“If, by accident, by design, by misfortune, by error or by misjudgement, events occur which weaken or diminish Israel's right to command the support of countries such as Australia, because it breaks down the moral position on which it stands by any of those means—I am not saying deliberately; inadvertently or in any other way-the capacity of nations to support Israel is obviously diminished because we need to have a credible position from which we can argue our support.”

So said our Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser in 1982.

There will always be events that have the capacity to make the citizen proud. Doc Evatts efforts on behalf of the Jewish people and the formation of the State of Israel is one such event.

In a discussion with an Australian reporter one UN envoy noted, “Ah, from Dr. Evatt’s country. Now that’s a great man for you…. Without him the Israelis would never have got in. He bullied, pleaded, cajoled, coaxed until he got the right numbers for them.”. After partition Australia repeatedly presented resolutions calling for the recognition of the State of Israel which was finally achieved in 1949. I am proud of Mr Evatt and my country for their role.

There are also those events that dismay. Australia's abstention at the UN on the question of recognising Palestine as an 'observer state' last week will undoubtedly have many future Australians wishing they had seen better from their country. We were saved from the ignominy that befell our Commonwealth cousin Canada, that of voting against the resolution, yet there is little chance our position will be remembered favourably.

Where was our modern day Doc Evatt championing for justice for a people, knowing the importance of statehood and 'bullying, pleading, cajoling, coaxing until he got the right numbers for them'. Where is our modern day version of Mr Fraser telling Israel that is has “broken down the moral position on which it stands” through its slaughter of civilians, its brutal blockading, its gunning down of the members of a peace flotilla, and its terror?

At least we are saved Canada's shame.

A one sided view, one I do not agree with.
But it is bound to feed the xenophobia, seen in some posts in a thread about the same issue.
When talking of Palestinians right to statehood, they do have that right.
Do not forget these folk want to take the right to exist from Israel, that speaks of a two sided and not simple problem.
History tells of far more murders than our author wishes us to talk of.

Here is a link to a map of Palestine pre 1948 to 2011 in size it is only 12% of what it used to be who has all that lost territory Israel.

http://enpassant.com.au/2012/12/02/palestine-the-story-in-maps/

When they won the UN recognition Israel spat the dummy and announced the building of 3,000 more homes so the 12% will be smaller now.

I have no time for the criminal Zionists of Israel.They have continued to steal land of the Palistinians and hold the world to ransom with their 200+ illegal nukes.

The question I'm trying to address is whether Australia's moral capital has been diminish because of the position it has taken regarding Palestinian statehood.

It is instructive to look at the UK response. They said they would change their vote to yes but only; “Palestinians were now being asked to refrain from applying for membership of the international criminal court or the international court of justice, which could both be used to pursue war crimes charges or other legal claims against Israel.”

“Abbas is also being asked to commit to an immediate resumption of peace talks "without preconditions" with Israel. The third condition is that the general assembly's resolution does not require the UN security council to follow suit.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/27/uk-ready-to-back-palestine-statehood

Just think about that for a moment. Supposedly one of the world's most liberal democracies, a standard bearer for the rule of law and representative rule, places as a precondition for its support, the giving up by the Palestinians any rights and protections under international criminal law.

The UK of course was one of the foremost proponents of the International Criminal Court both signing and ratifying their membership well before Australia. Yet here they are, taking what any thinking person would regard as a morally bankrupt position toward an oppressed and occupied peoples whose land is being subsumed on it would seem an almost monthly basis.

Cont..

cont..

Just as their 'No' vote served to diminish Canada in my eyes (who would have thought it) the same can be said of the UK. I am enough of a romantic to have felt the Commonwealth of nations that Australia is part of stood for something, that we would support fledgling nations, chastise bullying, aggressive states, back new democracies, and generally stand up and be counted. The actions of Canada, the UK and ourselves has served to disavow me of that notion.

My question really is how have we come to this? I know Doc Evett pushed very hard to keep Jerusalem as an international city much to the angst of the Israelis. His efforts were toward justice, whoever that meant supporting was secondary. Once again I could be over romanticising but I could easily see him striving just as hard and diligently for a Palestinian State were he alive today. This is why Australia has been so diminished by Israel, we have taken sides rather than seek to do what is right. When Israel announced new illegal West Bank settlements as a punitive response to the UN vote we expressed our 'concern'. Where is the outright condemnation such an act really deserves? Why are we not withdrawing our ambassador at a measure declared utterly against the proscriptions of the Geneva Convention?

I think our sycophantic relationship with both Israel and the United States has poisoned us as an independent nation, one that at some point believed in a quality of international justice. I at least thank those Labour federal politicians who change the PM's mind on a no vote.

Cont..