Israel

Netanyahu invokes Genocide – Pearls and Irritations

Official portrait of Israel's 9th Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu

Dutton Voted YES to Israel and Netanyahu but No to Indigenous Australians. Yes to those with a 3000-year claim to connection with the land but No to those with a non-debatable 65000-year connection.

“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass,” (1 Samuel 15:3). ( Netanyahu)

Prime Ministers Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull, and Morrison have signed a statement drafted for them by the Zionist Federation of Australia in support of Israel. In doing so, were they aware that on Sunday, in launching the ground offensive into Gaza, Netanyahu invoked a genocidal precedent for his war on Gaza?

Modern day Israel is not a continuation of the northern nation state of the same name that disappeared and was absorbed into the Assyrian Empire in 720 BC. Nor is it a continuation of the southern State called Judah which disappeared in 586 BC absorbed into the Babylonian Empire. On the other hand, it is true that Jewish people have cultural, religious, and ancestral ties, along with many other peoples, with this land for 3000 years.

Modern Day Israel was not created by fiat of the Divine. It was created through an act of partition by the United Nations in 1948. This partition was infamously preceded by the Balfour Declaration of 1917. That Palestinians were not jumping for joy in being told from afar they were about to lose 50% of their ancestral lands, is not surprising. In fact, they have lost 78%. Apparently, Israel considers 78% to be insufficient.

You six prime ministers who have signed a statement prepared for you by those who demand not 78% but 100%, will you issue another statement which clearly articulates the state of play which you believe should exist post the ‘war’, setting out your moral and legal arguments to support what you think should be the ‘new normal’?

You may also be interested inPaul Keating’s article regarding his refusal to sign the same draft:

Source: Netanyahu invokes Genocide – Pearls and Irritations

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News

Old Dog Thought – Dutton names our allies Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Israel, Paraguay. No Pacific Islanders or Communists

May be a doodle of ‎text that says '‎HUMAN RIGHTS HUMAN WRONGS مه ਬਹ MEGAN HERBERT‎'‎

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 1/11/23 UN Abstention, Peter Dutton’s Victory, Dutton Joins the Murder Squad, Netanyahu Distrusted, Killing Kids, The Leak, Warren Mundine,

News Corp

News Corp’s war on ‘Albo’s Voice’

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire serves as a platform for the Coalition to spread Right-wing causes, fear and hate, writes Dr Victoria Fielding.

Source: News Corp’s war on ‘Albo’s Voice’

Peter Dutton

Facebook-Peter Dutton’s post-Voice victory lap

Peter Dutton’s post-Voice victory lapDr. Strangelove / Referenced By - TV TropesDr Strangelove: University of Portsmouth Cinematography Video Essay 2018 - YouTube

He fell flat on his face even before his lap was completed claiming Albo was disloyal to our allies when UK Canada Germany India all abstained. Then America who voted No joined Albo in calling for a “Humanitarian Pause” while Dutton yelled “Keep bombing” He’s really is a tragic figure standing alone wedged because even Israelis and Jews are now protesting against Netanyahu’s War. Is he Major TJ  King or Jack D Ripper out of Dr Strangelove?

So there he was, tragedy and farce all at once, the grasper, the lurcher, as though he can see it all laid out so clearly before him: the crushing election loss, the disappointment, the utter existential futility of it all. Dutton as Trump, minus the charisma. A man without a conscience, with no nagging sense of public duty, no talent for government or leadership, but plenty of scope for stinging humiliation.

Source:

Peter Dutton’s post-Voice victory lap

Protest

Warren Mundine launched expletive-riddled spray after KPMG rejected his $10,000 speaker’s fee | Warren Mundine | The Guardian

Warren Mundine campaigning prior to the voice referendum.

Warren Mundine claims to be Indigenous when he wants to just be recognized as any other Australian. Well, that seems to have proven to be a load of bullshit since he expects special treatment claiming he was dudded by KPMG. KPMG went ahead and treated him just as they would any other Australian, but Mundine the No advocate jumped on the “I’m a proud Indigenous Australian bandwagon” Yes that request in Uluru Statement for the same Voice which all other colonial countries have systemically given in one form or another to their FNPs. Mundine voted for Australia to remain the lone global exception. Well, Warren got what he wished a rejection like any other Australian from a company that supported the Yes vote. One wonders how Mundine intends carrying out his threat and with whose backing?

Warren Mundine sent an extraordinary series of angry and expletive-riddled text messages to a KPMG partner after the firm cancelled an invitation for him to address staff following his request for a $10,000 fee.

