Dear ConservativeHippie,

"Criticising Israel is not anti-Semitic and saying
so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium
and international sanction - out of all proportion
to any other party in the MIddle East - is anti-Semitic,
and not saying so is dishonest."
(Thomas Friedman, 2002).

CH,

Does it ever occur to you that the reason Lefties stand out on Q&A (or any show) is that they've got something relevant and substantial to say - not the vacuous spiteful tripe that tends to emanate from the right.

And as far as "the govt of Israel" is concerned - they're a mob of slaughtering bastards.

They represent about 23% of Israelis and about 9% of Jews worldwide - ergo they do not represent Jewish sentiment or morality.

Criticising Netanyahu's diabolical regime is "not" criticising Jews per se.

This is the first time I felt a condescending attitude directed toward me from Foxy. When did I say I watch the Bolt report or suggest that Bolt is not biased. I dislike biased one eyed reporting and commentary. That's why it's sometimes hard to swallow comments made by the regular extremist on this forum... extremists on both sides of the political spectrum.

I found Miriam Margolyes annoying so much so that I did end up changing channels. So it's okay for Miriam to call a spade a spade and if that includes saying no one likes Jews, it's not okay for me to call a spade a spade and point out she comes on the show with a predetermined agenda. She might be a good actress and have her own opinions but why does the ABC invite her on the show? Because she shares the ABC's views on everything. I had no opinion of this women before the show, I even had to look up who she was. She succeeded in a matter of minutes to make me hate her.

People on this site were so offended by the name calling of Gillard yet they regularly say much worse things about Tony Abbott.

It annoys me that my tax dollars are supporting the agenda of the ABC to drive us back to a Labor government. I just feel a government funded TV station should try to be less biased. But that's not going to happen with the ABC, its out of control.

ConservativeHippie, you're rather eager to misattribute to antisemitism what is far more likely to be down to experience (as Miriam's Jewish herself). And if she thinks Israel's actions have undermined the aituation where antisemitism's socially unacceptable, why shouldn't she say so?

She did not blame all the violence in the Middle East on Israel.

You absurd claim that she shares the ABC's views on everything is far more likely to be that you disagree with both her and the ABC a lot. But the point of Q&A's panel selection is to get a wide variety of opinions.

Any objective assessment shows there's very little bias at the ABC.

I found Miriam Margolyes refreshing and honest in that program, but I realise that her sort of blunt appraisal of situations is not to everyone's liking.
I doubt she was being anti-Semitic though, given that she is Jewish!

Certainly anyone who viewed the whole show would have worked out where she was coming from.
I look forward to next week's QandA too Foxy, although I doubt most of the posters to this forum will like it at all.
In fact, I am wondering why any if them watch such an obvious leftyfest station as the ABC....obviously they just like to whinge about something...anything.

On reflection I realised I used the wrong choice of words when I referred to Miriam Margolyes as anti-Semite. But that does not negate the fact she is another ABC lefty ring-in.