A Few End of Year Eyebrow Raisers

(Anti-Israel) Welsh Greens politician Pippa Bartolotti's apparent enviable powers of persuasion with Al Beeb's gatekeepers, at least on one issue:

If only friends of Israel were so lucky!

Anti-Israel blogger Robert Cohen, a darling of the anti-Christian Zionist crowd, spruiking the antisemitic site Mondoweiss:

A wee glimpse into the machinations that have ended 70 years of Australian bipartisan agreement on Israel with the Australian Labor Party's recent pronouncement that a future Labor government will recognise Palestinian statehood:

A small taste of the mindset of certain followers of Baroness Tonge, in a recent Facebook post of hers  excoriating Jonathan Hoffman for his forthright pro-Israel activism, which resulted in the White Rocks Hotel in Hastings cancelling her talk scheduled for 24 January, a cancellation which has led to many slurs on the intrepid Zionist activist by furious enemies of Israel on that same thread:

And on another post by Tonge that links to this report:

Importantly, the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) demonstrating yet again why it's so dangerous, with, as I've mentioned before,  its easily facilitated  manipulation of impressionable UK schoolchildren:

..

From The Times of London  (29 December):

'A Labour activist has been dismissed by the GMB union after claims that he accused Israel of “inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust”.

Pete Gregson, a union official at NHS Lothian, says that blog posts attacking “Israeli apartheid” and activities including signing a petition stating “Israel is a racist endeavour” were not antisemitic.

Mr Gregson says that he will fight the dismissal in court and challenge the accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, resisted calls to accept the IHRA definition for months because it could suppress legitimate criticism of Israel, but it was adopted as party policy in September.

The following month Labour started an investigation into Mr Gregson’s activities.

GMB Scotland said that it would never seek to suppress legitimate debate but said that Mr Gregson “did not adhere to the standards we would expect in taking forward any point for debate”.

Jim Lennox, its president, said: “The committee does find the materials you have written and promoted as being antisemitic in nature, not least accusing Israel of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust. For ourunion, Holocaust denial or claiming the Holocaust was exaggerated is simply unacceptable.”

Mr Gregson was also rebuked for ignoring decisions and policies of GMB authorities, and circulating internal documents to the media.

Mr Lennox added: “You have acted against the best interests of the GMB, you have acted against policy and we believe your antisemitic comments are racist in nature.”

Mr Gregson has had his union benefits withdrawn and been suspended from holding office or taking part in any union business. The committee will urge the central executive council to permanently exclude Mr Gregson from the union.

Mr Gregson said: “I will appeal to the general secretary, but of course that will fail. Therefore it looks like to beat this it needs to go to court for a judicial review . . . The IHRA has never been tested properly in the courts.

“If we can beat this thing, we can stop anyone being expelled from Labour for saying Israel is racist, and stop people being sacked by public authorities or kicked out of college.”'

Meanwhile,

'More than 120 Jewish leaders from around the world attended the Conference on Countering Antisemitism and the Boycott of Israel held last week by the World Zionist Organization in collaboration with the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland.

The conference took place between December 14–16, 2018 and was held in central London for the second year in a row. Among the many participants were prominent community leaders, representatives of federations, community activists and students from 16 different countries.

The conference began with remarks by Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel and Chairman of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland Paul Charney. They discussed various challenges facing Diaspora Jewry and how to combat Antisemitism.

Mr. Hagoel explained the need for Jewish education, the importance of studying the Hebrew language, and Israel’s relationship with the Diaspora. He stressed  the obligation of reporting Antisemitic incidents to the proper authorities and heads of Jewish communities as part of the struggle against the phenomenon.

The conference unveiled the publication of an extensive survey conducted by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency which shows a growing trend of Antisemitism. “The most disconcerting to me,” said Hagoel, “is the continued failure to report incidents, whether verbal or physical Antisemitism or hatred of Israel. Almost 80% of respondents who said they were affected by Antisemitic attacks did not report the incidents to law enforcement authorities, local rabbis, communal leaders or family members. This alarming figure is a slippery slope as Antisemitism continues to rise and Jews continue to feel a lack of security,” he stated.

“We are witnessing a situation in which Mezuzahs on doorposts are being removed, not by Antisemites, but by the Jewish homeowners themselves for fear of identified as Jews. This is equally as concerning because it leads to loss of Jewish identity. Let us not bury our heads in the sand...."

Read more here

Press TV, Pot & Kettle

On Iran's propaganda news channel shortly before Christmas, this indictment of "Zionist fanatics" protesting antisemitism and its aplogists in the Corbynistas' Labour Party:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGyV9BGZYGY

(The antisemitic comments below the video on that site tell their own tale)

Meanwhile, it seems the mates of the mullahs have been gobbling up all the spoils in Ayatollahland: see here

David Singer: Trump Must Enjoin UN to Condemn Hizballah, UNIFIL and Hamas

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

President Trump should urgently enjoin the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to condemn Hizballah and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) following Israel’s discovery of four tunnels dug from Lebanon into Israel.


Trump signed the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (“HR 3342”) into law on 21 December demanding sanctions against Hamas and Hizballah personnel – foreign terrorist organizations proscribed under 8 U.S.C. 1189.

Trump is probably still smarting from the humiliating defeat – by the narrow margin of nine votes – of the American-sponsored Resolution at the UNGA condemning Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza for:

• repeatedly firing rockets into Israel
• using airborne incendiary devices
• constructing military infrastructure, including tunnels to infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas

Resubmitting the Resolution to the UNGA would determine whether those countries that voted:

• against the Resolution (57),
• abstained (33) or
• did not vote (16)

will be prepared to change their morally-reprehensible decisions.

Hizballah and UNIFIL have to be made accountable for creating the current dangerous threat to peace and security on the Israel-Lebanese border in flagrant breach of international law and international humanitarian law.