Mundine used the N-word to describe how he felt the big four firm had treated him over many months, before warning the partner he was “going to treat you cunts like you treated me!”

“I’m a proud Aboriginal man,” he said in the text messages. “I have [had] a gutful of KPMG. I’m going to treat you cunts like you treated me!

“And for me to talk like this tells you how angry I am.”

Source: Warren Mundine launched expletive-riddled spray after KPMG rejected his $10,000 speaker’s fee | Warren Mundine | The Guardian

Informed Comment

Welcome to West Air – our latest flight of Qantas fancy! – Michael West

The Spruce Goose

We are very excited to announce that Michael West Media will be starting an airline. We haven’t set a date yet, nor do we have any planes, pilots or stewards, but watch this space, tickets will be on sale soon!

We made this decision after Qantas – an actual airline with planes, pilots, stewards, and some very clever finance people, revealed to the world (and the ACCC) that although it is an airline, it doesn’t really sell airline tickets as such. Its customers are:

not buying a specific flight when they book to travel but instead a ‘bundle of rights’ to fly.

Source: Welcome to West Air – our latest flight of Qantas fancy! – Michael West

Informed Comment

An Overwhelming Tragedy | The Smirking Chimp

But many of the things I hear or read about it from otherwise intelligent people strike me as blind to its realities. For example:

“Gazans are unfortunate collateral damage.”

Source: An Overwhelming Tragedy | The Smirking Chimp

Peter Dutton

Recipe for terror: Peter Dutton and the right’s alliance with fundamentalist murderers

Recipe for terror: Peter Dutton and the right's alliance with fundamentalist murderers

Peter Dutton politically wedged himself when he declared Albanese wasn’t supporting our allies by his recent UN abstention. He could only be referring to Israel and America because the UK, Canada, Germany, and India did the same and abstained. However, the next day after Dutton opened his mouth America joined Albanese in their demand for a “Humanitarian Pause” to what the Israelis were doing to the Palestinians both in Gaza and the West Bank. Dutton supports it. Even Israel is split on what Netanyahu is doing leaving Dutton to explain which allies he’s actually referring to. France can hardly be regarded an ally anymore the LNP screwed that. So who the fuck is Dutton referring to?

The Dutton/News Corp line on what is allowed to be said about Israel and Palestine here, the right-wing politically correct framing, is that Israel is automatically right, must be reflexively supported, and that Palestinians exist only as a security threat to “the Middle East’s only democracy”, and their suffering is trivial compared to that of Israelis.

Source: Facebook    Recipe for terror: Peter Dutton and the right’s alliance with fundamentalist murderers

Informed Comment

Chris Hedges: Exterminate All the Brutes – scheerpost.com

Chris Hedges: Exterminate All the Brutes All settler colonial projects, including Israel, reach a point when they embrace wholesale slaughter and genocide to eradicate a native population that refuses to capitulate.

Source: Chris Hedges: Exterminate All the Brutes – scheerpost.com

Israel

Hamas has set a trap. It depends on Israel’s brutal response – Pearls and Irritations

Israel written in letters made up of the word Palestine

To me, the most persuasive argument for a smaller and more restrained response is the simple fact that Hamas wants a massive over-reaction and believes this will serve its cause. It is very hard to believe that Hamas accurately reflects Palestinian opinion or will, but it is easy enough to assume that it understands the local politics of the struggle. Rather better than the Israelis anyhow. They have consistently misunderstood the cause or the strength of the feelings behind it. Their fabled intelligence services failed to predict or anticipate the Hamas atrocities, or the extent to which they were indifferent to international opinion and calculated to enrage and inflame Israelis to an ill-judged reaction. One can understand that the bitter bereaved – indeed all of Israel – have an instinct for a response that is utterly “firm”. Disproportionate, rather than measured, if only to ensure that not one of the survivors will even think of such actions against. And loud, shocking and awesome, to show the world and Israel’s enemies that the nation will not be intimidated, terrorised or distracted from its purpose.

To such brave words, one could only ask why that involves doing just what the enemy wants.

Source: Hamas has set a trap. It depends on Israel’s brutal response – Pearls and Irritations

Israel

New Document Leak on Plan to Expel Gaza Population

A leaked document from the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence to an Israeli news site on Monday lays out a plan to transfer more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai desert, reports Joe Lauria.

