31 December 2017

PARALLEL WORLDS: GAZA AND ISRAEL - OR IN OTHER WORDS THE WORLD'S LARGEST CONCENTRATION CAMP







Parallel Worlds: Gaza and Israel



Photo by Sebastian Baryli | CC BY 2.0

History is inexplicable.  It has a way of seizing the chosen few to deliver a commanding message that transcends the tapered, often rote, confines of time, place and journey.

Like the mystery of magic, defining moments seem to find powerful launch through the flash of a sudden second and echo through the voice of those destined to become iconic well beyond the rhyme of powerful lyric alone.

To them, theirs is a journey of the ages. For those fortunate enough to witness such passage it is a transcendent reminder that greatness is measured not through acquired wealth or power but by the prompt of the principle, courage and sacrifice of the few.

Who can forget Faris Odeh, 15 years old when he stared down a tank with little more than a stone in his hand, murdered by Israel in Gaza?  Or 23 year old Rachel Corrie, on that mist covered morning, armed with a bullhorn as she faced off against a bulldozer to save a home, murdered by Israel in Gaza.

And now legend has taken 29 year old Ibrahim Abu Thuraya from us.  Disabled but not disarmed, he had the boldness to stand his ground clutching his weapon, the flag he loved… murdered by Israel in Gaza.

What is there about a tiny enclave known as Gaza that so offends, so alarms, so intimidates Israel? It would be far too easy to say nothing and simply reduce it to Tel Aviv’s voracious chase of its off-shore gas reserves or its potential as a Mediterranean tourist coastline …once cleansed of its native population and the destruction which bears the marked Star of David.

No. Gaza terrorizes Israel not by force of arms but through the endless resound of its resilience and the muscle of its inspiration.

To millions of Palestinians under siege in Palestine, or those forcibly exiled by a Diaspora now 70 years of age, and to its chorus of supporters worldwide, Gaza stands as a shining beacon of resistance and hope.  Yet, to romanticize Gaza is to lend excuse to Israel and no such apologia will be offered here.

50 miles from the destruction that is Gaza sits Tel Aviv… as so much a marker of grotesque Israeli indifference.

Indeed, not a day passes without a new tease from the “third hottest city” in the world and “party capitol of the middle east” whether it’s the pristine Mediterranean seashore, cosmopolitan restaurants, coffeehouses, and galleries or hip after hour dance and bar scene of the “City that Never Sleeps.”

Ranked as the 25th most important financial center in the world, Tel Aviv has the third-largest economy of any city in the Middle East and draws well over a million international visitors annually to its numerous upscale hotels. Home to Israel’s only stock exchange, it has some 70 skyscrapers as tall as an American football field and includes one with 80 floors topped by a spire 150 feet in height.

Described as a “miniature Los Angeles,” Tel Aviv has been called one of the 10 most technologically influential cities in the world. Serving as home to numerous venture-capital firms and scientific
research institutes, it has hundreds of startup companies, textile plants and food manufacturers.

Israel’s second largest municipality, Tel Aviv never wants for “culture” and entertainment. Its population of almost half a million, with an unemployment rate of approximately 4% and income 20% above the national average, can choose from eighteen of Israel’s 35 major centers for the performing arts. The Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center is home of the Israeli Opera and the Cameri Theatre. The Heichal HaTarbut is Tel Aviv’s largest theatre and home to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

But an hour’s drive, yet worlds away, sits Gaza; home to two million Palestinians.

Once known, in polite social circles, as the earth’s largest open air prison, it long ago moved on from jail to Israeli administered death camp. Whether by embargo or bombs, it is simply impossible to watch the life and death of the coastal enclave without seeing Israel’s criminal plan unfold.

With the first blush of sunrise, the streets of Gaza City fill rapidly with those who’ve survived its ritual night of darkness illuminated solely by bursts of another Israeli bombing run.  For them, with each passing hour, the taste of daylight portends a constant race against what little time remains to shop at empty markets, rush for medicines long gone, or dangerously dated, search for missing bottled water, or attend to the needs of family too paralyzed or ill to join the chase.

While Tel Aviv remains a constant tease of new ventures, glorious dining and enrapt theater going, Gaza lives a repetition of bare survival… at least for the lucky.

For others, it’s an endless wail of mourn as infants are laid to rest with lungs once barely filled with the breath of life. Alongside them sleep the young who, traumatized by the unbearable pain of living, tragically surrendered to the calm of willing death. Next to them lie the “elderly” who grew old and ill far too soon while their generation is coming of age and power everywhere else.

By now, it seems some have grown inured, indeed, comfortable with the visible suffer that is uniquely Gaza. Unlike an explosive genocide that unfolds overnight, impossible for many to ignore, Gaza has long simmered out of sight…out of mind.

Entering its second decade of complete isolation and embargo, Gaza periodically, inevitably, explodes from mindless rage in which Israel seeks to “mow the lawn” for little more than the embattled enclave’s determined resilience.

In late 2008 through early 2009, Israel unleashed an all out military attack on the defenseless population of Gaza. When the toxic white phosphorous cleared, some 1,417, mostly civilians, lay dead along with 13 Israeli soldiers… 4 from friendly fire.

In 2014, Israel undertook a 50 day all-out assault on Gaza as it once again targeted the entire enclave with massive disproportionate force.

Although some debate continues over the exact results, according to most estimates up to 2,310 were killed of whom 1,492 were civilians, including 551 children and 299 women. Another 10,895 were wounded including 3,374 children of whom 1,000 were left permanently disabled. 

Among the infrastructure leveled were 220 factories, dairy farms with livestock and the orange groves of Beit Hanoun.  138 schools and 26 health facilities were damaged and thousands of homes totally destroyed or severely damaged. The lone power station in Gaza and its transmission lines was targeted and severely damaged.  Sewage pumps and a major sewage pipe serving 500,000 inhabitants were destroyed. 10 out of 26 hospitals were damaged or destroyed along with several TV stations. 203 mosques were damaged, with 73 destroyed … along with two of Gaza’s three Christian churches.
Israel lost 66 soldiers and 5 civilians, including one child. 469 Israeli soldiers and 261 civilians were injured.

Four years later, conditions have only worsened in Gaza. Where once the UN announced it would be uninhabitable by 2020, for all intents and purposes, that day has come and gone. Yet the determination of its people continues on.