HR 3342 was unanimously adopted on 11 December following Congress finding:

 (1) Human shields are civilians, prisoners of war, and other non-combatants whose presence is designed to protect combatants and military objects from attack, and the use of human shields violates international law.
(2) Throughout the 2006 conflict with the State of Israel, Hizballah forces utilized human shields to protect themselves from counterattacks by Israeli forces, including storing weapons inside civilian homes and firing rockets from inside populated civilian areas.
(3) Hizballah has rearmed to include an arsenal of over 150,000 missiles, and other destabilizing weapons provided by the Syrian and Iranian governments, which are concealed in Shiite villages in southern Lebanon, often beneath civilian infrastructure.
(4) Hizballah is legally required to disarm under both United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) and the Taif Agreement (1989).
(5) Hizballah maintains an armed military force within Lebanon’s sovereign territory in direct violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), thus preventing Lebanon from exerting its lawful control over its internationally recognized borders.

UNIFIL has been clearly negligent – if not actually complicit – in allowing this simmering crisis to reach its boiling point.

UNIFIL has admitted the following:

“Based on UNIFIL’s independent assessment, UNIFIL has so far confirmed the existence of all the four tunnels close to the Blue Line in northern Israel.
After further technical investigations conducted independently in accordance with its mandate, UNIFIL at this stage can confirm that two of the tunnels cross the Blue Line. These constitute violations of UN Security Council resolution 1701.”

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 mandated UNIFIL to:

• Assist the Lebanese armed forces in taking steps towards the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL deployed in this area.
• Assist the Government of Lebanon, at its request, in securing its borders and other entry points to prevent the entry in Lebanon without its consent of arms or related materiel.

Hizballah’s occupation of Lebanese sovereign territory and its build-up of 150000 weapons of mass destruction have incontrovertibly imperilled the civilian populations of both Israel and Lebanon.

UNIFIL’s failure to carry out its mandate calls for a special UN investigation.

Hamas must be expelled from Lebanon and those 150000 missiles neutralised to prevent a Jewish-Arab humanitarian crisis of massive proportions.

United Nations member-states must stand up and be counted.

(Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article – is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones” –  one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators –  whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

"The Problems of the Middle East are Numerous, and Yet ..."

"...we spend a vastly disproportionate amount of time on one of them," Nikki Haley tells the UN Security Council in her final, superb address to it regarding Israel and the Palestinian Arabs and prospects for a peace in which both sides prosper.

"You're No Better Than the Nazis During the Second World War!", London Israel-Haters Told (video)

On 21 December, until Sandra Watfa's stand-in begins to screech ear-assaulting invective against Israel, the Israel-haters from the Inminds seem to be doing a reasonable trade in handing out propaganda flyers against Israel to well-heeled shoppers outside De Beers in London's Bond Street.

But at least one passer-by gives the haters a dressing down.  At the start of this video (thanks, Alex Seymour, for keeping the footage in) a man who clearly supports Israel (could he be an Israeli himself?) tells the demonisers exactly what he thinks of them.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNbYBSiJfQ0

David Singer: UN Hit List Can Bypass Congress and Fund Trump Border Wall

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

 21 Nations that received almost $14 billion in US foreign aid in 2017 could become the key to unlocking the White House confrontation between President Trump and Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer over their refusal to commit the Democrats to authorizing Congress to commit $5 billion immediately towards the construction of Trump’s border wall to prevent illegal immigration into America.

Trump’s threatened Government shutdown by 21 December has been withdrawn as he seeks alternative sources of funding.

The following UN hit list offers a ready solution:

Country, and US Aid 2017
Bangladesh  $261 million
Congo  $494 million
Egypt  $1475 million
Indonesia  $277 million
Iraq  $3712 million
Jordan  $1489 million
Lebanon  $505 million
Mali  $230 million
Morocco $490 million
Mozambique  $580 million
Niger  $173 million
Nigeria  $852 million
Pakistan  $837 million
Russia  $168 million
Senegal  $197 million
South Africa  $511 million
Turkey  $153 million
Vietnam  $150 million
Yemen  $595 million
Zambia  $419 million
Zimbabwe  $194 million
TOTAL    $13762 Million

These 21 states were major players in humiliating Trump — when an American-sponsored resolution in the United Nations General Assembly seeking to condemn Hamas and other militant groups for indiscriminately targeting Israel’s predominantly Jewish civilian population since 2007 failed to secure the required two-third’s majority earlier determined as necessary for its passage.

Trump has warned on many occasions that those who receive money from America — yet do not support America diplomatically — stand to lose financially as a result.

Trump has already well and truly practised what he preached:

- Defunding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency of $360 million annually

- Withdrawing from UNESCO leaving it to fund the 22% of its budget lost as a result

- Calling on NATO countries to meet their agreed share of the NATO budget

- Cutting more than $200 million in funding the Palestine Liberation Organisation

Trump has already ominously warned those countries that humiliated him on the Hamas Resolution that they could be in the firing line for reductions in their annual foreign aid as a result of not voting with America.

This threat becomes increasingly more likely as the Democrats dig in their heels and refuse to give the President the $5 billion he needs to build the border wall — one of the president’s cardinal promises made in the 2016 election campaign that has been frustrated by the Democrats from the day Trump became president.

Trump should be readily able to determine how $5 billion of this $14 billion funding to these recalcitrant states can be redirected to building the border wall.

Trump can also look at defunding:

- another 54 recipients of US aid that supported a two-thirds majority vote being required on the Hamas resolution over America’s claim that a simple majority only was necessary and

- an additional 36 similarly US-funded countries that voted against condemning Hamas on the actual motion

Jordan and Egypt — in addition to not voting with America — apparently continue to resist Trump’s efforts to replace the Palestine Liberation Organisation in negotiations with Israel on Trump’s peace proposals. Their aid could be substantially reduced by a clearly-piqued and very angered Trump.

The ball is now well and truly in the Democrats' hands.

If the president does not secure the border wall funding from Congress — then those countries that humiliated Trump could well see their foreign aid in 2019 slashed from their 2017 levels.

Trump is determined to protect America against illegal immigration — and no one will be allowed to stand in his way of making America great again.

(Author’s note:The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”— one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

Aussie Labor Party Conference Calls on Next Labor Government to Recognise Palestinian Statehood

See here

Following Australian Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison's distinctly underwhelming recent pronouncement that West Jerusalem is Israel's capital but the Aussie Embassy will be remaining in Tel Aviv until a peace deal is effected between Israel and Palestine, which can then have East Jerusalem as its capital, Senator Penny Wong, the Labour opposition's Shadow Foreign Minister (who if the polls are anything to go by may fairly soon find herself the real thing in a government headed by Bill Shorten) has moved a motion on the question of Israel's capital at Labour's party conference in Adelaide.

