"It is still unclear whether they are inspired by the promise of building a new state, or the goal of destroying an existing one": Ron Prosor To The United Nations

Ron Prosor, the personable and popular (with Israel's friends, at least) diplomat who this year left the post of Israeli Ambassador to the Court of St James to become his country's envoy to the United Nations, has proved his mettle yet again as an outstanding representative of the beleaguered Jewish State.  His speech yesterday at the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the so-called International Day of Solidarity With The Palestinian People inaugurated by that Arab/pro-Arab-hijacked international body in 1977, bears witness to that.

 Declared Mr Prosor:

'A great Jewish sage once wrote, "The truth can hurt like a thorn, at first; but in the end it blossoms like a rose."
His words came to my mind today. His insight could really benefit many in this hall.
It takes a well of truth to water the seeds of peace. Yet, we continue to witness a drought of candour in this body’s discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. On this historic day, real facts in the General Assembly remain few and far between.
 
For any who have been here on November 29th before, today is déjà vu. Some of you may have noticed that some minor changes have been taking place in the Middle East lately, but any changes in this body’s resolutions condemning Israel are very, very rare.
Indeed, it didn’t take a creative writer to craft the language in these resolutions. The exact same text is copied and pasted, year after year – much of it dating back five decades.
 
The account we heard today is one-sided. It is unilateral. It is unjust. And it is unhelpful. It presents a distorted and impartial version of history.  It transforms the cause of Palestinian self-determination into a deliberate attempt to denigrate, defame, and delegitimize the State of Israel.
 

The political dynamics in this body are sadly predictable. Every November, the leaves change color in New York, but the automatic anti-Israel majority never changes its votes.
 
Each and every responsible member of the international community that affixes its seal of approval on this exact same set of resolutions – which are irrelevant at best, and damaging at worst— should do a little soul searching. Is this the message that you want the General Assembly to send to the world.... Let me take a moment to remind this Assembly about what actually occurred on this day 64 years ago – and in the days that followed.
 
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to partition then British-Mandate Palestine into two states: one Jewish, one Arab. Two states for two peoples.
 
The Jewish population accepted that plan and declared a new state in its ancient homeland. It reflected the Zionist conviction that it was both necessary and possible to live in peace with our neighbors in the land of our forefathers.
 

The Arab inhabitants rejected the plan and launched a war of annihilation against the new Jewish state, joined by the armies of five Arab members of the United Nations.
 
One percent of Israel’s population died during this assault by five armies. Think about that price. It would be the equivalent of 650,000 dying in France today, or 3 million dying in the United States, or 13 million dying in China.
 
As a result of the war, there were Arabs who became refugees. A similar number of Jews, who lived in Arab countries, were forced to flee their homes as well. They, too, became refugees.
The difference between these two distinct populations was – and still is – that Israel absorbed the refugees into our society. Our neighbors did not.
 

Refugee camps in Israel gave birth to thriving towns and cities. Refugee camps in Arab Countries gave birth to more Palestinian refugees.
 
We unlocked our new immigrants’ vast potential. The Arab World knowingly and intentionally kept their Palestinian populations in the second class status of permanent refugees.
 
In Lebanon for many years and still today, the law prohibits Palestinians from owning land – and from working in the public sector or as doctors and lawyers. Palestinians are banned from these professions.
 

In Kuwait, the once significant Palestinian population was forcibly expelled from the country in 1991. Few remain.
 
In Syria, thousands of Palestinians had to flee refugee camps in Latakia last August when President Assad shelled their homes with naval gunboats.
 
In the vast majority of Arab Countries, Palestinians have no rights of citizenship. It is no coincidence that the Arab World’s responsibilities for the “inalienable rights” of these Palestinians never appear in the resolutions before you....

The basic question underlying our conflict for 64 years has not changed. That question is: has the Arab World – and particularly the Palestinians – internalized that Israel is here to stay and will remain the Nation-state of the Jewish People?
 

It is still unclear whether they are inspired by the promise of building a new state, or the goal of destroying an existing one. [My emphasis]

Two months ago, President Abbas stood at the podium in this very hall and tried to erase the unbroken and unbreakable connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.
 
He said the following:

“I come before you today from the Holy Land, the land of Palestine, the land of divine messages, ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the birthplace of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him).”

This was not an oversight. It was not a slip of the tongue. It was yet another deliberate attempt to deny and erase more than 3,000 years of Jewish history. The Arab leaders from those two nations that sought peace have offered a different message.
 
For example, in 1995, King Hussein came to the United States and said (quote): “For our part, we shall continue to work for the new dawn when all the Children of Abraham and their descendants are living together in the birthplace of their three great monotheistic religions.”
In 1977, President Sadat came to Israel’s Knesset and quoted this verse from the Koran: “We believe in God and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes and in the books given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their lord.”
 
President Sadat and King Hussein spoke of THREE monotheistic religions, not ONE or TWO.Mr. President,
 
The resolution that gives the 29th of November significance – General Assembly resolution 181 – speaks of the creation of a “Jewish State” no less than 25 times. We still do not hear Palestinian leaders utter the term. 
 

The Palestinian leadership refuses to acknowledge Israel’s character as a Jewish state. You will never hear them say “two states for two peoples”. If you ever hear a Palestinian leader say “two states for two peoples”, please phone me immediately. My office has set up the equivalent of a 9/11 number in the event of such an unprecedented occurrence.
Palestinian leaders call for an independent Palestinian state, but insist that the Palestinian people return to the Jewish state. This is a proposition that no one who believes in the right of Israel to exist could ever accept.The idea that Israel will be flooded with millions of Palestinians is a non-starter. The international community knows it. The Palestinian leadership knows it. But the Palestinian people aren’t hearing it. At this very moment, the gap between their perception and reality remains the major obstacle to peace.
 
Let me repeat that: the so-called right of return is and will remain the major obstacle to peace. It is not settlements. It is not the laundry list of baseless accusations launched against Israel in today’s resolutions.
 
I’ll repeat it again: the so-called right of return is the major obstacle to peace. Everyone knows it.
Yet, all of those who were so vocal today in telling Israel what is has to do for peace – mumbled, stuttered and conveniently lost their voices when it came to telling the Palestinians that the so-called right of return is a non-starter.
 

For decades, this body has rubberstamped nearly every Palestinian whim, no matter how counter-factual or counter-productive. What has this accomplished? The lip service of this body has only done a disservice for peace....

True friends of the Palestinians have a responsibility to tell them the truth.
They will stop promoting the distorted version of history that characterizes this day, and start delivering the real lessons of history that the Palestinian leadership now refuses to heed.
 
