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the only pathway to a secure and prosperous future....

The Israeli embassy has criticised Labor’s draft Israel-Gaza platform ahead of this week’s national conference, warning it places too much responsibility on Israel.

The Israeli embassy has made an extraordinary intervention in Australian domestic politics, criticising aspects of the draft party platform on the Israel-Gaza conflict that goes to Labor’s national conference in Adelaide this week.

 

Michelle Grattan

Israeli embassy attacks Labor’s draft Gaza platform

 

In a long statement issued Monday, the embassy said several of its elements “risk placing responsibility for the conflict on one party while giving insufficient attention to the decisions, conduct and continuing obligations of the Palestinian leadership and terrorist organisations such as Hamas”.

The intervention is likely to stir anger in sections of the Labor party, in which Gaza is a highly sensitive issue and pro-Palestinian feeling is strong.

Those managing the conference anticipate a debate on the issue but have hoped to keep it as low key as possible.

The draft, much beefed up and expanded from the previous platform, reaffirms Labor’s support for a two-state solution “as the only pathway to a secure and prosperous future that respects the aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis alike”.

It notes the Albanese government’s recognition of the State of Palestine – which has been a point of public contention with Israel. It also condemns terrorism and violent extremism, including by Hamas.

The draft states bluntly: “Labor opposes the annexation of Palestinian territory and wants Israel to bring its illegal settlement activity and the occupation to an end”.

“Labor urges the Government to prevent any support being given to illegal settlement activity or extremist settler violence, and to implement further action and sanctions as necessary.”

The draft also “acknowledges the findings of the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion on the Legal consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem”.

“Under international humanitarian law, Israel must comply with obligations as an occupying power, including in respect of food and medical supplies for the Palestinian civilian population,” the draft says.

“Australia has always stood against the death penalty as an inhumane and degrading form of punishment. Labor condemns recent Knesset legislation and all other discriminatory laws which target Palestinians.”

In its statement the embassy re-prosecutes in detail Israel’s position on a number of issues.

The embassy says it notes policy motions are still in draft form and “will continue to engage constructively with with the Australian Labor Party through the usual diplomatic channels”.

It encourages “all political parties to frame their policies not around assigning blame, but around promoting the conditions that history demonstrates are essential for lasting peace”.

It says those conditions include:

  • the recognition of Israel’s historic connection to the land and right to exist
  • the cessation of terrorism by all Palestinian organisations
  • the dismantling and disarmament of Hamas and other terrorist groups
  • an end to incitement and the glorification of terrorism; and
  • direct negotiations leading to a secure and enduring peace.

“Israel has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to make difficult compromises when genuine peace is possible,” the embassy says.

“It remains committed to a future in which Israelis and Palestinians live alongside one another in peace and security.

“That future, however, cannot be built through unilateral political declarations or international pressure directed at only one side.”

https://theconversation.com/israel-attacks-labors-draft-platform-on-israel-gaza-conflict-287187

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

         RABID ATHEIST.

         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….

 

 

gala....

 

Dr Mohammed Mustafa Keynote Address MWM 10th Anniversary Gala Dinner

by Michael West

 

Dr Mo Mustafa, a Palestinian-Australian ER doctor, spent months treating patients inside Gaza’s hospitals while journalists were barred from entering. At MWM’s 10th Anniversary Gala Dinner, he talks with Doctor Matiu to explain why he started filming on his phone after an MSF colleague told him it broke the rules, and how doctors became some of the only outside witnesses to what was happening.

He recounts a mass casualty night when the hospital ran out of beds, meetings with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong over a mobile hospital still waiting to enter Gaza, and the story of a nine-year-old girl who walked three kilometres carrying her three-year-old brother after losing the rest of her family. He also discusses a new antisemitism definition adopted by Australia’s health regulator, and what it could mean for doctors who speak publicly about what they saw.

00:00 – Wendy Harmer Intro
01:58 – Voices From Gaza
05:04 – Picking Up the Camera
09:34 – Price of Access
12:55 – Lessons From History
17:44 – Fight for a Hospital
18:21 – Starmer, Wong and Ireland
21:59 – Truth Speaks Back
23:11 – The Ceasefire Breaks
24:24 – Carrying Her Brother
27:44 – The Health Regulator’s Threat
28:24 – The Story of Moses
31:49 – Audience Questions
36:17 – A Call for Change

https://michaelwest.com.au/dr-mohammed-mustafa-keynote-address-mwm-10th-anniversary-gala-dinner-the-west-report/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

         RABID ATHEIST.

         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….

arms dealers....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m--49BkC7e4

Israeli arms dealers in UK threaten journalists

 

Israel’s largest arms firms angrily refused to answer questions from independent media at an arms fair in England on Monday.

They had been invited to the Farnborough International Airshow despite being required by French authorities to cover their stands in black drapes at the Paris airshow last year.

One company at Farnborough, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), even threatened to report journalists to police for asking questions about its role in the Gaza genocide.

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

         RABID ATHEIST.