The successful resolution:

Notes previous resolutions on Israel/Palestine carried at the 2015 ALP [Australian Labor Party] National Conference and the 2016 NSW Labor Annual Conference;

Supports the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders;

Calls on the next Labor Government to recognise Palestine as a state; and

 Expects that this issue will be an important priority for the next Labor Government.

Calls the recognition of a Palestinian state as “an important priority for the next Labor government” providing Israel and Palestine recognise that they will live in peace and security.

Declared the senator: 

“I want to acknowledge that the conflict between Israel and Palestine is an issue of great importance to many in our Party. It is of great importance because Labor is a friend of Israel. I am a friend of Israel.It is of great importance because Labor is a friend of the Palestinians. I am a friend of the Palestinians. It is of great importance because we, in Labor, not only deal with the world as it is, we seek to change it for the better.

And so all who have come to this debate do so in the hope of contributing to peace and to a just and lasting resolution of the conflict between these two peoples. I thank everyone for the manner in which they have engaged to propose this resolution – which I am confident reflects the collective view of this conference. This resolution makes clear the view of this conference is to continue to support the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders. And it recognises the desire of this conference to recognise Palestine as a state.

Labor has long supported, and continues to support, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We support Israel’s right to exist within secure and recognised boundaries and the creation of a Palestinian state. We recognise that a just two-state resolution will require recognising the right of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples to live in peace and security. The hallmark of Labor’s approach has been our even-handedness, and our acceptance of the legitimate claims by both parties. Labor has been consistent in its approach to working towards the resolution of conflict between Palestine and Israel. We have been consistent in our criticism of actions that undermine progress.

The resort to violence or the use of disproportionate response. The construction of new settlements in areas that will become part of a future Palestinian State and the retrospective legalisation of settlements. Labor will continue to call on both sides of the conflict to refrain from any actions that hamper peaceful outcomes for both the Israeli and Palestinian people. And we will continue to ensure that any decision we take contributes to peaceful resolution of the conflict and to progress towards a two-state solution.

It is an approach, which until recently, had been largely bipartisan. But, in a shameful act five days before the Wentworth [a constituency with a large numbr of Jewish voters] by-election, Scott Morrison put his own domestic political interest before the national interest. He made a decision to junk longstanding bipartisan foreign policy in a cynical attempt to win votes. It was a desperate political tactic. It was a decision made against the longstanding advice of agencies, without Cabinet consideration, and without properly consulting Australia’s partners and allies.

Astonishingly, it was a decision made without consulting either the Israelis or the Palestinians themselves, whose agreement must be the foundation of any lasting peace. The result of the chaos and confusion has been clear. Mr Morrison has caused offence to some of our nearest neighbours, harmed Australia’s international reputation, and our nation’s interests. Ever since, the Prime Minister has been trying to escape the problem of his own creation. 

It is a clear example of what happens when domestic politics is put before national interest. Unlike Scott Morrison and his Government, Labor in Government will take a responsible approach to our foreign policy. We will seek and consider the advice of our agencies. We will work with our partners and allies. We will always put the national interest first. This motion makes clear Labor’s commitment to progressing lasting peace and a two-state solution. It makes clear that it will be an important priority for the next Labor Government. As Labor’s Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, I commend the resolution to the conference."

(Read more here)

Reacting to the resolution, the leaders of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry state:

“Whilst the ALP National Conference resolution falls a long way short of the immediate and unconditional recognition of a Palestinian State which some sections of the ALP have been advocating for several years, and will not be binding on any future Labor government, the tenor of resolutions passed at recent ALP conferences has been in that direction.

Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State can only act as a disincentive, rather than an encouragement, to Israel and the Palestinians to resume negotiations, in effect pre-empting the outcome of one of the key issues to be negotiated.

In contrast, recognising that Israel’s seat of government is located in the western part of Jerusalem, which is incontestably sovereign Israeli territory, does not in any way impact upon or pre-empt the future status of the contested eastern and other parts of the city captured by Israel in 1967. The ALP’s announcement that, in government, it would reverse Australia’s recent recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was therefore hasty and ill-advised.

The ALP National Conference resolution calling for recognition of a Palestinian State overlooks the reality that no Palestinian entity presently exists which meets even the most minimal of the legal and practical criteria for statehood – a government capable of exercising control over its people and territor, and delivering on international agreements.

To the ALP’s credit, and thanks to the leadership of ALP leader Bill Shorten, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and their colleagues Richard Marles, Mark Dreyfus, Mike Kelly and Michael Danby among others, the goal of a just and lasting two-state resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict remains embedded in the ALP policy platform, and this continues to represent the bipartisan consensus in Australia.

Nevertheless, it is a misguided approach by advocates of unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state to place the onus exclusively on Israel for the impasse in achieving a two-State resolution of the conflict, and does nothing to encourage the Palestinian leadership to remedy their obvious shortcomings and to act as a responsible government. Instead, it rewards them for their failures.

Further, Palestinian organisations have appalling records on the rights of women, LGBTIQ people and workers. The Hamas attitude towards Israel and its Jewish citizens is openly genocidal, as its notorious Charter makes all too clear.

We look forward to continuing to work constructively with Bill Shorten and his parliamentary colleagues to find ways by which Australia can contribute meaningfully to a two-State outcome, based on an honest understanding of the realities of the conflict in all their tragic complexity.

We look forward to continuing to work constructively with Bill Shorten and his parliamentary colleagues to find ways by which Australia can contribute meaningfully to a two-State outcome, based on an honest understanding of the realities of the conflict in all their tragic complexity.”

 Read other communal leadership reactions here

Muslim Corbynista Suspended over Allegations of Antisemitism

Sunday Times image

Today's British Sunday Times reports that having approached Jeremy Corbyn with "a dossier" of antisemitic posts on social media by the Labour Party's senior organiser in the English West Midlands, a key swing area at general elections, Mohammed Yasin (pictured, with Jezza, at the party's national conference in September), Mr Yasin has been suspended from his position and an investigation launched.

The paper informs us:

"For more than two years Yasin, not to be confused with the Labour MP with a similar name, shared anti-semitic posts and 9/11 conspiracy theories, praised a homophobic preacher and described his former leader Tony Blair as a “child-killer”.