Gaza Today

Today, years of Israeli attacks and siege, have left Gaza reeling from an absence of a basic infrastructure capable of meeting even the minimal needs of its two million people.

Whether its electricity, clean water, healthcare, or sewage treatment and waste management, Gaza is undergoing a very public humanitarian crisis now entering its second decade.

In Gaza, abject poverty is rampant. At 41.1 percent, the unemployment rate is the highest in the world. Its youth unemployment is 64 percent. Currently there are 50,000 young women and men with university and graduate degrees unable to find work in their chosen fields… or any other. That figure grows each year by some 17,000 to 18,000. While once the industrial and production sectors offered more than 120,000 job opportunities per year, now less than 7,000 such positions become available.
Although thousands of homes damaged or destroyed during Israel’s attack in 2014 are still in need of repair, the construction sector is practically idle and essentially out of business. It used to contribute
to about 22 percent of local production and offered some 70,000 job opportunities.

Sixty per cent of Gaza lives under the poverty line. Over a fifth of it lives in “deep poverty.”

According to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), “over 80 percent of the people in Gaza depend on humanitarian assistance.”

Another report by UNOCHA found that over 80 percent of its displaced families have borrowed money to get by in the past year, over 85 percent purchased most of their food on credit, and over 40 percent have decreased their consumption of food.

According to UNICEF a third of Gaza’s children suffer from chronic malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies that can stunt development and affect overall health.

In other, less visible, ways, the residual impact of years of Israeli attacks and a decade long siege have produced a palpable and deleterious psychological impact on the people in Gaza.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack OCHA estimated that at least 373,000 children required psychosocial support. Today the UNRWA Community Mental Health Programme has found that Gazans are experiencing increasingly higher levels of stress and distress. The World Health Organization (WHO) has found Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to be widespread with studies indicating that upwards of 54% of Gaza’s children, teens and adults either symptomatic, or suffering from its full-on effects.

According to WHO between 10 and 20 percent of the population suffer from severe mental illness. Because of isolation, community pressure or lack of treatment opportunities the figure is likely much higher. Once unheard of, suicide has now becoming a familiar occurrence in Gaza clearly suggesting that the coping skills of Palestinians are being exhausted. Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported at least 95 people tried to commit suicide in the Gaza Strip in the first quarter of 2016, a nearly 40 percent increase from previous years.

Life in Darkness

For nearly a decade, Tel Aviv has held a yearly blackout in support of Earth Hour. Meanwhile, millions of nearby Palestinians struggle to eke out a life of bare existence with twenty-one hours of darkness each and every day.

Indeed, while Tel Aviv has converted an idle power station named “Gan HaHashmal” (Electricity Park) into a public park, recently OCHA published new data that shows electricity for Gaza has dropped to a total of just three hours daily and at times that vary from day to day. Lacking any advance notice as to when the electricity will go on, or off, the most rudimentary of life’s work is left largely to little more than blind wish leaving familial, educational, employment and health tasks either undone or incomplete.

According to the WHO, power cuts and fuel shortages have created constant crises for Gaza’s 14 public hospitals; threatening the closure of essential health services leaving thousands of people without access to life-saving medical care.

In Shifa hospital, tiny premature babies, some with multiple infections or congenital diseases, lie crammed in incubators fighting for life as lights sputter. With electricity virtually cut off, their life support is entirely powered by a generator with unpredictable current.

At any given time, power loss threatens the lives of hundreds of the new-born and adults in neonatal and intensive care units and some 658 patients requiring bi-weekly haemodialysis, including 23 children. Refrigeration systems for blood and vaccine storage are also at risk.

With adversity often the mother of invention, many in Gaza have struggled to keep pace with the needs of energy through use of poorly vented generator systems and candle light when available.

According to Al Mezan, 29 people including 24 children have died since 2010 from fire or suffocation incidents related to attempts to overcome power outage. In one such tragedy, three
siblings were killed after their home caught fire from the candles being used during the power outage.

Water Crises in Gaza

While Tel Aviv holds a yearly contest with an award of free parking to the family that has consumed the least amount of water, in Gaza it would be a competition without a challenge.

As a result of repeated attacks that have targeted Gaza’s water infrastructure… and a 10 year embargo on materials necessary for its repair, a crises in the making has now reached one of epic proportions unmatched anywhere else in the world.

For two million people, it is estimated that 3% of the water of Gaza remains fit for human consumption. In particular, it poses grave risks to its children.

As a result of untreated sewage dumped into the Mediterranean Sea, agricultural chemicals and unfiltered seawater, the rest of Gaza’s water is dangerous; 68% of it biologically contaminated during storage or transportation to Gaza’s households. Indeed, recent studies have shown Gaza’s water contains a large concentration of chloride… as well, nitrate rates two to eight times higher than the WHO recommends.

Recently the UN warned its underground water aquifer, upon which the territory is almost entirely dependent, will soon be completely contaminated; stripping Gaza of access to all its water.
With the shortage of clean water comes the well based fear of a deadly cholera epidemic… particularly in a community with an unusually young population.  This is all the more likely where signs of acute malnutrition and severe wasting are an increasing phenomenon among the young children in Gaza.

Healthcare Dying

Cancer rates are exploding in Gaza. A decade of Israeli wars has poisoned its soil and water, leaving depleted uranium in their wake. Daily spray of insecticides used by Israel to clear border areas, have exacerbated what is becoming a deadly environmental disaster to a community long under siege through every means possible.

According to the head of oncology at Shifa Hospital, today Gaza produces 90 cases of cancer per 100,000 people compared with 65 in 2010. These statistics are particularly ominous given the unusually young population of Gaza with 60% of its residents under 25. Due to a lack of early diagnosis and treatment options in Gaza, women with breast cancer are dying at rates two to three times those receiving first world care.

On top of its energy crises, Gaza suffers from a chronic shortage of hospital beds, medical equipment and specialist physicians.

Treatment for an estimated 6,000 cerebral palsy patients is particularly problematic with many families unable to cover the cost of its specialized care. Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry notes:
The poor financial conditions of families (means they) cannot take responsibility for their children who suffer from cerebral palsy or provide them with medical care such as physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy.
According to the World Bank, 56 % of all Palestinians have no access to “reasonable and customary” healthcare. For those few, in Gaza, with the financial ability to obtain necessary health care, a lack of embargoed “sensitive” medications has created a “very very dangerous” situation with dozens of drugs unavailable… including antibiotic skin ointment and medicines to treat infants born with hypoglycemia and to counteract venomous snake bites. The UN reports that 34% of essential life preserving drugs at the Central Drug Store in Gaza are completely out of stock.

