Daphne Anson: Australian Senators Slam Greens, BDS & That ACCC Ruling

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)

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Australian Senators Slam Greens, BDS & That ACCC Ruling

On their website, Friends of Israel Western Australia have provided copious extracts from a robust denunciation of the BDS Movement in general and Lee Rhiannon and the Greens Party in particular during a debate that took place in rhe Australian Senate yesterday regarding the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's regrettable ruling that the BDS campaign does not conflict with Commonwealth of Australia law http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/2011/09/bds-demos-not-in-breach-of-australian.html

You can read far more courtesy of the Friends of Israel Western Australia, but here's the flavour:

Senator ABETZ (Tasmania—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (17:00): I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the response from the ACCC....

The response of the chairman of the ACCC to the Senate motion concerning the anti-Israel BDS campaign against Max Brenner chocolate cafes is, to say the least, disappointing. I also note that this motion was opposed by Greens senators. Since Greens leader Senator Bob Brown took his alleged robust line against Senator Rhiannon's support for the boycott divestment and sanctions campaign, BDS, in the March New South Wales election, Senator Rhiannon has repeatedly needled him on this issue.

After the backlash against the Greens at the March New South Wales election, particularly in the seat of Marrickville, Senator Bob Brown lambasted Senator-elect Rhiannon. Senator-elect Rhiannon's first reaction had been to suggest that the Greens should have done more to explain this issue....

When you are voting for the Greens, you are voting for a party with racist views....

That should make people who think they are doing the right thing by voting green think twice when they vote for a green environmental party. The Greens do not want to do the right thing. The Greens want to intimidate Jewish businesses. This is 1939 revisited.

Senator BOSWELL (Queensland) (17:08): It was very disappointing to get a letter today from the trade practices commissioner, Mr Sims, saying that he wanted to do a Pontius Pilate on a particular motion that the Senate had carried. In that letter the chairman said: 'We are not going to investigate this because it is unlikely to have had the effect of causing substantial loss or damage to the business of Max Brenner such as to constitute a contravention of section 45D of the act. Relevant here are the infrequent nature of the protests, their limited duration and the consequent difficulty in apportioning the revenue impact of this activity versus other factors.' He then goes on to allude to the Victoria Police as doing the job for us anyhow. I do not accept that.

I think Mr Sims is only a new boy in the role of trade practices commissioner. He should take more seriously a resolution of this Senate when it is backed by people representing 90 per cent of the population of Australia. Sure, the Greens do not support it. But the Liberals support it, the Nationals support it, Labor support it and the Independents support it. They all supported the motion that I moved on 18 August.

Mr Sims simply says, 'It does not do the things that it should do.' Let me point out to Mr Sims that last week in Sydney there was another demonstration, another picket, another boycott and more intimidation of a Jewish confectionary shop. No-one in Australia wants to go down that path. We have been there before, as Senator Abetz said. It sends shivers down people's spines that we could even contemplate doing it. Yet the trade practices commission turns its back and will not investigate it.

I have maintained an interest in the ACCC and the Trade Practices Act. Since the prosecutions of unionists in the seventies for secondary boycotts, it has been clear that section 45D applies where there is a real chance or possibility that boycotting conduct will, if pursued, cause loss or damage that is more than trivial, minimal, insubstantial or novel.

It concerns me very much that in its media release the ACCC exonerates the BDS campaign....
I can remember a group of dairy farmers wanting to get together to negotiate on a price with the manufacturers, and they were barred. This was a group of innocent dairy farmers who just wanted to sit down and talk about prices. The ACCC came down on them like a tonne of bricks and said, 'Not on.' I had to seek an exemption. It is going back some time now, but that cost a fair bit of money. If the ACCC can do that to dairy farmers, surely it can get off its tail and try to do something that will stop these boycotts. This is completely unsatisfactory.

There should be no excuses for Mr Sims. He should use the same criteria as he does for secondary boycotts by unions and other businesses that seek to meet and have discussions—but apparently we have a separate set of standards. Mr Sims says: 'Don't worry about it. Victoria Police will do it.' Sure, Victoria Police might do it and they should do it and they have done it—and good luck to them. They have done it efficiently and effectively, but we expect that sort of reaction from the ACCC and we are not getting it, and we should get it. I say to Mr Sims: 'People in this parliament do not casually pass resolutions for you to ignore. When a resolution passes this parliament, it has the support of all senators other than the Greens. It represents about 90 per cent of the population, who want you, the ACCC, to take some action.'
I have moved another motion today. It will be the fourth that I have moved.

