An interesting editorial in today’s Sydney Morning Herald on the Durban II conference (refreshingly challenging the Zionist lobby to stop whinging so much and chasing shadows): When the nearly 200 nations of the world get down to try to hammer out a common position on human rights, you can expect a fair amount of hypocrisy…
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Durban II, the how, why and who
The farce currently taking place in Geneva, known as Durban II, has already thrown up a veritable collection of freaks, distractions, nutty celebrities (what the hell is Angelina Jolie’s dad, Jon Voight, doing there?) and agendas. What follows is a small selection of the issues raised (and yet more evidence that the Western world, led…
Denying reality is what they’re good at
The following letters appear in this week’s Australian Jewish News: Jeff Halper in The Sydney Morning Herald (10/04) wrote, “Diaspora Jews need to revalidate Diaspora Jewish culture (that Zionism dismissed as superficial and ephemeral) and find genuine, compelling reasons why their children should remain Jewish. Blindly supporting Israel’s extreme right-wing and militaristic policies is not…
Just try saying no for once
Following the recent criticism of the local Zionist lobby sending journalists and politicians on free trips to Israel, today’s Canberra Times features an interesting piece by Joe Wakim, founder of the Australian Arabic Council and a former multicultural affairs commissioner: If we are going to blow the whistle on undeclared overseas junkets by our MPs,…
Their Israel does not exist
Independent Australian Jewish Voices blogger Michael Brull beautifully skewers the parochialism and racism within the Australian Jewish News, a paper containing countless examples of paranoid, bigoted and clueless Jews. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. This is how Jews want to be viewed in the wider community? Some clearly do. Palestinians are…
And we wonder why the Jewish community is so sick
The following letters appear in this week’s Australian Jewish News: Unhelpful to whom? Jeff Halper, (AJN 03/04), the recent visitor from Israel to our shores, seems to judge Diaspora Jewry’s relations towards Israel according to his own views of his country. A quick lesson in our Diaspora-Israel (not Israel-Diaspora) relations before his visit would have…
Another rogue state lines up
Last night I attended this moving event outside the Australian Prime Minister’s Sydney water-front home, in an attempt to force the government to pressure the Sri Lankan regime to stop its insane campaign against the Tamil people: More than 1,000 Tamil protesters, mostly families with small children, staged a sit-down protest blocking the junction of…
Don’t take these junkets
It’s encouaraging that the Sydney Morning Herald runs this story today, continuing the necessary push-back against free trips to Israel taken by journalists and politicians, mostly too clueless (or pleased?) to realise that such visits seem to magically end up resulting in returnees praising the wonders of democratic Israel. Have these free-loaders no back-bone? How…
Triggering a necessary clash
The Israel Lobby co-author Stephen Walt has a few helpful tips for the Obama administration in pressuring Israel to improve its behaviour. Such as: In the past, the United States has often pressed other states to upgrade their own ties with Israel.… If pressure is needed, however, the United States could try a different tack.… …
The Zionist lobby fails, Jewish voices are heard
Following my publication on March 31 of Israel peace activist Jeff Halper’s reflection on Australia’s myopic Jewish community, today’s Sydney Morning Herald publishes a version of this article titled, “Diaspora Jewry needs to let go of idealised Israel.” The Zionist lobby will not be pleased.