His Twitter feed, now removed, suggests he was working for Labour when he made most of the posts.

Labour has been riven by allegations of anti-semitism among members and activists, but Yasin is believed to be the first paid member of staff to be implicated."

According to the paper, Yasin in 2014 wrote:

“US imperialism needs Israel to keep the masses permanently at war”, accusing the Jewish state of “genocide”.

In 2015, the paper claims, he  

"shared a cartoon showing the BBC and CNN ignoring butchered Palestinians while training their cameras on a crying baby with a Star of David round its neck."

In 2016, it alleges, he shared a video on the“Rothschilds, the world’s most wicked and wealthiest family” and

'shared a post from the Lord Dreadnought site, headlined with a quote from the actor Mel Gibson, “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Attacking “Zionist madness”, the post showed two people laughing uproariously at the suggestion that anyone else could be to blame, in the line “when someone tells me it’s not the Jews”.'

He also allegedly shared a post headed “Why Israel is a problem”, which stated that

'“due to Holocaust propaganda” America had provided Israel with $233.7bn in aid and allowed it a nuclear arsenal. He shared a picture showing a rabbi next to the words: “Goyim [non-Jews] were born only to serve us. They have no place in the world — only to serve the people of Israel.”'

In 2017 he 'shared a post saying western governments had “lied about 9/11”.'

'Asked whether he denied sharing the posts, Yasin said: “I’m not aware. Before I make any comments I need to check.” Asked about the Mel Gibson post, he said: “I don’t agree with that.”

A Labour spokesman said: “We take all allegations seriously and fully investigate them in accordance with our rules and procedures.”'

David Singer: United Nations, Egypt and Jordan Could Scuttle Trump’s Peace Plan

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

President Trump’s long-awaited peace plan to end the Arab-Jewish conflict – slated for release by the end of January 2019 – could be indefinitely shelved.

This possibility has emerged following the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) failing to pass an American-sponsored resolution A/73/L.42 (“Resolution”) – condemning Hamas and other militant organisations in Gaza for indiscriminate attacks on Israel’s civilian population.

Protecting all civilian populations from the ravages of conflict and war was turned on its head when the Resolution failed to attract a two-thirds majority vote demanded by UN Arab-member states – rather than a simple majority argued for by America which was lost by a narrow margin of three votes.

The Resolution had sought to condemn Hamas – whose Covenant calls for the destruction of Israel – for the first time since Hamas was created in 1987.

The Resolution served as a barometer to measure whether 134 of the 193 UN members comprising the Group of 77 would be prepared to support one pro-Israel humanitarian resolution being passed to break the cycle of over 700 UNGA anti-Israel resolutions their voting bloc had always guaranteed.

Only 35 possessed the moral integrity to break ranks and support the Resolution, 32 abstained and 15 did not vote.

Trump was publicly humiliated – and Hamas considerably boosted – when the Resolution only mustered 87 votes “for”to 57 “against”– 9 votes less than the 96 required for its successful carriage.
41 of the 57 dissenting votes were cast by Islamic States of whom only 6 – Azerbaijan, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Senegal and Turkey – maintain diplomatic relations with Israel. Solidarity with the Islamic bloc took precedence over humanitarian concerns to protect Israel’s civilian population under daily attack.

The other 16 dissenters were:
Belarus, Bolivia, Botswana, China, Congo, Cuba, Lao, Mauritius, Namibia, Nicaragua, Russia, South Africa, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. America would have reasonably expected support for the Resolution from some of the remaining 13.

Egypt and Jordan were the two Arab states Trump would have probably been focusing on to replace the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in negotiations with Israel – after the PLO had made it clear on many occasions that it would not negotiate with Israel on Trump’s proposals under any circumstances.

Egypt and Jordan’s credentials as replacement negotiators were unique – being the last two Arab states to respectively occupy Gaza and Judea and Samaria (West Bank) between 1948 and 1967 – the specific territories that Trump’s plan will address and whose sovereignty still remains disputed between Arabs and Jews.

Egypt and Jordan’s dissenting votes are not what Trump would have anticipated from these two major recipients of America’s generous largesse.  Their readiness to risk losing substantial foreign aid and American protection rather than assist Trump in getting his Resolution adopted is bad news for Trump.  Without securing their prior agreement to negotiate with Israel – Trump’s plan seems destined to never see the light of day.

Other dissenting Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Oman also showed their preparedness to risk losing ongoing American support rather than white-ant the UN Islamic-voting bloc.
Trump’s United Nations ambassador – Nikki Haley – disclosed:

 “The president called and he said, ‘Nikki what happened?’ And I told him, and he goes, ‘Who do we need to get upset at? Who do you want me to yell at? Who do we take their money away?’” “I’m not gonna tell you what I told him,” she added.

Trump’s revenge on those 57 dissenting states will be but a small consolation prize if his “deal of the century” is prematurely trashed in the White House shredder.

(Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article – is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators – whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

In London, a Counterproductive anti-Israel Cacophony (video)

Outside the London offices of CNN, with placards and recitation of "From the river, etc" reps of the anti-Israel Inminds organisation display their displeasure at CNN's sacking of political commentator Marc Lamont Hill at "the behest of the Israel Lobby" and demand his reinstatement.

In the absence of Inminds' public face Sandra Watfa and her usual sidekicks several Israel-haters take turns at the mike reading the prepared script, including (between 4:21 and 6:12) the woman of avowed Jewish background familiar to us owing to her frequent presence at demos demanding Israel's expulsion of FIFA, and a white-haired chap with the hint of a Scottish accent. 

But the "star" speaker is a woman with a rant so raucous that it's no wonder that most folk pass swiftly by with hardly a glance at her and her buddies.

An own goal, our Israel-hating FIFA demo friend might term it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWd-g5kMz_0

(An Alex Seymour video).
 

David Singer: UN-Hamas Day of Infamy Mars Trump-Israel Day of Celebration

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

December 6, 2018, marks the day the United Nations General Assembly (“UNGA”) infamously sold its soul to evil by failing to agree on whether a resolution condemning Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza required two-thirds – or simple – majority vote.

