"Australia's Jewish leaders have praised Scott Morrison's attack on the UN's 'anti-Semitic agenda' as the nation celebrates 70 years of diplomatic relations with Israel." (PM praised for UN swipe over Israel, Richard Ferguson, The Australian, 20/2/19)
Did you know that "the nation" (aka Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten) has been singing Happy Birthday to You/Israel in federal parliament?
Think about it! There are 193 nations in the world - but only one that I'm aware of gets a bipartisan birthday bash every 10 years in federal parliament. And that's an apartheid state! Now how crazy is that?
Morrison used the opportunity, predictably, to berate the UNGA, "the place where Israel is bullied and where anti-Semitism is cloaked in language about human rights," while Shorten intoned the usual Labor mantra about Doc Evert being in the delivery room at the birth.
The aforementioned "Jewish leaders," by the way, constitute a veritable roll call of Israel lobbyists in Australia:
AIJAC's Colin Rubenstein - "Prime Minister Morrison was entirely correct in his reflections on the lopsided 'bias and unfair targeting' of Israel at the UN. Israel, a thriving 'beacon of democracy in the Middle East' with an independent judiciary, has been subject to overwhelmingly more criticism than any other country." (ibid)
Anti-Defamation Commission's Dvir Abramovich - "The PM... should be saluted for naming and calling out the UN's institutional anti-Israel bias, and for his iron-clad assurance Australia will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel against those hostile forces who wish to demonise and defame her."
Executive Council of Australian Jewry's Alex Ryvchin - "We commend the Prime Minister for vowing to stand with Israel at the UN, and for condemning the hypocrisy and double standards in its obsessive and disproportionate focus on criticising Israel."
Zionist Association of Australia's Jeremy Liebler - "Western countries who lay sole blame on Israel for the ongoing conflict in the Middle East bear real responsibility for the continuation of Hamas' terror activities."
Still, Israel's 70th was a pretty low key affair when compared with the lavish party thrown by former Labor PM Kevin Rudd back in March, 2008, for Israel's 60th. (See my 6 posts on the subject, all titled The Israeli Occupation of Federal Parliament.) Suffice it to recall Rudd's magnificent, gem-encrusted gift to Israel at the time, namely the following parliamentary motion:
"That the House: (1) celebrate and commend the achievements of the State of Israel in the 60 years since its inception; (2) remember with pride and honour the important role which Australia played in the establishment of the State of Israel as both a member state of the UN and as an influential voice in the introduction of Resolution 181 which facilitated Israel's statehood, and as the country which proudly became the first to cast a vote in support of Israel's creation; (3) acknowledge the unique relationship which exists between Australia and Israel; a bond highlighted by our commitment to the rights and liberty of our citizens and encouragement of cultural diversity; (4) commend the State of Israel's commitment to democracy, the Rule of Law and pluralism; (5) reiterates Australia's commitment to Israel's right to exist and our ongoing support to the peaceful establishment of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue; (6) reiterates Australia's commitment to the pursuit of peace and stability throughout the Middle East; (7) on this, the 60th Anniversary of Independence of the State of Israel, pledge our friendship, commitment and enduring support to the people of Israel as we celebrate this important occasion together."
Simply stunning, eh?
Strange to tell, Rudd neglects any mention of Israel's 60th in his recent memoir, Kevin Rudd: The PM Years. Ditto for his grand tour of Israel in December 2010, during which the late Shimon Peres described Israel as being in love with Australia, and Rudd, speaking in Jerusalem's King David Hotel, joked about Menachem Begin's Irgun terrorists back in 1946 "undertaking some interior redesign" of the hotel. (See my 1-4 posts titled The Kevin Rudd Road Show for the details.)
Truly, ten years is practically an eternity in politics.
Showing posts with label Kevin Rudd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kevin Rudd. Show all posts
Friday, February 22, 2019
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Kevin Rudd's 'The PM Years'
It is in the nature of political lobbies to operate behind closed doors, away from the public eye. Australia's Israel (or Zionist) lobby is no exception. In fact, it is probably true to say that most Australians are simply unaware of its existence, let alone its powerful hold over our elected representatives, not to mention its relentless policing of the corporate media. And that lack of awareness, to be sure, is just the way the lobby would have it.
Be that as it may, given the Israel lobby's hugely successful impact on Middle East policy formulation by governments from both sides of the political divide, as well as its equally successful role in shaping and managing mainstream media discourse on the Middle East, any inside account of its modus operandi is more than welcome. Recent memoirs, by former foreign minister Bob Carr, former prime minister Kevin Rudd, and journalists John Lyons and Mike Carlton, have helped expose the lobby's interventions and manipulations in these two key areas. Indeed, judging by their revelations, it could be said that we are approaching critical mass here - to the point where no truly sentient Australian can any longer feign ignorance of either the Israel lobby's existence or its clout.
I've already mined Carr's Diary of a Foreign Minister (2014) and John Lyons' Balcony Over Jerusalem for their insights. As time permits, I'll move on to Carr's Run for Your Life (2018) and Carlton's On Air (2018) in later posts. For now, I'll deal here with Rudd's Kevin Rudd: The PM Years (2018), annotating where necessary:
"Then there was the question of Israel. Back in 2003, under the Howard government, the Israeli intelligence services had taken it into their heads to use forged Australian passports in one of their operations abroad. They had been found out. Dennis Richardson, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation at the time, had hauled them over the coals. The Israelis had been forced to sign an agreement with us that if we were to continue intelligence cooperation with them in the future, they would never do this again. Obviously the Israelis had not taken us seriously, because they did it again - this time in a botched intelligence operation which culminated in the assassination of a Hamas leader visiting Dubai. Mossad had left their paw prints all over the operation. The Israeli authorities plainly did not care that by using and abusing Australian passports, they were placing at risk not just the integrity of our passport system but, more importantly, the safety and security of hundreds of thousands of Australians who travelled on these passports through the Middle East each year.
"The matter was brought to the National Security Committee of the cabinet. Dennis Richardson, who had recently been appointed secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs by our government, was an experienced senior diplomat of the old school. His advice to us was unequivocal: unless Australia wished to be seen as a 'soft touch' by the Israelis, we had to act firmly and decisively. We should expel the Mossad representative at the Israeli embassy in Canberra, and make public our reasons for doing so. Only then would it be considered a significant enough issue in Israel to force the political arm of the government to rein Mossad in.
"I looked around the room. Everyone was nodding in agreement - except Julia [Gillard]. I asked her explicitly whether she supported the recommendation. She grunted her assent. I knew for a fact that Julia had been cultivating a close relationship with the Israeli lobby in Australia. There was nothing wrong with that, particularly given her own pro-Palestinian background from her days as a left-wing political activist. I was also conscious that her partner, Tim, had gone to work for a prominent member of the Jewish community in Melbourne. I didn't want any fractures in the government on this one."
Just how close Gillard's relationship with the Israel lobby was is explored in some detail in Carr's Diary of a Foreign Minister. For the details, I refer you in particular to my posts The Carr Diary: Reflections 4, 5 & 6 (18-20/4/14) and my 18/1/13 post The Prime Minister who Put Her Job on the Line for Israel.
With respect to Rudd's assertion that Gillard had a "pro-Palestinian background from her days as a left-wing political activist," he is mistaken. Just the opposite is the case. (See my post 14/8/10 post The Real Julia Gillard.)
"When [foreign minister] Stephen Smith made our position public, the Israeli government was less than impressed. Their ambassador, Yuval Rotem, came in to protest. And that's when the complaints from the Australian Jewish lobby started to come in thick and fast. I had no qualms about saying publicly that the decision by Israeli intelligence services to use and abuse the Australian passport system was not the action of a friendly government. I then said as much to Prime Minister Netanyahu, and I told him I expected him to take action against Mossad.
"Colin Rubenstein, a leading conservative political activist from Sydney, and Mark Leibler from Melbourne went off their heads. How could Australia have the temerity to treat our friend and ally Israel in such cavalier fashion? How could we be certain that Mossad had done this? Surely we were mistaken... And even if Mossad had done it, weren't such things done on a regular basis in the ugly world of intelligence? I was then lobbied by our own Jewish members of parliament, led by Michael Danby and Mark Dreyfus. They came to see me, demanding that I 'do something'. My response was to ask what they would have done if they were either foreign minister or prime minister of a country and another country had forged their passports in order to assassinate someone who at that stage was under the protection of another country (the UAE) with whom Australia also had a close relationship."
Rubenstein is the executive director of Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) and Leibler is its national chairman. AIJAC is based in Melbourne.
"However, out of respect for my parliamentary colleagues, I suggested that we invite leading members of the Jewish community to the Lodge for dinner to discuss the matter further. The dinner was held on 3 June, and I remember the evening well. I sat there politely as Mark Leibler berated me for having committed a hostile act. I found this remarkable as I had been a strong defender of the state of Israel from the earliest days of my diplomatic career and had always been a vigorous campaigner against all forms of anti-Semitism. And for Leibler to attack the democratically elected prime minister of his country as he sought to argue the interests of another country was beyond the pale.
"'You do realise that this is Israel's second offence?' I said. 'What do you mean?' he asked. 'They did exactly the same under Howard, got a gentle rap over the knuckles, and promised never to do it again.' Leibler looked stunned. 'I don't believe you.' 'Then why don't you sit down with the head of Foreign Affairs, who is the former head of ASIO, and I'll authorise him to brief you on exactly what has happened here,' I countered. 'I think you'll find that our response to Israel's actions has been entirely reasonable under the circumstances.'
"Leibler still stared at me in disbelief. And then disbelief turned to anger. Apropos of nothing, he said, 'Julia is looking very good in the public eye these days, Prime Minister. She's performing very strongly. She's a great friend of Israel. But you shouldn't be anxious about her, should you, Prime Minister?' It was Leibler at his menacing worst." (Kevin Rudd: The PM Years, 2018, pp 282-84)
Rudd's dinner at the Lodge is the subject of a most interesting report by Peter Hartcher, the Sydney Morning Herald's international editor, for which see my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy. See also the account of same in The Australian Jewish News, quoted in my 11/6/10 post Those Irresistable Zionist Pheromones Again 2.