According to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel  (PHRI), the public health system is not able to provide specialized treatments for complex medical problems in a variety of fields including neonatal care, cardiology, orthopedics and oncology. Moreover, nearly 50 percent of Gaza’s medical equipment is outdated and the average wait for spare parts is approximately six months. With few functioning mammography machines and the unavailability of radiation treatment, lumpectomies and plastic surgery, women with breast cancer routinely receive mastectomies as the only option.

The energy crisis has shed light on the huge rise in babies born with congenital, and other, disabilities who are waiting to leave Gaza for specialist treatment in Israel or elsewhere. For many, the wait for the much sought after exit permit can prove too long to survive.

Recently, three seriously ill babies died after permits to grant the children treatment in Israel were denied by the Palestinian Authority.  Earlier this year, a 5 year old girl with cerebral palsy died while waiting permission from Israel to leave for external treatment.  Not long thereafter, another 5 year old boy and 22 year old man died waiting permission to obtain treatment outside of Gaza.

Ka’enat Mustafa Ja’arour, 42, died of uterine cancer while awaiting a response to her permit request for treatment at a hospital in Jerusalem.  In May, 52-year-old Talat Mahmoud Sulaiman al-Shawi, a resident of Rafah, died after being denied entry to Israel to treat a kidney tumor. In August, Fatin Nader Ahmed, 26, died in hospital, while awaiting a travel permit for treatment for her brain cancer.

So far this year, 20 patients have died after their exit permits were either denied or not granted in time. Physicians report that another 10 who, in July, died of cancer but could have been saved if they had been transferred elsewhere for treatment.

A short distance from Gaza, Israeli patients receive the benefit of complex medical treatment from some of the finest and most specialized hospital and emergency care centers in the world.

The Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center has been selected as one of the world’s top 10 medical destinations specializes in adult and pediatric neurosurgery, orthopedic and surgical oncology, kidney-pancreas transplants, liver transplants, micro neurosurgery and trauma.

The Assuta Hospital, in Tel Aviv, is part of Israel’s largest private medical service and offers surgeries and diagnostic procedures in all fields of medicine; including cardiology, oncology, gynecology and urology.

The Wolfson Medical Center, on the southern border of Tel Aviv, addresses a wide range of health conditions from malaria to diabetes and heart conditions and specialty care in ENT, orthopedics, infectious diseases, pediatrics, OB/GYN, family medicine and psychiatry.

Meanwhile, back in Gaza, Yara Bakheet, age 4, and Aya Abu Mutalq, age 5, are laid to rest… denied access to basic medical treatment that would have saved their lives but for Israel’s delay in granting an exit visa for treatment.

Gaza Lives

In the light of this nightmare, some wonder what can drive hundreds, at times, thousands of young women and men to the edge of steel barricades and barbed wire that make their home a prison built of walls but not of silence.  Yet they struggle on as they toss stones at soldiers hundreds of yards away and ignite fires that pose no threat but speak loudly of freedom.

Ultimately, it’s the indefatigable spirit of these 140 square miles of self-determination that threatens the myth, indeed, puts the lie to the grand sale of an all powerful and democratic Israel.

What little mark Israel has built and, ultimately, will leave behind in the assembled home it seized has been erected not by the call of principled purpose but the drive to become but another mini-empire in a region long known for despots that have placed economic and political profit before people.

At day’s end, it’s a legacy that knows no home, or welcome, but that of brute force.

For empires large and small, real or sham, history is but a predictable march of gaudy pretense.

Gilded shacks built of shallow stilts and tattered shrines, theirs is homage to little more than empty tease. It’s who and what they are… it’s what they do… at least until they crash. And sooner or later they all crash.

Be assured, Israel will not be the exception.

Yes, empires come and go like so much a cheap, but deadly, chase for a call in eternity that welcomes no such guest.  For the learned, it’s a lesson of history acquired not by 140 characters but by keen informed observation. For far too many, empty sound bites have, today, become a defining vision without a view.

Yet, there are crossroads in history where an image, a single glance, depicts more powerfully than the finest of poetic verse, a statement of principle, determination and sacrifice which inspires the winds of time for evermore.

Somewhere, right now Faris Odeh, Rachel Corrie and Ibrahim Abu Thuraya smile down upon us as history’s hope and eternity’s message.

 More articles by:

Stanley L. Cohen is lawyer and activist in New York City.

27 December 2017

HOMOPHOBIA - ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN THE GREEK COMMUNITY IN NORTHCOTE

It was lunch as usual at our Greek cafe in Northcote either before or after a visit to our doctor clinic nearby in Northcote.

There is a table near the door in the cafe and they have items on the table promoting this or that event, and the programmes are free so one can help oneself to whatever is of interest to you.

Two weeks ago we picked up a programme from a large pile for the forthcoming Mardi Gras 2018 event in Sydney.

We looked through it briefly and then took it home to give to our friend who is part of the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives - ALGA - for their collection if they didn't have one already - which they didn't, and the friend asked if we could get a few more copies when we next went to the Clinic, which we did a week later.

We brought home a few extra copies for ALGA, and a few days later the friend brought one of the programmes we had given him to show us what was written inside - homophobic graffiti of the worst kind - and some of the words were Greek ones for homosexuals in the Greek equivalent for poofters.

We have made copies of the pages which had abuse on them - about 32 of the 56 pages of the programme and where they are not plain we have put the words underneath the page in question, starting from page 3.


Page 3:
HALIA
VROMIGS
POOFTA
POUSTI MALAKA - faggot jerk-off
POUSTIES EVERYWHERE
EIEW
YUK

Page 5:




ANOMALIES HAVE DESTROYED THIS EARTH


Page 7:

FAGS ARE GROSS DIRTY PATHETIC FREAKS                              
they look sick
Why do they all look sick? GAY
THIS IS MENTAL ILLNESS
it is NOT NORMAL NOR WILL IT EVER BE
IT'S STUPID YUK DUMB & EVOLUTIONARY ALOGICAL IT'S ILL   YUK






Page 10:

FAGGOTT PARADE



Page 13:

I WANT A BANANA UP MY MAN ASS - FAGGOT


PEDO

Page 15:


Page 18:

FREAK SHOW
YUK
FAGGOT
POOFS
EVERYWHERE


Page 19:
DEMONIC FREAK SHOW
THIS IS DISGUSTING  THIS FAGGOTRY NEEDS TO BE BURNED ALIVE - NOT NORMAL



Page 20:

GAY FUCKERS


Page 21:
GAYS WERE MOLESTED AS KIDS - FAG


Page 23:

PEDO GROOMING IT'S HAPPENING  -   PEDO'S


Page 24:
YUK - WHEN DID THIS FREAK SHOW BEGIN?