December 6, 2018 also happened to be the first anniversary of President Trump’s announcement of America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the intended relocation of America’s Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

December 6, 2018 was also the fourth day of the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah marking the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem following the Jews uprising against their Greek-Syrian oppressors.

America had submitted draft resolution A/73/L.42 (“L. 42”)to the UNGA on 29 November 2018:

• Condemning Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk;
• Demanding that Hamas and other militant actors, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, cease all provocative actions and violent activity, including by using airborne incendiary devices;
• Condemning the use of resources by Hamas in Gaza to construct military infrastructure, including tunnels to infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas, when such resources could be used to address the critical needs of the civilian population;

The UN’s Press Release sums up what occurred when the draft resolution came to a vote on 6 December:

“The representative of Kuwait, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said the situation in the Middle East is directly linked to international peace and security.  He condemned Israeli policies that violate international humanitarian law and the Charter of the United Nations and requested a vote to apply the two‑thirds majority rule for the adoption of draft “L.42”.
The representative of the United States said a simple majority is required for adoption of the resolution.  She called for fairness in the United Nations and said action on the draft was about “doing what is right”.  “The General Assembly has never uttered a word in any resolution about Hamas,” she said.  The decision to adopt the text by a two‑thirds majority is based on a desire to have the resolution fail.  She urged all States to vote against the motion.

The Assembly then voted to apply the two‑thirds majority requirement by a very narrow simple majority margin of 75 in favour, 72 against, with 26 abstentions.

Those favouring a two-thirds majority vote included 44 out of 56 Islamic States – whilst one (Albania) voted against, 5 abstained and 6 did not vote.

Non-Islamic States supporting the Islamic States bloc included: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Japan, Nicaragua, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

All 21 member States of the European Union supported America’s simple majority stance.

Others backing America included: Australia, Bosnia, Canada, Colombia, Estonia, Ghana, Honduras, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Malawi, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, South Korea, Singapore, Slovakia, Ukraine and Uruguay.

L 42 was then passed by the UNGA by 87 votes for, 57 against and 33 abstentions – but was declared lost because it had not secured the two-thirds majority required.
The Islamic States had secured a three-vote procedural victory – setting a precedent that is bound to be attempted again.

Hamas and other militant groups remain free to engage in heinous conduct found worthy of UN condemnation by a majority of UN member states.

The foundational basis of the UN – maintaining international peace and security – has been flagrantly circumvented by the UNGA failing to agree on how to run its own meetings.

Such is the depth of total irrelevance to which the UN has sunk.

(Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators –  whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

In America, anti-Israel Racists Rant (video)

Supporters of sacked CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill, a Temple University media studies academic, inveigh against Israel and its supporters.

In Philadelphia,

'About 100 people -- the majority there to champion the professor -- faced off under Temple’s Bell Tower as the sun began to set and a chill set in.

Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian American writer and political activist, led the pro-Hill students in a chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” before handing the microphone to students who declined to identify themselves.

“We’re here to support Marc Lamont Hill,” said Abulhawa. “Temple is threatening to dismiss him and trying to destroy his life. We’re here to show [Temple president Richard M.] Englert and the university trustees they can’t censor this faculty.”

Directly across the sidewalk, Steve Feldman, executive director of the Zionist Organization of America’s Philadelphia chapter, led an opposing chant that grew in intensity.

“Am Yisrael Chai,” the smaller group shouted. The Hebrew phrase loosely translates to “the nation of Israel lives.” Feldman and his group later launched into “The Star-Spangled Banner” in an attempt to drown out Hill’s supporters.'

 Read and see more here

And in New York City:

"And the Zionists got hurt," the opening speaker on thevideo rants, while her followers repeat her pronouncements like kindergarten kids, including her"I'm hoping that this will be the beginning of a real fight against antisemitic, white supremacist Zionists."

To quote the uploader, MEMRI TV:

'On December 1, 2018, a pro-Palestine, anti-Zionist, and anti-CNN protest was held in New York City following CNN's firing of Marc Lamont Hill over comments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations.

 Nancy Mansour, who is the founder of the pro-Palestinian organization "Existence is Resistance," said that the Zionists pressured CNN to fire Hill, and that she hopes this will be the beginning of a real fight against "anti-Semitic, white supremacist Zionists." 

Zacharia Barghouti  of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) said that the PYM recognizes that Israel cannot be a Jewish ethno-state and democratic simultaneously. Alexi Shalom from "In Our Lifetime – United for Palestine" said that Israel is not a state and that anti-Zionism is the fulfillment of the human rights of oppressed people all over the world.'

UK Media Watch's American-born Israel-based Adam Levick points out here (with links):

'Unfortunately, if you were to base your understanding of why CNN fired Hill on the international media coverage of the row, and tweets by Hill’s defenders, you’d come away with the false impression that he was let go merely for criticising Israel and calling for a “free Palestine.”

In fact, he was fired because his speech included a call for a future Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” and a thinly veiled justification for Palestinian terror.

Regarding the "river to the sea" comments, Hill denied that it was a call for Israel's destruction.

However, there is simply no question that, among Western pro-Palestinian activists and -- especially -- terror groups like Hamas, calling for a future Palestine “from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea” is code for the rejection of the continued existence of a Jewish state within any borders. In fact, Hill himself, in a recent tweet, acknowledged that he holds this view.'  [Emphasis added]

David Singer: Trump Stand Shames UN Rejection of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

December 6 marks the first anniversary of President Trump’s historic and ground-breaking announcement to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the American Embassy to Jerusalem. President Trump’s decision flew in the face of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 on 23 December 2016 reaffirming that:

“the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”

 Article 6 of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the United Nations Charter conclusively substantiate Israel is not in violation of international law in reconstituting the Jewish National Home in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (West Bank), and designating Jerusalem as its capital.

The United Nations General Assembly has yet again shown its total ignorance of this long-established international law with its latest resolution on Jerusalem on 30 November misleadingly declaring Israel’s actions in Jerusalem “illegal and therefore null and void”.

The preamble to the Jerusalem Embassy Act overwhelmingly passed by the United States Senate (93-5) and the House (374-37) on 24 October 1995 sets out the following facts that underscore the total lack of legal and moral integrity of the United Nations:

1. Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own capital.

2. Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel.

3. The city of Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s President, Parliament, and Supreme Court, and the site of numerous government ministries and social and cultural institutions.