These lessons are clear: bilateral negotiations are the only route to two states, for two peoples – living side-by-side in peace and security; negotiations that resolve the outstanding concerns of both sides.
While bypass maneuvers may work for heart surgery and highway construction, they will not bring peace or security to our region.
 

Direct negotiations were the way of President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin, the way of Prime Minister Rabin and King Hussein. It has been the framework for advancing peace between Israel and the Palestinians for the past two decades.
 
Time and again, we have extended our hand in peace to the Palestinians. Prime Minister Netanyahu stood in this very hall last September and declared his commitment to the cause of Palestinian self-determination – and his vision for establishing a Palestinian state, alongside the Jewish State of Israel – two states for two peoples.
 
Yet, today we wait for the Palestinians to give up the false idol of unilateralism – and get back to the real hard work of direct negotiations.  And – as they continue to run away from the negotiating table, the Palestinian leadership continues to move closer into their embrace of Hamas – an internationally recognized terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
 
This development brings to my mind Groucho Marx’s famous line: "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them … well, I have others." The Quartet has long applied three principles that Hamas must adopt.  It must renounce violence, recognize Israel and abide by prior agreements. At no point has Hamas satisfied these conditions – or indicated any intention to do so.
 

Those who advocate recognizing a Government that includes Hamas are urging a Groucho-Marxist policy in a complex, unstable region. If Hamas is too extreme to accept these principles, they argue, we must tailor our principles to match Hamas's extremism.The bar has been set very low. On these basic requirements for peace, there can be no adjustments. There can be no bargaining. There can be no Holiday Season discounts – in this hall or anywhere else....

Even more than the words spoken in the speeches here today – or the words in the resolutions before you— it is the words not spoken that speak volumes. This Assembly has made clear that it does not stand in solidarity with many people in our region today.
 
In this hall, I hear no solidarity with the one million Israeli men, women and children who live under the constant rain rockets, mortars and missiles from the Gaza Strip.
 
I hear no solidarity with the 16-year old boy who was killed last April when a Hamas anti-Tank Missile struck his school bus. Or the thousands of other Israeli civilians who have been killed and injured.
 
I hear no solidarity with the Israeli children who learn the alphabet at the same time that they learn the names Kassam, Grad, and Katyusha – the rockets that keep them out of school for weeks at a time.
 

I hear no solidarity with the Palestinians who are victims of brutal Hamas rule – with the political opponents who are tortured, the women who are subjugated, or the children who are used as suicide bombers and human shields.  [My emphasis]
 
And – ... today I hear no solidarity with the many people in the Middle East who are being repressed and slaughtered every single day for demanding their freedom. From Syria to Iran to Yemen, these people are no longer content with their leader’s explanations that Israel is to blame for all the problems of the Middle East – a fiction that is advanced through resolutions like those before us today.
Today the People of the Middle East demand real answers for their plight.
 

I also heard no discussion today about the incitement that continues to fill the West Bank and Gaza, where the next generation of Palestinian children is being taught that suicide bombers are heroes, that Jews have no connection to the Holy Land, and that they must seek to annihilate the State of Israel.
 
From cradles to kindergarten classrooms; from the grounds of summer camps to the stands of football stadiums; from the names of public squares to the public pronouncements of Palestinian leaders, these messages are everywhere.
 
Just last month, President Abbas declared that the Palestinian Authority would provide a grant of up to $5,000 to every terrorist released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, Israel’s kidnapped soldier.
These are people like Ibrahim Shammasina, who helped to murder four Israelis, including two teenagers. People like Walid Anajas, who planned bombings in the heart of Jerusalem and Rishon Lezion, which killed 32.
 

People like Wafa-al Bis, who unsuccessfully tried to blow herself up in an Israeli hospital.Washed in the blood of innocents, these terrorists are being held up as role models for the next generation of Palestinian children.
 
Palestinian Authority television broadcast President Abbas’ remarks to these released terrorists last October. He said, “You are people of struggle and Jihad fighters for Allah and the homeland... Your sacrifice and your effort and your actions were not in vain.”....

Sustainable peace must take root in homes, schools, and media that teach tolerance and understanding so that it can grow in hearts and minds.
 
It must come from a Palestinian leadership willing to tell its people about the difficult compromises that they will have to make for statehood.
 
It will come through the hard work of state-building, not the old habit of state-bashing.
 
Today none of these truths have been spoken.
 

Today I hear no solidarity with the principles of peace.
 
I know that the truth can be a burden. I know that old habits die-hard. I know that the convenience of the moment sometimes weighs heavy on the interests of the future.
 
Yet, only the truth will set us free. After years of darkness, I call on this Assembly to bring new light to this debate.
 
I call on each and every delegate in this hall to embrace pragmatic solutions, not automatic resolutions; to speak with candor, and not slander; to grapple for a new vision, and not old divisions.
 
I call on this Assembly to finally glean truth from this historic day, nourishing the seeds of peace in our region that can blossom into a brighter future.'

(Hat tip: Challah)
Update: see Michelle Huberman's interesting blog about this speech, specifically in relation to the refugee issue, here

Sydney BDS Fanatics Caterwaul Their Hate In "Freedom Carols For Palestine" (videos)

This first video may be said to set the "gold standard" of all renditions of anti-Israel lyrics sung to the tune of Beethoven's "Ode To Joy". It is so ridiculous, a veritable pastiche, that it's sure to raise a chuckle. I believe all the voices belong to disrupters of the IPO performance at the Proms earlier this year.

I don't like the soaring soprano's sentiments, but I love her voice, and indeed find all the voices pleasant and in harmony.

I cannot say the same for the grating unmusical voices of this unattractive mob of Israel-haters calling themselves the Coalition for Palestine who held their "Freedom Carols For Palestine"  outside Max Brenner and Dezire Cosmetics in Sydney today, to mark the so-called International Day of Solidarity With The Palestinian People.  It begins with the same lyrics as above. Just listen to the difference!  And there are more repellent distortions of well-known carols.

(Hat tip for both these videos below: the indomitable Shirlee)

Flying Dutchmen Help To Poison Minds Against Israel In South Korea (video)

Judging from the credits at the end of this recently uploaded video, it would seem that the young westerners among the young South Koreans in Seoul playing (by mime) at - er - baddies and goodies are Palestine Solidarity activists who flew in from Utrecht to spread their poison.

Note, by the way, the reference to "an exhibition of manipulated photographs" put on to kindle South Korean outrage against Israel - is the adjective just an unfortunate one, or are they admitting to some doctored images?!

Perhaps someone should remind the South Koreans joining the Dutchmen in protesting against that so-called "Apartheid Wall" that the vicious-looking barrier described and pictured here, which dates from the Cold War epoch, protects them from their neighbours to the north, and that by criticising Israel for similarly protecting its citizens from aggressive incursions they seema tad hypocritical and churlish...

