...Mmmm. If Aboriginals of Australia were to gain executive power and force all settlers into concentration camps, then set about “Drone Bombing” them at will…and added an odd long range missile strike into New Zealand and a stray rocket or two into Indonesia,(read Lebanon and Syria)! would the world be silent? Probably I suspect!

...But it sure would make excellent documentary material for the BBC...however I suspect the ABC would be strangely silent in order to cover "honestly" the "left wing" assault!

Both SBS and the ABC covered the recent Israeli genocide in Gaza from a barely hidden 'pro-Israeli' point of view. As dead Palestinian children were pulled from the rubble of their homes, it was difficult to make the case that this was a 'War' between equals. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I suppose, given that both media outlets are funded by the Government, they thought it best to mirror the attitude of the Government, that is to give a tick to whatever Israel does and whatever the U.S. does.

The constant mumblings and ramblings of the Government and the Opposition demonstrate clearly that neither of them have the foggiest clue as to what is going on in the world and why the Rogue Nations of America and Israel are the greatest dangers the world is faced with.

Will Australia sink with the American Titanic?

The United Nations findings when it proposed to partition Palestine were that the "claims to Palestine of the Arabs and the Jews, BOTH POSSESSING VALIDITY, are irreconcilable...(emphasis added). The land was not called Palestine because it was a State belonging to the Palestinian people which the Jews stole. It was the Romans who renamed Judea to Palestine way back in 135 AD in order to de-judaize it. At the time of the UN partition plan, the Jews were a substantial majority in those areas of Palestine partitioned by the UN for a Jewish State.
As we know the Jews accepted the partition plan and the Arabs rejected it. Land acquired by Israel after the partition plan was land captured in defensive wars. Israel was willing to trade the land captured for peace as it eventually did with the Egyptians and the Jordanians, however as we know the Palestinians have not been willing to offer peace in exchange for land. The Israelis and the Palestinians are not equals in this war - Hamas intentionally targets innocent civilians whereas when Israel inadvertently kills civilians it is in an effort to protect its own civilians by bringing down the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas that enables it to shoot more than 13,000 rockets into Southern Israel in the past 13 years. Let's not forget that Hamas uses civilian sites in Gaza as cover for military operations, staging rocket attacks from or near residential areas, using civilian homes homes, mosques, business premises, universities, government buildings, communications facilities and even hospitals as weapons storage, blending in with civilians, and making use of human shields. Hamas also abuses the special protection given by international law to sites such as hospitals and religious buildings, by using them for weapons storage and bases for staging attacks. Israel is the victim here - it does not have a partner for peace, only a terrorist organisation that openly seeks its destruction.

KerryG, you write that, "At the time of the UN partition plan, the Jews were a substantial majority in those areas of Palestine partitioned by the UN for a Jewish State."

Despite being about a third of the population of British-Mandated Palestine at the time, the UN allocated over 50% of the land to the Zionists.

You write, "As we know the Jews accepted the partition plan and the Arabs rejected it."

According to Avi Schlaim's book "Collusion Across The Jordan", the Zionist side only accepted the Partition Plan with the intention of getting the rest of Palestine later, which they did in 1967, and Mencachem Begin was scathingly critical of the Partition Plan because it did not give all of Palestine to the Jews.

You write, "Land acquired by Israel after the partition plan was land captured in defensive wars."

Firstly, it is illegal to acquire territory by war anyway. Secondly, the Zionists committed an ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1947-1948 to steal their land. Thirdly, according to Norman G. Finkelstein's book "Image & Reality Of The Israel-Palestine Conflict" the Six Day War was not a defensive war on Israel's part. Israel was the aggressor.

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You write, "Israel was willing to trade the land captured for peace as it eventually did with the Egyptians and the Jordanians, however as we know the Palestinians have not been willing to offer peace in exchange for land."

If Israel has been willing to give up Palestinian and Syrian land for peace, then what are the Israeli settlements for? The Palestinians HAVE been willing to have peace in exchange for land. At the Oslo Accords, the PLO recognised Israeli sovereignty over all the land within the 1967 Green Line, thereby ceding about 78% of what had been British Mandated Palestine to Israel.

You write, "Hamas intentionally targets innocent civilians whereas when Israel inadvertently kills civilians it is in an effort to protect its own civilians by bringing down the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas".

Both Israel and Hamas are guilty of targeting civilians.

You write, "Israel is the victim here - it does not have a partner for peace, only a terrorist organisation that openly seeks its destruction."

Israel is the victim? Actually, the Palestinians are the victims of Israeli ethnic cleansing, occupation and persecution. Israelis have also been the victims of Palestinian violence, which is a direct response to the way Israel treats the Palestinians.

After Israel won the Six Day War it did not allow the Palestinians to exercise self-determination. Israel permitted no freedom of speech for the Palestinians. The Palestinian flag was banned too. Eventually the Palestinians rose up in the first Intifada, which Israel responded to with excessive violence.

Fatah has recognised Israel's right to exist, yet Israel continues to occupy the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel has never recognised Palestine's right to exist. Also, I personally do not believe Israel should be a nation for Jews. Instead, I believe Israel should be a nation for Israelis.

I think this is what many Australians mean by "come here but leave your troubles at home".