4. The city of Jerusalem is the spiritual center of Judaism, and is also considered a holy city by the members of other religious faiths.

5. From 1948-1967, Jerusalem was a divided city and Israeli citizens of all faiths as well as Jewish citizens of all states were denied access to holy sites in the area controlled by Jordan.

6. In 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited during the conflict known as the Six Day War.

7. Since 1967, Jerusalem has been a united city administered by Israel, and persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed full access to holy sites within the city.

8. The United States maintains its embassy in the functioning capital of every country except in the case of our democratic friend and strategic ally, the State of Israel.

9. In 1996, the State of Israel will celebrate the 3,000th anniversary of the Jewish presence in Jerusalem since King David’s entry.

The United Nations - in discarding these inconvenient truths – has done the cause of world peace a grave disservice whilst the groundwork for a humanitarian disaster affecting both Arabs and Jews is being plotted by the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

President Trump made it crystal clear that his decision was:

“not intended, in any way, to reflect a departure from our strong commitment to facilitate a lasting peace agreement. We want an agreement that is a great deal for the Israelis and a great deal for the Palestinians. We are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders. Those questions are up to the parties involved”.

Trump’s principled stand on Jerusalem is morally justified and accords with international law. Guatemala has already moved its Embassy to Jerusalem – Brazil is planning to follow.

The United Nations continues to ignore Trump’s message at its peril and to its eternal shame.

(Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article – is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones” – one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators – whose cartoons have
graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

"Countries That Import the Third World Will Become The Third World"

Not much political correctness here, just a whole lot of commonsense regarding "the anti-democratic globalists" and the road to population replacement and the end of nationhood wrought by forced mass immigration.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAl2onqFLMs

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUzmXT-UkK0

Hillel's Happy Hannukah

Pretty good stuff from the estimable UN Watch guy, eh?

London Israel-Haters: "Many BBC Employees Came to Congratulate Us"

To readers of this blog, and more generally, Sandra Watfa is probably the best-known public face of the anti-Israel Inminds group. 

Her uncompromising sentiments are encapsulated, inter alia, in this recent post:

On 30 November Inminds projected a slide show onto the walls of the BBC's Broadcasting House in London, protesting the holding of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel.

Yes. Arch-BDSer Alex Seymour (aka Seymour Alexander) was, as usual, on hand to record the event  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHiA4MaPBfQ)  'Nearly 150 Artists, including Eurovision winners, judges and broadcasters have all supported the Palestinian call to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 if held in Israel' Inminds itself reports, and goes on to quote its chairman, Abbas Ali, as saying 'It's unacceptable that something as culturally prestigious as the iconic Eurovision Song Contest, which is meant to bring people together through music, is handed over to an apartheid regime ... We are here to ask the BBC to serve its licence payers by taking a moral stand against racism, and pull out of next years Eurovision if its held in Israel.'  It reports, too, that


'The projection lasted over an hour during which time many passers by and BBC employees came to congratulate us for voicing their own concerns of how inappropriate it would be for the Eurovision to be hosted by Israel, and shameful for the BBC to support it.'  [Emphasis added]

David Singer: Jordan-Israel Peace Agenda Trumps PLO-UN War Agenda

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

Jordan and Israel are becoming enmeshed in a bi-national agenda requiring urgent direct negotiations – which if successfully concluded – could end the 100-years old Jewish-Arab conflict.

That agenda includes:

1. Redrawing the existing Jordan-Israel international boundary after allocating sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) between their two respective States.
2. Clarifying the right of Jews to enter and pray at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – currently controlled by Jordan as Custodian of the Islamic holy sites
3. Renewing 25-year leases of two areas leased by Jordan to Israel for agricultural use that expire next year.
4. Increasing the amount of water currently being supplied by Israel to Jordan
5. Progressing the feasibility of constructing the Mediterranean-Dead Sea Canal
6. Financing the Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance – a planned pipeline that runs from the coastal city of Aqaba to the Lisan area in the Dead Sea.

Jordan and Israel’s Peace Treaty – signed in 1994 – has successfully withstood serious pressures that could have seen its revocation in:

• September 1997 – when an Israeli attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Meshall was botched
• May 2014 – when Jordan recalled its ambassador from Israel “in protest at the increasing and unprecedented Israeli escalation in the Noble Sanctuary, and the repeated Israeli violations of Jerusalem,”
• July 2017 – when an armed guard at the Israeli embassy in Amman opened fire after being attacked with a screwdriver by a teenager who was delivering furniture to a home within the embassy compound – killing his attacker and the owner of the property.

However cool heads and common-sense prevailed on both sides on those occasions to prevent the Peace Treaty being trashed.

In contrast – the lack of any peace agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) has caused negotiations between Israel and the PLO to be conducted over the last 25 years under an atmosphere of confrontation and mutual distrust.

Jerusalem-based journalist Khaled Abu Toameh has pointed out that PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has vowed at least 15 times in recent months to thwart President Trump’s upcoming plan to end the Jewish-Arab conflict – even though Abbas hasn’t yet seen its contents.

Toameh continues:

“Abbas and his representatives in Ramallah have radicalized their people against the Israeli government to a point where meeting or doing business with any Israeli official is tantamount to treason. That is why Abbas does not and cannot return to the negotiating table with Israel and also why Abbas cannot change his position toward the Trump administration.”

Abbas has instead sought to advance the PLO’s stated aim to destroy both Israel and Jordan by using the United Nations as the Trojan horse to initially try to impose the creation of a second Arab state in former Palestine – in addition to Jordan – over Israel’s objections.

The UN General Assembly recognition of the fictitious and non-existent “State of Palestine” as Chair of the 144 nation G77 bloc at the United Nations for 2019 indicates the lack of credibility and integrity to which an acquiescent and fawning United Nations is prepared to sink in supporting the PLO’s agenda.

Trump’s plan could represent the last chance to resolve the Jewish-Arab conflict peacefully. Should Jordan and Israel simultaneously agree to negotiate on its final terms – then the prospect of Trump actually pulling off “the deal of the century” becomes realistically achievable.

Redefining the boundary between two countries sharing a signed peace treaty is infinitely easier to achieve than creating a potentially-hostile third state between them that seeks both their destruction.
Jordan-Israel negotiations offer hope for an enduring peace.