The Israel-vilifiers in Utrecht seem well-practised at this sort of thing - see below their antics last November, in their home city.  The poses struck seem remarkably similar to the display in Seoul, and so do the costumes ...

"Some Would Argue That They're Remarkably Peaceful ...": Terry Waite Propagandises For Palestine (video)

Terry Waite, who when the then Archbishop of Canterbury's  hostage release negotiator in Lebanon was seized and held captive himself from 1987-91, the first four years in solitary confinement, speaks in a newly released video to mark this year's so-called International Day Of Solidarity With The Palestinian People.

Inter alia, he observes that the Palestinians are widely seen as "terrorists," while "The image that is painted of the other group is of a people under attack ... the victims ... perhaps that image might be reversed".

 A polite way of describing Mr Waite's message is that it's nice but naive; an impolite way of describing it is that he's a dupe, a "useful idiot". And when all is said and done, who among us wouldn't like to see the harmony between two peoples for which he yearns?

I fear that Mr Waite has been swallowing messages like this one hook, line, and sinker.

Diamonds In The Emerald Isle: Jewish Passers-By Confront Israel-Vilifying Demonstrators (videos)

The hoary-headed Israel-haters campaigning in Dublin against Israeli "blood" diamonds the other day didn't have a very good time.  First, they were rudely interrupted by a long line of demonstrators for another cause marching through their patch, and then, to their utter surprise and obvious chagrin, an articulate young Jewish man with whom they'd previously skirmished stopped by to tell them some real home truths about themselves.  Then another man, presumably the young man's father, joined in.  Watch the antisemites cackle at the obviously enraged and distressed young man's remarks about Jewish claims to Israel, and then bait him with full-decibel shouts of "Free Palestine, Free Palestine".

Here's more footage of the demo by President Higgins's repugnant Israel-hating compatriots, one fanatic accusing Israel of crimes against the Syrian people...
(But here's something more pleasant out of Dublin, Israeli performer Izhar Ashdot singing "Whiskey in a jar" on stage there. Hat tip: Tom C.)

Stars Under The Southern Cross: Australians United For Israel

Just under a year ago, Melboune-based Luke William Martin, a part-time teacher completing a law degree, who has stood for state parliament in the Liberal interest, inaugurated a grassroots group, Australian Friends of Israel, intended as an expression of the views of what he considers the "silent majority".  It consisted mainly of non-Jews, drawn to Israel like himself. By October, the group had 300 members, about 60 per cent of them non-Jews.

As J-Wire noted at that time, the Facebook group has expressed concern over "the increasing rise of anti-Semitic violence and hatred in various sections of the world and even to some degree in the Lucky Country," and unequivocally supports the Jewish State:

"The Jews have as much right as any other people to live in freedom and without fear of harassment or persecution. Israel, the only truly free democracy of the Middle East is a beacon of light to the entire world. Since 1948, it has been transformed into a productive modern industrialized nation. Often provoked with suicide bombings and even invasions from hostile regimes, Israel shows incredible patience and grace towards its neighbours. For such reasons and many more; we stand side-by-side with our ally Israel. Like everybody else, Israelis have a right to live in a secure homeland."

Explained Luke Martin:

"We desperately need to reinvigorate a national consciousness and conversation in support of Israel. Whilst I do not want to over play the Max Brenner protests, they are an illustration of the fragility of the fabric that holds our society together. Without direct police intervention and opposition from the Coalition, Labor and the Jewish community, the prospect of how those ugly BDS protests might have developed is deeply concerning."

And with an admirable sense of history (the Anzacs helped to liberate Jerusalem from the Turks, and Australian "Doc" Evatt played a pivotal role in Israel's birth), he added:

"This is about Israel, and the Australian relationship with Israel. I want Australian Friends of Israel to assist in educating people. I want to remind my fellow Australians of our heritage – a heritage steeped in a love for Israel. Because moderate and respectable Australian patriotism has always been pro-Israel, we are entitled to enshrine our national friendship with Israel in the untouchable mystery and tradition of iconic Australian imagery such as ANZAC Day, Beersheba and the Australian founding fathers. If our founding fathers believed in Israel, so should we. I am doing this for my grandparents."

Now, what began as a group of like-minded Melbourne supporters of Israel has gone from strength to strength and has changed its name to Australians United For Israel. It's fully incorporated at both Victorian state level and federally, across Australia.

Mazal Tov, Luke!  Kol HaKavod!

(Incidentally, as Shirlee and an anonymous reader have kindly reminded me, a clear, cogent account of the controversy Down Under provoked by David Landau's visit has been carried by a section of the Israeli press.  Read it here)

"Truly An Amazing Event ..." (video)

The words above are how the husband of the choreographer, Adi Gordon Rawlings, describes this joyful flash mob dance in Jerusalem that took place on 11 November.
It's inspiring to see such vibrancy, such zest for life.  There are some nice shots of Jerusalem too.  More can be seen  here

"Israel ... The Triumph Of The Human Spirit" (video)

Last week the BBC, in one of those instances in which it surprises and delights by behaving without its customary egregious bias, had an article on its website highlighting Israel's role as a powerhouse of technology.  So much of benefit to humanity, not least in the medical field, comes out of that tiny country, that is of course ignored by the demonisers. This very welcome video, which has appeared on Isreallycool and some other blogs, reminds us of Israel's achievements.

A Traveller Of Mixed Heritage In The Middle East (videos)

I approached this programme (uploaded by theworldvideos) with misgivings, since it was not only made by Al Beeb, but has been tweeted by my local Palestine Solidarity Campaign group, who've asked their followers to request a repeat.  It's a documentary showing the reactions of one of their presenters, Reya El-Salahi, born to a Jewish mother and a Muslim father, on her first visit to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.

To be honest, I've only looked at one of the videos, the one to which the local PSC linked on Twitter.  I thought the presenter, of whom I've never previously heard, likeable and honest but politically unsophisticated.  She's obviously been well-drilled in BBC-speak ("militants" instead of terrorists). I sighed at the part where she denounced the gender segregation at the Western Wall, when she'll certainly find the same at the Al Aqsa mosque, which was to offend her for different reasons - they wouldn't let her in. She didn't think much of the separation wall; it's not pretty, of course (though despite the impression given it's not a solid structure "for hundreds of miles), but then neither is suicide bombing.  Overall, however, I didn't find the segment I watched overly biased one way or the other. I was left wondering "where's the sting in the tail?"

