Before Anzac Day, Murdoch's Australian chose to hammer Sudanese-born Yassmin Abdel-Magied over an innocuous statement on Q&A. And since Anzac Day, it has continued doing so, on an almost daily basis, over an equally innocuous Anzac Day tweet.
While Fairfax's Herald has been reporting on the case of Egyptian-born Eman Sharobeem, currently appearing before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on allegations of milking the public purse of almost $600,000 as head of Western Sydney's Immigrant Womens Health Service, there has been not a whisper about her in The Australian, save for a brief page two mention on May 10 and 12.
But then Ms Abdel-Magied is a Muslim, and Ms Sharobeem is a Christian.
Showing posts with label Yassmin Abdel-Magied. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yassmin Abdel-Magied. Show all posts
Friday, May 12, 2017
Sunday, May 7, 2017
A Book of Revelations
I've just been reading Deborah Rechter's review of Mark Dapin's new book, Jewish Anzacs: Jews in the Australian Military. (Lest we forget the Australian Jews who served too, The Australian, 6/5/17)
And lo, I learnt therein that which I did not know before!
Did you know, for example, that according to Rechter, "the assault on Beersheva [sic: Beersheba]," "lead [sic: led] to the Balfour Declaration supporting the establishment of the State of Israel"?
Whether this astonishing revelation is Rechter's, or Dapin's, or both, I do not know, but there you go: the taking of Beersheba from the Turks by the Australian Light Horse on October 31, 1917, directly sparked the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917!
One pictures Britain's foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, eyes aglow, turning to his War Cabinet colleagues on November 1, and saying:
'I say, chaps, I hear the colonials have just stormed some God-forsaken Turkish rathole in Palestine called... err... Beirut... no, no, not Beirut... B... B... B... that's it, Beersheba - so, hey, let's give Palestine to the Jews, shall we?'
And they, replying as one:
'Brilliant, Arthur! Your logic is impeccable!'
'Isn't it always, gentlemen. Now let's see.' Balfour scribbles away. 'How's this? Dear Lord Rothschild, the British army has just captured Beersheba. Let the State of Israel begin! Now! And seeing this matter is so frightfully urgent, gentlemen, let's drop everything, war and all, and issue it tomorrow, which is, if I'm not mistaken, and I never am (chuckles), is November 2, 1917. Let it be known as the Beirut... no... the Beersheba... no... the Balfour Declaration!
Cabinet, as one:
Way to go, Arthur...
Rechter then quotes a short extract from Dapin's book, in which we discover that which is entirely new to archaeology: "... the pyramids of Gaza..."
***
While on the subject of WWI history, I really can't let this priceless editorial letter (The Australian, 4/5/17) by Howard Dewhirst of Burleigh Heads, Qld, go without a mention:
"One thing Yassmin Abdel-Megied forgot is that World War I ended several hundred years of Ottoman colonialism. Why is it good to recall the disappearance of the British Empire and not good to note the same feelings about Ottoman colonialism? The Gallipoli campaign was a failure but helped to win the war, thereby contributing to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire."
Maybe, Howard, that's because "Ottoman colonialism," as you choose to call it, in the Levant was relatively benign compared to the Anglo-French dispensation which followed the eviction of the Turks there, and involved parliamentary representation, open borders, and, of course, nothing even remotely resembling the colonial-settler, apartheid state of Israel. Lest we forget, indeed!
And lo, I learnt therein that which I did not know before!
Did you know, for example, that according to Rechter, "the assault on Beersheva [sic: Beersheba]," "lead [sic: led] to the Balfour Declaration supporting the establishment of the State of Israel"?
Whether this astonishing revelation is Rechter's, or Dapin's, or both, I do not know, but there you go: the taking of Beersheba from the Turks by the Australian Light Horse on October 31, 1917, directly sparked the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917!
One pictures Britain's foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, eyes aglow, turning to his War Cabinet colleagues on November 1, and saying:
'I say, chaps, I hear the colonials have just stormed some God-forsaken Turkish rathole in Palestine called... err... Beirut... no, no, not Beirut... B... B... B... that's it, Beersheba - so, hey, let's give Palestine to the Jews, shall we?'
And they, replying as one:
'Brilliant, Arthur! Your logic is impeccable!'
'Isn't it always, gentlemen. Now let's see.' Balfour scribbles away. 'How's this? Dear Lord Rothschild, the British army has just captured Beersheba. Let the State of Israel begin! Now! And seeing this matter is so frightfully urgent, gentlemen, let's drop everything, war and all, and issue it tomorrow, which is, if I'm not mistaken, and I never am (chuckles), is November 2, 1917. Let it be known as the Beirut... no... the Beersheba... no... the Balfour Declaration!
Cabinet, as one:
Way to go, Arthur...