Source: New Document Leak on Plan to Expel Gaza Population

Israel

Israel Has Killed More Kids in 3 Weeks Than Were Killed in All Global Conflicts Annually Since 2019

Gaza injured child

One child’s death is one too many, but these are grave violations of epic proportions,” said the humanitarian group Save the Children. “A cease-fire is the only way to ensure their safety.”

Source: Israel Has Killed More Kids in 3 Weeks Than Were Killed in All Global Conflicts Annually Since 2019

Israel

‘No one trusts Netanyahu’: Israel’s war cabinet divided amid Gaza conflict | Israel-Palestine conflict | Al Jazeera

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz (not pictured) in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023. ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS

“This is a very difficult military campaign so you want a responsible prime minister and there is not a single person [in the government] that trusts Netanyahu – that’s the main issue for this cabinet,” Mekelberg said.

According to a poll by the Israeli Democracy Institute released last week, trust in the government collapsed to a 20-year low with 20 percent of Israelis saying they trusted Netanyahu’s cabinet – eight percentage points lower compared with June.

 

Source: ‘No one trusts Netanyahu’: Israel’s war cabinet divided amid Gaza conflict | Israel-Palestine conflict | Al Jazeera

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News

Old Dog Thought- It’s been revealed Friedenberg Drafted it Liebler sent it Campbell Ok’ed it and News Corp published it but it was Political Fakery. Whose getting sacked?

Man Examining Fake News On Newspaper Through Magnifying Glass

Fighting Fake News with REAL,31/10/23, Are we complicit in WarCrimes?, Fake News, Palestinians Unseen, Who killed the 1400?, October 7th, Manufactured Disinformation, Trump,

Uncategorized

Tell me about Peter Dutton – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Riding the Bomb - TV Tropes

Is he  a) Fun, b) a sociopath c) The owner of a child molester’s haven, d) a Typical Aussie bogan e) All of the above?

. In conclusion, there are a number of reasons why Peter Dutton is seen as a nasty politician. His critics point to his harsh rhetoric, his divisive policies, and his record of attacking his opponents. It is important to note that these are just the views of his critics, and that Dutton also has a number of supporters who view him as a strong and decisive leader.

Source: Tell me about Peter Dutton – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Tertiary Education

The sycophant – Pearls and Irritations

Graduation cap and book, ethereal. Image: iStock/Yevhen Lahunov

Individualism of this kind is the opposite of solidarity, which in academia is decidedly patchy. Nowhere was this more apparent than during the 2018 pensions strike and its aftermath. Graduate students and casualised academics, who can only dream of having retirement incomes to defend, turned out in droves to protect the pensions of their more secure colleagues; not long after, when the union balloted its members again over the issues of pay, workload, inequality and casualisation, few branches met the 50% turnout threshold. Permanent academics, false as their sense of security may be, are apparently more concerned with their next grant application than the fate of the temporary lecturer who will be brought in to cover their sabbatical. As a result, the unchecked march of casualisation is leading to a paradoxical proletarianisation, subjecting junior academics to a hazing ritual of insecurity and impoverishment only the independently wealthy can afford.

Who’s to blame for the plight of higher education? Time to consult the mirror. Looked at one way, academics are their own worst enemies. But viewed from another angle, their failure to defend their own collective interest makes more sense: the collective is not their concern. If the goal is to get ahead of the next guy, then a general deterioration of conditions is a cost that can be borne. For all the heart-rending laments from academics about the state of the universities, the reality may be still more depressing. Maybe they like what they see.

 

Source: The sycophant – Pearls and Irritations

Climate Change

When Idiot Savants Do Climate Economics

NEW HAVEN, CT - OCTOBER 08: Yale Professor William Nordhaus speaks during a press conference after winning the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences at Yale University on October 8, 2018 in New Haven, Connecticut. Professor Nordhaus' research has been focused on the economics of climate change, economic growth and natural resources. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has assumed Nordhaus is to be trusted. The integrated assessment models used at the IPCC are based on Nordhausian visions of adaptation to warming that only marginally reduces global gross domestic product. If future GDP is barely affected by rising temperatures, there’s less incentive for world governments to act now to reduce emissions.

Andrew Glikson, who teaches at Australian National University in Canberra and advises the IPCC, has written about the coming era of mass human death, what he calls the Plutocene, the natural successor to the Anthropocene. Global governments, he charges, are “criminals” for ushering in the Plutocene in pursuit of short-term political and economic gain. I first reached out to him during the black summer of bushfires that raged across Australia in 2020. Glikson’s mood was foul then, and it has not gotten better since.