Reya El-Salahi has also blogged about her experiences here

David Landau's Bandwagon Trundles On Down Under

Like Sydney-based Middle East affairs analyst David Singer, who last week resigned from the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies over its hosting of controversial former Ha'aretz editor David Landau, brought to Australia by the New Israel Fund, Danny Lamm, Melbourne-based President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), and the son, incidentally, of one of the great stalwarts of Zionism in Australia, regrets that Landau has been accorded a platform for his views.

The Australian Jewish News quotes Danny Lamm as saying:

“Some of his [Landau's] statements are statements that can be used to delegitimise Israel, for example a boycott of the Knesset and the statements that his idea of a wet dream is the rape of Israel.

These are obscene comments and this is unacceptable stuff.

The ECAJ would not have hosted him.

I am sorry that he is here and I’m sorry that he has been given the opportunity to speak to our audiences.”

 The latest J-Wire reports as follows on David Landau's action-packed visit the Shtetl On The Yarra (otherwise known as Melbourne), where leftist Israeli journalist - who is, of course, on record as saying Israel wants to be raped - seems to have been packin' 'em in ...

 Reports J-Wire:

Read on for articleFormer Haaretz editor-in-chief David Landau spoke to a packed house in Melbourne last night, just hours before the prominent journalist and commentator made news in the Jewish and non-Jewish press.

'Former Haaretz editor-in-chief David Landau spoke to a packed house in Melbourne last night, just hours before the prominent journalist and commentator made news in the Jewish and non-Jewish press.
Landau, in Australia on a speaking tour for the New Israel Fund, made his sole public appearance at Caulfield Pavilion in Melbourne last night, with standing room only for the 100-plus people in the audience to discuss “The Battle for Israel’s Democracy”.

The Age carried this repugnant cartoon some years ago

In today’s The Age newspaper [known for its hostility to Israel - D.A.], the outspoken Israeli urged Australian Jews to take a more critical line on Israel, saying her democracy is “at a crossroads” and local Jews needed to speak out instead of blindly toeing the government line.
Read The AGE piece here…

“We will have to be either democratic or Jewish,” The Age quoted him as saying. “The poison of the occupation is seeping back and corroding our democracy.”

In addition, Landau, the Israel correspondent for The Economist, had an opinion article on Iran published today in all major Fairfax mastheads, including The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, WA Today and the Brisbane Times. [The one antipodean newspaper that can be depended upon for its fairness towards Israel is The Australian, owned by Murdoch - D.A.]

Its resident cartoonist, Leunig, also produced this

In it, Landau argued that PM Bibi Netanyahu, whom he described as “a bluffer”, was not bluffing when he threatened Iran with a unilateral strike on its nuclear facilities.

“He does not want to go down in Jewish history as the leader on whose watch a fanatical enemy achieved the means to cow, terrorise and threaten to destroy the Jewish state while the rest of the world stood by and Israel itself did nothing,” Landau wrote.  Read the SMH piece here.

But in this week’s edition of the Australian Jewish News, ECAJ president Danny Lamm chastised Landau, saying he was “sorry” that he had been brought to Australia to speak and that the roof body of Australian Jewry would not have hosted an event with him.

And this...

This prompted Yair Miller, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, to defend hosting Landau at a lunch last week saying his organisation was “mature” and “open-minded” enough to expose its members to different viewpoints.

Robin Margo, president of the New Israel Fund Australian branch, defended Landau, saying his Zionist credentials were incontrovertible, noting he had collaborated with Shimon Peres on his memoirs, written a biography of Ben-Gurion with Peres and had authored a biography of former PM Ariel Sharon, which is due out next year.

Landau is speaking at Yom Limmud in Melbourne on Sunday.'

Oy vey!

Dancing With The Devil: The Unconscionable Anti-Israel Stance Of The Victorian Multicultural Commission

"Multiculturalism," Melanie Phillips has written,

"is a baleful creed which, far from bringing people together drives them apart. That is because multiculturalism is not a synonym for people from different cultures all getting along together. If this were so, it would be no more than a re-statement of how all decent and civilised societies should behave.

No, multiculturalism is the doctrine which says that no culture can ever claim precedence over any other. So there can be no hierarchy of values, and no society can uphold its historic traditions and values against any challenge. It is therefore by definition impossible for a multicultural society to uphold liberal values over their opposite – or, indeed, to uphold the fundamental democratic axiom of 'one law for all'.  It is also an oxymoron; for without an overarching set of cultural values to which everyone equally subscribes, there is no cultural glue to keep together a society -- which then disintegrates into a war of group against group, value against value and the strong versus the weak.'

And in the English-speaking world whose well-meaning liberal elites pioneered the concept, many a critic of multiculturalism is inclined to cynically point out that multiculturalism in practice entails the tolerance of every culture except that of the majority, host society one.  This is particularly true of Britain.

As Melanie Phillips has observed, "the doctrine which held that no culture could be considered superior to any other because that was ‘racist’ [has] meant children were no longer taught about the nation in which they lived, and about its culture. So not only were they left in ignorance of their own society, but any attachment to a shared and over-arching culture was deliberately shattered."

Australia, it is often claimed, pioneered the concept of multiculturalism, and among the prime upholders of the concept in practice are, of course, the bureaucrats whose livelihoods depend on it.

But in the Australian state of Victoria  the Israeli culture, of all the cultures practised in the island continent, is under attack from none other than the Victorian Multiculturalism Commission!

A club, consisting of both Jewish and non-Jewish members, which specialises in Israeli dance, has been singled out for discrimination.

Reports the news service  J-Wire:

'The Machol Israeli Dancing Club was scheduled to appear at Multicultural Folk Dance Festival of High Country in the Victorian country town of Mansfield earlier this month.

The festival was organised under the auspices of the Victorian Multicultural Commission and a grant had been awarded to Marta Balan  who according to a submission to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission [VEOHRC]approved the performance of the Machol Group.

When the participants’ names were released, Esther Blumenthal-Skop of Machol was surprised to learn that  the name of the Machol Israeli Dancing Club had been truncated to Machol  Group and all references to Israel had been removed with the club being described as a Jewish dance group.

No change had been made ot other groups including Chinese, Hungarian, Armenaian and Ukrarnian Traditional Folk Dances and the Irish Reel and Jigs.

In her submission to VEOHRC, Blumenthal-Skop said she asked for an explanation and was told that the organiser would not be held responsible for consequences if the words “Israel” or “Israeli” were used to describe the group.

The submission states that Ms Balan agreed to the original wording but within hours Machol was told that choreographers had decided that the dance bracket was not suitable for the event…and that the artistic director was not made aware of this and was surprised at Machol’s non-appearance at the final rehearsal.

Chairman of VEOHRC John Searle told J-Wire: “The matter is now in the hands of the Victorian Muliticultural Commission and we await their findings.”