The PLO-UN flight into fantasy promises war, chaos and upheaval.

(Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article—is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators –  whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

Jerusalem, Jihad: Views from Sydney

In the wake of his party's poor showing in last Saturday's Victoria state election, one of the best prime ministers Australia has ever had, the Liberal John Howard, tells the left-leaning national broadcaster the ABC, inter alia, why the Australian embassy should be relocated to Jerusalem, a step mooted recently by current prime minister Scott Morrison:


    LEIGH SALES: The former Liberal prime Minister, John Howard, joined me in the studio earlier.

    Mr Howard, good to see you. Thank you for coming in.

    JOHN HOWARD, FORMER PRIME MINISTER (1996-2007): Thank you.

    LEIGH SALES: Is the Liberal Party in danger of splitting into two parties?

    JOHN HOWARD: No, that is absolutely not going to happen.

    The Liberal Party is obviously going through a difficult time at the moment, but I am still convinced that we can win the next federal election and I think one of the things people have got to understand is that there is a long history in Australian politics of a disconnect between a heavy defeat at a state level and victory at a federal level....

    LEIGH SALES: When you look at the Liberal Party broadly, though, the Victorian state election result is just one of a number of things that has gone on.

    We've had centrist independence elected in a number of formally Coalition seats; Indi, Wentworth, Mayo among them. We've had today a federal Liberal MP defect to sit on the crossbench as an independent. We have had numerous Liberal MPs publicly share their concerns about the direction of party.

    You have got ageing and declining membership, there were money troubles. Malcolm Turnbull had to chip in at the last election.

    Why do all of those things, when you take them together, not signal a crisis in the state of the Liberal Party?

    JOHN HOWARD: Well, one of the reasons why it doesn't suggest a crisis is that on all the fundamentals, the federal Liberal Government is doing well....

     Sure, we are disappointed about what happened in Victoria, but one of the things that we have to do is not automatically extrapolate that into the federal scene. There are separately challenges federally, I accept that and they have to be addressed, but the last thing that we should do is to allow our political opponents to define us ideologically.

    LEIGH SALES: Well, on the point of how the Liberal Party should be defined ideologically, we know that Australian society has changed quite a bit since you left politics 11 years ago.

    It has changed an enormous amount since you became prime minister. Would you agree that the Liberal Party has to adapt to stay relevant and, if so, how should the party present itself in 2018?

    JOHN HOWARD: Well, I think all political parties have got to remain relevant and they can't live in the past, of course but when I described the Liberal Party as a broad church, what I say is that it is the custodian of two liberal traditions.

    One of them is the classical liberal one and the other is the conservative one.

    It doesn't mean that the Liberal Party is made up of half of classical liberals and half of conservatives. I mean I am a mixture of the two. I am a classical liberal on economic issues. That is why I believed in labour market deregulation, that's why I believe in lower taxes and smaller government. That is why I am against tariff protection.

    Adam Smith, if he were alive today, would agree with all of those positions but on other issues such as the monarchy and the attitude I took on same-sex marriage, which the public disagreed with, anyway that is behind us now, I am more conservative and that applies to most of us.

    But the one thing we mustn't do is to allow our political enemies and commentators to start describing people specifically as a classical liberal or a conservative.

    LEIGH SALES: But it is not, sorry to interrupt, Mr Howard, but it is not in this case your political enemies - it is people from within the parties.

    JOHN HOWARD: My warning is for those people not to allow people who are not friendly to us, as a liberal collective, to define us.

    I hear expressions like "hard right". What is meant by hard right? Someone who has got a conservative social position? That is not hard right. That is just being an ordinary conservative who sees value in preserving things from the past that are working well.

    There is nothing hard right about that. That is just common sense.

    LEIGH SALES: Let me put to you what the Senate President, Scott Ryan, said yesterday about his view that he wanted, like you say, the Liberal Party to be a broad church.

    He said, "We don't want litmus tests that you've somehow got to adopt this position particularly on social issues and if you don't you are not a real Liberal."

    Haven't we seen evidence of that taking hold? That people in one side of the party say that the other side, they are not real Liberals?

    JOHN HOWARD: I think some people have fallen for that on both sides. I mean, some people are running around saying the only real Liberal is someone who agrees with this and this and you don't want any of that and people who foolishly say, "Oh, what Bob Menzies would have said..."

    Now you talk about moving on, I mean, I admire, all Liberals do, Bob Menzies. He founded our party and governed for 16 brilliant years but the world in the 1950s and '60s was quite different from the world that I was prime minister in and the world that now operates.

    But in the end the Liberal Party is a broad church. It is a broad church of people who hold classical liberal views and conservative views and most of us, my experience has been, that we are each a mixture of the two.

    I certainly was and remain and I am sure that is the case with Scott Morrison and I am sure it was the case with his two predecessors as Liberal leaders....

      I mean, I would never have achieved anything in politics without the Liberal Party. I owe the Liberal Party so much and I think it is always important for people who are elected to Parliament, whether it is on the Labor side or our side, to remember that they are overwhelmingly there because of their patronage from their own party and they should never forget that....

    LEIGH SALES: On the point of loyalty to the party, what do you think of the way that Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull have behaved post-leadership?

    JOHN HOWARD: Look, I am not going to give a commentary on that. That doesn't help anybody.

    When Tony Abbott was the prime minister, I supported him 100 per cent. When Malcolm Turnbull was the prime minister, I supported him and I believe I retain the friendship of both men, but now Scott Morrison is there, I am going the give him total support because I want him to win.

    I believe it would be better for Australia if he does and I want all of the members of the Liberal Party to bear in mind the importance of working together.

    Don't get too despairing about what happened in Victoria....

    LEIGH SALES: Do you think the Australian embassy in Israel should be moved to Jerusalem?

    JOHN HOWARD: Look, I am personally in favour and I have said this before, of our embassy being in Jerusalem because Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

    LEIGH SALES: You don't worry about the cost of the relationship say with Indonesia?

    JOHN HOWARD: No, hang on, in the end, this is a matter between Australia and Israel and the idea that other countries should micromanage our foreign policy, I don't think people would find that acceptable.

    Now, as to the priority or otherwise of when it should happen, that is another matter. That is a matter for the government to determine.

