestinians and Israelis should be in the business of achieving "a compromise two-state solution." Now listen up, Pallies, despite Palestine being compromised down from 100% (pre-48) to 43% (UN Resolution 181) to 22% (48-67) to around 10% today, there's always more room for compromise! Typically, Dr & Prof are mum on the main impediment to a two-state solution (to Israel's problem), the always expanding, still illegal, Israeli settlements.

James Johnson of Bentleigh East, Vic, is "amazed to see an advertisement attacking Israel," with no mention of that UN vote in 1947 or the Palestinian rejection of it or the Amalek-Daleks who invaded "Israel...with the stated intention of 'pushing its population into the sea'." (Amalek-Dalek exterminator assertion alert!) And didn't we need reminding, yet agaiiin, that "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East." ('Stream of bat's piss' argument alert!)

Peter Wertheim of Darling Point, NSW, alleges that "the parliamentary motion of support for Israel was passed unanimously," [A striking example of the 'Please Miss, the dog ate my homework' excuse, given that The Canberra Times (but not The Istralian*) had reported that "more than a dozen ministers and Labor backbenchers (& "some Liberal MPs") were absent." PM snubbed from all sides over Israeli motion, Ross Peake, 13/3/08] Peter plugs 47 agaiiin, and introduces the Amalek-Dalek assertion: "the invasion of the country by 5 Arab states in May 1948 or the gobbling up of the West Bank and Gaza Strip [before they were gobbled up by Zionist forces] by Jordan and Egypt..." Peter is also the first of our propagandists to invoke the talking point always kept in reserve for anyone who raises the issue of Palestinian refugees: "the dispossession of an equal number of Jews in Arab countries from their homes and livelihoods after 1948," hereinafter known as the 'I beat the crap out of you, but he allegedly beat the crap out of me, so we're equal, right? argument. Hm, "after 1948"? So the Palestinians were dispossessed first? Maybe, just maybe, the two issues are unrelated! And of course, whenever the issue of Palestinian refugees comes up, it's customary to assert that they have been "deliberately kept in refugee camps for decades to be used as pawns to serve the political agendas of their leaders and the educated fools in the West who support them [Hello, signatories!]." Well, that's easily dealt with: Israel implements UNGA Resolution 194, allowing the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands in Israel, and, hey presto, no more pawns! We might call this one the 'OK, so we gave 'em a stick to beat us with, but we sure as hell don't want it back' retort.

Dr Philip Cole of Townsville, Qld, wields the whinge of last resort - 'Miss, they're pickin' on me for no reason at all' plaint, aka the spurious accusation of anti-Semitism: "It seems that anti-semitism is the only form of racism that is not only acceptable, but positively fashionable..."

Ivan Kassel of St Ives, NSW, is disgusted and offended by "the advertiser's wrongful accusation of racism and ethnic cleansing occurring in Israel," despite the fact that these occurred in Palestine. He deploys the 'Israelis-target-only-terrorists, while-terrorists- always-hide-behind-human-shields' rationale: Israel "does all it can to limit civilian casualties." The Nakba ad calls Israel's establishment a "catastrophe," but Israel, Ivan tells us, was "formed by UN charter" [UN what?!] and in fact "is the land Jews were expelled from at least 2000 years before Palestinians arrived," the first use here of the trusty (but hypocritical) 'Thousands of years, and we still haven't gotten over it, but the Palestinians should - now!' line. If only Hamas would "lay down its arms and sit at a table," shrug's world-weary Ivan, yet another variant of the 'If only they'd pull their finger out' lament.
R W Corfield of Subiaco, WA, a staunch defender of dissent from the official line, would refer the signatories, described as a "bunch of troublemakers," to ASIO for investigation: "If that rather rabid advertisement on the alleged genocide in Palestine did nothing else, it would certainly have provided some more grist to ASIO's mill. Most of the usual suspects are there, of course, and a sprinkling of clergy with not enough to do." RW is convinced that, apart from death and taxes, "of two things I am certain...First, that the Jews are entitled to their state...Second, there was no genocide." He thinks it, therefore it is.

That's it, and here for the record is the tally:-

Amalek-Dalek exterminators assertion: 5

Stream of bat's piss argument: 3

'Please, Miss, the dog ate my homework' excuse: 3

'Why are you pickin' on me, Miss? They're doin it too' diversion: 2

'My Holocaust is bigger than your holocaust' boast: 2

'If only they'd pull their fingers out' lament: 2

'Nobody likes me. Everybody hates me. I think I'll go eat worms' whine: 1

Diversionary flying pig invocation: 1

'I beat the crap out of you, but he allegedly beat the crap out of me. So we're equal, right?' argument: 1

'OK, so we gave 'em a stick to beat us with, but we sure as hell don't want it back' retort: 1

'Miss, they're pickin' on me for no reason at all' plaint: 1

Israelis-target-only-terrorists, while-terrorists-always-hide-behind-human-shields rationale: 1

'Thousands of years, and we still haven't gotten over it, but the Palestinians should - now! line: 1

* The Istralian's 'reporting' for the day gives the impression that the only dissent came from Labor MP Julia Irwin: "The House of Representatives passed with bipartisan support a government motion marking the anniversary in May, with only Labor backbencher Julia Irwin abstaining from the vote in a protest at human rights abuses by Israel." The following information was left to the final paragraph: "Ms Irwin said at least 10 of her ALP colleagues and 4 Coalition parliamentarians had congratulated her on her stand."" (PM lauds Israel, but urges peace, Patrick Walters, Brad Norrington, 13/3/08)

Update: The torrent of letters on the Nakba ad continued with 6 in The Istralian of 14/3/08 under the grandiloquent heading, An epic and inspirational story in world history. Three of them provided further examples of the talking points already cited. Dr Bill Anderson, School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne, Vic, in another blow to the credibility of our academic friends, begins with the 'Thousands of years, and we still haven't gotten over it, but the Palestinians should - now!' line: "After thousands of years in the land which is now Israel they were defeated, displaced and disperced by the Romans...They returned as sons and daughters returning home, not as colonial aggressors." That such mythological nonsense can gush from the pen of an academic from a School of Historical Studies is a terrible indictment of our universities. Nor does it get any better, ending with this variant of the stream of bat's piss argument: "Israel continues to survive as a bastion of democracy in a troubled region..."

Mervyn F Bendle, School of Arts & Social Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, dealing a third blow to academic credibility, launches his irritation at "the propaganda war against Israel," with the 'My Holocaust is bigger than your holocaust' boast: the ad's attempt to "promote the concept of al-Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1948 as a counterweight to the Holocaust (Shoah) that involved the extermination of 6 million Jews by the Nazis...[is designed] to relativise the horrendous tragedy suffered by the Jews and make it seem no greater than that allegedly suffered by the Palestinians at the hands of Israel...[and] to displace the Holocaust and make it appear that the Palestinians have suffered a greater tragedy. The goal, pursued by many Muslim leaders, is to deny that the Holocaust happened."

Dr George Foster, Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendents, Miranda, NSW, continues in the same vein with "Survivors of the Holocaust know the real meaning of ethnic cleansing and genocide," and concludes with his own variant on the 'Miss, they're pickin' on me for no reason' plaint: "To compare Israel's actions in defence of its citizens...with Nazi Germany policies of extermination - as that advertisement does - is frankly anti-semitic..." That the Nakba ad makes no mention whatever of Nazis, but simply and objectively points out that Israel is because Palestine isn't, escapes him.