Page 25:
POOFTERS ARE SO STUPID - LOL - NOT MEN!!! FAGS R GROSS


Page 26:
FUCK OFF FAGS


Page 27:
YUK


Page 29:
RETARDED MINDS DEPRAVED SOULS DIRTY FILTHY SCUM -  FREAK SHOWS


Page 30:
GAY SUCKS COCKS


Page 31:
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT? REALLY? WHAT THE FUCK? BURN THIS ANOMALIA DIRTY FREAK MENTALLY ILL

Page 35:




BPD     LESO


Page 36:
OHH DERR -  I'M SOOOO FKN DUMB - I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT PURPOSE THERE IS IN LIFE


Page 39:
DIE FAGGOTS


Page 40:
ABOMINATION OF SCHIZOPHRENIC FREAKS


Page 43:
GROW UP AND BE A REAL MAN YOU POOFTERS
YOU NEED JESUS -  FREAKS - YOUR WELCOME "AN ATHEIST"


Page 44:

GROSS FAGGOTS - GAY IS YUK - POOFTERS SUCK VAGINAS



Page 45:
MOMMY ISSUES  - WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?


Page 53:
NATURAL IS BEAUTIFUL  - GAY IS PERVERTED

QUICK LESSON - MAN FUCKS WOMAN  - WOMAN HAS BABY - & START AGAIN!!


Page 55:
DEMONIC ENTITIES  - THEY NEED YOU 'SICK' SO THEY CAN HAVE SLAVES!
GAY, LESO FAGGOTS TRANSGENDER PEDO'S ARE ALL FUCKEN PATHETIC ABNORMAL DEFECTIVE FREAKS - NEVER WILL BE NATURAL - ALWAYS WRONG WRONG WRONG

Page 56:

BAN THIS BULLSHIT



Page 57:

BLOW THEM ALL UP



Page 58:

EQUAL TO WHAT? A GENETIC ABNORMALITY?  POOFTAS











17 December 2017

PINKWASHING OF MELBOURNE PRIDE 2016

The pinkwashing of Melbourne ‘Pride’

By: Bobuck Sayed

Feb 5, 2016
http://archermagazine.com.au/2016/02/the-pinkwashing-of-melbourne-pride/
The protest at this year’s annual ‘Pride’ march in Melbourne, and the violent reaction it subsequently received, draws critical attention to the ethical compromises the queer community has made to gain the power, funding and visibility we now have.
A group of queer and transgender activists disrupted the march in front of the NAB faction with a peaceful sit-in to demonstrate that ‘Pride’ is not simply a celebration, a statement from the group outlines, but a protest fighting for liberation for everyone harmed by heteronormativity, cisnormativity, misogyny, ableism, racism and other forms of oppression.
Video footage shows people from the crowd verbally vilifying the protestors for disrupting the parade and then assaulting them with fists, shoves and discoloured water from hoses and buckets. Each succeeding attack on the masked protestors, who were both able-bodied and disabled, is followed by roaring affirmation from the mob. It is horrifying to watch members of the march aggressively confront the protestors, attempt to steal their flags, litter them with insults, and then have the audacity to demand them to “show your fucking face, you cowards!”
Our queer forbearers fought for our freedom to be out and proud. But what is the Pride movement costing us if the voices and actions of those demonstrating among us are violently silenced and policed?
The protestors’ concerns were with Midsumma Festival’s continued affiliation with ethically compromised corporations who co-opt LGBT causes to valorise their own public image. This phenomenon is called pinkwashing, and there is growing backlash around the world against organisations and governments who intentionally associate themselves with queerness as a marketing campaign, without rectifying the damage they cause to other marginalised communities.
NAB is a major partner of Midsumma Festival, and AGL is a gold-supporting partner, whatever that means. These companies are notorious for investing in fossil fuels and, as such, the socio-environmental devastation that climate change is responsible for. Furthermore, NAB invests in Transfield, which manages the ‘security services’ at offshore refugee processing centres in Nauru and PNG. As the statement from the protesters describes, some of those processed offshore by Transfield are queer and gender diverse. Another sponsor of the festival, Jetstar, is similarly complicit in the forceful deportation of asylum seekers.
The value of a protest against the contentious affiliations of Midsumma, one of the largest queer festivals in Australia, and its ties to fossil fuels and offshore detention centres cannot be ignored. Especially because many of the participants at ‘Pride’ had little knowledge of these affiliations before the protest.
The fact that this political gesture had to be staged in the middle of the march, and received such ardent antagonism from onlookers, testifies to how few opportunities there are for criticism of the queer community to be voiced from within the queer community. Ignoring these examples of our diversity renders us vulnerable to the same dogmatic homogeneity that has historically erased our own histories and visibility.
Many of the onlookers allegedly interpreted the peaceful sit-in as a homophobic gesture, despite the protestors holding a trans flag and proclaiming a banner that read: “Queers Revolt!” If these markers of queerness, alongside the protestors’ chants of ‘no pride in pinkwashing’ and ‘no pride in deportation’, fell on deaf ears, then we need to seriously consider why. The violence they endured must only have exacerbated the existing alienation many trans and queer people feel from a gay culture that has effectively been commodified and deradicalised. There is no humour in police having to defend queer protesters from the trigger happy, violently defensive onlookers at a ‘Pride’ march.

12 December 2017

HOW MUCH LONGER MUST WE PUT UP WITH THE HYPOCRISY OF THE ALP AND COALITION ABOUT DONATIONS???

Sam Dastyiari has been hounded out of parliament by both major parties over his involvement with Chinese business people.

Now try to find out how much both  major political parties have been involved with taking bribes from the main zionist group in Australia making sure that support for Israel will be assured by the Australian federal government in perpetuity.

Who enjoys trips to Israel sponsored by this group AIJAC? Who pays and what politicians take advantage of this offer? Find out whether Julie Bishop, Bill Shorten and many others have had fabulous trips to the zionist apartheid "homeland".