Rechter then quotes a short extract from Dapin's book, in which we discover that which is entirely new to archaeology: "... the pyramids of Gaza..."
***
While on the subject of WWI history, I really can't let this priceless editorial letter (The Australian, 4/5/17) by Howard Dewhirst of Burleigh Heads, Qld, go without a mention:
"One thing Yassmin Abdel-Megied forgot is that World War I ended several hundred years of Ottoman colonialism. Why is it good to recall the disappearance of the British Empire and not good to note the same feelings about Ottoman colonialism? The Gallipoli campaign was a failure but helped to win the war, thereby contributing to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire."
Maybe, Howard, that's because "Ottoman colonialism," as you choose to call it, in the Levant was relatively benign compared to the Anglo-French dispensation which followed the eviction of the Turks there, and involved parliamentary representation, open borders, and, of course, nothing even remotely resembling the colonial-settler, apartheid state of Israel. Lest we forget, indeed!
Thursday, April 27, 2017
No Apology Necessary, Yassmin
I see that the Murdoch press has, predictably, raised a hue and cry over an Anzac Day FB post - Lest we forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine) - by Muslim activist and ABC television presenter Yassmin Abdel-Magied. According to The Australian, it "sparked scores of outraged responses, with many accusing Abdel-Magied of disrespecting Australian soldiers." (Muslim blogger's 'disrespectful' message deleted, Pia Akerman, 26/4/17)
Yes, I'm sure it did. The entire Abdel-Magied Monitor unit at NewsCorpse must have been, like, spewin'.
As it happens, Yassmin ended up deleting, and apologising for, the post on the same day. But really, what was the need? Frankly, who gives a toss what the Murdoch press thinks! And anyway, isn't NewsCorpse the self-appointed defender of free speech against the dreaded political correctness?
What's more, thinking Anzacs would have approved of Yassmin's post.
After all, here's what Australia's last Anzac, Alec Campbell, had to say about Gallipoli on his deathbed in 2002: "For God's sake, don't glorify Gallipoli - it was a terrible fiasco, a total failure and best forgotten."
And this from Anzac Len Hall: "Next time I would fight for the Turks. They are good people and it was their land not ours." (See my 23/4/13 post Real Anzacs Don't Wave Flags. Under the AIF label below.)
But let's look on the bright side. In a 25/11/16 post Ya Yassmin, I voiced my irritation at Yassmin's doing a gig in Tel-Aviv as part of a government-sponsored speaking tour of the Middle East and Africa last year. I went on to note, however, that she had (in Ramallah?) acquired (or was given) a copy of Joe Sacco's amazing/must-read/must-have graphic history, Palestine, and expressed the hope that as she read it, "the proverbial light bulb" would grow "ever brighter in her head," and that this would be the beginning of "an intellectual journey" for her.
Well, I'm pleased to say that her Anzac Day FB post, with its reference to Palestine, seems to have confirmed that hope.
You might recall an earlier hue and cry over SBS presenter Scott McIntyre, who referred to the commemoration of Anzac Day, in a 2015 Anzac Day tweet, as "Remembering the summary executions, widespread rape and theft committed by those 'brave' Anzacs in Egypt, Palestine* and Japan." (He also added, "Wonder if the poorly-read, largely white, nationalist drinkers and gamblers pause today to consider the horror that all mankind suffered.")
Scott refused to apologise, was duly sacked by his employer, and went on to fight an unfair dismissal case which was settled out of court last year. Again, on April 24, 2016, he tweeted yet another anti-war message, "Heroism on demand, senseless violence, all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism," and backed up his 2015 tweet with chapter and verse from the historical record.
[See my 29/7/09 post The Sarafand Massacre.]
Yes, I'm sure it did. The entire Abdel-Magied Monitor unit at NewsCorpse must have been, like, spewin'.
As it happens, Yassmin ended up deleting, and apologising for, the post on the same day. But really, what was the need? Frankly, who gives a toss what the Murdoch press thinks! And anyway, isn't NewsCorpse the self-appointed defender of free speech against the dreaded political correctness?
What's more, thinking Anzacs would have approved of Yassmin's post.
After all, here's what Australia's last Anzac, Alec Campbell, had to say about Gallipoli on his deathbed in 2002: "For God's sake, don't glorify Gallipoli - it was a terrible fiasco, a total failure and best forgotten."
And this from Anzac Len Hall: "Next time I would fight for the Turks. They are good people and it was their land not ours." (See my 23/4/13 post Real Anzacs Don't Wave Flags. Under the AIF label below.)