Sadly, "Leibler at his menacing worst" was not the wake-up call that Rudd needed on the matter of Israel, because just over a year later we find him, with Danby, in a Melbourne Max Brenner outlet condemning those advocating its boycott. A more disillusioned Rudd can be seen later in Carr's 2014 Diary of a Foreign Minister, for which see my 20/4/14 post The Carr Diary Reflections 6. Finally, we have the Israel critic of later years, for which see my 23/2/17 post Rudd & Netanyahu Cross Swords, as well as the following passage from his memoir:
"Elsewhere on the international front there was good news to be had. In October 2012, nearly five years after I had launched the initial campaign, the news finally came through of Australia's extraordinary win for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Gillard was never an enthusiast. Through the influence of her 'Middle East Advisor', Bruce Wolpe, Gillard had already begun unravelling a number of Australian votes on UN General Assembly resolutions on Palestine in order to appease the far-right Jewish lobby in Melbourne. When I was prime minister and foreign minister, Australia's voting profile on Israel had changed from one of unquestioning compliance with US and Israeli interests, to one which was much more aligned with British voting patterns in the UN. Our votes were still more sympathetic to Israel than those of the rest of Europe. But this was not good enough for Gillard. The far-right Jewish lobby in Melbourne wanted to go back to the good old days of the Howard government. And Gillard wanted to deliver. This would be coordinated through her loyal operative Wolpe to ensure that Australia would once again join the likes of the US, Palau and maybe two or three other Pacific micro-states, in voting against UN General Assembly resolutions that were critical of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. It was no surprise that Gillard would later be awarded, together with Abbott, an honorary doctorate at an Israeli university for her services to the cause. The only problem was that these were not services to Australia's cause. They were services to the Israeli Government's cause under prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his total opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state." (pp 508-09)
Of course, Rudd still hasn't broken through his childhood/religious/Labor Party conditioning to arrive at a real understanding of the dark apartheid heart of the Zionist project in Palestine, and probably never will, but at least he's experienced a learning curve of sorts.
Be that as it may, given the Israel lobby's hugely successful impact on Middle East policy formulation by governments from both sides of the political divide, as well as its equally successful role in shaping and managing mainstream media discourse on the Middle East, any inside account of its modus operandi is more than welcome. Recent memoirs, by former foreign minister Bob Carr, former prime minister Kevin Rudd, and journalists John Lyons and Mike Carlton, have helped expose the lobby's interventions and manipulations in these two key areas. Indeed, judging by their revelations, it could be said that we are approaching critical mass here - to the point where no truly sentient Australian can any longer feign ignorance of either the Israel lobby's existence or its clout.
I've already mined Carr's Diary of a Foreign Minister (2014) and John Lyons' Balcony Over Jerusalem for their insights. As time permits, I'll move on to Carr's Run for Your Life (2018) and Carlton's On Air (2018) in later posts. For now, I'll deal here with Rudd's Kevin Rudd: The PM Years (2018), annotating where necessary:
"Then there was the question of Israel. Back in 2003, under the Howard government, the Israeli intelligence services had taken it into their heads to use forged Australian passports in one of their operations abroad. They had been found out. Dennis Richardson, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation at the time, had hauled them over the coals. The Israelis had been forced to sign an agreement with us that if we were to continue intelligence cooperation with them in the future, they would never do this again. Obviously the Israelis had not taken us seriously, because they did it again - this time in a botched intelligence operation which culminated in the assassination of a Hamas leader visiting Dubai. Mossad had left their paw prints all over the operation. The Israeli authorities plainly did not care that by using and abusing Australian passports, they were placing at risk not just the integrity of our passport system but, more importantly, the safety and security of hundreds of thousands of Australians who travelled on these passports through the Middle East each year.
"The matter was brought to the National Security Committee of the cabinet. Dennis Richardson, who had recently been appointed secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs by our government, was an experienced senior diplomat of the old school. His advice to us was unequivocal: unless Australia wished to be seen as a 'soft touch' by the Israelis, we had to act firmly and decisively. We should expel the Mossad representative at the Israeli embassy in Canberra, and make public our reasons for doing so. Only then would it be considered a significant enough issue in Israel to force the political arm of the government to rein Mossad in.
"I looked around the room. Everyone was nodding in agreement - except Julia [Gillard]. I asked her explicitly whether she supported the recommendation. She grunted her assent. I knew for a fact that Julia had been cultivating a close relationship with the Israeli lobby in Australia. There was nothing wrong with that, particularly given her own pro-Palestinian background from her days as a left-wing political activist. I was also conscious that her partner, Tim, had gone to work for a prominent member of the Jewish community in Melbourne. I didn't want any fractures in the government on this one."
Just how close Gillard's relationship with the Israel lobby was is explored in some detail in Carr's Diary of a Foreign Minister. For the details, I refer you in particular to my posts The Carr Diary: Reflections 4, 5 & 6 (18-20/4/14) and my 18/1/13 post The Prime Minister who Put Her Job on the Line for Israel.
With respect to Rudd's assertion that Gillard had a "pro-Palestinian background from her days as a left-wing political activist," he is mistaken. Just the opposite is the case. (See my post 14/8/10 post The Real Julia Gillard.)
"When [foreign minister] Stephen Smith made our position public, the Israeli government was less than impressed. Their ambassador, Yuval Rotem, came in to protest. And that's when the complaints from the Australian Jewish lobby started to come in thick and fast. I had no qualms about saying publicly that the decision by Israeli intelligence services to use and abuse the Australian passport system was not the action of a friendly government. I then said as much to Prime Minister Netanyahu, and I told him I expected him to take action against Mossad.
"Colin Rubenstein, a leading conservative political activist from Sydney, and Mark Leibler from Melbourne went off their heads. How could Australia have the temerity to treat our friend and ally Israel in such cavalier fashion? How could we be certain that Mossad had done this? Surely we were mistaken... And even if Mossad had done it, weren't such things done on a regular basis in the ugly world of intelligence? I was then lobbied by our own Jewish members of parliament, led by Michael Danby and Mark Dreyfus. They came to see me, demanding that I 'do something'. My response was to ask what they would have done if they were either foreign minister or prime minister of a country and another country had forged their passports in order to assassinate someone who at that stage was under the protection of another country (the UAE) with whom Australia also had a close relationship."
Rubenstein is the executive director of Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) and Leibler is its national chairman. AIJAC is based in Melbourne.
"However, out of respect for my parliamentary colleagues, I suggested that we invite leading members of the Jewish community to the Lodge for dinner to discuss the matter further. The dinner was held on 3 June, and I remember the evening well. I sat there politely as Mark Leibler berated me for having committed a hostile act. I found this remarkable as I had been a strong defender of the state of Israel from the earliest days of my diplomatic career and had always been a vigorous campaigner against all forms of anti-Semitism. And for Leibler to attack the democratically elected prime minister of his country as he sought to argue the interests of another country was beyond the pale.
"'You do realise that this is Israel's second offence?' I said. 'What do you mean?' he asked. 'They did exactly the same under Howard, got a gentle rap over the knuckles, and promised never to do it again.' Leibler looked stunned. 'I don't believe you.' 'Then why don't you sit down with the head of Foreign Affairs, who is the former head of ASIO, and I'll authorise him to brief you on exactly what has happened here,' I countered. 'I think you'll find that our response to Israel's actions has been entirely reasonable under the circumstances.'
"Leibler still stared at me in disbelief. And then disbelief turned to anger. Apropos of nothing, he said, 'Julia is looking very good in the public eye these days, Prime Minister. She's performing very strongly. She's a great friend of Israel. But you shouldn't be anxious about her, should you, Prime Minister?' It was Leibler at his menacing worst." (Kevin Rudd: The PM Years, 2018, pp 282-84)
Rudd's dinner at the Lodge is the subject of a most interesting report by Peter Hartcher, the Sydney Morning Herald's international editor, for which see my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy. See also the account of same in The Australian Jewish News, quoted in my 11/6/10 post Those Irresistable Zionist Pheromones Again 2.
Sadly, "Leibler at his menacing worst" was not the wake-up call that Rudd needed on the matter of Israel, because just over a year later we find him, with Danby, in a Melbourne Max Brenner outlet condemning those advocating its boycott. A more disillusioned Rudd can be seen later in Carr's 2014 Diary of a Foreign Minister, for which see my 20/4/14 post The Carr Diary Reflections 6. Finally, we have the Israel critic of later years, for which see my 23/2/17 post Rudd & Netanyahu Cross Swords, as well as the following passage from his memoir:
"Elsewhere on the international front there was good news to be had. In October 2012, nearly five years after I had launched the initial campaign, the news finally came through of Australia's extraordinary win for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Gillard was never an enthusiast. Through the influence of her 'Middle East Advisor', Bruce Wolpe, Gillard had already begun unravelling a number of Australian votes on UN General Assembly resolutions on Palestine in order to appease the far-right Jewish lobby in Melbourne. When I was prime minister and foreign minister, Australia's voting profile on Israel had changed from one of unquestioning compliance with US and Israeli interests, to one which was much more aligned with British voting patterns in the UN. Our votes were still more sympathetic to Israel than those of the rest of Europe. But this was not good enough for Gillard. The far-right Jewish lobby in Melbourne wanted to go back to the good old days of the Howard government. And Gillard wanted to deliver. This would be coordinated through her loyal operative Wolpe to ensure that Australia would once again join the likes of the US, Palau and maybe two or three other Pacific micro-states, in voting against UN General Assembly resolutions that were critical of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. It was no surprise that Gillard would later be awarded, together with Abbott, an honorary doctorate at an Israeli university for her services to the cause. The only problem was that these were not services to Australia's cause. They were services to the Israeli Government's cause under prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his total opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state." (pp 508-09)
Of course, Rudd still hasn't broken through his childhood/religious/Labor Party conditioning to arrive at a real understanding of the dark apartheid heart of the Zionist project in Palestine, and probably never will, but at least he's experienced a learning curve of sorts.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Salivating Zionists
John Howard responds to Kevin Rudd (see my 21/3/18 post More Fool He) in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald:
"The statement of [Rudd's] about the existence of WMDs, to which I... have most frequently referred over the years was contained in a speech he delivered to the State Zionist Council of Victoria on October 15, 2002. In it he asserted that it was 'an empirical fact' that Iraq possessed WMDs. He based his assertion not on intelligence material, but on a bulletin from the Federation of American Scientists, which listed Iraq among a number of states in possession of chemical and biological weapons and with the capacity to develop a nuclear program."
"The statement of [Rudd's] about the existence of WMDs, to which I... have most frequently referred over the years was contained in a speech he delivered to the State Zionist Council of Victoria on October 15, 2002. In it he asserted that it was 'an empirical fact' that Iraq possessed WMDs. He based his assertion not on intelligence material, but on a bulletin from the Federation of American Scientists, which listed Iraq among a number of states in possession of chemical and biological weapons and with the capacity to develop a nuclear program."
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
More Fool He
Kevin Rudd in today's Sydney Morning Herald:
"In virtually every speech Howard has given on Iraq since 2003, he has also sought to justify his decision to go to war on the grounds that I, too, had said at the time that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. As in fact had most people. But there is a small problem with this argument. Like most Australians then, I had no access to intelligence material. I accepted the government's claims about the existence of Iraqi WMDs at face value - it didn't cross my mind that Howard would flagrantly misrepresent its content." (Monstrous strategic mistake that took us to war in Iraq)
It didn't cross his mind? Really? Well, I never...