----------------------------------------------------------------


In the following article I have put references to items relating to Israel, Jewish organisations or zionists in italics - red-jos

List of overseas trips and hospitality accepted by Federal MPs

Trips between November 2007 and March 2009

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TONY ABBOTT, LIB, NSW

July 2008: Travel to Israel for six days as guest of Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.
September 2008: Travel with wife to Hawaii as guests of the Australia-America Leadership Dialogue to attend conference.

  

KEVIN ANDREWS, LIB, VIC
 
2008: Accommodation provided by European Ideas Network to attend annual conference. Destination not disclosed.
2008: Participated in international round table conference at Heritage Foundation in Washington DC. Accommodation provided by Heritage Foundation.
BOB BALDWIN, LIB, NSW

Jan 27- Feb 1, 2008: visited Beijing and Nanchang, China, as guest of AFFO Pty Ltd.
Feb 26-Mar 9, 2009: travel to beijing and Shanghai as guest of Australia International Trade Association.

ARCH BEVIS, ALP, QLD

July 1-4, 2008: Centre for Democratic Institutions paid for airfares and accommodation to attend meetings in Jakarta with Commission One of the Indonesian Parliament.
Sept 21-24, 2008: Australia-American Dialogue provided return airfare to Hawaii and 4 days accommodation for conference.
JULIE BISHOP, LIB, WA

Aug 19-23, 2008: Travel, accommodation, hospitality and tickets to Beijing Olympics provided by Channel Seven.

NICK CHAMPION, ALP, SA

2008: overseas travel to China and accommodation with Australian Political Exchange Council.

JASON CLARE, ALP, NSW

Sept 27-Oct 3, 2008: Travel to Japan as guest of Japanese Government.
Oct 29- Nov 6, 2008: Travel to China paid for by China-Australia Friendship Group of the National People's Congress.
Dec 13-20, 2008: Travel to Israel and accommodation as guest of Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.

PETER COSTELLO, LIB, VIC

June 2008: Australian American Leadership Dialogue paid for travel with wife to Washington.
Sept 2008: travel to United States and several days accommodation courtesy of the University of Virginia.

MICHAEL DANBY, ALP, VIC

2008: business class return fare to London and three nights accommodation for Human Rights North Korea conference.
2008: return business class flight Bangkok to Tel Aviv, five nights accommodation sponsored by Australia Israel Cultural Exchange.
2008: one-way business class flight Melbourne to Tokyo, two nights accommodation, sponsored by 2008 International Conference on Global Support for Democratization in China and Asia.

ALEXANDER DOWNER, LIB, SA

Mar 20-25, 2008: Travel to Taiwan to lead International Democratic Union election observers delegation.
April 6-16, 2008: Travel with wife to London paid for by Blue Oar Resources to speak at conference.
April 27-May 6, 2008: Travel to USA paid for by American Jewish Committee to receive award for diplomatic excellence.
June 23-July 2, 2008: Travel to US and UK for Australia American Leadership Dialogue and Haklayt and Co Ltd.
June 21-23, 2008: Travel to Auckland, NZ, to attend Israel Chamber of Commerce gala dinner as guest speaker. Paid for by Zionist Federation of NZ in conjunction with NZ Israel Trade Association.

PETER DUTTON, LIB, QLD

July 10-17, 2008: Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council trip to Israel, business airfares and accommodation.

JENNIE GEORGE, ALP, NSW

Oct 29-Nov 6, 2008: Travel to China as guest China-Australia Friendship Group of the National Peoples Congress.

SHARON GRIERSON, ALP, NSW

Mar 19-27, 2008: Business class travel, hospitality and accommodation from Sydney to Vientiane, Laos, provide by World Bank Institute. Estimated value $8000.
JOE HOCKEY, LIB, NSW

2008: Return air tickets and accommodation to Cebu, Philippines from United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

KAY HULL, NAT, NSW

Feb 29-Mar 2, 2008: Economy-class travel to Taipei, Taiwan, to attend hearing on Asia's Future in a Hotter World at inter-parliamentary hearing on climate, energy and forests in Asia. Accommodation and travel paid for by the E Parliament.
May 17-22, 2008: Travel, accommodation and meals to Taiwan paid for by Taiwan Government.

GREG HUNT, LIB, VIC

2008: Return economy fare to NZ (cost $724) plus 2 nights accommodation ($400) paid for by Pure Fresh, NZ to address NZ Nationals Conference.

STEVE IRONS, LIB, WA

Oct 29-Nov 6, 2008: trip to China paid for by China Australia Friendship Group of the National People's Congress. host paid for internal airfares, meals, accommodation.

MICHAEL JOHNSON, LIB, QLD
 
Dec 2000: Part of Jetstar return flight to Bali paid for by Australia China Development Association and part paid for by World Future Council. Three nights accommodation in Bali at Alilia Hotel paid for by Australia China Development Council.
Feb 28-Mar 3, 2008: Flights and Accommodation for trip to Phuket, Thailand, to attend Asia Society's Young Leaders Conference. $US1200 paid for by Asia Society, rest paid for by the Australia-China Development Association.
Feb 23-27, 2008: Flights and accommodation to India paid for by Australia-China Development Association.
Mar 4-10, 2008: Flights and 4 nights accommodation to USA for Johnson, wife and son paid for by Mineralogy.
April 9-16, 2008: airfares and accommodation to attend Boao Forum for Asia, paid for by Boao Forum for Asia.
May 17, 2008: Airfare Sydney to Egypt paid for by Australia-China Development Association.
June 26-July 8, 2008: Return airfares Brisbane to Vienna and 5 nights accommodation paid for by World Justice Program secretariat.
June 27-30, 2008: Return airfares Singapore to Mongolia and 3 nights accommodation paid for by Petro Matad Group and Major Drilling Group International.
July 11-17, 2008: Return airfares Brisbane to Beijing, paid for by Kumar Group of companies, 6 nights accommodation in Beijing paid for by iMMedian Pty Ltd.
July 23-31, 2008: Return airfares Brisbane to NZ and 9 nights accommodation paid for by Auspol.
Sept 7-11, 2008: Return flights to Singapore paid for by Australia-China Development Association.
2008: Return airfare Brisbane to Tibet paid for by SCIO Chinese Government and three nights accommodation in Tibet.
2008: Return airfare Aust-China for wife and son paid for by Australia-China Development Association and 4 nights accommodation.