“The governing classes have given up on the survival of numerous species and future generations,” he told me, “and their inaction constitutes the ultimate crime against life on Earth.” Part of the reason for inaction is the false cheer that Nordhaus has spread with his math-genius, climate-idiot models.

Source: When Idiot Savants Do Climate Economics

ALP Government,

Getting away with murder: Time to go after the tax evasion ‘sharks’

Whatever did happen to those named in the Panama Papers years ago? Why did the LNO allow tax evaders like News Corp and  Mining companies to self-negotiate what they were willing to pay in Tax?

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is punishing some tax cheats, but still has to catch the big players, reports Alan Austin.

Source: Getting away with murder: Time to go after the tax evasion ‘sharks’

Murdoch Media

Herald Sun report on support for Zionist Federation letter “untrue” – Pearls and Irritations

Man Examining Fake News On Newspaper Through Magnifying GlassImage

While journalists and cartoonists are getting sacked for supporting Gazans will Murdoch’s News Corpse sack James Campbell for falsely propagandizing what’s clearly the political fakery of Australia’s Zionist Federation? Surely there’s a clear defamation case here against Liebler Campbell and News Corp by Keating. By the way it’s been reported that Friedenberg drafted the letter and roped in this ship of fools. Good on Paul Keating for seeing through the propaganda plot

Today’s Melbourne Herald Sun carries a story that, along with other former Australian Prime Ministers, I will be a signature to a statement drafted by The Zionist Federation of Australia, condemning the attack by Hamas on Israel. This report is without foundation and is untrue.

Mark Leibler contacted me earlier last week proposing the prospective joint statement for my agreement and signature.

I told Leibler in a written message that I would not be agreeing to join other former Prime Ministers in authorising the statement.

That remains my position.

Statement by PJ Keating,  29 October 2023.

Mark Leibler contacted Paul Keating earlier last week proposing the prospective joint statement by past PMs. Paul Keating declined.

Source: Herald Sun report on support for Zionist Federation letter “untrue” – Pearls and Irritations

Informed Comment

Israel’s bombardment of Palestinians: is Australia complicit in war crimes? – Michael West

Hamas, Israel, Gaza

Israel has killed more than 7000 Palestinians since the brutal Hamas attacks of October 7 sparked the war on Gaza. Human rights lawyer Greg Barns SC examines Australia’s complicity in war crimes.

Source: Israel’s bombardment of Palestinians: is Australia complicit in war crimes? – Michael West

Israel

Israel must protect Gazans, end settler violence: US

Gaza City

Biden demands a “Humanitarian Pause”? America seems to have listened to Albo and calls for a “Humanitarian Pause” admitting to an overreach in revenge death and destruction by Israel. Dutton’s left alone squawking on 2GB about loyalty and allies when even Israelis and Jews worldwide are calling for a ceasefire. Dutton has been left an isolated comic character out of Dr Strangelove

They heard what Peter Dutton said and gave him the finger. Peter Dutton is the only one Anglo- ally Israel has left and he’s not a country just a…..

The White House says Israel has a responsibility to protect civilians in Gaza and must “rein in” Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Source: Israel must protect Gazans, end settler violence: US

Israel

30 Israeli Groups Urge Global Community to Help Stop Surging West Bank Settler Violence

Bilal Muhammad Saleh

“Unfortunately, the Israeli government is supportive of these attacks and does nothing to stop this violence.”

Source: 30 Israeli Groups Urge Global Community to Help Stop Surging West Bank Settler Violence

Israel

For Netanyahu’s Government, Israeli Hostages Are Just a Propaganda Tool

Israel claims its brutal assault on Gaza is justified by the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. But the Israeli government’s actions suggest that it cares little about the hostages’ well-being — and more about using them as anti-Palestinian propaganda.

Thousands of Palestinian day laborers from Gaza are stranded in Israel amid the explosion in violence. Israel has revoked their work permits, and their families fear they may be imprisoned — or worse.

Source: For Netanyahu’s Government, Israeli Hostages Are Just a Propaganda Tool

and

Thousands of Palestinian Workers Have Gone Missing in Israel

Israel

The Hannibal Directive: What Really Happened On October 7th – scheerpost.com

It starts to make sense why Netanyahu wants laws passed preventing Journalists and media from publishing non-government-approved reports that may “harm the State”

The case builds that Israel may have invoked its infamous ‘Hannibal directive’, which requires that the army kill Israelis rather than let them be taken hostage

The complex and evolving narrative surrounding the October 7 events has raised doubts about the justifications for Israel’s brutal military response in Gaza. As the situation continues to unfold, it becomes increasingly apparent that the true story of that day may not be as straightforward as initially portrayed.