"In virtually every speech Howard has given on Iraq since 2003, he has also sought to justify his decision to go to war on the grounds that I, too, had said at the time that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. As in fact had most people. But there is a small problem with this argument. Like most Australians then, I had no access to intelligence material. I accepted the government's claims about the existence of Iraqi WMDs at face value - it didn't cross my mind that Howard would flagrantly misrepresent its content." (Monstrous strategic mistake that took us to war in Iraq)
It didn't cross his mind? Really? Well, I never...
Thursday, September 21, 2017
When Rudd Went Rogue...
Ever dreamt of having the POWER & INFLUENCE to put words into a politician's mouth? Read on:
"Five days later I [John Lyons] was in Cairo, covering a visit by Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd. At a news conference, he spoke about his desire for Iran to agree the regular international inspections of its nuclear facilities. An Egyptian journalist asked: if Iran and other nations had to agree to inspections, why shouldn't Israel? Rudd remarked that he could not dispute the logic, and agreed that all countries with nuclear weapons should have to submit to regular inspections.
"My ears pricked up. I knew Israel preferred that nobody even referred to their nuclear weapons, let alone talked about inspections...
"So after the news conference I asked Rudd if he could elaborate on his comments. He told me: 'Our view has been consistent for a long period of time, and that is that all States in the region should adhere to the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty], and that includes Israel. And therefore their nuclear facility should be subject to IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspection.'
"Soon afterwards, Rudd was a guest at one of Albert Dadon's banquets at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem... The evening had been going calmly... when the mood in the room suddenly changed. An unwelcome guest had just arrived at the banquet courtesy of the Internet. My interview with Kevin Rudd in which he declared that Israel should not be exempt from international inspections had just been published online. People were standing looking at their phones and reading the story. The anger started bouncing off the walls.
"Sylvie came over to me: 'That man over there is telling people that you've verballed Kevin Rudd in your interview!'
"'That man' was Yuval Rotem, Israel's Ambassador to Australia - who had travelled to Jerusalem for that trip...
"By now it was fair to say I was pretty fired up. So often people instinctively blame the messenger if they don't like what someone has said. And so I went looking for Rotem. 'Ambassador, I hear you are telling people that Kevin Rudd did not make those comments about nuclear inspectors.'
"Rotem seemed uncomfortable that I had challenged him. 'Well, no Australian foreign minister has ever said that before,' he answered. 'Why would Kevin Rudd say it?'
"'Don't you think that's a question for you to ask Kevin Rudd?' I resonded. 'There are two tapes of that interview - I have one and Mr Rudd's staff have one. Would you like a copy? And Mr Rudd is just over there... '
"Just then Rudd's chief of staff, Philip Green, walked past. I beckoned him over. 'Philip, Mr Rotem is saying Foreign Minister Rudd never called for international inspectors for Israel's nuclear facilities.'
"'He did,' replied green. 'We have no problem with your story.'
"I then went looking for [Michael] Danby, who was also telling people in the room he doubted the story, and explained the same thing to him. Danby then switched his anger from me to Rudd. 'I'm going to take this up with Andrea Faulkner,' he said, referring to the Australian Ambassador to Israel...
"Now that it was clear that the quotes were not made up, the gates of fury opened against Kevin Rudd. The next morning I saw huddles in the foyer of the King David Hotel as different groups from Dadon's delegation discussed the issue.
"Dadon told me that while theoretically Israel should be under the same regime of inspections as anyone else, in reality they should be exempt. He was going to talk to Rudd and insist that he say at his upcoming press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman that Israel had 'unique' security circumstances'.
"At the press conference, Lieberman addressed the nuclear issue. 'What is important is not whether any country is a member of the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] but whether it is responsible,' he said. 'Israel does not regard any inspector as necessary, as it is a responsible country, and we have proved this for many years.'
"Then came Rudd's turn to speak. He concentrated more on Iran's situation, saying Australia was deeply concerned about Iran's nuclear program. Then he mentioned Israel. 'We recognise... Israel's unique security circumstances... but in terms of our fundamental position on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as it applies to this region... all states should be in, including Israel.'
"And so, while he had restated his position, he had added the words that Dadon told me he had wanted him to add.
"Dadon could not come to the press conference but, knowing that I was going along, telephoned me at home that night. He asked: 'Did Kevin use the phrase 'unique security circumstances?'
"'Yes,' I said.
"'Good.'" (Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir, 2017, pp 268-71)
For the details as reported at the time, see my 20/12/10 post The Kevin Rudd Road Show 2.
Yet again: BUY THIS BOOK!
"Five days later I [John Lyons] was in Cairo, covering a visit by Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd. At a news conference, he spoke about his desire for Iran to agree the regular international inspections of its nuclear facilities. An Egyptian journalist asked: if Iran and other nations had to agree to inspections, why shouldn't Israel? Rudd remarked that he could not dispute the logic, and agreed that all countries with nuclear weapons should have to submit to regular inspections.
"My ears pricked up. I knew Israel preferred that nobody even referred to their nuclear weapons, let alone talked about inspections...
"So after the news conference I asked Rudd if he could elaborate on his comments. He told me: 'Our view has been consistent for a long period of time, and that is that all States in the region should adhere to the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty], and that includes Israel. And therefore their nuclear facility should be subject to IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspection.'
"Soon afterwards, Rudd was a guest at one of Albert Dadon's banquets at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem... The evening had been going calmly... when the mood in the room suddenly changed. An unwelcome guest had just arrived at the banquet courtesy of the Internet. My interview with Kevin Rudd in which he declared that Israel should not be exempt from international inspections had just been published online. People were standing looking at their phones and reading the story. The anger started bouncing off the walls.
"Sylvie came over to me: 'That man over there is telling people that you've verballed Kevin Rudd in your interview!'
"'That man' was Yuval Rotem, Israel's Ambassador to Australia - who had travelled to Jerusalem for that trip...
"By now it was fair to say I was pretty fired up. So often people instinctively blame the messenger if they don't like what someone has said. And so I went looking for Rotem. 'Ambassador, I hear you are telling people that Kevin Rudd did not make those comments about nuclear inspectors.'
"Rotem seemed uncomfortable that I had challenged him. 'Well, no Australian foreign minister has ever said that before,' he answered. 'Why would Kevin Rudd say it?'
"'Don't you think that's a question for you to ask Kevin Rudd?' I resonded. 'There are two tapes of that interview - I have one and Mr Rudd's staff have one. Would you like a copy? And Mr Rudd is just over there... '
"Just then Rudd's chief of staff, Philip Green, walked past. I beckoned him over. 'Philip, Mr Rotem is saying Foreign Minister Rudd never called for international inspectors for Israel's nuclear facilities.'
"'He did,' replied green. 'We have no problem with your story.'
"I then went looking for [Michael] Danby, who was also telling people in the room he doubted the story, and explained the same thing to him. Danby then switched his anger from me to Rudd. 'I'm going to take this up with Andrea Faulkner,' he said, referring to the Australian Ambassador to Israel...
"Now that it was clear that the quotes were not made up, the gates of fury opened against Kevin Rudd. The next morning I saw huddles in the foyer of the King David Hotel as different groups from Dadon's delegation discussed the issue.
"Dadon told me that while theoretically Israel should be under the same regime of inspections as anyone else, in reality they should be exempt. He was going to talk to Rudd and insist that he say at his upcoming press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman that Israel had 'unique' security circumstances'.
"At the press conference, Lieberman addressed the nuclear issue. 'What is important is not whether any country is a member of the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] but whether it is responsible,' he said. 'Israel does not regard any inspector as necessary, as it is a responsible country, and we have proved this for many years.'
"Then came Rudd's turn to speak. He concentrated more on Iran's situation, saying Australia was deeply concerned about Iran's nuclear program. Then he mentioned Israel. 'We recognise... Israel's unique security circumstances... but in terms of our fundamental position on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as it applies to this region... all states should be in, including Israel.'
"And so, while he had restated his position, he had added the words that Dadon told me he had wanted him to add.
"Dadon could not come to the press conference but, knowing that I was going along, telephoned me at home that night. He asked: 'Did Kevin use the phrase 'unique security circumstances?'
"'Yes,' I said.
"'Good.'" (Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir, 2017, pp 268-71)
For the details as reported at the time, see my 20/12/10 post The Kevin Rudd Road Show 2.
Yet again: BUY THIS BOOK!
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Auntie Poppy Syndrome
If you were an aging baby boomer and, while still young and tender, had the misfortune to have in the family a dotty old aunt who had one too many bees in her bonnet for her own or your good, and who repeated, mantra-fashion, in year ear, the injunction to never forget that the Jews are God's chosen people, you may - perish the thought - contingent on the onset of some kind of developmental delay, have ended up as the foreign editor of Murdoch's Australian, projectile-vomiting such dark green prose as the following:
"What a caterwauling coven of craven zeitgeist whisperers they are - Bob Hawke, Kevin Rudd and Gareth Evans - calling for Australia to formally recognise a Palestinian state, the three of them like the witches of Macbeth intoning sterile incantations; in this case not with the purpose of affecting reality but rather to signal once again their sublime and ineffable virtue." (ALP's three amigos only invite ridicule by maligning Israel, Greg Sheridan, 25/2/17)
I, therefore, nominate what I call 'Auntie Poppy Syndrome' (after Sheridan's Auntie Poppy, as described on page 22 of his 2015 memoir When We Were Young & Foolish: A Memoir of My Misguided Youth with Tony Abbott, Bob Carr, Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd & Other Reprobates) for inclusion in the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
"What a caterwauling coven of craven zeitgeist whisperers they are - Bob Hawke, Kevin Rudd and Gareth Evans - calling for Australia to formally recognise a Palestinian state, the three of them like the witches of Macbeth intoning sterile incantations; in this case not with the purpose of affecting reality but rather to signal once again their sublime and ineffable virtue." (ALP's three amigos only invite ridicule by maligning Israel, Greg Sheridan, 25/2/17)
I, therefore, nominate what I call 'Auntie Poppy Syndrome' (after Sheridan's Auntie Poppy, as described on page 22 of his 2015 memoir When We Were Young & Foolish: A Memoir of My Misguided Youth with Tony Abbott, Bob Carr, Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd & Other Reprobates) for inclusion in the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Rudd & Netanyahu Cross Swords
The public airing of friction between a foreign head of state, while he is visiting a country, and one of that country's former leaders must surely be unique in the annals of international affairs.
Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd was moved to post the following unprecedented statement on his FB page yesterday:
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today challenged former Prime Minister Hawke and myself on what sort of Palestinian state we would recommend Israel recognise.
"I have a simple reply to Mr Netanyahu: The boundaries, internal security, external security, public finance and governance of a Palestinian state have been elaborated in detail in multiple negotiations with the US under the Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations, most recently in the Kerry Plan. Mr Netanyahu knows these formulations like the back of his hand. Mr Netanyahu also knows he has torpedoed each of them, often at five minutes to midnight, often by changing the goalposts, to the enduring frustration of both Republican and Democrat Administrations.