MICHAEL KEENAN, LIB, WA

July 10-16, 2008: Travel to Israel guest of Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. Business class airfare, accommodation.

RICHARD MARLES, ALP, VIC

Apr 9-13, 2008: Accommodation for six nights as one of 11 people in a rented house in Augusta, Georgia, USA, as guest of Golf Australia. Ticket to US Masters golf tournament Apr 9-13 provided by Stuart Appleby through Golf Australia.

JUDI MOYLAN, LIB, WA

- Mar 30-April 2, 2008: Two nights accommodation in New Zealand (cost $405) and registration fee of $700 for International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Congress paid for by Diabetes New Zealand.
- June 1-13, 2008: KCI Medical Group and Novo Nordisk paid for flights and accommodation on trip to Helsinki to attend World Congress on the Prevention of Diabetes and its Complications and then flight to Berlin to address members of the Bundestag on the Australian parliamentary diabetes support group.
- 2008: trip to Rome, Italy, sponsored by Novo Nordisk.

SHAYNE NEUMAN, ALP, QLD

- Dec 13-20, 2008: Travel to Israel guest of Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.

JULIE OWENS, ALP, NSW:

2008: visit to China as guest of government.
2008: visit to Korea funded by Korea Foundation (chair of Australian/Korea parliamentary friendship group).

MELISSA PARKE, ALP, WA

Feb 15-18, 2009: Trip to Jakarta costing $1500 from Parliamentarians for Global Action to attend meeting on the International Criminal Court.

CHRIS PEARCE, LIB, VIC

May 17-24, 2008: With wife guests of Taiwanese Govt for presidential inauguration ceremony.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE, LIB, SA

June 2008: International Council on Alcohol Policy, airfare and accommodation in Singapore for 2 nights.
August 2008: travel and accommodation to Hong Kong courtesy National Democratic Institute of USA.

BERNIE RIPOLL, ALP, QLD

July 5-9, 2008: Travel to China as part of delegation from the City of Ipswich, travel and accommodation paid for by ATM World Travel.
Jan 5-10, 2009: Travel to Chennai, India, paid for by Dr V.R.S. Sampath, president of Madras Development Society, who organised conference, and sponsored travel and accommodation.

AMANDA RISHWORTH, ALP, SA

- Oct 29-Nov 6, 2008: trip to China as guest of China-Aust Friendship Group of the National Peoples Congress.

ANDREW ROBB, VIC, LIB:

Jan 12-20, 2008: sponsored airfares and accommodation from Australian American Leadership Dialogue to attend West Coast Leadership Dialogue in USA.
June 22-30, 2008: Australian American leadership Dialogue visit to USA, business class fares, accommodation.
July 10-17, 2008: Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council trip to Israel, business class fares, accommodation.

STUART ROBERT, LIB, QLD

2008: economy flight Brisbane to Entebbe (Uganda) return paid for by Watoto Australia.

PHILIP RUDDOCK, LIB, NSW

Nov 23-25, 2008: seminar in Bangkok, Thailand, conducted by National Assembly of Thailand and King Prajadhipok's Institute with Inter-Parliamentary Union.

LUKE SIMPKINS, LIB, WA

Oct-Nov, 2008: Six days accommodation in China provided by National Peoples Congress and two internal flights and 15 meals.

MIKE SYMOND, ALP, VIC

Oct 29-Nov 6, 2008: China Aust Friendship Group of the National Peoples Congress trip to China, internal flights, accommodation and meals.

JIM TURNOUR, ALP, QLD

Oct 29-Nov 6, 2008: China Aust Friendship Group of the National Peoples Congress trip to China, internal flights, accommodation and meals.

MARK VAILE, NSW, NAT

Feb 16-19, 2008: Trip to Singapore to attend airshow and aviation leadership summit. Travel and accommodation paid for by Singapore Government.
Mar 1-6, 2008: travel to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bharain and Doha travel and accommodation paid for by Servcorp. Acting as consultant for the company.
May 6-9, 2008: travel to Singapore, travel and accommodation paid for by Servcorp.
July 13-19, 2008: travel to Dubai and Abu Dhabi paid for by Servcorp acting as consultant.

MAL WASHER, LIB, WA:

May 17-24, 2008: With wife, guests of Taiwanese Govt as part of delegation visiting for presidential inauguration ceremony. Travel and accommodation.

JASON WOOD, LIB, VIC

2008: Trip to Israel paid for by Australian Institute of Jewish Affairs Council.
2008: Trip to Taiwan, as guest of Taiwan Government.

SENATE

ERIC ABETZ, LIB, TAS

April 10-17: With wife, guests of Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office trip to Taiwan and accommodation.

MARK ARBIB, ALP, NSW

June/July, 2008: trip to Washington DC for Australia America Dialogue conference, accommodation and return Qantas business class fare.

Jan 3-10, 2009: Awarded 28th Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship - first class airfares from Singapore Airlines, accommodation for a week at Shangri-La, meals.

GUY BARNETT, LIB, TAS

Feb 19-26: Business class airfare Canberra to Vienna and return to Launceston. accommodation 4 nights, fee of 1325 Euro to speak at Vienna School of Clinical Research, paid for by VSCR.

ANDREW BARTLETT, DEM, QLD

- Feb 19-24, 2008: Return flight to Taipei and hospitality $4550 paid by CIPFG-Taiwan to attend human rights meeting as keynote speaker.

CORY BERNARDI, LIB, SA

2008: travel and costs to Israel paid for by Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.
Mar 1-7, 2008: Young Political Leaders Exchange program trip to Japan. Hospitality and travel.

MARK BISHOP, ALP, WA

2008: airfares and accommodation for trip to Taiwan.

Dec 13-20, 2008: trip to Israel with Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.

DAVID BUSHBY, LIB, TAS

April 10-17: guest of Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office trip to Taiwan and accommodation.
RICHARD COLEBECK, LIB, TAS:

Aug 24-30, 2008: with spouse, travel to Taiwan paid for by Taiwan Government.

JACINTA COLLINS, ALP, VIC

Dec 13-20, 2008: trip to Israel with Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.

MATHIAS CORMANN, LIB, WA:

April 10-17: With fiance guest of Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office trip to Taiwan and accommodation.

Oct 28-Nov 3, 2008: Australian Political Exchange Council delegation to Vietnam as guest of Vietnam International Youth Cooperation Development Centre.

CHRIS ELLISON, LIB, WA

April 10-14, 2008: With wife, guest of Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office trip to Taiwan and accommodation.