Machol organiser Moshe Lichenstein told J-Wire: “We were invited to attend the Festival by Ms Balan who has danced with us in the past. We were planning to send eight girls who were going to perform three dances. We have more than 200 members in our group and we dance four times a week.” He added that Machol had never experienced a problem like this since it was established in 1993. Machol’s members are not all Jewish.'

In denying a Melbourne Israeli dance group the right to perform the Commission has been guilty of a bizarre derilection of duty and an unconscionable instance of anti-Israel spite. This matter merits further investigation, at the highest level.

Here's what might be termed a Bolt from the [White and] the Blue. Yes, in identifying this as yet another instance of "the fashionable new anti-semitism," Andrew Bolt, the perspicacious and deservedly popular columnist of the Melbourne Herald-Sun sums up the situation very nicely.  Good on yer, cobber.

(Hat tip: readers Rob and Shirlee).

Danny Ayalon Speech In Tel Aviv (video)

Following my last two posts I feel in need of some of that Lavan soap ...  But this should wash the bad vibes away - an upbeat speech by Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon.  It took place in Tel Aviv recently to mark the anniversary (2 November) of the Balfour Declaration.

To quote the video's uploader, Netanya25 (whose YouTube channel contains a number of good things):

'Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, addresses the IBCA Balfour Dinner in Tel Aviv on November 9, 2011. After praising Colonel Richard Kemp he reminded the audience that, despite all the efforts of the BDS Movement, Israel is far from isolated. On the contrary, Israel is increasingly active in many international bodies and organisations. The one field in which BDS is having an effect is on the truth. Ayalon highlights that moment in time when the world came together, including the Arabs, in justice that called for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. He described it as "the Jewish Spring." It is, he says, Palestinian rejectionism that prevents a peaceful solution to the Arab conflict.'

"Boycott Israeli Goods" Picket In Vancouver (video)

More jackanapes alleging Israeli apartheid.

The principal focus of this group's ire is the Lavan Soap Company, but they don't have a clear pitch because a couple of guys are on hand with an Israeli flag.

Incidentally, despite the obvious cold I'm surprised that one of the anti-Israel demonstrators is wearing  a hat made from fur. I hope the fabric is faux; trapping animals for their pelts is a barbarous business ...

"Salutations To ... Our Friends In The London BDS Movement": Australian "Boycott Apartheid Israel" Mob Cheered By Ahava Store's Closure (video)

I'll say one thing for this latest video uploaded by Australian Friends of Palestine of green-shirted BDS activists in Adelaide, urging a boycott of "Apartheid Israel" in general and of Seacret Cosmetics at the city's Myer Centre in particular - it's free of the ear-splitting cacophony and Israel-vilifying lyrics which characterise so many videos made by anti-Israel activists.

The picket of the Myer Centre by opponents of Seacret Cosmetics is a regular event, just as the picket of the Ahava Store in London's Covent Garden was.

At the close of the video tribute is paid to a bloke called Seymour Alexander and "our friends in the London BDS Movement".  Seymour Alexander is obviously the Alex Seymour who was a stalwart of the anti-Ahava demos in London, which he filmed, and who leaves encouraging messages below the Adelaide anti-Seacret group's videos on YouTube.

Also at the close of this video is the reminder that the anti-Ahava campaign in London took two years before it could claim victory.  Let's hope that Seacret shows more tenacity than the beleaguered London Ahava store, and that this lot won't have more to gloat over and crow about.

"Marks & Spencer Stands For Misery & Suffering; Marks & Spencer Stands For Murder & Slaughter" (video)

"Don't ask the price - it's a penny."   Thus did  Michael Marks (1859-1907), an immigrant to Leeds from Slonim in the Tsarist Empire, where his father was an impoverished tailor,advertise the goods on display at his clothing stall in the Yorkshire city.  As is well-known, Marks & Spencer had its origins in the business partnership that the enterprising Leeds stallholder made in 1894 with the non-Jewish Thomas Spencer, who retired in 1903.  By the time Marks died, the firm already had 60 clothing stores in various parts of Britain, and was well on its way to becoming one of the staples of the British High Street, known for offering goods of high quality and reliability at a reasonable price.  Its flagship store in London's Oxford Street opened in 1938

Following Michael Marks's death the firm was run by his son, Simon (1888-1964, who was knighted in 1944 and raised to the peerage as the first Baron Marks of Broughton in 1961), and by his son-in-law Israel Sieff  (1889-1972, who became a life peer, Baron Sieff, in 1966), the son of a Lithuanian-born Manchester textile manufacturer and husband of Simon's sister Rebecca (1890-1966).  Marks and Spencer, an enlightened employer which enjoyed excellent staff relations, arguably reached its peak under the leadership of the Sieffs' son, Sir Marcus Sieff, Baron Sieff of Brimpton (1913-2001; knighted in 1971 and given a life peerage in 1980).  Its fortunes declined after the Marks and Sieff families requished control, although it remains, of course, a legendary giant of British retailing.

Simon Marks and Israel Sieff , who knew Chaim Weizmann when he was a scientist in Manchester, were prominent supporters of the Zionist movement and investors in the infrastructure of the Yishuv.  Simon Marks was President of the Joint Palestine Appeal and Honorary Vice-President of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain.   Israel Sieff was during the 1930s President of the Zionist Federation, and subsequently its Vice-Chairman for many years.  His many other positions relating to Jewry and to Israel included the longterm presidency of the Anglo-Israel Chamber of Commerce.  Lady Sieff, Simon's sister, was one of the founders of WIZO, the Women's International Zionist Movement, and a lifelong champion of Zionism and Israel.  Baron Sieff of Brimpton was also an active Zionist.  For example, he was President of the Anglo-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Hon. President of the Joint Israel Appeal, and Chancellor of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot.  The well-known Zionist Harry Sacher (1881-1971) who helped to win over the Manchester Guardian to the Zionist cause, and who played a not inconsiderable part in the talks leading to the Balfour Declaration, was married to Simon's sister Miriam (1892-1975), who was equally devoted to efforts for the Jewish Homeland and shared Harry's involvement with the Weizmann Institute.

Needless to say, the attachment of the Marks and Sieff families to the Zionist cause did not go unnoticed by Israel's enemies.  In 1973 Israel Sieff's brother Joseph Edward "Teddy" Sieff (1906–1982), who chaired the firm from 1967-72 and also served as Hon. Vice-President of the Zionist Federation, survived a bungled assassination attempt in the bathroom of his London home by no less a personage than the notorious Carlos the Jackal, firing a gun on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

For years, certainly since the first Intifada, there have been regular pickets from BDS maniacs outside Marks & Spencer stores, notably in Oxford Street, London, and Princes Street, Edinburgh.  In 2009 the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London launched a boycott of the celebrated retailer.