"I have been a supporter of Israel all my life. And a public campaigner against any form of anti-Semitism. But to support the state of Israel does not mandate automatic support for each and every policy of Mr Netanyahu. The state of Israel and Mr Netanyahu are not co-definitional. That is why I beg to differ on this and other aspects of Mr Netanyahu's policies.
"For example, I also have a simple question for Mr Netanyahu. Will he use this visit to Australia to apologise to the Australian people for his government using forged Australian passports to facilitate an Israeli assassination of a member of Hamas in Dubai?
"No apology has ever been received for that action which had the consequence of putting the integrity of Australian passports and the security of Australian passport holders travelling to the Middle East at risk."
Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd was moved to post the following unprecedented statement on his FB page yesterday:
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today challenged former Prime Minister Hawke and myself on what sort of Palestinian state we would recommend Israel recognise.
"I have a simple reply to Mr Netanyahu: The boundaries, internal security, external security, public finance and governance of a Palestinian state have been elaborated in detail in multiple negotiations with the US under the Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations, most recently in the Kerry Plan. Mr Netanyahu knows these formulations like the back of his hand. Mr Netanyahu also knows he has torpedoed each of them, often at five minutes to midnight, often by changing the goalposts, to the enduring frustration of both Republican and Democrat Administrations.
"I have been a supporter of Israel all my life. And a public campaigner against any form of anti-Semitism. But to support the state of Israel does not mandate automatic support for each and every policy of Mr Netanyahu. The state of Israel and Mr Netanyahu are not co-definitional. That is why I beg to differ on this and other aspects of Mr Netanyahu's policies.
"For example, I also have a simple question for Mr Netanyahu. Will he use this visit to Australia to apologise to the Australian people for his government using forged Australian passports to facilitate an Israeli assassination of a member of Hamas in Dubai?
"No apology has ever been received for that action which had the consequence of putting the integrity of Australian passports and the security of Australian passport holders travelling to the Middle East at risk."
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Pussyfooting Around Palestine
What's wrong with the United Nations?
This from ex-PM Kevin Rudd, who threw a 60th birthday bash for Israel in federal parliament in 2008*:
"Those of us who are proud to be life-long friends of the UN today will defend the institution to the hilt. But the uncomfortable truth is that while the UN today is not broken, it is in trouble. The danger is that it is starting to drift into 'irrelevance' as states increasingly 'walk around' the UN on the most important questions facing the international community, seeking substantive solutions elsewhere, increasingly seeing the UN as a pleasant diplomatic afterthought. We see this, for example, on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs, terrorism, cyber security, global pandemics, and refugees." (My 10 principles to reform the United Nations, before it's too late, theguardian.com, 8/8/16)
Notice how Iran and North Korea figure "among [his] most important questions facing the international community," but not, of course, Israel's 78-year occupation of Palestine. Fascinating how he always "walks around" this issue.
Maybe now, after his failure to secure government backing for his bid to become UN secretary-general, he'll "drift into irrelevance."
We live in hope.
[*See my posts, 1-5, on the subject, under the label Israel's 60th.]
This from ex-PM Kevin Rudd, who threw a 60th birthday bash for Israel in federal parliament in 2008*:
"Those of us who are proud to be life-long friends of the UN today will defend the institution to the hilt. But the uncomfortable truth is that while the UN today is not broken, it is in trouble. The danger is that it is starting to drift into 'irrelevance' as states increasingly 'walk around' the UN on the most important questions facing the international community, seeking substantive solutions elsewhere, increasingly seeing the UN as a pleasant diplomatic afterthought. We see this, for example, on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs, terrorism, cyber security, global pandemics, and refugees." (My 10 principles to reform the United Nations, before it's too late, theguardian.com, 8/8/16)
Notice how Iran and North Korea figure "among [his] most important questions facing the international community," but not, of course, Israel's 78-year occupation of Palestine. Fascinating how he always "walks around" this issue.
Maybe now, after his failure to secure government backing for his bid to become UN secretary-general, he'll "drift into irrelevance."
We live in hope.
[*See my posts, 1-5, on the subject, under the label Israel's 60th.]
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Guardian Australia Gags Bob Carr
The following passage comes from a Guardian Australia report by Bethanie Blanchard on a Sydney Writers' Festival session focusing on former Labor Foreign Minister Bob Carr's recently published Diary of a Foreign Minister:
"An interesting admission was a conversation Carr records in the Diary, in which Rudd - knowing the election to be lost, the campaign in tatters, the Murdoch press savaging him every day - comments to Carr how few people actually control power in Australia: the Murdoch media, the head [sic] of Rio and BHP, a few bank chiefs and maybe a few property developers." (Bob Carr, political writing and the sovereignty of the mind, 23/5/14)
Now compare that with Carr's own words:
"He [Rudd] reflects on how few people run the country: the Murdoch media, the heads of Rio and BHP, probably the heads of the big banks, and 'that mob', by which he means the hard-line, Likud-aligned pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne." (Diary of a Foreign Minister, p 449)
You will, of course, have noticed that Carr's explicit reference to the "'that mob'... the hard-line, Likud-aligned pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne" has been replaced in Blanchard's version with the gross misrepresentation "maybe a few property developers."
Why?
Could this be anything other than a deliberate falsification of Carr's text?
I hasten to add that the alacrity with which Guardian Australia censors comments critical of Israeli apartheid only confirms me in my suspicion that we are dealing here with a particularly egregious case of self-censorship. (See Gideon Polya's documentation at Mainstream Media Censorship - sites.google.com/site/mainstreammedia censorship/home - specifically Censorship by the Guardian Australia.)
"An interesting admission was a conversation Carr records in the Diary, in which Rudd - knowing the election to be lost, the campaign in tatters, the Murdoch press savaging him every day - comments to Carr how few people actually control power in Australia: the Murdoch media, the head [sic] of Rio and BHP, a few bank chiefs and maybe a few property developers." (Bob Carr, political writing and the sovereignty of the mind, 23/5/14)
Now compare that with Carr's own words:
"He [Rudd] reflects on how few people run the country: the Murdoch media, the heads of Rio and BHP, probably the heads of the big banks, and 'that mob', by which he means the hard-line, Likud-aligned pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne." (Diary of a Foreign Minister, p 449)
You will, of course, have noticed that Carr's explicit reference to the "'that mob'... the hard-line, Likud-aligned pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne" has been replaced in Blanchard's version with the gross misrepresentation "maybe a few property developers."
Why?
Could this be anything other than a deliberate falsification of Carr's text?
I hasten to add that the alacrity with which Guardian Australia censors comments critical of Israeli apartheid only confirms me in my suspicion that we are dealing here with a particularly egregious case of self-censorship. (See Gideon Polya's documentation at Mainstream Media Censorship - sites.google.com/site/mainstreammedia censorship/home - specifically Censorship by the Guardian Australia.)
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The Carr Diary 12: Reflections 6
In his Diary entry for 27 November, 2012, Carr tells how he received a phone call from Kevin Rudd, "speaking in that sinister undertone that bodes no charity."
You might remember the msm media seizing on this and hyping it as one of the Diary's quotable quotes. Typically, however, what immediately followed it - a matter of far more import - received scant attention:
"Darkly he commented on the state of affairs, rehearsing the history of his relations with the Israel lobby, once so happy, now so gloomy. How much of this is about money, I asked him. He said that about one-fifth of the money he had raised in the 2007 election campaign had come from the Jewish community." (p 232)
He goes on to describe the cabinet meeting from which Gillard emerged, virtually bereft of support:
"So nine ministers spoke against the Prime Minister's position and [defence minister Stephen] Smith had spoken at the earlier meeting. That was ten. On the other side, only two [Shorten and Conroy, described as having "an umbilical attachment to the cause of Israel"] had spoken for her. But the Prime Minister repeated that it was her right to decide and she would adhere to her previous position. Her brisk efficiency descended into a style that was icy and robotic." (p 236)
The next morning Carr informed Gillard, who had obviously learnt nothing from her lack of support in cabinet, what was being planned for the coming caucus meeting:
"I said the motion in caucus would no longer be for Australia to support a 'yes' vote at the UN... but for Australia to support an abstention. I saw fear dance in her eyes. She had not been expecting abstention business." (p 238)
In caucus, Gillard had the choice of either sticking to her guns and going down for Israel, or else caving in and so retaining her position as PM. It was a no-brainer. Carr writes of her decision to finally back down in the face of a caucus revolt against her hitherto adamantine refusal to contemplate anything other than an Israel YES vote (in the form of a Palestine NO vote) with all that that signified: "For a moment at least, the universe was moving in accordance with the laws of justice." (p 240)
He adds: "The Prime Minister... had a word with me outside, saying she wanted help in seeing that the story wasn't pitched in terms of her being done over..." (p 240)
What an extraordinary state of affairs! As I indicated in my 18/1/13 post, The PM Who Put Her Job on the Line for Israel, the day an Australian prime minister took her leadership down to the wire for Israeli apartheid must surely rank as one of the most bizarre and ignominious moments in Australia's political history. The msm media at the time, of course, simply failed to register this. Thank God Carr has chronicled it for us. He will be forever in our debt for having done so. I'll let him have the last word:
"I rang the local ambassador of the Palestinians to tell him the decision. He was thrilled. 'I can show my face in the Arab world,' I joked. I rang [US ambassador] Jeff Bleich to break the news that we won't be sticking to them. But he had been primed with a good line, I guess from the Prime Minister's office. 'I hear you and the Prime Minister stopped a 'yes' vote getting up,' he said. Er, yes, I concurred. I told him it confirmed a shift in thinking in my party - tired of Netanyahu and the bellicose right wing and sick of the spread of settlements. He agreed Israel had lost the public relations battle. He said we couldn't be accused of changing our vote to earn Security Council votes - we didn't promise anything. That's right, we got elected without a commitment and simply delivered. I got a message from James that Yuval was unhappy with the decision and my role in it. It had been my doing. Correct. The column of ten nations, die-hards, glued on Israel supporters - Micronesia and the Marshall Islands - had just been reduced by one. A message to the settlers and the fanatics in Israel, a message to the noble Israeli liberals and moderates, a message to a suffering West Bank population, battered and trapped, a message to the UN membership about Australia, the country they just elected to the Security Council." (pp 240-41)
You might remember the msm media seizing on this and hyping it as one of the Diary's quotable quotes. Typically, however, what immediately followed it - a matter of far more import - received scant attention:
"Darkly he commented on the state of affairs, rehearsing the history of his relations with the Israel lobby, once so happy, now so gloomy. How much of this is about money, I asked him. He said that about one-fifth of the money he had raised in the 2007 election campaign had come from the Jewish community." (p 232)
He goes on to describe the cabinet meeting from which Gillard emerged, virtually bereft of support:
"So nine ministers spoke against the Prime Minister's position and [defence minister Stephen] Smith had spoken at the earlier meeting. That was ten. On the other side, only two [Shorten and Conroy, described as having "an umbilical attachment to the cause of Israel"] had spoken for her. But the Prime Minister repeated that it was her right to decide and she would adhere to her previous position. Her brisk efficiency descended into a style that was icy and robotic." (p 236)
The next morning Carr informed Gillard, who had obviously learnt nothing from her lack of support in cabinet, what was being planned for the coming caucus meeting:
"I said the motion in caucus would no longer be for Australia to support a 'yes' vote at the UN... but for Australia to support an abstention. I saw fear dance in her eyes. She had not been expecting abstention business." (p 238)
In caucus, Gillard had the choice of either sticking to her guns and going down for Israel, or else caving in and so retaining her position as PM. It was a no-brainer. Carr writes of her decision to finally back down in the face of a caucus revolt against her hitherto adamantine refusal to contemplate anything other than an Israel YES vote (in the form of a Palestine NO vote) with all that that signified: "For a moment at least, the universe was moving in accordance with the laws of justice." (p 240)
He adds: "The Prime Minister... had a word with me outside, saying she wanted help in seeing that the story wasn't pitched in terms of her being done over..." (p 240)
What an extraordinary state of affairs! As I indicated in my 18/1/13 post, The PM Who Put Her Job on the Line for Israel, the day an Australian prime minister took her leadership down to the wire for Israeli apartheid must surely rank as one of the most bizarre and ignominious moments in Australia's political history. The msm media at the time, of course, simply failed to register this. Thank God Carr has chronicled it for us. He will be forever in our debt for having done so. I'll let him have the last word:
"I rang the local ambassador of the Palestinians to tell him the decision. He was thrilled. 'I can show my face in the Arab world,' I joked. I rang [US ambassador] Jeff Bleich to break the news that we won't be sticking to them. But he had been primed with a good line, I guess from the Prime Minister's office. 'I hear you and the Prime Minister stopped a 'yes' vote getting up,' he said. Er, yes, I concurred. I told him it confirmed a shift in thinking in my party - tired of Netanyahu and the bellicose right wing and sick of the spread of settlements. He agreed Israel had lost the public relations battle. He said we couldn't be accused of changing our vote to earn Security Council votes - we didn't promise anything. That's right, we got elected without a commitment and simply delivered. I got a message from James that Yuval was unhappy with the decision and my role in it. It had been my doing. Correct. The column of ten nations, die-hards, glued on Israel supporters - Micronesia and the Marshall Islands - had just been reduced by one. A message to the settlers and the fanatics in Israel, a message to the noble Israeli liberals and moderates, a message to a suffering West Bank population, battered and trapped, a message to the UN membership about Australia, the country they just elected to the Security Council." (pp 240-41)
Thursday, April 10, 2014
The Carr Diary 1
Former foreign minister Bob Carr has just shone the light, albeit a weak one (but better than none), on a dark corner of Australian political life, the distorting influence of the Israel lobby on Australian foreign policy in the Middle East. Some excerpts from the current reportage:
7.30 Report, 9/4/14:
Sarah Ferguson: Let's go to the book. The strongest criticism of all... is aimed at the Melbourne Jewish lobby. Now, there are lobby groups for every cause under the sun. What's wrong with the way that group operates?
Bob Carr: Well the important point about a diary of a foreign minister is that you shine light on areas of government that are otherwise in darkness and the influence of lobby groups is one of those areas. And what I've done is to spell out how the extremely conservative instincts of the pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne was exercised through the then-prime minister's office... I found it very frustrating that we couldn't issue, for example, a routine expression of concern about the spread of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Great blocks of housing for Israeli citizens going up on land that everyone regards as part of a future Palestinian state, if there is to be a two-state solution resolving the standoff between Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East.
SF: You're saying that the Melbourne Jewish lobby had a direct impact on foreign policy as it was operated from inside Julia Gillard's cabinet?
BC: Yeah, I would call it the Israel lobby - I think that's important. But certainly they enjoyed extraordinary influence. I had to resist it and my book tells the story of that resistance coming to a climax when there was a dispute on the floor of caucus about my recommendation that we don't block the Palestinian bid for increased non-state status at the United Nations.
SF: They're still a very small group of people. How do you account for them wielding so much power?
BC: I think party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel. But that's not to condemn them. I mean, other interest groups do the same thing. But it needs to be highlighted because I think it reached a very unhealthy level. I think the great mistake of the pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne is to express an extreme right-wing Israeli view rather than a more tolerant liberal Israeli view, and in addition to that, to seek to win on everything, to block the foreign minister of Australia through their influence with the prime minister's office, from even making the most routine criticism of Israeli settlement policy using the kind of language that a conservative foreign secretary from the UK would use in a comparable statement at the same time.
Sydney Morning Herald, 10/4/14:
"Bob Carr has published private messages between himself and Julia Gillard to reveal the 'extraordinary' level of influence the pro-Israel lobby had on the former prime minister's office. In a remarkable disclosure of private conversations, Mr Carr said he chose to publish the text messages in his book - Diary of a Foreign Minister - without getting Ms Gillard's permission, because to do so was in the national interest. He also describes Israel's former ambassador as 'cunning' and reveals his fights with the self-described pro-Israel 'falafel faction' in Labor's caucus that includes Jewish MPs Mark Dreyfus and Michael Danby... 'The public should know how foreign policy gets made, especially when it appears the prime minister is being heavily lobbied by one interest group with a stake in Middle East policy.'... Mr Carr's criticisms of Israel touch the highest levels of the Israeli government. Mr Carr describes Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as 'gloomy, taciturn', and the former Israeli ambassador Yuval Rotem as 'the cunning Yuval'. In diary entries Mr Carr reveals just how deep his division with Ms Gillard went. He complains that Ms Gillard would not even let him criticise Israeli West Bank settlements due to her fear it would anger Australia's pro-Israel lobby - a reference to the Melbourne-based Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council - which Mr Carr says had a direct line into the prime minister's office. 'So, we can't even 'express concern' without complaint,' Mr Carr writes. 'This lobby must fight every inch.'
"Reproducing private text messages, Mr Carr suggests Ms Gillard's support of Israel was so immovable that she would not even allow him to change Australia's vote on what he considered to be a minor UN motion. 'Julia - motion on Lebanon oil spill raises no Palestinian or Israel security issues. In that context I gave my commitment to Lebanon,' Mr Carr writes in a text message. 'No reason has been given to me to change,' Ms Gillard reportedly replies. 'Julia - not so simple,' Mr Carr responds. 'I as foreign minister gave my word. I was entitled to because it had nothing to do with Palestinian status or security of Israel.' Ms Gillard shuts him down in a final terse message: 'Bob... my jurisdiction on UN resolutions isn't confined to ones on Palestine and Israel'." (Bob Carr's texts to Gillard reveal 'extraordinary' influence pro-Israel lobby had on former PM, Jonathan Swan)
Sydney Morning Herald, 10/4/14:
"Less than a fortnight before Mr Rudd's loss in the election, the two men meet in Canberra... and acknowledge Labor has no hope of being returned. Mr Rudd laments on how so few hold power in Australia. '[Mr Rudd] reflects on how few people run the country: the Murdoch media, the heads of Rio and BHP, probably the heads of the big banks, and 'that mob', by which he means the hard-line... pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne.' Mr Carr calls it Mr Rudd's Richard II moment: 'Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the deaths of kings'." (Bob Carr's Diary takes aim at Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd for mistakes, Tom Allard & Jonathan Swan)
7.30 Report, 9/4/14:
Sarah Ferguson: Let's go to the book. The strongest criticism of all... is aimed at the Melbourne Jewish lobby. Now, there are lobby groups for every cause under the sun. What's wrong with the way that group operates?
Bob Carr: Well the important point about a diary of a foreign minister is that you shine light on areas of government that are otherwise in darkness and the influence of lobby groups is one of those areas. And what I've done is to spell out how the extremely conservative instincts of the pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne was exercised through the then-prime minister's office... I found it very frustrating that we couldn't issue, for example, a routine expression of concern about the spread of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Great blocks of housing for Israeli citizens going up on land that everyone regards as part of a future Palestinian state, if there is to be a two-state solution resolving the standoff between Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East.
SF: You're saying that the Melbourne Jewish lobby had a direct impact on foreign policy as it was operated from inside Julia Gillard's cabinet?
BC: Yeah, I would call it the Israel lobby - I think that's important. But certainly they enjoyed extraordinary influence. I had to resist it and my book tells the story of that resistance coming to a climax when there was a dispute on the floor of caucus about my recommendation that we don't block the Palestinian bid for increased non-state status at the United Nations.
SF: They're still a very small group of people. How do you account for them wielding so much power?
BC: I think party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel. But that's not to condemn them. I mean, other interest groups do the same thing. But it needs to be highlighted because I think it reached a very unhealthy level. I think the great mistake of the pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne is to express an extreme right-wing Israeli view rather than a more tolerant liberal Israeli view, and in addition to that, to seek to win on everything, to block the foreign minister of Australia through their influence with the prime minister's office, from even making the most routine criticism of Israeli settlement policy using the kind of language that a conservative foreign secretary from the UK would use in a comparable statement at the same time.
Sydney Morning Herald, 10/4/14:
"Bob Carr has published private messages between himself and Julia Gillard to reveal the 'extraordinary' level of influence the pro-Israel lobby had on the former prime minister's office. In a remarkable disclosure of private conversations, Mr Carr said he chose to publish the text messages in his book - Diary of a Foreign Minister - without getting Ms Gillard's permission, because to do so was in the national interest. He also describes Israel's former ambassador as 'cunning' and reveals his fights with the self-described pro-Israel 'falafel faction' in Labor's caucus that includes Jewish MPs Mark Dreyfus and Michael Danby... 'The public should know how foreign policy gets made, especially when it appears the prime minister is being heavily lobbied by one interest group with a stake in Middle East policy.'... Mr Carr's criticisms of Israel touch the highest levels of the Israeli government. Mr Carr describes Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as 'gloomy, taciturn', and the former Israeli ambassador Yuval Rotem as 'the cunning Yuval'. In diary entries Mr Carr reveals just how deep his division with Ms Gillard went. He complains that Ms Gillard would not even let him criticise Israeli West Bank settlements due to her fear it would anger Australia's pro-Israel lobby - a reference to the Melbourne-based Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council - which Mr Carr says had a direct line into the prime minister's office. 'So, we can't even 'express concern' without complaint,' Mr Carr writes. 'This lobby must fight every inch.'
