Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Saturday 18 April 2015

In Sydney Soon, A Campus Law School Hass Fest

The rather squalid all-day event that's going to take place in the Staff Common Room of the Law Faculty  at the University of New South Wales campus in the Sydney suburb of Randwick on 24 April was excitedly touched on about a fortnight ago in a video (I wouldn't bother, if I were you) by a veteran Aussie Israel-basher of Jewish birth, Vivienne Porzsolt (of "Jews Against The Occupation", one of those would-fit-into-a-telephone-booth outfits).

With former NSW parliamentarian (Greens, need you ask!) and publisher Sylvia Hale (the Hale half of Hale and Iremonger), Ms Porzsolt went on the Flotilla in 2010 and had a nice little adventure.
In the video mentioned above she sits alongside Peter Slezak, another Israel-bashing "as-a-Jew", who's going to be a speaker at the Randwick hate-fest.

The keynote speaker will be the notorious Israel-bashing Ha'aretz journalist Amira Hass, who's currently already in Australia working her mischief magic among the we-hate-Israel set.  (Sorry, folks, this dinner to meet her in Sydney is all booked out!)


Opening the event will be legal eagle Hal Wootten (born 1922, so they'd better provide him with a comfy chair), founder of the UNSW law school.

Spreading Hass among the usual suspects
Regarding the UNSW hate fest (admission free), we learn:
The symposium Law, Rights and Resistance in Occupied Palestine is organised by postgraduate students, with support from a group of academic staff members at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). This event will examine and discuss the extent to which contemporary public international legal frameworks including international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law, allow or disallow forms of resistance to occupied rule in Palestine. As well as a legal focus, it will feature theoretical, post-colonial, historical, political and anthropological perspectives on the notion of ‘resistance’. We believe an interdisciplinary approach is necessary in order to accentuate and engage with the diverse forms of resistance that take place in Palestine as a consequence of the nature and character of the occupation.
Some of the specific concerns that will be addressed include:
Whether there is a legal right, as opposed to a mere moral right to resist occupied rule under international law and, if so, under what conditions it can be exercised.
 What characterises the right to resist? What forms can it take? What are the boundaries of resistance?
 What are some manifestations of daily forms of resistance and civil disobedience from occupied Palestine?
 How has Palestinian resistance to occupation evolved over time?
 What is the role of academia, particularly scholars in international law, in perpetuating or resisting the occupation?
We warmly welcome scholars, students and the general public to attend this important event..."
 Programme here

Although not an overt Israel-delegitimising event like the now-cancelled University of Southampton Law School conference, this is still an odiously one-sided, unbalanced event that lacks the differences of opinion one expects at an academic symposium.

It is simply and blatantly an exercise in propaganda

Little wonder that
'One university staff member told -the antipodean news service] J-Wire: “This one-sided anti-Israel bash dressed up an academic symposium is very concerning”.'

4 comments:

  1. Meanwhile apparently Jumping Jake has been cleared of antisemitism by Sydney University.

    Good to know.

    Perhaps Michael Spence decided a $5 note wasn't enough.

    https://newmatilda.com/2015/04/20/jake-lynch-cleared-anti-semitism-over-role-colonel-richard-kemp-protest#comment-103442

    ReplyDelete

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