I've been concentrating on the repugnant spectacle and sound of the BDS movement in Australia (especially against chocolateer Max Brenner) so much recently that I overlooked a manifestation of the same on London's Oxford Street in September on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the Intifada.  In the video below, produced by inminds.com, we see a remarkable display of hatred directed not only against Israel but against Marks & Spencer.   It's no less than vilification, and extremely vicious - one of the two nastiest anti-Israel videos I've seen this week (the other is of ETA propagandists poisoning the hearts and minds of little children in Navarre).

In the video we see at first an overwrought Israel-vilifying girl, who later in the video blares the words in my header.  There's a plummy-voiced middle-aged woman bellowing at passers-by the mendacious charge that Israel is an apartheid, racist state.  There's a well-spoken pony-tailed youth whose speech is reminiscent of the subsequent "Occupy" madness; he also cries "It is murder! It is slaughter!"  There are accusations of "torture" and of "genocide" and other slurs.

And the footage is interspersed at intervals with each of ten reasons (supported by out-of-context quotations) why Marks & Spencer should be boycotted - all to the sound of a vilifying rap-type song. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Allen West On A Nuclear Iran: "The Clock IsTicking Very Fast..." (video)

And the United States should support Israel in a strike, insists the popular Republican Congressman from Florida:

David Landau Interviewed On SBS Television, Australia

Here's a newly uploaded video of an interview by Janice Petersen of SBS (Australia's multicultural, multilingual Special Broadcasting Service) with former editor of Ha'aretz David Landau, whose visit to Australia under the auspices of the New Israel Fund has caused something of a kerfuffle Down Under, as I indicated in a recent post.

Glenn Beck Addresses The Zionist Organization of America (video)

"I wear it as a badge of honor to be an enemy of George Soros .... George Soros is not a friend to Israel, neither is this administration ..." are among the applause-drawing declarations he makes:

Hat tip: reader Shirlee

Caroline Glick On A Nuclear Iran & What Might Be Done To Prevent It (video)

The following new video has already appeared on Atlas Shrugs and other blogs.  It's labelled "Caroline Glick: Stopping Iran" but is in fact of somewhat broader scope than the title implies.  In her talk to the Center for Security Policy's National Security Group on Capitol Hill, the Jerusalem Post deputy editor and columnist considers the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran not only to Israel but to the United States and to Europe.  She points out that to the Ahmadinejad regime, with its global ambitions and fanaticism, "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" are hardly mere slogans.  She advises the United States to be far less sanguine than it currently is about the implications for national security of the presence of thousands of Iranian operatives in Latin America. Yet she also warns that the chief target of Iranian missiles might be Europe.  She discusses the likelihood and nature of a pre-emptive Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear installations, and discusses the possibly favourable (for Israel) outcome of the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria, which of course would mean the toppling of a regime hostile to Israel rather than one allied with Israel as Mubarak's was or effectively neutral, like Gadaffi's ...

The Blonde Leading The Blind (video)

Someone has just uploaded this video of Australian Lady (Michèle) Renouf, talking last year on a kooky American TV show about the War on Iraq, undertaken "for pillage and plunder as a proxy war for Israel's interests," David Irving, "Swindlespeak"... "Judaism and Jewish conduct" ... "The greed is good Judaic ethos" (to be told by the interjecting host, Carolyn Yeager, at that stage that she is not only physically beautiful but "a beautiful mind" and "a beautiful soul"), 9/11, Gilad Atzmon ("The kind of Jew I like because he calls himself an ex-Jew ... I am highly critical of Judaism, not just Zionism"), and (get this!!!), the BNP's pro-Israel leader Griffin, Aussie Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben, Bishop Richard Williamson, and the New World Order ("International Zionism") ... 

It's over one and a half hours long, so not to be embarked on lightly, but for real hardcore judeophobic stuff with an unwitting comedy basis is hard to beat!  It's sound only, so you can play it as background while doing the chores. The contrasting of (bad) Judaism ("predatory ... shark") with (good) Christianity and Islam ("dolphins") is just one of the pieces that is breathtakingly farcical.  Be warned: once you embark on this video, you'll probably be so amazed that such views can be spewed out in the 21st century by someone brought up in laid-back, enlightened Australia as opposed to some benighted corner of Eastern Europe that you won't be able to switch it off.

David Landau's Visit & The Fall Out Down Under

Under the auspices of the New Israel Fund's Australian branch, which has not been long in existence, David Landau, former diplomatic and managing editor of the Jerusalem Post and former editor-in-chief of Ha’aretz, the man who in 2007 infamously said "Israel wants to be raped by the U.S.", has been visiting Australia.

Of course, as any red-blooded Zionist knows, the New Israel Fund is a controversial organisation to say the least, and one which numerous supporters of Israel regard, as they do J-Street, with deep suspicion.  The organisation NGO Monitor has many examples of the NIF's eyebrow-raising initiatives.

Landau's been interviewed on the ABC (Australia's answer to the BBC, and, broadly speaking, with a similar jaundiced lefty approach to Israel) and on SBS, which is certainly not known for its over-friendliness towards the Jewish State.

David Landau's position on Israel can be gleaned from a breakfast time talk he gave in Sydney to invited guests of the New Israel Fund, reported here.

The decision of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies to invite him privately to address its members has, it seems, been widely criticised by communal activists who have Israel's interests uppermost in their heart.

This has prompted that supreme political realist, David Singer, the Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst, to resign from the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies.  As reported in the latest J-Wire, Singer has written:

"The Board Of Deputies No Longer Represents Me

It is with much regret that I have tendered my long standing membership of the Board of Deputies.

My reasons are two fold:

The decision of the Board to host David Landau at a luncheon last week.

The failure of the Board to take any action against New Israel Fund Australia holding a fund raising appeal in breach of Communal guidelines.

The Board cannot argue that it was unaware of the consequences of extending its hospitality to a person with extreme views that are inimical to Israel’s national interest.

I voiced my opposition to such an invitation which could be taken to indicate communal acceptance of such views – rather than communal disgust.

Mr Landau is entitled to say whatever he likes and to be roundly criticised and condemned – as is apparent from the spirited comments in J-Wire.

For the Board to welcome him as it did at a lunch was unforgivable.

The Board’s failure to do anything about a fund raising appeal by New Israel Fund Australia in breach of communal guidelines is also regrettable and indicates a lack of leadership in the community’s interest.

My letter to the Board objecting to such an appeal being held was not even answered.

Is any organisation now free to hold an appeal at any time without reference to the communal guidelines?