"Reproducing private text messages, Mr Carr suggests Ms Gillard's support of Israel was so immovable that she would not even allow him to change Australia's vote on what he considered to be a minor UN motion. 'Julia - motion on Lebanon oil spill raises no Palestinian or Israel security issues. In that context I gave my commitment to Lebanon,' Mr Carr writes in a text message. 'No reason has been given to me to change,' Ms Gillard reportedly replies. 'Julia - not so simple,' Mr Carr responds. 'I as foreign minister gave my word. I was entitled to because it had nothing to do with Palestinian status or security of Israel.' Ms Gillard shuts him down in a final terse message: 'Bob... my jurisdiction on UN resolutions isn't confined to ones on Palestine and Israel'." (Bob Carr's texts to Gillard reveal 'extraordinary' influence pro-Israel lobby had on former PM, Jonathan Swan)
Sydney Morning Herald, 10/4/14:
"Less than a fortnight before Mr Rudd's loss in the election, the two men meet in Canberra... and acknowledge Labor has no hope of being returned. Mr Rudd laments on how so few hold power in Australia. '[Mr Rudd] reflects on how few people run the country: the Murdoch media, the heads of Rio and BHP, probably the heads of the big banks, and 'that mob', by which he means the hard-line... pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne.' Mr Carr calls it Mr Rudd's Richard II moment: 'Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the deaths of kings'." (Bob Carr's Diary takes aim at Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd for mistakes, Tom Allard & Jonathan Swan)
We've Got to Talk About Bob
Is Bob Carr seriously telling us that prior to a certain conversation with Kevin Rudd he had absolutely no idea that Australia's Palestine/Israel policy was up for sale to the highest bidder?
"Former foreign minister Bob Carr has suggested [in his forthcoming book, Bob Carr: Diary of a Foreign Minister] Julia Gillard's dogged insistence on supporting Israel in a controversial United Nations vote was because Australian foreign policy had been 'subcontracted' to Jewish donors... 'How much of this is about money, I asked [Rudd],' Carr writes. 'He said about one-fifth of the money he had raised in the 2007 election campaign had come from the Jewish community.' Carr concludes that 'subcontracting our foreign policy to party donors is what this involves'." (Bob Carr diaries: foreign policy was subcontracted to Jewish donors, Lenore Taylor, theguardian.com, 9/4/14)
Is it seriously possible that this bookish Americanophile has never read Mearsheimer & Walt's seminal work on modern US politics, The Israel Lobby & US Foreign Policy?
What sort of amateur is this guy?
"Former foreign minister Bob Carr has suggested [in his forthcoming book, Bob Carr: Diary of a Foreign Minister] Julia Gillard's dogged insistence on supporting Israel in a controversial United Nations vote was because Australian foreign policy had been 'subcontracted' to Jewish donors... 'How much of this is about money, I asked [Rudd],' Carr writes. 'He said about one-fifth of the money he had raised in the 2007 election campaign had come from the Jewish community.' Carr concludes that 'subcontracting our foreign policy to party donors is what this involves'." (Bob Carr diaries: foreign policy was subcontracted to Jewish donors, Lenore Taylor, theguardian.com, 9/4/14)
Is it seriously possible that this bookish Americanophile has never read Mearsheimer & Walt's seminal work on modern US politics, The Israel Lobby & US Foreign Policy?
What sort of amateur is this guy?
Friday, January 24, 2014
From Kevin 07 to Kevin 747
What a miserable pack of entitled flakes and fakes these Australian politicians are.
Kevin Rudd for one:
"Not even a resounding election defeat could clip the wings of Kevin 747. In his first three months out of office, former prime minister Kevin Rudd went on a jet-lag inducing odyssey of eight foreign capitals, spending 60 days outside Australia. The Mandarin speaker met Chinese officials and delivered speeches in Beijing on four separate, week-long trips in September, October and November. He has flown to New York and London three times, Paris twice and had engagements in Washington, Bahrain, Zurich and Toronto." (Staying active: retiring Rudd keeps up life of a jet-setter, Heath Aston, Sydney Morning Herald, 24/1/14)
Why not Israel? After all wasn't Rudd the bloke who once declared that he had "support for Israel in his DNA"?
Bob Carr for another:
"It reads like the bucket list of a dedicated sightseer. Except Bob Carr managed to tick of some of the world's must-see tourist and cultural destinations in just 19 months as foreign minister. The history buff found time in a hectic schedule of official meetings to visit 67 sites in 30 separate countries." (Top role took Carr on journey of a lifetime, Heath Aston, Sydney Morning Herald, 24/1/14)
What, no Israel? Wasn't he a founding member of NSW Labor Friends of Israel back in the 70s?
Kevin Rudd for one:
"Not even a resounding election defeat could clip the wings of Kevin 747. In his first three months out of office, former prime minister Kevin Rudd went on a jet-lag inducing odyssey of eight foreign capitals, spending 60 days outside Australia. The Mandarin speaker met Chinese officials and delivered speeches in Beijing on four separate, week-long trips in September, October and November. He has flown to New York and London three times, Paris twice and had engagements in Washington, Bahrain, Zurich and Toronto." (Staying active: retiring Rudd keeps up life of a jet-setter, Heath Aston, Sydney Morning Herald, 24/1/14)
Why not Israel? After all wasn't Rudd the bloke who once declared that he had "support for Israel in his DNA"?
Bob Carr for another:
"It reads like the bucket list of a dedicated sightseer. Except Bob Carr managed to tick of some of the world's must-see tourist and cultural destinations in just 19 months as foreign minister. The history buff found time in a hectic schedule of official meetings to visit 67 sites in 30 separate countries." (Top role took Carr on journey of a lifetime, Heath Aston, Sydney Morning Herald, 24/1/14)
What, no Israel? Wasn't he a founding member of NSW Labor Friends of Israel back in the 70s?
Thursday, January 2, 2014
A Common Misconception
We have here a common misconception:
"When Joe Hockey, Bob Carr and a half-dozen other politicians schmoozed a crowd of worshippers... outside the Lakemba mosque during the election campaign, SBS news summarised the spectacle: 'Labor and Coalition court Muslim vote'. While wooing the crowd, the politicians had to weigh their parties' policies on Israel and Palestine against a harsh political calculus. 'This is the kind of thing that moves votes,' a Labor MP says of the Ramadan campaigning. He points out that Islamic voters outnumber Jewish voters in Australia by 5 to 1..." (In contested territory, Jonathan Swan, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28/12/13)
While the size of an alleged 'Muslim vote' may help determine the fate of this or that seat, it's hardly the deciding factor when it comes to the makeup of LibLab "policies on Israel and Palestine" (which are basically the same anyhow) or how we vote in the UN. But I'll return to this in a minute.
Swan goes on to describe how, under Howard and Downer, Australia "backed Israel to the hilt" in the UN. He then writes:
"But soon after Kevin Rudd took power in 2007, Labor began testing Israel's patience. [Swan seems to have forgotten that it was Israel which tested Australia's patience by allowing Mossad to abuse Australian passports.] Jewish leaders in Australia found Rudd cold and unavailable. And from 2008 Labor shifted support to Palestine in several UN votes."
Quite how anyone can write about the Rudd years in this context and fail to factor in the impact of Mossad's blatant use of Australian passports to do its dirty work is beyond me. At any rate, when it comes to Rudd's "coldness and unavailability," which had nothing whatever to do with any 'Muslim vote', Swan is here echoing the 2010 words of the Herald's international editor, Peter Hartcher: "[T]he Israeli ambassador... and some members of the Jewish community felt a chill in their dealings with the government." However, for reasons best known to himself, Swan chooses to leaves out the reaction to the "chill" of "some members of the Jewish community" (aka Israel lobbyists), which was to freeze fund-raising events for Labor. (See my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy for the details.)
Which brings me back to the above-mentioned misconception: it's not the relative size of the so-called Muslim or Jewish vote that determines how Australia votes on Palestine/Israel in the UN, it's more to do with who's shelling out for vital election campaign funding.
"When Joe Hockey, Bob Carr and a half-dozen other politicians schmoozed a crowd of worshippers... outside the Lakemba mosque during the election campaign, SBS news summarised the spectacle: 'Labor and Coalition court Muslim vote'. While wooing the crowd, the politicians had to weigh their parties' policies on Israel and Palestine against a harsh political calculus. 'This is the kind of thing that moves votes,' a Labor MP says of the Ramadan campaigning. He points out that Islamic voters outnumber Jewish voters in Australia by 5 to 1..." (In contested territory, Jonathan Swan, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28/12/13)
While the size of an alleged 'Muslim vote' may help determine the fate of this or that seat, it's hardly the deciding factor when it comes to the makeup of LibLab "policies on Israel and Palestine" (which are basically the same anyhow) or how we vote in the UN. But I'll return to this in a minute.
Swan goes on to describe how, under Howard and Downer, Australia "backed Israel to the hilt" in the UN. He then writes:
"But soon after Kevin Rudd took power in 2007, Labor began testing Israel's patience. [Swan seems to have forgotten that it was Israel which tested Australia's patience by allowing Mossad to abuse Australian passports.] Jewish leaders in Australia found Rudd cold and unavailable. And from 2008 Labor shifted support to Palestine in several UN votes."
Quite how anyone can write about the Rudd years in this context and fail to factor in the impact of Mossad's blatant use of Australian passports to do its dirty work is beyond me. At any rate, when it comes to Rudd's "coldness and unavailability," which had nothing whatever to do with any 'Muslim vote', Swan is here echoing the 2010 words of the Herald's international editor, Peter Hartcher: "[T]he Israeli ambassador... and some members of the Jewish community felt a chill in their dealings with the government." However, for reasons best known to himself, Swan chooses to leaves out the reaction to the "chill" of "some members of the Jewish community" (aka Israel lobbyists), which was to freeze fund-raising events for Labor. (See my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy for the details.)
Which brings me back to the above-mentioned misconception: it's not the relative size of the so-called Muslim or Jewish vote that determines how Australia votes on Palestine/Israel in the UN, it's more to do with who's shelling out for vital election campaign funding.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
The Apotheosis of Julia Gillard
Is Julia Gillard becoming something of a cult figure?
If not, what then was this all about:
"Julia Gillard told a captivated audience at the Sydney Opera House last night she would take up a fellowship at the Brookings Institution in Washington to focus on global education... There was little dissent in the audience who paid to hear the former Labor leader, and there was no discussion of controversies such as shifting single mothers to the dole..." (Gillard jokes of murderous rage at bloggers, Rick Morton, The Australian, 1/10/13)
They actually paid... to hear that deadly Kath & Kim voice? They were captivated... by what exactly? News of her gainful employment... in a Zionist think tank? Details of her $1.8 million (landing-) pad in Adelaide?
They actually paid to hear her pose as the hapless victim of the slings and arrows of outrageous misogyny:
"She said there was 'an underside of sexism, really ugly, violent sexism' in Australia but it was not clear that it was merely a function of the new media age. 'I would have thought we were beyond that and it's kind of depressing that it's [?] not'." (Gillard accuses Rudd of 'disloyalty', Mark Kenny, Sydney Morning Herald, 1/10/13)
Needless to say, an awareness of the really ugly, violent racism of her beloved Israel - support for which has been described as residing 'in her bones' - still eludes her.