But let's look on the bright side. In a 25/11/16 post Ya Yassmin, I voiced my irritation at Yassmin's doing a gig in Tel-Aviv as part of a government-sponsored speaking tour of the Middle East and Africa last year. I went on to note, however, that she had (in Ramallah?) acquired (or was given) a copy of Joe Sacco's amazing/must-read/must-have graphic history, Palestine, and expressed the hope that as she read it, "the proverbial light bulb" would grow "ever brighter in her head," and that this would be the beginning of "an intellectual journey" for her.
Well, I'm pleased to say that her Anzac Day FB post, with its reference to Palestine, seems to have confirmed that hope.
You might recall an earlier hue and cry over SBS presenter Scott McIntyre, who referred to the commemoration of Anzac Day, in a 2015 Anzac Day tweet, as "Remembering the summary executions, widespread rape and theft committed by those 'brave' Anzacs in Egypt, Palestine* and Japan." (He also added, "Wonder if the poorly-read, largely white, nationalist drinkers and gamblers pause today to consider the horror that all mankind suffered.")
Scott refused to apologise, was duly sacked by his employer, and went on to fight an unfair dismissal case which was settled out of court last year. Again, on April 24, 2016, he tweeted yet another anti-war message, "Heroism on demand, senseless violence, all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism," and backed up his 2015 tweet with chapter and verse from the historical record.
[See my 29/7/09 post The Sarafand Massacre.]
Friday, November 25, 2016
Ya Yassmin...
As I've wondered before, what other Australian embassy carries on like our embassy in Israel? (For the backstory on this, just click on the Dave Sharma label below.) Anyhow, here's the latest:
"Australia's embassy in Israel has hosted Yassmin Abdel Magied a prominent young Australian voice on gender equality, overcoming unconscious bias, and women's empowerment... Her flying visit included a morning spent at Tel Aviv's Bialik Rogozin School for... students from underprivileged backgrounds... Yassmin lectured to a packed auditorium at the Tel Aviv University on overcoming bias in the workplace..." (Australia embassy hosts prominent young activist, jwire.com.au, 23/11/16)
Yassmin, 25, is described by jwire as being born in Sudan and migrating to Australia at the age of two; "a qualified mechanical engineer with years of working on an oilrig"; a "founder of Youth Without Borders"; "Young Australian Muslim of the Year"; and an "amateur boxer, racing car designer, footballer and motorsport enthusiast."
I'll try to be as charitable as I can here, OK?
Obviously, Yassmin's 25 years on planet earth have been so frenetic that she simply hasn't had the time to put 2+2 together on the subject of Israel. Otherwise, the enormous irony inherent in the prospect of lecturing the beneficiaries of an apartheid regime on the subject of workplace (or any other kind of) bias would have dissuaded her from agreeing to play the useful fool for Israel.
***
Now since writing the above, I notice from Yassmin's tweets that Tel Aviv was just one stop (18/11) on 'Yassmin's Middle East Speaking Tour, and followed an appearance in Ramallah (14-15/11). She's also tweeted (22/11) that she's got a copy of Joe Sacco's wonderful graphic history, Palestine. Perhaps this was presented to her in Ramallah. Let's hope she's now engrossed in reading it, cover to cover, that the proverbial light bulb is growing ever brighter in her head, and that it's the beginning of an intellectual journey.
Cross fingers...
"Australia's embassy in Israel has hosted Yassmin Abdel Magied a prominent young Australian voice on gender equality, overcoming unconscious bias, and women's empowerment... Her flying visit included a morning spent at Tel Aviv's Bialik Rogozin School for... students from underprivileged backgrounds... Yassmin lectured to a packed auditorium at the Tel Aviv University on overcoming bias in the workplace..." (Australia embassy hosts prominent young activist, jwire.com.au, 23/11/16)
Yassmin, 25, is described by jwire as being born in Sudan and migrating to Australia at the age of two; "a qualified mechanical engineer with years of working on an oilrig"; a "founder of Youth Without Borders"; "Young Australian Muslim of the Year"; and an "amateur boxer, racing car designer, footballer and motorsport enthusiast."
I'll try to be as charitable as I can here, OK?
Obviously, Yassmin's 25 years on planet earth have been so frenetic that she simply hasn't had the time to put 2+2 together on the subject of Israel. Otherwise, the enormous irony inherent in the prospect of lecturing the beneficiaries of an apartheid regime on the subject of workplace (or any other kind of) bias would have dissuaded her from agreeing to play the useful fool for Israel.
***
Now since writing the above, I notice from Yassmin's tweets that Tel Aviv was just one stop (18/11) on 'Yassmin's Middle East Speaking Tour, and followed an appearance in Ramallah (14-15/11). She's also tweeted (22/11) that she's got a copy of Joe Sacco's wonderful graphic history, Palestine. Perhaps this was presented to her in Ramallah. Let's hope she's now engrossed in reading it, cover to cover, that the proverbial light bulb is growing ever brighter in her head, and that it's the beginning of an intellectual journey.
Cross fingers...
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