    If you ask me as an issue of principle, I have said before on the public record, that I support it because I think it is logical to have it in the capital and also because I have enormous respect of the fact of what Israel has achieved and also the fact that it is the one true great democracy in the Middle East. [Emphasis added]

    LEIGH SALES: Mr Howard, thanks for your time.

    JOHN HOWARD: Pleasure.  (Video here)

 Meanwhile, Sydney medico Dr David Adler, president of the Australian Jewish Association, an undeservedly maligned (in certain Jewish circles) conservative organisation formed last year, talks frankly to a Sydney radio host about the Islamic terror threat in this country:

A Hate Crime in California

If only more leftists, including Jewish leftists, would be as vocal in condemning Islamic antisemitism as they are in condemning the far right kind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tm5Xl9iE1Y

For Friends of Israel, a Frosty Swarthmore February

Ah, those earnest left-leaning bastions of a "liberal" education.  Don't you just love 'em?

I've written before (see here and here) of the zeal for the anti-Israel pro-Palestinian cause that seems to have taken hold at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States.

And now here's a look at Swarthmore College's 2019 calendar, where alumni and others turning to the February page will be confronted by this image:

Was it really necessary to depict a student wearing a keffiyeh, that universal symbol of Israel-hate among wearers in the West, in a publication that should surely be non-political and inclusive?

Presumably the keffiyeh reflects the "change, and impact on the world" that the college is fostering, according to the accompanying blurb.

Shame, Swatties, shame.

David Singer: Australia's Jerusalem Embassy move sinks in a sea of Islamic threats

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

Forget about Australia moving its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Indonesian threats to not sign a free trade agreement with Australia – coupled with veiled Malaysian suggestions of terrorist attacks on Australian targets if the Embassy is moved – will suffice to burst Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s thought-bubble.

Australia gave Indonesia $360 million in aid in 2016 and was the world’s 16^thlargest donor in giving $15 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Indonesia gave UNRWA $5000.

Malaysia gave nothing to UNRWA in 2016.

Read on for artiForget about Australia moving its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Indonesian threats to not sign a free trade agreement with Australia – coupled with veiled Malaysian suggestions of terrorist attacks on Australian targets if the Embassy is moved – will suffice to burst Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s thought-bubbleAustralia gave Indonesia $360 million in aid in 2016 and was the world’s 16^thlargest donor in giving $15 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Indonesia gave UNRWA $5000.

Indonesia and Malaysia – two Islamic states – flex their muscles on Islamic claims to Jerusalem – yet do not financially support their Islamic brethren.
Morrison first flagged the Embassy move on 16 October at a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne:

“Now, in relation to our diplomatic presence in Israel. What I have simply said is this – we’re committed to a two-state solution. Australia’s position on this issue has to date assumed that it is not possible to consider the question of the recognition of Israel’s capital in Jerusalem and that be consistent with pursuing a two-state solution.
Now, Dave Sharma, who was the Ambassador to Israel, has proposed some months ago a way forward that challenges that thinking and it says that you can achieve both and indeed by pursuing both, you are actually aiding the cause for a two-state solution. Now, when people say sensible things, I think it is important to listen to them” 

Australia’s commitment to the two-state solution– the creation of a second Arab state – in addition to Jordan – in the territory that comprised the 1922 Mandate for Palestine –  is based on:

• The 1993 Oslo Accords and
• The 2002 President Bush Roadmap:

Intensive negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation spanning the last 25 years have failed to achieve this two-state solution– being unable to agree on whether the new State should:

• Be demilitarised
• Include all the territory of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) with East Jerusalem as its capital
• Exclude all Jews currently living there necessitating their resettlement in Israel.

Australia is not alone in clinging to this outdated two-state solution. Countless UN Resolutions calling for this two-state solution continue to consume reams of paper and dominate meetings of UN committees, the General Assembly and Security Council – rather than considering alternative solutions to ending the Jewish-Arab conflict.

Morrison probably did not realise how close he was to committing Australia to a very different two-state solution when he told the press conference:

“The whole point of a two-state solution is two nations recognised living side by side. And so, opening up that discussion does provide us with the opportunity, I think, to do what Australians have always done and that is to apply a practical and common-sense and innovative role in trying to work with partners around the world to aid our broader objectives, in this case a two-state solution.”

That alternative two-state solution involves Jordan and Israel – the two successor states to the Mandate for Palestine – currently exercising sovereignty in 95% of the territory comprised in the Mandate – negotiating the allocation of sovereignty in the last remaining 5% between their two respective States.

This solution was first suggested by the League of Nations in 1922: one Jewish State and one Arab state living side by side in former Palestine in peace with each other. Redrawing the international border between Jordan and Israel in direct negotiations would complete this two-state solution.
Moving Australia’s Embassy to Jerusalem would be a no-brainer under the 1922 two-state solution.

(Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article—is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators –  whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

Milady's Cobber Down Under Pontificates on Antisemitism

Peter Garcia-Webb has apparently been a friend of Baroness Tonge since their respective medical training at Guy's Hospital.

Now living in Perth, Western Australia, the distinguished research scientist, London-born of Jewish parentage, is a derider of Israel, posting this on Facebook, for example, at the time of Bibi's highly successful visit to Australia early last year, when the recently deposed Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister:

 Nor does he like President Trump's Middle East policy.  For instance:

Or the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)'s working definition of antisemitism:

In fact, he dislikes the latter so much that he's now written a long screed of his own about the definition of antisemitism:

Which is very much liked by Baroness Tonge:

As I showed here, the talented Garcia-Webb's forays into "social fiction" make no secret of his antipathy to Zionism.

But that aside, some of his tweets have been eyebrow-raising:

Not as grossly startling, granted, as these social media sentiments (brought to public attention by Aussie Dave in his post here), by one of Tonge's Facebook friends, anti-Israel activist and "human rights"lawyer Simone O'Broin (aka Simone Burns).  The same woman whose drunken racist and sexist abuse of Air India cabin staff has gone viral on the internet (interesting take by David Collier here):

As has been widely observed, O'Broin's rant provides a stark reminder of the slime that lurks within the anti-Israel movement:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9XOioAAr7A

Here's the ghastly Pamela Hardiment aka Pam Arnold, for instance:

I wonder how Milady and her cobber Down Under would define that!