Speaking of Israel, for services rendered - in particular, I suppose, her extraordinary display of fealty to the apartheid state in the face of last November's caucus revolt against her decision to side with USrael against Palestine in the UN* - Gillard has just been declared "winner of the 2013 Jerusalem Prize, in honour of her work strengthening Australia's connection with Israel. The prize is presented by the Zionist Council of Victoria and has been awarded to former prime ministers Bob Hawke and John Howard, as well as to foreign minister Alexander Downer... The award will be presented during the 75th Annual Assembly of the Zionist Council of Victoria on November 26, at which Ms Gillard will be keynote speaker." (Jerusalem Prize honours commitment to Israel, Ben Westcott, The Australian, 1/10/13)
But how curious of The Australian to mention Bob Hawke, John Howard and Alexander Downer... but not its very own Greg (Jerusalem Prize) Sheridan! Now why is that?
Could it be because the 2007 winner of the Jerusalem Prize is on record as saying, in effect, that the 2013 winner is barely fit to tie her nemesis' shoelace:
"Rudd... towers over Julia Gillard intellectually, politically, morally, in his connection with the Australian people and in every other way that counts." (Gillard is not prime ministerial material & Rudd ought to return, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 27/2/12)
[*See my 18/1/13 post The Prime Minister Who Put Her Job on the Line for Israel.]
If not, what then was this all about:
"Julia Gillard told a captivated audience at the Sydney Opera House last night she would take up a fellowship at the Brookings Institution in Washington to focus on global education... There was little dissent in the audience who paid to hear the former Labor leader, and there was no discussion of controversies such as shifting single mothers to the dole..." (Gillard jokes of murderous rage at bloggers, Rick Morton, The Australian, 1/10/13)
They actually paid... to hear that deadly Kath & Kim voice? They were captivated... by what exactly? News of her gainful employment... in a Zionist think tank? Details of her $1.8 million (landing-) pad in Adelaide?
They actually paid to hear her pose as the hapless victim of the slings and arrows of outrageous misogyny:
"She said there was 'an underside of sexism, really ugly, violent sexism' in Australia but it was not clear that it was merely a function of the new media age. 'I would have thought we were beyond that and it's kind of depressing that it's [?] not'." (Gillard accuses Rudd of 'disloyalty', Mark Kenny, Sydney Morning Herald, 1/10/13)
Needless to say, an awareness of the really ugly, violent racism of her beloved Israel - support for which has been described as residing 'in her bones' - still eludes her.
Speaking of Israel, for services rendered - in particular, I suppose, her extraordinary display of fealty to the apartheid state in the face of last November's caucus revolt against her decision to side with USrael against Palestine in the UN* - Gillard has just been declared "winner of the 2013 Jerusalem Prize, in honour of her work strengthening Australia's connection with Israel. The prize is presented by the Zionist Council of Victoria and has been awarded to former prime ministers Bob Hawke and John Howard, as well as to foreign minister Alexander Downer... The award will be presented during the 75th Annual Assembly of the Zionist Council of Victoria on November 26, at which Ms Gillard will be keynote speaker." (Jerusalem Prize honours commitment to Israel, Ben Westcott, The Australian, 1/10/13)
But how curious of The Australian to mention Bob Hawke, John Howard and Alexander Downer... but not its very own Greg (Jerusalem Prize) Sheridan! Now why is that?
Could it be because the 2007 winner of the Jerusalem Prize is on record as saying, in effect, that the 2013 winner is barely fit to tie her nemesis' shoelace:
"Rudd... towers over Julia Gillard intellectually, politically, morally, in his connection with the Australian people and in every other way that counts." (Gillard is not prime ministerial material & Rudd ought to return, Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 27/2/12)
[*See my 18/1/13 post The Prime Minister Who Put Her Job on the Line for Israel.]
Monday, September 9, 2013
Foreign Policy Sophisticates
OMG! That Tony Abbott is sooo unsophisticated:
"We have a civil war going on in that benighted country between two pretty unsavoury sides. It is not goodies versus baddies, it is baddies versus baddies, and that is why it is very important that we don't make a very difficult situation worse." (Abbott calls for caution against Syria's 'baddies', Paul Maley & Rosie Lewis, The Australian, 2/9/13)
No, if it's foreign policy nouse you want, Bob Carr's your man:
"If the world doesn't respond in a way that's appropriate and proportionate, then other dictators will think that they can gas children." (G20: Australia leaves world's media puzzled over silence, AAP, The Guardian, 7/9/13)
Or even better, Kevin Rudd:
"If we hadn't done anything, as of 2 weeks ago, we'd be talking tonight about the butchery of Benghazi... and 700,000 people, big city, whack, Gaddafi up the middle of it, gone." (Q & A, 4/4/11)
"We have a civil war going on in that benighted country between two pretty unsavoury sides. It is not goodies versus baddies, it is baddies versus baddies, and that is why it is very important that we don't make a very difficult situation worse." (Abbott calls for caution against Syria's 'baddies', Paul Maley & Rosie Lewis, The Australian, 2/9/13)
No, if it's foreign policy nouse you want, Bob Carr's your man:
"If the world doesn't respond in a way that's appropriate and proportionate, then other dictators will think that they can gas children." (G20: Australia leaves world's media puzzled over silence, AAP, The Guardian, 7/9/13)
Or even better, Kevin Rudd:
"If we hadn't done anything, as of 2 weeks ago, we'd be talking tonight about the butchery of Benghazi... and 700,000 people, big city, whack, Gaddafi up the middle of it, gone." (Q & A, 4/4/11)
Friday, September 6, 2013
Whichever Bogan Wins, We Lose
This year's federal election comes down to a choice between Bunnings Man:
"In her heartfelt and humanising speech introducing her husband, [Therese] Rein told the story of the day she sent her husband to the hardware store to buy a mosquito candle. He came home with a visionary swag of home improvement items - everything from secateurs to to a step-ladder, Blu-Tac and Roman flares. And no mozzie candle." (Just when you knew it was too late, the visionary Rudd arrived, Jacqueline Maley, Sydney Morning Herald, 2/9/13)
Or Netball Dad:
"'Our dad is not just a politician... Tony Abbott is also a netball dad. Anecdotes followed about the Opposition Leader as a father, taking his 3 daughters... to netball games and barracking loudly from the sidelines. Mr Abbott thought netball was 'just another form of rugby', Frances joked." (Tony Abbott's daughters say he's no headkicker, just a daggy dad, David Wroe, Sydney Morning Herald, 26/8/13)
"In her heartfelt and humanising speech introducing her husband, [Therese] Rein told the story of the day she sent her husband to the hardware store to buy a mosquito candle. He came home with a visionary swag of home improvement items - everything from secateurs to to a step-ladder, Blu-Tac and Roman flares. And no mozzie candle." (Just when you knew it was too late, the visionary Rudd arrived, Jacqueline Maley, Sydney Morning Herald, 2/9/13)
Or Netball Dad:
"'Our dad is not just a politician... Tony Abbott is also a netball dad. Anecdotes followed about the Opposition Leader as a father, taking his 3 daughters... to netball games and barracking loudly from the sidelines. Mr Abbott thought netball was 'just another form of rugby', Frances joked." (Tony Abbott's daughters say he's no headkicker, just a daggy dad, David Wroe, Sydney Morning Herald, 26/8/13)
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Election 2013: Pitching for the Zionist Vote
Here's Kevin Rudd's impassioned pitch for the Zionist vote in The Australian Jewish News:
"The Australian Labor Party and the Coalition argue over many policy issues... But some issues should be bipartisan, and I am pleased to say that on the subject of Israel... both major parties are in agreement. The government of Australia supports the State of Israel, not just as an ally , but as a friend. Well before the birth of of the modern State of Israel, Australia has had deep ties with the Zionist dream... The Foreign Minister's recent comments about the international legal status of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories in no way diminishes my government's support for Israel... And it is my view that there is nothing to be gained from politicians publicly debating the finer points of international law in this immensely complex area." (Kevin Rudd's election message)
Typically, while "Labor is committed to supporting an enduring and just two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," it will be "based on the right of Israel to live in peace within secure borders," but merely "reflect the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people to also live in peace and security within their own state."
Alas, "Israel faces very real threats beyond those arising from its conflicts with the Palestinians," such as "destabilisation in the region," and "a nuclear-armed Iran."
However: "Israel also faces threats of another kind from misguided programs such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign The federal government strongly opposes and publicly condemns the BDS. Our government expects all institutions in our society to behave in a manner that is ethical and appropriate, and Labor has made clear that in its view the BDS is neither."
Finally, while Labor supports Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, "Abbott has stated... his intent to repeal [it]."
Now here's Tony Abbott's, and like his candidate Jaymes Diaz in the seat of Greenway, he's not giving much away:
"The Coalition's traditionally strong support for the Jewish community has been matched by a firm commitment to Israel's security. This reflects our two countries' shared democratic values and the Coalition's strong recognition that Israel is under existential threat in a way that almost no other country in the world is." (Tony Abbott's election message)
Abbott's very impressed with what he calls "Jewish people": "Jewish people have succeeded in Australia because they've never taken anything for granted. Better products, new services, more effective salesmanship, and above everything, relentless curiosity have been the hallmarks of Jewish people in Australia, especially businesspeople..."
Finally, Abbott will "restore the Australia-Israel friendship to the strength it enjoyed under the Howard government."
For the rest, Abbott merely spruiks his Real Solutions Plan.
"The Australian Labor Party and the Coalition argue over many policy issues... But some issues should be bipartisan, and I am pleased to say that on the subject of Israel... both major parties are in agreement. The government of Australia supports the State of Israel, not just as an ally , but as a friend. Well before the birth of of the modern State of Israel, Australia has had deep ties with the Zionist dream... The Foreign Minister's recent comments about the international legal status of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories in no way diminishes my government's support for Israel... And it is my view that there is nothing to be gained from politicians publicly debating the finer points of international law in this immensely complex area." (Kevin Rudd's election message)
Typically, while "Labor is committed to supporting an enduring and just two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," it will be "based on the right of Israel to live in peace within secure borders," but merely "reflect the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people to also live in peace and security within their own state."
Alas, "Israel faces very real threats beyond those arising from its conflicts with the Palestinians," such as "destabilisation in the region," and "a nuclear-armed Iran."
However: "Israel also faces threats of another kind from misguided programs such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign The federal government strongly opposes and publicly condemns the BDS. Our government expects all institutions in our society to behave in a manner that is ethical and appropriate, and Labor has made clear that in its view the BDS is neither."
Finally, while Labor supports Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, "Abbott has stated... his intent to repeal [it]."