Source: The Hannibal Directive: What Really Happened On October 7th – scheerpost.com

Israel

October 7 Testimonies Reveal Israel’s Military ‘Shelling’ Israeli Citizens With Tanks, Missiles – scheerpost.com

Who Killed the 1400 Israelis?

Several new testimonies by Israeli witnesses to the October 7 Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel adds to growing evidence that the Israeli military killed its own citizens as they fought to neutralize Palestinian gunmen.

Source: October 7 Testimonies Reveal Israel’s Military ‘Shelling’ Israeli Citizens With Tanks, Missiles – scheerpost.com

Informed Comment

The Big Fix Sticks: Nothing Impedes Trumpist Fealty to Its Endlessly Disruptive, Authoritarian Strongman | The Smirking Chimp

One can’t say ‘24 America voters won’t have the most obvious alternative since the Civil War – more predictable Bidenism or more unpredictable scorched earth, Trumpian firestorms. What civilized nation wouldn’t gag on such a choice? Whatever. Either keep the doors open and the lights on or burn the house down because an aggrieved, insular minority demands control. Batten down the hatches: this political hurricane roars still, without a visible, rational brake on a careening train wreck again headed at the Capitol. Yet, where’s proof the felony-ridden con man has a viable path to the White House?

Source: The Big Fix Sticks: Nothing Impedes Trumpist Fealty to Its Endlessly Disruptive, Authoritarian Strongman | The Smirking Chimp

Israel, Israel Crimes

The Hannibal Directive: What Really Happened On October 7th.. More information is coming out

. This is a key piece of context missing from mainstream corporate media reporting on October 7th.

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News

Old Dog Thought- ” Bookings for Gaza will open early. Fly Qantas or Jet Star?”

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 30/10/23 Tickets for GAZA, Second Stage, Netanyahu Quotes the Bible,Dr Strangelove and Peter Dutton, Inside a Gaza Village,

Aboriginal Australia, Australia, Australia Alone, Australia's Shame, Australian Constitution

What happened to Indigenous Rights? The world will judge Australia harshly – Pearls and Irritations

Sunrise in Australia; a dramatic contrast of red and black behind the gold disc of the sun; the image is reminiscent of the iconic Australian Aboriginal flag.

The World viewed Australia as Voting No to Indigenous Rights and Voting No to Palestinian Rights. That makes us unique and exceptional assholes even among colonizing nations.

We should not be surprised if as a consequence of the defeat of the referendum the world judges us harshly, accusing us of bad faith and hypocrisy. The extraordinary fact that our international commitments were rarely, if ever mentioned, in such a consequential debate suggests, at least, that the face that we turn to the world is very different from the one we present to the domestic electorate, and that international documents we sign up to are kept from sight rather than explained and publicised.

Source: What happened to Indigenous Rights? The world will judge Australia harshly – Pearls and Irritations

Informed Comment

‘Woke’ to right-wing attempts to enrage and misguide
Cartoon by Mark David/@markdavidcartoons

The word “woke” is deployed by conservatives to poison the public discourse and appeal to our worst instincts, writes Paul Begley.

‘Woke’ to right-wing attempts to enrage and misguide

Israel

With 7,300+ Gazans Dead, Israeli PM Adviser Says ‘Tonight We Are Starting Payback’

Gazans mourn victims of Israeli airstrikes

Medical authorities in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.3 million people, said on Sunday 8005 people – including 3324 minors – had been killed.

Clearly undeterred by the mounting civilian death toll and global calls for a cease-fire three weeks into Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Friday that “tonight we are starting payback.”

Source: With 7,300+ Gazans Dead, Israeli PM Adviser Says ‘Tonight We Are Starting Payback’

Israel

The Lights Are Off in Gaza

Israel turned off the lights, cut the phone lines, and shut off the internet to Gaza on Friday night, plunging the region into darkness and isolation before launching a ground invasion. Only those inside know what’s happening there.

Source: The Lights Are Off in Gaza

Israel

Obscuring Mass Murder

As Israeli siege warfare cuts Gazans off from both electricity and communications, we’re seeing the lights go out in Gaza in more ways than one, writes Caitlin Johnstone.

