Not that I am a big facebooker but I did have an occasion to visit a page called Freedom of Speech Productions as it is one my rather bigoted brother-in-law happens to be always posting.

http://www.facebook.com/pg/FreedomOfSpeechProductions/posts/

There was a cross post of an image showing some black clad obviously orthodox Muslim women bathing at a beach. It claimed to be of an Australian beach in 2016.

http://www.facebook.com/KimVugaLoveAustraliaorLeaveParty/photos/a.144293335903593.1073741828.144235599242700/359949594337965/?type=3&theater

For some reason it tweeked the memory and with a bit of help from Mr Google I found the image was actually of a beach in Gaza in 2012. When I raised this i was told this was just a representation not meant to be specific while at the same time they got stuck into the mainstream media as fake news. I pointed out how hypocritical this was and that if the image was so representational then it should be easy to go get an image from an Australian beach. i was then promptly banned from the page and my comments removed.

I really am starting to despair that we have all that many decent rightwingers left, ones that are prepared to go toe to toe, to also respect the notion of free speech. Hypocritical is probably too kind a word for Freedom of Speech Productions when they aren't prepared to brook any dissent. What a hollow name for such a bunch of snowflakes.

Steele,

I looked up Freespeech Productions in the US.
All a bit disturbing to say the least.

They remind me of Scientologists. And you'd go
up against any of them at your own risk. Freespeech
Productions mentions a Kevin de Laplante and the
"Critical Thinker Academy." Which as it turns out is
anything but.

As the old adage tells us - "empty vessels make the
most noise." I would be suspicious of anyone who
gives themselves titles like "Freespeech Productions."
they usually turn out to be anything but. Just as
'Scientologists" and science? Whose "God" is a
science-fiction author.

Hi Steele,

I would have thought that labelling a photo as 'Sydney, 2016' when the publisher knows that it is 'Gaza,2012' would be stereotypically 'fake news'.

I suppose both you and I would be wondering how do 'fake news' and 'freedom of speech' can ever go together ?

Of course, such doctoring of photos can be used in all sorts of causes: was it Frank Capra who got a bloke during the Spanish Civil War to pose over and over, for that classic shot of a soldier supposedly being shot ? Obviously, such incidents must have happened many, many time during that terrible war against fascism, and it would be hard for any photographer to actually catch a real-life moment, but still ..... I suppose one problem is that, once people find out that it was staged, it does cheapen or weaken the cause that it claims to be defending, through no fault of the people themselves or of anti-fascism generally.

Cheers,

Joe

If that was an Australian beach in 2016, I would have no problem with what I see, obviously 3 young girls have fun in the surf, given the numbers it must have been a hot day. Can anyone tell me what they are doing wrong?

The comments beside give you an insight into the minds of the haters we have in Australia. Using words like "subhuman filth" "scum", the same words are posted by the bigots on this forum. Then above was the comment "Birkin bearing bastard should be shot". No need to mince words, given the chance, these haters would do exactly what the Nazi's did to the Jews, annihilate people.

Steele
These halfwits have massive support in Aussie. At the 2016 Senate election the founder of the Love Australia or Leave Party Kim Vuga scored a grand total of 172 votes in Queensland. Amazing, there are 171 other fools in Queensland.

"Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should be true or false."

Joseph Goebbels

Hi Paul,

Do you mean the journalists: "Can anyone tell me what they are doing wrong?" If a photo was taken in Gaza, and labelled 'Sydney', that is wrong, not in a monumental way, but slightly misleading, cheapening the impact by raising doubts about its authenticity.

After all, if Trump was heard and recorded by many people to use the word 'shiphole' to refer to African countries, and denies it, that's wrong too. Yes, they may be, but if the issue is to do with refugees, then what does this moron think refugees are fleeing from ? How can anybody be so unfeeling as to deliberately link the two issues, to penalise the very people who have to flee from those 'shipholes' ? What does it mean to be a refugee, after all ? And even his tame journalists on Fox are probably aware of that.

Journalists have to adhere to the maxim, 'The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.' They can't sacrifice their integrity by bending the truth 'just a little bit'.

