Daphne Anson: On Australia's Answer To Al Beeb, Fisk Slanders Israel Unchallenged

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)

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

On Australia's Answer To Al Beeb, Fisk Slanders Israel Unchallenged

Just over a week ago, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, made a characteristically able and dignified speech in that forum regarding the horrors perpetrated upon the Syrian people by their own government.

It ran in part:

"We all know that the consequences of inaction will be horrific. Winston Churchill once said, “the further back you look, the further forward you can see.” If you want to understand this regime’s intent, look at its track record. Exactly 30 years ago, this same government massacred ten thousand of its own people in Hama in a single campaign. Nothing has changed.

Bashar al-Assad is systematically murdering civilians. His tanks are trampling on the rights of peaceful protestors. His forces are raping and torturing men, women and children. Assad has no moral authority to govern. With every home that is destroyed by a mortar, with every youth that is struck by a sniper bullet, with every person that is tortured, the twisted moral compass of this regime comes into greater focus.

Bashar-al Assad may have been trained as an eye doctor, but in practice he only tries to blind the international community to the crimes of his regime. The international community can no longer afford to see the situation in Syria with anything less than 20/20 vision.

More than 6,000 have been killed since the uprising began. How many more innocents must die before the world acts? As the death toll rises, so does our moral obligation. Our common humanity binds us together. And these bonds are now being put to a test.

It is time for the international community to stop standing on the sidelines watching murder after murder. It is time for the voices of the victims to finally unite the voice of the world against the tyrant of Damascus. It should be obvious that Assad and his regime have no moral authority to govern. And it is high time for this organization to start doing something meaningful to stop him from killing his own people. The children of Syria – from Homs to Hama - cry out to us. Their fate is in our hands." [My emphasis]

Pretty clear and unequivocal, surely.

As clear, in fact, as this utterance of Israeli Foreign Minister Avi Lieberman some months ago:

"I think, for everybody who saw in the last week on the TV screens the repression and the atrocities, the conclusion is very simple and very clear: President Assad must resign as soon as possible, and it's despite all our bilateral relations with Syria. For everybody who respects human rights and democratic values, it's really unacceptable what we see today in Syria ... I worry. All normal people ... we worry about the situation within Syria. We are worried about the innocent people who are suffering ... it's a very bad sign and a very bad message if this regime and if this president will survive and if he will succeed in suppressing these protests and uprising." [My emphasis]

Evidently, neither veteran Israel-bashing British journalist Robert Fisk of The Independent, nor experienced Australian broadcaster Kerry O'Brien of the ABC, were paying attention to either statement.

For on yesterday's Four Corners programme entitled "Syria Exposed" O'Brien listened indulgently while Fisk (interviewed for about a quarter of an hour) laid into Israel, claiming that, like Iran, Israel is "frightened" at the propect of "losing" Assad:

"...the problem is ... the Israelis are constantly saying, ‘well we don't like Bashar, but we're frightened of what will happen afterwards'. [Emphasis added]

As for the Iranian nuclear menace, Fisk had this to say, inter alia:

"Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran – who's just about as cracked as the Foreign Minister, Lieberman, of Israel [Emphasis added] – he rages and rages, he's a crackpot, but he is not the man in charge of nuclear power and he's certainly not the man in charge of the Iranian military; and Khamenei, the Supreme Leader – not a man I'm very fond of – has said repeatedly that any use of nuclear weapons is against the rule and will of God. As long as he keeps saying that, I don't think Iran is going to launch an attack."

For a full account and analysis, see AIJAC's article here
Hat tip: Jack S

8 comments:

Anonymous22 February 2012 at 10:40
Churchilian morality, never mind his imperial track record and his insigation of toppling the Mossadeh government, applies only to US, Israeli opponents. Mubarak did as much and Israel even more in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. No call for intervention there.
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Empress Trudy22 February 2012 at 14:22
I am always accused of being hyperbolic but seriously, the problem here is not that lunatics have microphones, it's that they have followers. They laughed at Hitler too, didn't they? They simply refused to believe in Stalin's crimes before they were exposed but the believed in them MORE after they were exposed.
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Daphne Anson24 February 2012 at 01:54
It's the Nazi-"Zionist" collaboration nonsense I'm calling an end to, Anon - that line of comment is closed.

Perhaps, as you seem to be a regular commenter, you would consider choosing a name rather than Anonymous, which gets confusing? Just choose the Name/URL box on the Comment facility - ignore the URL bit - no URL is necessary.
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