Source: Obscuring Mass Murder

ALP Government,

Australia left isolated as neighbours demand protection of civilians at UNGA – Pearls and Irritations

Results of voting by General Assembly on resolution on Israel-Palestinian conflict at UN Headquarters in New York on October 27, 2023. GA adopted the resolution sponsored by Jordan. Draft resolution sponsored by Jordan on Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory was adopted by General Assembly with 120 votes in favour, 14 against, and 45 abstentions. Image:AAP/ Lev Radin/Sipa USA

Many Australians will be ashamed that our nation has failed to speak and vote unequivocally at the United Nations during this crisis. As a nation we cannot continue to pretend that Israel has “a right to defend itself” while Palestine has no such right and is being systematically destroyed.

Source: Australia left isolated as neighbours demand protection of civilians at UNGA – Pearls and Irritations

Uncategorized

Dutton labels PM ‘weak’ for abstaining on UN Gaza truce vote

Riding the Bomb - TV Tropes

Netanyahu invoked scripture that calls for the total destruction of the enemy, sparing no man, woman or child:

“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” ( Netanyahu)

Dutton labels PM ‘weak’ for abstaining on UN Gaza truce vote

By Angus Thompson

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also accused the government of failing to send a clear message about the nation’s values to the world after Australia abstained from a United Nations vote calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas.

The United Kingdom and Canada also abstained, while Israel and the United States were among those that voted no.

Dutton told Sky that Australia should have been standing with “our long-standing allies, including the United States in support of Israel”. 

Who was Dutton referring to when he said “Our Long Standing Allies”? Not the UK or Canada it seems. It’s easy yelling from the bleechers.

“The prime minister had an opportunity here in the United Nations to send a clear message about our values and where we stand. And he failed that test. And I think it was an incredibly weak display of leadership from the prime minister,” he said.

“The prime minister parading around on the red carpet but then scrimping it when it comes to the tough decisions. I don’t think that’s in our country’s best interests.”

Israel

Military Contractors Are Framing the Israeli War on Gaza as a Win for Investors

Eisenhower the General who became President warned the world against the Industrial Military Complex. America didn’t listen and neither has Australia. Did your shares go up?

This week, arms industry executives at both Raytheon and General Dynamics spoke candidly about how Israel’s war on Gaza will be good for business.

Source: Military Contractors Are Framing the Israeli War on Gaza as a Win for Investors

Israel

Biden’s Bungles over Gaza – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Biden can’t afford to antagonize Israel where else could he put his secret air base but in the 4th most armed state in the world.

With such a gulf between rhetoric and reality, the world’s most powerful cue card reader also made sure he would partake in the finest traditions of the IDF public relations effort, disputing the casualty lists released by the Hamas-run health ministry. “I have no notion that Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.” At a tag of over 7,000 dead and rising, that’s a considerable amount of expended innocence.

Source: Biden’s Bungles over Gaza – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Israel, Protest, Protestors

As Gaza War Enters ‘Second Stage,’ Hundreds of Thousands March for Cease-Fire

Thousands march in London for Palestine.

estimated on social media that half a million people attended the London march, which went from Embankment past U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official residence at Downing Street to Westminster. Aerial footage showed streets and bridges thick with crowds. Sunak has stopped short of calling for a cease-fire, and Great Britian has emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself after the surprise October 7 attack by Hamas that killed around 1,400.

“The superpowers at play are not doing enough at the moment. This is why we’re here: we’re calling for a cease-fire, calling for Palestinian rights, the right to exist, to live, human rights, all our rights,” London marcher Camille Revuelta toldReuters. “This is not about Hamas. This is about protecting Palestinian lives.”

Protests also took place in cities across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, including what +972 Magazine journalist Oren Ziv said was the first anti-war protest in Tel Aviv.

Source: As Gaza War Enters ‘Second Stage,’ Hundreds of Thousands March for Cease-Fire

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News

Old Dog Thought- Assassins are waiting for a total blackout. Information their worst enemy. Night goggles, body armour 100,000 ready to move on those that couldn’t evacuate.

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 29/10/23, Total Darkness means No News, Bombing Syria, Death The Fate of Children, Andrew Bolt, Tucker Carlson NewsCorp,

Israel

U.S. Quietly Pushes Ahead Secret Military Base in Israel, Near Gaza

U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, hand off cargo to the Israeli military, at Nevatim Base, Israel, Oct. 15, 2023. The mission provided the Israel Defense Forces with additional resources, which includes vital munitions, and emphasized the United States’ unwavering and ironclad support for both the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli people. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Airmen Edgar Grimaldo)

Should we be surprised? Why the US isn’t sanctioning Israel

Two months before Hamas attacked Israel, the Pentagon awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to build U.S. troop facilities for a secret base it maintains deep within Israel’s Negev desert, just 20 miles from Gaza. Code-named “Site 512,” the longstanding U.S. base is a radar facility that monitors the skies for missile attacks on Israel.