Sorry – these two actions by the Board do not represent my views nor do they in my opinion represent responsible leadership in the interests of our community.

I urge any other members who also feel similarly outraged by these decisions to also resign their membership."

Bruce Bawer On Antisemitism In Norway & What Drives It

American Bruce Bawer, who has lived in Norway for the past twelve years, has a no-holds-barred piece on antisemitism there (which he describes as "over the top") and the Norwegian elite's submission to Islamist influences, in his latest column in the online magazine Hudson New York.

Among his revelations:

'The quintessential expression of Norwegian anti-Semitism during my time in Norway was an op-ed written by Jostein Gaarder, author of the international bestseller Sophie's World. It appeared on August 11, 2006, in Aftenposten, Norway's newspaper of record. I will quote from it just to give you a flavor of the kind of thing that is considered respectable discourse in Norway. "The state of Israel in its current form is history," wrote Gaarder. "We do not believe in the notion of God's chosen people....To act as God's chosen people is not only stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity....We acknowledge...Europe's deep responsibility for the fate of Jews....But the state of Israel...has massacred its own legitimacy....The State of Israel has seen its Soweto.... " Gaarder went on to describe little Jewish girls writing hateful words on bombs to be dropped on civilian populations in Lebanon and Palestine – as if it were Israel that teaches its children to hate and kill. He wrote: "We do not recognize a state founded on anti-humanistic principles and the ruins of an archaic national religion and warrior religion." You might have thought he was talking about Saudi Arabia or Iran, but no; he was talking about Israel. After reading Gaarder's op-ed, one of the leading members of Norway's tiny Jewish community, a writer named Mona Levin, said she had not read anything so disturbing since Mein Kampf. Many ordinary Norwegians agreed. Yet members of the cultural elite lined up to support Gaarder. As far as they were concerned he had struck a blow for truth and virtue.


What motivates this anti-Semitism? Several things. For one, the leading lights of Norway's cultural elite are overwhelmingly on the far left, and intensely hostile to the West, to capitalism, and therefore to the US and to Israel, which they see as America's puppet and vassal – a colonialist, imperialist outpost of Western capitalism in the heart of the Islamic world. Before the fall of the USSR, an extraordinary percentage of these Norwegian leftists were either Communists or very sympathetic to Communism. They have replaced their affinity to the Soviet Union with sympathy for the great totalitarian ideology of our time: Islamism. Thus they romanticize Palestinians and despise Israel.


Part of the motivation for this anti-Semitism is of course the influx into Norway in recent decades of masses of Muslims from Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia and elsewhere. Multiculturalism has taught Norway's cultural elite to take an uncritical, even obsequious, posture toward every aspect of Muslim culture and belief. When Muslim leaders rant against Israel and the Jews, the reflexive response of the multicultural elite is to join them in their rantings. This is called solidarity....


On Oslo's version of Fleet Street there is a bar, a journalists' hangout, called Stopp Pressen (Stop the Presses). For years, there hung in its window a photograph of a smiling, beatific Yasser Arafat. From the way he was portrayed, you would have thought he was Albert Schweizer. I walked by that picture almost every day for years. It was a good reminder of the sickness at the top ranks of Norwegian society....


The cultural elite has been forced to admit that there are problems with [Muslim] immigration, but its mantra is still that the only, or at least the main, problem with Islam in Europe is not Islam itself but anti-Islamic prejudice. Also, pretty much any Muslim who is not an active terrorist is by definition a moderate. A few years ago I actually began hearing people in Norway talk about "moderate Islamists" and now this is an entirely familiar label. It is a perfect example of what Daniel Patrick Moynihan called "defining deviancy down."


These so-called "moderate Islamists," moreover, are routinely welcomed into the elite.... Meanwhile people from the Muslim community who object to the tyranny of imams and want to enjoy the same freedoms everyone else does get little support from the very authorities who should be their champions....


Two years ago, supposedly in response to Israel's actions against Hamas, Muslims rioted in downtown Oslo, making a large area of the city look like Beirut or Sarajevo at their most violent moments in modern history. The violence was out of control, the damage extensive. Yet almost everyone got off scot-free. And the whole event was soon dropped down the memory hole. The media, the politicians, simply did not want to talk about it or address its implications for the future.


Early last year, in the same Oslo Square where Quisling and his henchman once held rallies, scores of radical Muslims gathered to hear a Nazi-like message of hate against Jews, gays, secular democracy, America, the West, Israel. The speeches were chilling. Yet many of the men who gave those speeches continue to be treated with respect by Norwegian authorities. One of them threatened a new 9/11 in Norway. A few weeks ago he flew to Saudi Arabia to resume his studies of the Koran. He was considered so radical and dangerous that Saudi Arabia actually arrested him at the airport and sent him back to Norway, where he is now once again moving around freely....

Many critics of Islam were so intimidated by this vicious new atmosphere [post-Breivik] that they stepped forward and expressed regret for things they had said and written. Meanwhile leading politicians and the Norwegian Crown Prince visited mosques to show their solidarity with imams. Never mind that those imams' opinions were no different than they had been the day before the massacre. Suddenly all that was to be forgotten. Solidarity with Islam, shunning of Islam critics: this was – and is – the order of the day. In the local elections on September 10, the Labor Party received a huge sympathy vote, and the Progress Party suffered a disastrous setback. People were quite simply scared to vote for the party that had been linked, however unfairly, to the mass murderer....'

Read the entire article here

From Your Tents, O Ratbags!

Apart from the nasty taste that the antisemitism of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement and its global offshoots has left, I shall take away two memories of the "Occupy" madness.

The first is the hyperbolic comment of "liberal feminist" Naomi Wolf (of The Beauty Myth fame), who wrote after her arrest on Hudson Street, near to Wall Street protesters, where she was attending a function for the Huffington Post:

'first they come for the "other" – the "terrorist", the brown person, the Muslim, the outsider; then they come for you – while you are standing on a sidewalk in evening dress, obeying the law.'

The second is the robust, if at times over-rude, condemnation of Wall Street occupiers by "Batman" author Frank Miller, who on his blog remarked, to the chagrin of the usual suspects:

'Everybody’s been too damn polite about this nonsense:

The “Occupy” movement, whether displaying itself on Wall Street or in the streets of Oakland (which has, with unspeakable cowardice, embraced it) is anything but an exercise of our blessed First Amendment. These clowns can do nothing but harm America.

“Occupy” is nothing short of a clumsy, poorly-expressed attempt at anarchy, to the extent that the “movement” ...  is anything more than an ugly fashion statement by a bunch of iPhone, iPad wielding spoiled brats who should stop getting in the way of working people and find jobs for themselves....

Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy.

