I hardly think the ABC or the rest of the Left have any genuine love for Islam or The Palestinians, who hate the Infidel Left as much as they hate all the favourites of the Left like homosexuals, but are just engaging in Jew bashing by proxy. According to Left orthodoxy anti-semitism is outlawed since that would be racist, but it is OK to vent your spleen against Jews by calling them Zionist. Keith

1) The timing of the Heywood-Smith piece was rather rude. If a commentary criticising the theocratic nature of Saudi Arabia were broadcast on the eve of Ramadan, imagine the (justifiable) outcry. Imagine if an opinion piece blasting the Catholic Church as sexist and homophobic were released on Good Friday. Catholics would be offended and rightly so.

2) Although charges of anti-Semitism may be overused, the claim that "to criticise Israel is to be accused of anti-Semitism" is sometimes used as a pre-emptive rhetorical strike before the "A" word is ever brought up. In this way challenges to the criticisms of Israel are discredited before they (the challenges) can be made. So here's a deal for Mr. Heywood-Smith and others:

I won't accuse you of being anti-Semitic if you don't accuse me of accusing you of being anti-Semitic. OK?

3) The Knoll essay is not a call for censorship, as some have claimed. Whether you agree or disagree with Lapkin, Heywood-Smith, or Knoll, no one has denied them the right to say their respective pieces. All of them have the right to put forward their points of view, and all indeed have been given platforms to do so by Radio National or Online Opinion. They may have the right to express their opinions, but they do not have the right to have those opinions go unchallenged.

W_Howard,

Are you serious? Go to google and type in 'jewish media ownership', or 'jews in the media'. How could Jews continue to portray themselves as victims if they admit to being the wealthiest, most well organised, well-connected and powerful minority in the world? Can you seriously suggest another minority that even comes close?

You seem to be asking why countries like Morocco and China can 'get away with' human rights abuses but Israel can't. You seem to be complaining about double standards. Well, China and Morocco don't claim to be democratic or pretend to defend human rights. They're not America's closest ally; nor do the Chinese or Moroccans have a Board of Deputies (among other lobby groups) in Australia which they can use to intimidate opponents of their regimes. The Chinese and Moroccans don't strut the world stage portraying themselves as the greatest victims in the world and spend millions building monuments to their victimhood. They don't sanctimoniously claim to be the moral guardians of the world while they abuse human rights. In short, the problem is we should be treating the Israelis like the Chinese and Moroccans but we don't.

Your assertion about Palestinians receiving aid is mind numbing. Israel is the single largest recipient of US foreign aid in the world. That's right, something like 20,000 people worldwide die each day from preventable diseases but the US taxpayer supports Israel to the tune of around US5 billion per year so they can kill Palestinians.

That total doesn't include the regular interest free 'loans' Israel receives. For your information WRMEA estimates Israel received US91 billion in US aid from 1949-1997. That doesn't include the billions Israel got to build the wall. But get this - NOT ONE US LOAN HAS EVER BEEN PAID BACK.

See http://www.wrmea.com/html/us_aid_to_israel.htm

To compare the abject squalor of the Palestinians with the wealth of their Israeli neighbors and then to complain about the Palestinians receiving aid!! You must be Jewish..

continued...

You do save the best for last..

“But remember too that between 1948 and 1967 Eqypt and Jordan occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, respectively, and never once even talked about granting the Palestinians a state in these zones in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 181. Or did I miss something?”

Did you miss something? You must be a bit slow. You missed the fact THE ARABS WITHDREW almost FORTY YEARS AGO. If only Israel had done the same.

David,
is it possible that the issue (one of them) which drew attention to Jews in the first place (in Europe) is not so much that they wished to achieve racial domination over others but perhaps economic ?

Can you see any reason for people to feel slightly suspicious about how Jews organize themselves in relation to the rest of society ?
How about the way Mel Gibson was treated ? Hollywood is quite top heavy with Jewish people who have not the slightest hesitation to use the influence and power to 'stifle' and control those who they don't like. George Soros has enough economic power to bring nations undone, and has he been dabbling in such exercises ?

Do you recall David, the enterprising Sassoons of bombay ? how they (along with the British) treated the Chinese, degrading and destroying the social fabric, using their close ties with the British Crown to force opium into china against the wishes of the Chinese government ?

Without qeustion, Jews tend to rise to the top in professions and banking, because of a cultural pre-disposition towards these areas of life. This in itself is not bad, but it does create some serious 'power' available to them.

Does it concern you that something like 8 out of 12 of Victorian federal court Judges are Jewish ? does this sound like ethnic over-representation ? How would this effect decisions concerning prominent Jewish Identities (who mingle on the cocktail circuit with those Judges) who had issues in the federal court ? Would Jews of Melbourne have any concern if those Judges were in fact of Arab/Muslim decent ? (of course not, they are totally above such feelings ....right ? )

Do Jewish groups like the AIJIC seek to influence legislation (like the RRC 2001) and other political areas to their own ethno/religious benefit ?

It would not matter if we are referring to Italians, Aborigines,Greeks or calathumpians, the result would still be the same. People notice, and ask how this might effect them.

Wow, it is really funny to read of perversion of democracy and discrimination of the non-Jews in Israel as assured by

the A u s t r a l i a n s. In a political entity established by land-grabbing far-away from a historical cradle of the folks known to a world as the “Anglo-Saxons”, where a biological background constitutes EVERYTHING (possibility being qualified at local universities, further employment opportunities, etc., not talking of a social status and fulfilling professional dreams and inspirations).

Blabbing of a right of the Arabs of Palestine on own state is synonymous to arranging a “mutual obligation” system, where really professional educated not being intentionally taken on employment non-Britons-linked have been pushed into as a cattle to destroy their intelligence and to save work places for a master race local Aussie-Aryans.

This next puppet Arabic state is a necessity to isolate the Islamists in a particular area where actions against them would very much be backed with an international reality rather than attracting outbreacks of an anti-Semitic hysteria at Israel and Jews worldwide.

MichaelK.