Source: U.S. Quietly Pushes Ahead Secret Military Base in Israel, Near Gaza

Informed Comment

The man who wants to be Prime Minister – » The Australian Independent Media Network

One thing that stood out in the result of the Voice referendum is that being totality negative has little chance of winning back Government for Peter Dutton and his Coalition of conservative misfits.

Source: The man who wants to be Prime Minister – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Dutton

A disturbing lack of bipartisanship on the Middle East conflict points to an ugly new direction for Australian politics – ABC News

Peter Dutton criticises pro-Palestinian rally at Sydney Opera House

Peter Dutton continues to look in the rear vision mirror for his strategies. The same old shtick is coming back. Stranger danger, Muslim asylum seekers could be ISIS. The ALP doesn’t know how to protect us.  It’s back to black with Ray Hadley and Sky News After Dark. A shadow passed over this country in 2013 when we voted Nope Nope Nope in. The ALP has begun to lift it but lift the fog only too slowly and we voted “No”. That’s how dark it still is.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has hardened her language over the past week, calling for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and to pointedly say that the way Israel defends itself matters.

“I don’t believe it’s in our country’s best interests to be increasing that intake at the moment without certainty around who individuals are and the fact that they’re going to be perfect Australian citizens, or as best as we could hope for,” Dutton told radio host Ray Hadley.

His comments come at a time when there have already been predictions that, on the back of the ugly divisions the Coalition was happy to stir up over the Voice, it would target migration at the next election.

To do so on the back of a horrific and complex dispute like the one in the Middle East, would set an ominous tone for our political future and almost certainly ensure these age-old tensions were imported to Australia.

Source: A disturbing lack of bipartisanship on the Middle East conflict points to an ugly new direction for Australian politics – ABC News

Australia's Shame

Political opinions shift on Israel conflict in wake of Hamas attacks

 Did News Corp really reveal that Sussan Ley was actually pro-Palestine not that long ago?

News Corp rags scoured the archives to dig up a grainy piece of footage showing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressing a pro-Palestinian protest as a “Federal Labor MP” and condemning the Israeli military many years ago when the PM had thick brown hair.

Now, as Prime Minister, Albanese posts messages on social media, ‘Australia stands with our friend Israel’ and appears to walk in lock-step with U.S. allies by positioning Australia firmly on the Israeli side of the conflict.

Notably, over the past weeks, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has also been making media statements condemning the Albanese Government for being too slow to act on the Israel conflict and calling the Government’s call for “restraint” as “disgraceful”.

In 2003, then a Liberal backbencher, Ley became Chair of the Federal Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group. Ley said at the time she had “a great and abiding attachment to the land and the Arab people. It’s something I gained as a child in the region where I grew up”.

 

Source: Political opinions shift on Israel conflict in wake of Hamas attacks

Israel

The Day Guterres Became Relevant – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The Israeli strategy here is to excuse the inexcusable: the collective, mass laceration of a people. In this, they simply perpetuate the tragic crimes that have been visited, not only upon the Jews, but upon any ethnicity or group in history. The Whig statesman Edmund Burke spoke about not knowing “the method of drawing up an indictment against a whole people.” Unfortunately, in this conflict, that indictment was drawn up some time ago, and is being prosecuted with relentless ruthlessness.

Source: The Day Guterres Became Relevant – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Israel

Artforum’s Editor Just Got Axed After Printing a Letter Opposing Israel’s Assault on Gaza

Do You know who your sponsors are?

Last night Artforum fired its editor after he published a letter from artists calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. It’s just the latest instance of the magazine’s corporate owner, Penske Media, quashing editorial independence and siding with the rich.

Penske axed Velasco, who has worked at Artforum for eighteen years, after the editor published a letter signed by thousands of artists calling for a cease-fire in the face of Israel’s onslaught against the Gaza Strip. Apparently publishing artists’ concerns about violence against civilians — what one might describe as an airing of those concerns in some sort of “forum” — was not actually Velasco’s job.