Senator IAN MACDONALD (Queensland) (17:19): I also am concerned about the response from the commissioner. I would have hoped that the commissioner might have placed some great weight on the fact that the resolution to which he was responding was in fact a practically unanimous resolution of the Senate.

I also want to reinforce Senator Abetz and Boswell's view that boycotts of Jewish businesses are repugnant to any democratically minded Australian. I acknowledge that a feature of the Australian democracy, in our easygoing way, is that people are free, within certain very confined grounds, to say anything and to participate in demonstrations and strikes.
That is the way we back the perceptions, understandings and a view of history—as Senator Abetz mentioned. These are not subjective comments; this is the history. In Germany in the 1930s through to the 1940s, and to a lesser extent in some other European countries, action was taken against businesses solely on the basis that the owners of those businesses happened to be Jewish.

I cannot quote but I know enough about German history during the 1930s to know that both Hitler and Goebbels would have had reasons which they would explain to the public of Germany as to why the activity in Germany at the time was not being dealt with in a way in which Australians and most freedom-loving people around the world would have responded. I know enough of Goebbels's history to say that he would have given an explanation and if you wanted to believe it you could easily have done so.

The incident to which Senator Boswell referred and which he has been passionate about for some time involves the boycott of a business on the sole basis, as I understand it, that it is Jewish. At a cursory glance, maybe it does make a point about some incident that is happening overseas. But here it is the sort of explanation that Goebbels would have given. He would have given it glibly and cleverly, as most propagandists do.

In Australia at this stage of our history, or at any stage, we do not want to allow our country to be involved in any sorts of boycotts that impact on people's businesses, their livelihoods and their ability to act freely because they happen to be Jewish people....

Hat tip: Shirl in Oz
Read more: http://www.foiwa.org.au/node/383?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/dailys/ds120911.pdf

4 comments:

Joe in Australia14 September 2011 at 01:03
I despise the protestors and I would be happy to seem them prosecuted for racial hatred and breaches of the peace - but I think that as a matter of law the ACCC is correct. The secondary boycott provisions were never intended to deal with something like this.
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Daphne Anson14 September 2011 at 01:16
Thanks, Joe.
I suppose nobody could have foreseen this kind of nonsense unfolding.
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Shirl in Oz14 September 2011 at 07:37
"Israeli boycott a low point for senators "

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/israeli-boycott-a-low-point-for-senators-20110913-1k7lz.html
ReplyDelete
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Daphne Anson14 September 2011 at 08:07
Thanks, Shirl, but will need following up.
ReplyDelete
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Islamophobia is a false allegation of prejudice which is deployed to silence rational criticism based on actual facts about attitudes and practices within the Islamic world.
[L]ethally compromised even-handedness is to misunderstand, and thus minimise, antisemitic attitudes and behaviour while shutting down legitimate and necessary discussion of the threat from the Islamic world – even to demonise as “Islamophobic” anyone who draws attention to the extent and consequences of Muslim antisemitism.' Melanie Phillips (14 December 2016)

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The "Apartheid" Slur

The division of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into three separate areas “A”, “B” and “C” was agreed on by Israel and the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords.
95% of the West Bank Arabs live in Areas A and B and their daily lives are under the total administration and control of the PLO since the Palestinian Authority was disbanded by Abbas in January 2013. The PLO has total security control in A and shares security control in B with Israel. Israel has total administrative and security control in C.
Israel is entitled to and will continue to take responsibility for the security of Jews living in the West Bank.
Jews were given the legal right to settle in the West Bank under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. They did so for decades until they were driven out in 1947 and not able to return there until 1967.
There are Arab roads only in the West Bank that Jews are not allowed to use. Jews are also forbidden from entering Area “A”. Selling land to Jews is forbidden by the PLO under pain of death. The PLO runs the daily lives of 95% of the West Bank Arabs and Hamas runs the daily lives of 100% of the Gazan Arabs. They have been under occupation – and subjugation – by these two evil groups for the last ten years and given no say in their future or any opportunity to elect others to lead them following the disastrous political decisions of their leaders over the past ten years. Hamas and the PLO do not accept the continued existence of a Jewish State and call for its disappearance.
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Once again the armies of the Arab nations are coordinating their military efforts to destroy Israel - whatever they say about wishing merely to regain the lost territories.... [I]f the present Arab offensive had been launched at the pre-1967 frontiers, then the Israelis would indeed have been fighting to avoid annihilation. It seems now that the Israelis were right to maintain the ceasefire lines gained in 1967, and that to do so is the only guarantee of their continued safety.
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