         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….

bias....

Much of the evidence at the Bondi Royal Commission is one-sided, uncontested and delusional. So much for ‘social cohesion’, Jeffrey Loewenstein reports.

Anyone who followed the evidence given at the Royal Commission on July 13 will have heard what a young woman, Liat (not her real name), said about how she was accused of being a “baby killer” and a “genocide supporter”, as well as the almost unchallenged “evidence” of Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal.

Liat is a young woman studying at Canberra University. While Liat felt put upon and threatened by what she was accused of, she was not cross-examined about her feelings and attitude to Israel. It would also seem that Liat is either ignorant of or not prepared to accept that Israel has killed 20,179 children in Gaza, starved and maimed children, and left 58,550 as orphans – a direct result of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Like so many of the witnesses at the hearing, Liat expressed no empathy, concern, sadness, or even being slightly troubled by the situation in which Gazans find themselves. One has to assume that Liat, too, is a rusted-on 100% supporter of Israel no matter what.

She would doubtlessly accept that Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu speaks for all the Jews everywhere in the world.

Righteous anger

Significantly, while Liat and her cohorts ascribe what was said to her as antisemitic it was not the common slur of “bloody Jews” or “f….the Jews” but rather specifically directed to an anti-Zionist sentiment. Query whether your average punter even knows what Zionism actually is.

Liat and other members of the Jewish community who have given evidence at the Royal Commission – and not cross-examined it would seem – have not shown one bit of introspection that perhaps, just perhaps, Israel’s clear and calculated actions in Gaza (and now in Lebanon) may have triggered the outrage Australians feel at what Israel has wrought.

If the Liats of this world seek to so openly identify with and be supportive of  Israel – and go so far as accusing people criticising Israel as antisemites (even describing Jews who are critical of Israel as anti-Jewish ) then it is to be expected that


people will vent their anger at Israel and its supporters in Australia.

 

Liat and others may not like Israel being accused of genocide despite what many of Israel’s Cabinet Ministers and IDF Generals have openly proclaimed – that they will rid Gaza of its peoples.

The deafening silence

Anyone who has attended any of the weekly rallies around Australia will have heard Palestinians expressing their profound and deep grief for members of family killed or starved to death in Gaza by Israelis. The response from the wider Jewish community? Absolute silence … other than from the Jewish Council of Australia.

If – and it’s a big if! – the usual pro-Israel suspects (including the two prominent Jewish members of Parliament – Josh Burns and Julian Leeser) are genuinely troubled that Jews are being attacked for being Jewish, then rather than generalised babble such as expressing concern about “what is happening in the Middle East” they should be employing their ready public voice and capacity to reach out to some one million Arab/Muslim community in Australia.

After all, isn’t social cohesion the current mantra and buzz word?

Not to be ignored in all of this is many Australians know that some 500-600 Australians have gone to Israel and fought with the IDF – the very military which has clearly been shown (we have all watched TV, read newspapers and social media posts and online publications and heard reports on radio) to have engaged in atrocities.

The ‘special’ envoy

Which brings us to Jillian Segal, the so-called Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism.

For starters, she has no qualifications or expertise to bring to the table as a student, researcher, or publisher on antisemitism. Her career has been in commerce, business and the public service. Segal’s only ‘qualification’ is that she is a one-time president of the ECAJ, the ubiquitous pro-Israel Jewish lobby group in  Australia. She was also the Chair of the Australia-Israel Chamber of  Commerce and a board member of Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science.

What has clearly emerged since Segal took up her position is that she is 100% batting for Israel and the Australian Jewish community and deflects any criticism of Israel. She is endeavouring to establish a regime whereby the media and universities and others will be judged by whether they have engaged in antisemitism in accordance with the contested IHRA definition, or more importantly what Segal and her cohorts say it is.

Forget about any democratic principles of open and free speech. And Segal is calling for hand-picked appointees to things like the ABC and SBS to oversee whether what is broadcast or shown is “balanced”.

Segal and Hanson

Segal’s integrity and truthfulness are also open to challenge. Having given sworn evidence at the Royal Commission that the number of deaths in Gaza was “grossly inflated”, responding on behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said, “For us the Ministry of Health in Gaza is a source we, and many others, often cite. Independent validation of subsets of the data has found no significant discrepancies in  their numbers.”

One needs to assess Segal with critical opprobrium and healthy scepticism, as she has been singularly silent and absent from any public statements or discourse abhorring the clearly racist public pronouncements by Pauline Hanson.

Shamefully, Segal is currently AWOL.

Why? Might it just have something to do with a position which aligns with the right-wing views of the Israeli Government? Or the significant number of Australian Jews who are simply racist? Or, to be charitable, is it that Segal isn’t across her brief and has conveniently overlooked that the Royal Commission was set up to address, amongst other things, social cohesion?

https://michaelwest.com.au/a-message-to-liat-and-jillian-segal-special-envoy-to-combat-antisemitism/

 

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PLEASE VISIT:

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

         RABID ATHEIST.

         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….