Artforum’s publishers wrote a statement last night saying that Velasco violated the magazine’s standard editorial process, but reporting shows that the ouster followed campaigning by advertisers and art collectors who objected to the letter. As the Intercept writes, shortly after Artforum put up the letter, “Martin Eisenberg, a high-profile collector and inheritor of the now-bankrupt Bed Bath & Beyond fortune, began contacting famous art world figures on the list whose work he had championed to express his objections.” He was aided by influential gallery owners, whose response Artforum published, as well as by another letter, which fails to mention Palestinian deaths and garnered thousands of signatures, including from tear-gas salesman and art world figure Warren Kanders. At least one Artforum staff member resigned today in response to Velasco’s firing.

Source: Artforum’s Editor Just Got Axed After Printing a Letter Opposing Israel’s Assault on Gaza

Israel

What good comes from Israel silencing criticism? – Pearls and Irritations

Flags of Israel and Palestine behind the barbed wire.

Born in 1938, two days after Kristallnacht, I grew up during a period of rabid American antisemitism. In response, two relatives helped found the Anti-Defamation League. Learning of the atrocities Hamas committed in southern Israel, I was aghast like everyone. But I was not surprised. Israel has been hoisted on its own propaganda, regardless of the consequences. It has almost succeeded in silencing its critics, even – maybe especially – its Jewish ones, of whom there are many.

For years I’ve been critical of Israeli governments. But with their rigid, defensive dogmatism within Israel’s borders and its blindly accepting supporters in the Diaspora, Israel has been hoisted on its own propaganda, regardless of the consequences. It has almost succeeded in silencing its critics, even – maybe especially – its Jewish ones, of whom there are many. Who would know of Jewish Voice for Peace, Not in my Name, Jews against the Occupation, Independent Australian Jewish Voices, to name some. And who or what has been served by this silencing? Certainly not Israel, or Jews in the Diaspora. Certainly not the Palestinian people. And as for any hope of peace, how long must we wait for that?

Source: What good comes from Israel silencing criticism? – Pearls and Irritations

Informed Comment

The Inhumanity of Humans Toward Other Humans | The Smirking Chimp

Many of us feel overwhelmed by the brutality and hatefulness around us — in Israel and Gaza, in Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine, in mass shootings here at home, in the violence and hostility that erupted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and continues to divide Americans, in Trump’s vicious lies and rants that fuel racism, xenophobia, and misogyny.

How can human beings behave so inhumanely?

Source: The Inhumanity of Humans Toward Other Humans | The Smirking Chimp

Israel

Gaza totally cut off — as Israeli army expands ground operations

The Israel Defence Force has intensified its bombings in Gaza.

According to Israel hospitals are at fault as Hamas is hiding behind them. Which means Israel is going to destroy them. That sounds like an excuse for killing those who haven’t evacuated the South as ordered. The cart has been placed before the horse. If the North isn’t empty it still remains crowded with innocents who were unable to evacuate not necessarily Hamas. Israel has been slow to invade until it has totally silenced Gaza because the most effective weapon against them has been truth. The truth of Israel’s barbarism will go down in history.

An opinion poll on Friday suggested almost half of Israelis now want to hold off on a ground invasion out of fears for at least 224 hostages reported to be held there.

The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said 7326 Palestinians had been killed in the retaliatory air strikes, including around 3000 children.

Source: Gaza totally cut off — as Israeli army expands ground operations

Israel

‘Massacres Will Be Done in Total Darkness’: Huge Israeli Assault Amid Blackout in Gaza

Gaza City

An invading night goggled army is coming to kill in an area totally cloaked by darkness. Sight, sound, and reporting is all in Israeli hands. They have the numbers,100,000. They have the weapons, They have the technology, and They have the body armor to take down flesh and bone. They will have their story prepared. Any evidence from the other side neutralised

Source: ‘Massacres Will Be Done in Total Darkness’: Huge Israeli Assault Amid Blackout in Gaza

Far-Right

Maine Shooting Suspect an Army Reservist Who Liked ‘Right-Wing Posts’ by Tucker Carlson and GOP | The Smirking Chimp

Christchurch killer grew up in Australia to the sound of Andrew Bolt and his guest’s ideas. He killed 51 people. Robert Card loved Tucker Carlson. What did they have in common other than News Corp’s promotion of Far Right and ideology and hatreds?

Robert Card, the 40-year old suspect in Wednesday’s mass shooting in Lewiston, ME, is a U.S. Army Reserves member and “skilled marksman” whose social media presence includes liking “right-wing posts” by Tucker Carlson and “Republican members of Congress,” according to a report from CNN’s Pamela Brown.

Source: Maine Shooting Suspect an Army Reservist Who Liked ‘Right-Wing Posts’ by Tucker Carlson and GOP | The Smirking Chimp