MICHAEL FORSHAW, ALP, NSW

April 22-28, 2008: Business class airfares on China Southern Airlines from Australia to China, acommodation and hospitality paid for by Chinatown Comunications Pty Ltd, 388 Sussex St, Sydney.
- June 20-28, 2008: trip to Israel and Palestine. Accommodation and hospitality paid for by Australian Israel Cultural Exchange Ltd and business class return airfare from Bangkok to Tel Aviv return partly paid for by AICE.
- July 1-6, 2008: delegation to Jakarta, business class airfare from Perth to Jakarta paid for by Centre for Democratic Institutions on July 1 and return to Sydney on July 6 plus 3 nights hotel accommodation and meals.

STEPHEN HUTCHINS, ALP, NSW

May 17-24, 2008: trip to Taiwan paid for by Government of Taiwan and accommodation for inauguration of president.
Aug 21-26, 2008: trip to China, travel and hospitality costs paid for by Chinese government to gain first hand experience of economic, social and political ties.

DAVID JOHNSTON, LIB, WA

July 10-17, 2008: trip to Israel paid for by Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.
Aug 22, 2008: travel between Los Angeles and Las Vegas paid for by Worley Parsons to visit to solar energy station.

KATE LUNDY, ALP, ACT

Oct 29-Nov 5, 2008: China-Aust Parliamentary Group of the National People's Congress delegation to China, meals, accommodation and Chinese domestic fares.

BRETT MASON, LIB, QLD

June 20-27, 2008: Travel and hospitality to Israel paid for by Australia Israel Cultural Exchange.
Aug 7-12, 2008: Travel and hospitality to Taiwan paid for by Taipei economic and cultural office to enhance education links.

CHRISTINE MILNE, GRN, TAS

Dec 7-15, 2007: return airfare paid by International Union for the Conservation of Nature for travel Hobart to Bali.
March 2008: airfare paid by International Union for the Conservation of Nature for travel to Geneva, Switzerland.
Sept/Oct 2008: airfare paid by International Union for the Conservation of Nature for travel to Barcelona.
* Senator Milne is IUCN vice president and airfares paid for global council meetings twice a year.

CLAIRE MOORE, ALP, QLD

Dec 13-14, 2008: Asian forum of Parliamentarians on population and development general assembly, Hanoi, Vietnam. Travel $2293, 3 nights accommodation, total cost $2853.

KERRY NETTLE, GRN, NSW

May 25-29, 2008: Asian Population and Development Association paid for travel and hospitality to Kuala Lumpur for conference.

MARISE PAYNE, LIB, NSW

Sept 20-24, 2008: Australian American Leadership Dialogue return airfare Sydney to Honolulu and 5 nights accommodation in Honolulu.

KAY PATTERSON, LIB, VIC

March 22-27, 2008: Economy fare on Thai Airlines from Melbourne to Vientiane return and accommodation at $US30 a night paid for by Interplast Australia and New Zealand of which Patterson is a director and board member.
Apr 14-18, 2008: Centre for Democratic Institutions paid for economy SkyAir flight from Brisbane to Honiara with upgrade on return flight and accommodation at King Solomon Hotel Honiara.

HELEN POLLEY, ALP, TAS

2009: Travel to Israel paid for by Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.

GLENN STERLE ALP, WA

April 3-20, 2008: Delegation to European Institutions. Qantas upgrade to first class on flight from Singapore to London on April 3-4.

Information based on disclosure by MPs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------









PM Malcolm Turnbull takes selfie with Israeli PM Benjamin Yetanyahu, complete with slouch hat, at Beershaba in the former Palestine, 31 October 2017 (Image via @IsraeliPM)

Forget China, no country has interfered, spied and endangered Australia’s security, sovereignty and the integrity of its national institutions more than Israel and its powerful lobbyists, writes former Palestinian Ambassador Ali Kazak.

ASIO's director-general Duncan Lewis expressed concerns recently in his agency's annual report about foreign interference.

Mr Lewis said over the past year:
We identified foreign powers clandestinely seeking to shape the opinion of members of the Australian public, media organisations and government officials in order to advance their country's own political objectives.

These activities, undertaken covertly to obscure the role of foreign governments, represent a threat to our sovereignty, the integrity of our national institutions, and the exercise of our citizens' rights.

While no country was mentioned in the report, there has been a hint of concern about Russian and Chinese activities. This is a contrast with Canberra’s relaxed approach and appeasement of the most powerful lobby on behalf of a foreign government: Australia’s Israel lobby.

There is nothing ASIO suggests any Chinese lobby of doing that the Israeli lobby has not been doing for over 30 years. Any Chinese lobby is child’s play in contrast to the well-established Israeli lobby.
No country has more interfered, spied and endangered Australia’s security, sovereignty and the integrity of its national institutions than Israel and its powerful lobby.

By their own admission, the lobby receives funds from Israeli institutions, coordinates and cooperates with the Israeli government and embassy, and has 'established a long tradition of strong public advocacy on behalf of Israel' to shape the opinion of members of the Australian public, media organisations and government officials in order to advance Israel’s own political objectives.

Consecutive Liberal and Labor governments have been selling Australia’s foreign policy to Israel for decades, with huge campaign donations and free trips for MPs, officials, staffers and union officials.

There is no moral, commercial or national strategic interest to justify Australia’s unconditional support of the position of the Netanyahu cabinet. Nor is there a large “Jewish vote”. The last census saw the Jewish population fall to just 91,022. Public opinion surveys for more than ten years repeatedly show over 70 pe rcent support for Australia’s recognition of Palestine. So why the biased policy towards Israel?

The answer is the influence on the government and Opposition’s Middle East policies of a well-organised Israeli-linked lobby, which works for a foreign government.

Australian companies and businessmen, some of whom are both Israeli and Australian nationals, finance the Israeli-linked lobby groups. These include the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) and the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA). They also donate money to both Labor and Liberal parties. On occasions, threats were made to withhold donations when there were hints of support for Palestine.