Now here's Tony Abbott's, and like his candidate Jaymes Diaz in the seat of Greenway, he's not giving much away:
"The Coalition's traditionally strong support for the Jewish community has been matched by a firm commitment to Israel's security. This reflects our two countries' shared democratic values and the Coalition's strong recognition that Israel is under existential threat in a way that almost no other country in the world is." (Tony Abbott's election message)
Abbott's very impressed with what he calls "Jewish people": "Jewish people have succeeded in Australia because they've never taken anything for granted. Better products, new services, more effective salesmanship, and above everything, relentless curiosity have been the hallmarks of Jewish people in Australia, especially businesspeople..."
Finally, Abbott will "restore the Australia-Israel friendship to the strength it enjoyed under the Howard government."
For the rest, Abbott merely spruiks his Real Solutions Plan.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Election 2013 1
No 3 elections are quite the same.
Here's the Sydney Morning Herald's political editor Peter Hartcher writing in today's paper:
"Approaching the level of the pitiful for a prime minister calling an election, [Kevin Rudd] actually asked sympathisers to send in $10 bucks." (Spot the difference between a reborn contrite Kev and Team Tony)
And here's Hartcher writing in the Herald on June 22, 2010:
"The concern [of Israel lobbyists] intensified last month when the government expelled an Israeli diplomat as a punishment for the passport 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... The Jewish community was an important source of funds for the 2007 election. A single lunch in Sydney raised $100,000. A Toorak tennis court party for 200, attended by Rudd and Gillard, raised more." (What am I, chopped liver? How Rudd dived into the schmooze*)
Ah, those were the days! You can bet Abbott won't be holding out his hat for such petty cash.
[*See my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy.]
Here's the Sydney Morning Herald's political editor Peter Hartcher writing in today's paper:
"Approaching the level of the pitiful for a prime minister calling an election, [Kevin Rudd] actually asked sympathisers to send in $10 bucks." (Spot the difference between a reborn contrite Kev and Team Tony)
And here's Hartcher writing in the Herald on June 22, 2010:
"The concern [of Israel lobbyists] intensified last month when the government expelled an Israeli diplomat as a punishment for the passport 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... The Jewish community was an important source of funds for the 2007 election. A single lunch in Sydney raised $100,000. A Toorak tennis court party for 200, attended by Rudd and Gillard, raised more." (What am I, chopped liver? How Rudd dived into the schmooze*)
Ah, those were the days! You can bet Abbott won't be holding out his hat for such petty cash.
[*See my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy.]
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Krudd's 'Simple & Elegant' Solution
Listen up, you tired, you poor, you huddled masses yearning to breathe free...
If you liked Nauru...
"The Nauru detention centre descended into chaos on Friday night with riots breaking out and reports that a policeman had been stabbed and was being held hostage. There were also reports of multiple explosions and parts of the centre being set on fire. Between 150 and 200 detainees were involved in the rioting and many have breached the fence, according to a spokeswoman from the Department of Immigration & Citizenship. A witness on Nauru... said the riot was sparked by false rumours that the Manus Island centre had been closed. The rumours emerged before Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's announcement on Friday afternoon that all asylum seekers heading to Australia by boat would now be sent to Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement... According to a written order obtained by Fairfax Media, Nauru's acting Police Minister, David Adeang, has deputised a new 'Nauru Police Force Reserve' to respond to the riots. The force includes contractors from Australian company Transfield as well as 'all others deputised to respond'. Women and children on Nauru have been instructed by the government to lock their doors and stay inside until further notice. All men have been told to present to the centre to be deputised as security guards. Up to 1000 men are estimated to have responded to the call for deputies distributed via text message on the island's mobile phone network. Police now have the extra challenge to control these men, 'baying for blood', as one islander put it." (Rumours spark wild riot on Nauru, Bianca Hall & Daniel Flitton, Sydney Morning Herald, 20/7/13)
... you are going to love Papua New Guinea:
"The deadly disease cholera is endemic, the murder rate is 13 times higher than in Australia, sexual assaults - particularly gang rapes aimed at foreign women - are on the rise and the crime rate is escalating. The Foreign Affairs Department is so concerned about the safety of people travelling there it has issued travel warnings about ethnic disputes and a lawlessness that is so bad they advise Australians to travel in convoys after dark with car windows up and doors locked. This is Papua New Guinea - where foreigners live in compounds with security guards and where the treatment of women has come under the spotlight this year after a recent series of gruesome crimes, including the pack rape of an American academic in April and the burning murder of a 20-year-old mother accused of witchcraft. Plans by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to send asylum seekers there for resettlement have been met with disbelief by refugee advocates and been described as 'mind-boggling' by one nun who worked there for almost 20 years and visits regularly. Franciscan nun Sister Aileen Crowe said that because of land ownership issues, the only place asylum seekers could be resettled was in the towns, where the violence has increased, driven up by widespread unemployment. 'This is a very difficult social climate to put these people in,' she said. 'There is a long list of people waiting for jobs. The asylum seekers will become very ostracised if they try and [get] into the labour market.' Sister Aileen said the last time she visited nuns in Port Moresby, they spent every night terrified as men tried to break into their house. Father Paul Lonot Sireh, who was born on Manus Island but now lives in Australia, warned that the island's facilities needed upgrading because islanders were already living with a main road that was like a logging track and 'people are dying every day because there are insufficient drugs and no hospital facilities.' Expats living in Papua New Guinea have written about the out-of-control inflation, how renting a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house costs $US6500 ($7075) a month and how fresh produce in Port Morseby - almost exclusively imported from Australia by air - is prohibitively expensive, with broccoli costing $8 a bunch and a small lettuce $5. Port Moresby was last year rated as the eighth most expensive city in the world." (Violence, disease risk for asylum seekers, Natalie O'Brien, The Sun-Herald, 21/7/13)
Welcome to fortress Australia, where a Labor PM (with Israel in his DNA) recently took over the reins from another Labor PM (with Israel in her bones) in the name of fending off a challenge from a Liberal prime ministerial wannabe (who believes we're all Israelis now).
Welcome to a nation which sends maritime asylum seekers to a concentration camp on a nominally independent Pacific island state called Nauru, ruled by an 'acting president' and protected by an 'acting police minister' who calls upon the local lads (who 'bay for blood') to rally to the defence of the island whenever those in Australia's Guano Ghetto just can't take it any more.
Welcome to the Australia of PM Krudd, the 'prissy, precious, prick' who now proposes that, as of 19 July, all maritime asylum seekers be sent permanently to the above-mentioned paradise of PNG, a solution hailed by the Israel-loving, Jerusalem Prize-winning foreign editor of Rupert Murdoch's flagship rag, called - what else? - The Australian, as "simple and not without elegance." (PNG solution has to bridge the credibility gap, Greg Sheridan, 20/7/13)
If you liked Nauru...
"The Nauru detention centre descended into chaos on Friday night with riots breaking out and reports that a policeman had been stabbed and was being held hostage. There were also reports of multiple explosions and parts of the centre being set on fire. Between 150 and 200 detainees were involved in the rioting and many have breached the fence, according to a spokeswoman from the Department of Immigration & Citizenship. A witness on Nauru... said the riot was sparked by false rumours that the Manus Island centre had been closed. The rumours emerged before Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's announcement on Friday afternoon that all asylum seekers heading to Australia by boat would now be sent to Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement... According to a written order obtained by Fairfax Media, Nauru's acting Police Minister, David Adeang, has deputised a new 'Nauru Police Force Reserve' to respond to the riots. The force includes contractors from Australian company Transfield as well as 'all others deputised to respond'. Women and children on Nauru have been instructed by the government to lock their doors and stay inside until further notice. All men have been told to present to the centre to be deputised as security guards. Up to 1000 men are estimated to have responded to the call for deputies distributed via text message on the island's mobile phone network. Police now have the extra challenge to control these men, 'baying for blood', as one islander put it." (Rumours spark wild riot on Nauru, Bianca Hall & Daniel Flitton, Sydney Morning Herald, 20/7/13)
... you are going to love Papua New Guinea:
"The deadly disease cholera is endemic, the murder rate is 13 times higher than in Australia, sexual assaults - particularly gang rapes aimed at foreign women - are on the rise and the crime rate is escalating. The Foreign Affairs Department is so concerned about the safety of people travelling there it has issued travel warnings about ethnic disputes and a lawlessness that is so bad they advise Australians to travel in convoys after dark with car windows up and doors locked. This is Papua New Guinea - where foreigners live in compounds with security guards and where the treatment of women has come under the spotlight this year after a recent series of gruesome crimes, including the pack rape of an American academic in April and the burning murder of a 20-year-old mother accused of witchcraft. Plans by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to send asylum seekers there for resettlement have been met with disbelief by refugee advocates and been described as 'mind-boggling' by one nun who worked there for almost 20 years and visits regularly. Franciscan nun Sister Aileen Crowe said that because of land ownership issues, the only place asylum seekers could be resettled was in the towns, where the violence has increased, driven up by widespread unemployment. 'This is a very difficult social climate to put these people in,' she said. 'There is a long list of people waiting for jobs. The asylum seekers will become very ostracised if they try and [get] into the labour market.' Sister Aileen said the last time she visited nuns in Port Moresby, they spent every night terrified as men tried to break into their house. Father Paul Lonot Sireh, who was born on Manus Island but now lives in Australia, warned that the island's facilities needed upgrading because islanders were already living with a main road that was like a logging track and 'people are dying every day because there are insufficient drugs and no hospital facilities.' Expats living in Papua New Guinea have written about the out-of-control inflation, how renting a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house costs $US6500 ($7075) a month and how fresh produce in Port Morseby - almost exclusively imported from Australia by air - is prohibitively expensive, with broccoli costing $8 a bunch and a small lettuce $5. Port Moresby was last year rated as the eighth most expensive city in the world." (Violence, disease risk for asylum seekers, Natalie O'Brien, The Sun-Herald, 21/7/13)
Welcome to fortress Australia, where a Labor PM (with Israel in his DNA) recently took over the reins from another Labor PM (with Israel in her bones) in the name of fending off a challenge from a Liberal prime ministerial wannabe (who believes we're all Israelis now).
Welcome to a nation which sends maritime asylum seekers to a concentration camp on a nominally independent Pacific island state called Nauru, ruled by an 'acting president' and protected by an 'acting police minister' who calls upon the local lads (who 'bay for blood') to rally to the defence of the island whenever those in Australia's Guano Ghetto just can't take it any more.
Welcome to the Australia of PM Krudd, the 'prissy, precious, prick' who now proposes that, as of 19 July, all maritime asylum seekers be sent permanently to the above-mentioned paradise of PNG, a solution hailed by the Israel-loving, Jerusalem Prize-winning foreign editor of Rupert Murdoch's flagship rag, called - what else? - The Australian, as "simple and not without elegance." (PNG solution has to bridge the credibility gap, Greg Sheridan, 20/7/13)
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