Just trying to keep a balance :)

Cheers,

Joe

Hi Joe, I was asking what were the girls in the photo doing wrong. Seems they were having an enjoyable time at the beach, if it was in Aussie, which it wasn't, I have no problem with their attire. If Ronald McDonald was photographed frolicking in the surf in his clobber I wouldn't have a problem. I dob't even have a problem with those that frolic at the beach in the all together.
I have a problem with what that site is trying to do. Stir up hatred against others.

Joe, do you recall some years back when a certain rather hefty TV sports commentator (front row forward) made a "citizens arrest" of a nude bather at Reef Beech in Sydney. He dragged the poor naked sob from the beach and locked him in the boot of his car. Then he drove to the local cop shop to have the hapless criminal charged. Unfortunately for him the coppers took a dim view of his arrest methods, and instead charged the "citizen policeman" with a number of offences including assault. Earned him the nick name of 'Sex Messup'.

Hi Paul,

Frolicking in the surf in Gaza may have different connotations from frolicking in the surf in Sydney, which might give the whole image a different spin. After all, it's no big deal for girls to frolic at Sydney beaches, but frolicking on a Gaza beach may help to illuminate what rights women and girls there have, and put their rights in a different light from what we are used to thinking about Hamas. Not that I would support Hamas, but there you go.

Can the truth be 'bent' in what somebody thinks is a good cause ? I don't think so.

Cheers,

Joe

Steelie there are ultra Right Wing Groups & Ultra Left Wing Groups. they are opposite sides of the same coin. There seems to be a big Hoo Haa about the Ultra Right Wing Groups but nothing is ever said about the Ultra Left Wing Groups. Why is that? The way I see it is the URWG's vocalize a lot but the ULWG's commit most of the Violence. The Media always reports that the URWG groups were Violent because they resisted the Violence of the ULWG's.

The people in these violent fringe Groups are in the minority. It is those that give their respective Groups a bad name. Most people on either side just want their opinions heard & debated in a reasonable manner.

Good to see you got back safely.

The French have a lot to answer for, with that left and right nonsense. For me there are the extreme and the moderates. Extreme fascist, and extreme communists, are not all that philosophically different, one could join the others camp without much difficulty (East Germany after WWII). The antagonism between the two comes about because they are both competing for the same position of autocratic control, by a supreme leader within the society. At the end of the day the constraints put in place by both are much the same. Under both an elite group will prosper, while the mass will suffer.

Paul,

You have true wisdom beyond your years :) 100 %. !

Cheers and best wishes,

Kia Ora,

Joe

Paul1405: For me there are the extreme and the moderates. Extreme fascist, and extreme communists, are not all that philosophically different, one could join the others camp without much difficulty

Didn't I just say that. So you agree Paul. The problem is that I would put you in the Extreme Left Wing Group. That just my considered opinion going on past Posts.

Considered or not Jayb, it is simply your opinion, give your own political slant I would expect you to believe nothing less. I characterise a political extremest as someone who wants to overthrow the status quo, and replace it with a new order which has little in common with what went before. I have no desire to see the existing politic, as it presently exists in Australia changed to any great degree. Therefore I can not be considered an extremists, but feel free to see me as you perceive me.

Dear Joe,

You wrote;

“If a photo was taken in Gaza, and labelled 'Sydney', that is wrong, not in a monumental way, but slightly misleading, cheapening the impact by raising doubts about its authenticity.”

You might need to explain how you can deem this 'slightly misleading'. Totally misleading in an attempt to incite fear and hatred of Muslim immigrants would surely be a more correct description.

Hi Steele,

Being in SA, I haven't seen the photo in question. But I suppose it obviously depends on the context, and maybe any accompanying script. I can't see anything wrong with Muslim girls in the surf at Bondi, or in the surf at Gaza, but I would suggest that such a scene at Gaza might change some opinions about Palestine, and Hamas, and Muslims generally, while such a scene at Bondi is simply one of pure joy and fun. Although yes, in a back-handed way, it would give the impression that Muslims girls can enjoy themselves at Bondi in ways that aren't possible in Gaza. Which, it seems, they can, unless of course, the men are eyeless in Gaza.

Since it WAS in Gaza, that surely points to a hopeful loosening of restrictions on women imposed by the Hamas reactionaries ? After all, with women uncovering their hair in Iran, and being allowed to drive and go to the pictures and the soccer in Saudi Arabia, change may be coming at last to all those reactionary regimes ? I certainly hope so.

Cheers,

Joe