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) revealed in November 2012 that AIJAC, through its Rambam Israel Fellowship Programhas sponsored free trips to Israel for
'... more than 400 political leaders – including Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott – party advisers, public servants and university students. A separate trip is also run for journalists... '
As far back as 9 August 1985, businessman Mark Leibler, as president of the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA), said in the Australian Jewish News (AJN):
'We are generally improving our areas of influence. … and our directors interact fairly regularly with politicians, editors and journalists on a national scale and are in contact with officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The [Zionist] Federation works in close cooperation with the Israel Embassy in Canberra. We ought to be, and are the leading force in the community on matters of Israel and Zionism.'
Journalist Sam Lipski wrote about lobbying for Israel in an article on the AJN on 13 August 1993. He confirmed the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and ZFA were linked with the Israeli Government and work on its behalf.

Lipski wrote:
'More or less since the 1982 Lebanon War, the ECAJ and the ZFA allowed, and the Likud government encouraged, a blurring of the roles between the ECAJ/ZFA and the Israeli Embassy. These two bodies became quasi-diplomatic agencies, often filling the vacuum created by an undermanned and remote Israel embassy.'
Imagine for a moment the angst of ASIO if a Chinese community leader had referred to Chinese associations in Australia becoming “quasi diplomatic agencies” to help the understaffed Chinese embassy.
On 20 August 1993, Helene Teichmann wrote in AJN that the Israeli Prime Minister
'…[Yitzhak] Rabin has praised the ZFA’s work and there has never been an indication from any Israeli government, publicly or privately, that the ZFA is not doing what is good for Israel and our community or that some other organ could do better. Nor does the ZFA act in splendid isolation. The Israeli Embassy and the Federation consult closely and completely agree as to their respective roles.'
The SMH reported Mark Leibler on 3 July 1993 as revealing that
“ZFA receives funds from the Jewish Agency in Israel.”
In the Jerusalem Post on 24 June 2010, Isi Leibler wrote:
'Jewish leaders have established a long tradition of strong public advocacy on behalf of Israel, and they can take much of the credit for the fact that successive governments have maintained a strong bipartisan support for Israel.'
One case study says it all.

Former Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Gareth Evans criticized Israel’s human rights records during a visit to Israel in 1992 and echoed U.S. support for General Assembly Resolution 194, which calls for the repatriation of the Palestinian refugees forced out of their homeland in 1948. The Israel lobby went into overdrive. The Australian newspaper reported, on 13 June 1992, the president of the ECAJ Leslie Caplan had denounced Evans in an article headlined ‘Jewish community pressures Evans on criticism of Israel’.

Caplan said:
"Unless the Government stepped back from the views expressed by Senator Evans, it would cost the ALP significant Jewish support at the next federal election."
And Jewish MP Barry Cohen said:
“... the Jewish community, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney, had always been a strong source of ideological and financial support for the ALP. That will be weakened whenever a government appears to be antagonistic towards the State of Israel.”
An article in The Bulletin on 4 August 1992, entitled ‘ALP can’t count on Jewish support’, reported ECAJ’s new president, Jeremy Jones, saying
“It is not so much the Jewish vote that matters – there are fewer than 100,000 Jews in Australia – but rather the vast financial resources of the community’s wealthier members.”
Imagine if a Chinese community leader had said: It’s not the number of Chinese voters in Australia that counts but rather the vast finances of its wealthier members.

When Labor MPs criticized Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights in 2003, there was the threat of withdrawing Jewish financial support to Labor.

The former Federal Labor MP Julia Irwin said in The Australian:
"The threat to withdraw financial support for the ALP because of perceived anti-Israel comments by Labor backbenchers is worrying. Not because the Labor needs the money, but because it suggests that all party members must toe the line even if their comments broadly agree with Labor policy.”
The late Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, said in an article ‘The isolation of Hamas is impeding peace’, in The Age (11/8/09):
“Fear of criticism from the Jewish lobby in Australia has so far prevented Australian governments taking effective action.”
As a result of the Israeli lobby’s influence, Australia has joined a group of banana republics such as Micronesia, Costa Rica, Palau and the Marshall Islands, continuously opposing UN resolutions condemning Israel’s occupation, violations of international law and human rights, racial discrimination, the building of Jewish colonies and the Apartheid Wall, which further isolates Australia from the international community at the UN and other international forums.

For years, the Australian media has been reporting Israel’s spying activities, forging Australian and New Zealand passports, and recruiting Australians from the Jewish community to its army and spy agencies.

For example, New Zealand’s security agency arrested two Mossad agents in mid-2004 while attempting to obtain New Zealand passports under false names, Mossad’s spy cell operated under the nose of ASIO from its headquarters in Sydney, which was the base for its spying activities in Australasia for more than ten years.

Mossad used the forged Australian passports to spy in other countries and carry out the assassination of a Palestinian Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhoh in Dubai, UAE, a country friendly to Australia. This was a serious violation of Australia’s sovereignty and the undermining of international confidence in Australia’s passports.

Imagine the front page hysteria if Chinese spies had ever forged Australian passports to carry out a targeted assassination in a third country with which Australia had cordial relations. Nothing remotely as serious and specific was uncovered by the recent Four Corners-Fairfax attempt, assisted by ASIO, to find Chinese intrusion on Australian sovereignty.

In an article in the SMH on 26 February 2010, Peter Hartcher reported an Australian official saying
“... the Israeli secret service had probably calculated that, even if it were caught using forged Australian passports, Canberra would not retaliate. It wouldn’t matter whether it was John Howard or Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott in the prime minister’s chair… [the Israelis] know they’ve got us by the balls… partly because of the Israel lobby.”
Allowing Israel and its lobby to use their financial donations, interfere, spy and endanger Australia’s security, sovereignty and the integrity of its national institutions with impunity, and without being accountable is a clear indication of the dangerous level of influence they have been allowed to get to in Australia, which makes the Government and the security agencies so weak and fearful; they are becoming the untouchable Holly Cow no matter what they do.

Attorney-General George Brandis announced recently that the Government is developing new legislation to require registration of foreign agents in Australia.

This would immediately be applicable to Israel and its powerful lobby. ASIO too should be required to oversight the most powerful lobby for a foreign government at work in Australia.

Substitute the words Israel, Jewish and Zionist Organisation for China, Chinese and the Communist Party, and imagine if China forged Australian passports, and used them to spy on other countries and carry out assassinations in friendly countries. Then think again about how Australia might have reacted — and how, indeed, it should react.
Ali Kazak is a former Palestinian ambassador.

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90 years old, political gay activist, hosting two web sites, one personal: http://www.red-jos.net one shared with my partner, 94-year-old Ken Lovett: http://www.josken.net and also this blog. The blog now has an alphabetical index: http://www.red-jos.net/alpha3.htm

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