Maybe, between bouts of self-pity and all the other tasty tidbits of narcissism you’ve been served up in your sheltered, comfy little worlds, you’ve heard terms like al-Qaeda and Islamicism.

And this enemy of mine — not of yours, apparently - must be getting a dark chuckle, if not an outright horselaugh - out of your vain, childish, self-destructive spectacle.

In the name of decency, go home to your parents, you losers. Go back to your mommas’ basements and play with your Lords Of Warcraft.

Or better yet, enlist for the real thing. Maybe our military could whip some of you into shape.

They might not let you babies keep your iPhones, though. Try to soldier on.

Schmucks.'

Meanwhile (hat tip: reader Shirlee) a new word has entered the language:

(Sorry I haven't posted it before, Shirlee - computer woes again!)

Judgments Down Under Regarding Anti-Israel Activists

There have been two judgments in recent days regarding anti-Israel activities Down Under.

As reported yesterday in the in the Australian, the Australian Press Council has adjudicated complaints by two persons, Dale Mills and Vivienne Porzsolt (on the left of this picture; she is familiar to regular readers of this blog, I'm sure), about headlines in that newspaper's printed and online editions on 28th July this year relating to the BDS campaign against Max Brenner.

'The print version was headed "Anti-Jew protest condemned" and the online version was headed "Prominent Australians fight anti-Semitism with hot chocolate". The articles noted the BDS protest had been condemned as "violent" and "anti-Semitic" and the online version added a quote that it had been "anti-Jewish".

Mr Mills claimed that by describing the BDS protest as "anti-Jew" and "anti-Semitic" the headlines were inaccurate, because it was actually a protest against Israeli government policies. He said these assertions involved matters of opinion being presented as facts. He also said the newspaper should have published the letter to the editor in which he sought to correct the inaccuracy.

The newspaper initially said the headlines were accurate because, if the BDS protest was simply anti-Israeli, it should have been targeted at agencies or representatives of the Israeli government. Mr Mills replied the organisers live in Melbourne and there are no Israeli government agencies in that city.

The newspaper added that concerns about the anti-Jewish nature of the protest, together with the accompanying violence, were at the heart of the story's newsworthiness. It subsequently informed the council, however, that since these articles appeared it had clarified that the BDS campaign should not be described as "anti-Jew" and had advised its staff accordingly.

The council has concluded that the headline on the print version, "Anti-Jew protest condemned", was a clear breach of the council's standards of practice because it reported a matter of opinion as if a fact. It also failed reasonably to convey the tenor of the article itself, in which the original demonstration was described as "anti-Israel" but not as "anti-Jew". Accordingly, the complaint against the headline is upheld on both these grounds.

The council has concluded that the headline on the online version, "Prominent Australians fight anti-Semitism with hot chocolate", is reasonably capable of being read as a description of the prominent Australians' opinions, rather than a statement of fact. This interpretation also means that the headline fairly reflects the tenor of the online version especially as, unlike the print version, it included a quote that the campaign was "not anti-Israel but anti-Jewish". On balance, therefore, the complaint against the online headline is not upheld.'  Hat tip: reader Shirlee

The other judgment from the Antipodes comes from New Zealand.

In January 2010 a small but vocal rabble of Israel-demonising Kiwis calling themselves themselves Global Peace and Justice Auckland gathered with their banners and their nonsensical soundbites. They were led by John Minto, a veteran  of the anti-apartheid movement who had participated in the disruption of the South African rugby tours in 1981 and 1986.

The focus of the group's bullying (as in the previous year) was young Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer, who was due to play her opening match at the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland, and who had defied their written request to withdraw from the tournament "as a demonstration of your commitment to peace" with the Palestinian Arabs.

She should be prepared "to make the sacrifice," they said, because "the sacrifices being forced onto Palestinians by Israel are far greater."

"I came here to play tennis. I know I’m from Israel and I’m proud of my country," affirmed Ms Peer. to the rage of the activists.

"I don't think there is a place for politics in sport," she later said, adding that she had not experienced protests like the one in Auckland anywhere else in the world.

The upshot was that eight protesters were arrested for making excessive noise that annoyed tennis players and spectators, and six duly were convicted of disorderly behaviour.

There are several videos of the occasion on YouTube. There are the usual ignorant and offensive chants ("Israel is a racist state," "Israel is a fascist state,", of course. One chant demands to know why after "60 years" there's no Palestinian State. The protesters don't seem to know that there would have been one alongside Israel  from the start had the Arabs not spurned it. There are the ridiculous placards, one with the ludicrous message "The Zionists are the Nazis of the Middle East". (Presumably the bloke holding it aloft, or whoever coined it, finds "Zionists" easier to spell "Islamofascists".)

Have a look at this video, made by the protesters following the arrests.

See them in this video targeting Ms Peer with the obnoxious cry "blood on your hands," and intoning other moronic rubbish.

And here's the leader of the pack, who was also destined to be arrested, ranting against the police.  There's nine minutes' worth of footage here, but watch him go, if only for a moment!:

Finally, here's brief footage of demonstrators in support of those arrested, spewing out more bile against Israel, albeit in tones easier on the ear.  Most passersby seem to be not the least bit interested, incidentally.

In the words of that video's uploader:

"The police have claimed the arrests were made due to excessive noise which annoyed those in attendance at the tennis match, however this is unlikely to hold up in court. According to the precedent set by Rees vs Police in 2006;

It is not correct to say that in exercising the right to protest, a citizen has the duty not to annoy. It is permissible, within limits, for a citizen to annoy others while protesting. It is not enough that the conduct is irritating or ill mannered or in bad taste. Protestors often set out to cause irritation, to attract attention to their message. That is not in itself illegitimate, or a breach of the criminal law."

Sure enough, New Zealand's High Court has now overturned the convictions on the grounds that 

"a verbalised protest may offend or disturb a member of the public. But disruption to an individual’s enjoyment of a sporting event is not the same thing as disruption of public order."

Justice Paul Heath argued that the protesters' message was necessarily loud:

"the level of the noise had to be sufficiently loud to impart their views to those inside the stadium".

Read on for article

Read on for articleJustice Paul Heath said in New Zealand’s High Court that  the disruption of an individual’s enjoyment of a sporting event was not the same as disruption of public   ”a verbalised protest may offend or disturb a member of the public. But disruption to an individual’s enjoyment of a sporting event is not the same thing as disruption of public orderJustice Paul Heath told the court that since the intent of the protesters was to inform Ms Peer of their the concerns about Israeli policy "the level of the noise had to be sufficiently loud to impart their views to those inside the stadium".rotester John Minto told stuff.co.nz “Annoyance is not a crime, annoyance is part of being in a democracy.