In Australia, Claims of Bigotry, Blackballing & a Baklava

 As seen at left, and below, in very recent Tweets, Lebanese-born New South Wales Labor MP Shaoquett Moselbane is a vigorous pro-Palestinian proponent. 

In March 2013, Mr Moselmane sparked outrage when he gave, inside that chamber, what Dan Goldberg writing in Haaretz described as "a firebrand speech ... a vituperative tirade" alleging that the creation of Israel was a “corruption of justice,” that Gaza is “the world's largest open-air prison camp,” and that Israel ran “torture camps” in southern Lebanon.

Continued Goldberg:

'Moselmane also accused Israel of “massive violations of human rights,” saying: “If there was ever a group in need of protection from war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, it is the Palestinians.”

The first Muslim ever elected to the NSW parliament added this: “I salute the [Lebanese] resistance. Imagine what the response would have been in 1941 or 1942 if we had condemned resistance against Nazi Germany. Guns would have been blazing at us for not resisting Nazi Germany. In Lebanon the resistance was able to force the Israelis out.”

Moselmane was supported by fellow Labor MP Linda Voltz and by Greens MP David Shoebridge, both known for anti-Israel activism.

Afterwards, the CEO of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Aldaheff, who had sat in the gallery during the entire three-hour debate, said, according to the same report: 

“It was very disappointing to hear such outrageous slurs and baseless comments made against Israel in an Australian parliament.

Fortunately, they came from a handful of marginal MPs and were quickly and appropriately condemned by Labor and Liberal MPs.”

He described Moselmane’s comparison with Nazi Germany as “outrageous” and “beyond belief,” adding: “I would describe it as a one-off rant but a one-off rant that showed the depth of animosity from a marginal group within the parliament.”

Alhadeff ... said he was in the gallery during some of the debates about the Israel boycott in 2011.“While there were hostile critics of Israel no one ever made a comparison to the Nazis,” he told Haaretz."

 During the past week Mr Moselmane has sparked outrage again.

 Reported political editor Andrew Clennel in The Australian (14 August):

'The first Muslim MP in the NSW parliament has sparked a row overnight, refusing entry to a respected Jewish leader to a Labor Party multicultural launch.

Upper House MP Shaoquett Moselmane refused entry to Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff at the launch of the Labor Union Multicultural Action Committee launch last night saying, according to Mr Alhadeff, that he was not a Labor Party member before offering him a baklava on the way out.

The baklava was declined.

Mr Alhadeff had had an invitation to the Sussex Street event by Labor General secretary Kaila Murnain and Unions NSW chief Mark Morey.

But his invitation only came after Mr Alhadeff had questioned why Mr Moselmane had not invited him in the first place.

“While I appreciated the goodwill in receiving an invitation from Kaila Murnain and Mark Morey, it is unfortunate that Mr Moselmane would defy his party leadership and deny entry to a leader of the Jewish community,” Mr Alhadeff said.

“Given that the invitation which Mr Moselmane sent to others specifically said he hoped this new organisation would become a conduit between the multicultural community and Labor and the union movement, it made no sense to exclude the CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies when we represent the Jewish community and are an active component of multicultural NSW.”

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley said he has apologised to Mr Alhadeff for what occurred.

“He did receive a written invitation to the meeting,” Mr Foley said. “Unfortunately Mr Moselmane says there was a miscommunication. NSW Labor maintains healthy and constructive relations with Vic and other leaders of the state’s Jewish community, and that will continue.” ....'

Taking to Twitter, Mr Moselmane declared:

(The Australian is the flagship newspaper of Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorporation empire Down Under, and is the most pro-Israel of this country's broadsheets.)

But, wait, there's more!  It seems that the Jewish media outlet J-Wire, as well as the Australian Jewish News, failed to receive invitations to cover events to which they might reasonably expect to be able to cover.  Here's how the Sydney Daily Telegraph (16 August) reported the matter:

Here's Mr Moselmane's reaction:

Of the apparent snub to the Jewish community Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer, no stranger to readers of this blog, comments over at J-Wire:

 'The NSW Labor Party appears to be following in the footsteps of the openly brazen Jew-hatred displayed in the UN Human Rights Council – as emulated by the British Labour Party through its leader Jeremy Corbyn.

NSW Labor party leader Luke Foley needs to deal with Moselane firmly and promptly to prevent the spread of this disease in his own backyard. If Foley allows his party to continue to be tainted by Moselane’s actions – Foley will bear the electoral consequences that must inevitably flow from his inaction.

I hope to see J Wire and the Australian Jewish News receive the same respect and recognition accorded to other ethnic media in NSW.'

Oh, and talking of NewsCorp and Jeremy Corbyn, The Australian's foreign editor Greg Sheridan has an absolute humdinger of an article about antisemitism, Corbyn and the Corbynistas today! Too bad it's behind a paywall. Catch it if you can.)