Australia’s Israel lobby seem lost for words over Dubai murder

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Australia’s Israel lobby seem lost for words over Dubai murder

Via Intifada Voice

3 March , 2010

It’s about time Australia’s Zionist lobby was seriously questioned over its inability to find fault with the Israeli policy of state-sanctioned murder (via the Australian):

Dual Israeli nationals will be banned from entering Dubai in a sanction that police say will be enforced by recognising “physical features and the way they speak”.

The announcement, by Dubai police chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, is the first reprisal for Israel’s suspected role in the murder of a Hamas leader in Dubai and could affect dual Australian-Israeli citizens using Dubai as a stopover.

The sanction will be difficult to police given that Israelis enter the United Arab Emirates on second passports because the UAE does not have diplomatic ties with Israel. The Emirates will “deny entry to anyone suspected of having Israeli citizenship”, General Tamim said, adding that police would “develop skills” to recognise Israelis by “physical features and the way they speak”.

The head of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Robert Goot, said last night he would not comment on General Tamim’s declaration.

Meanwhile, the head of the Palestinian delegation in Canberra, Izzat Abdulhadi, said yesterday Jewish leaders in Australia had to decide whether their loyalties lay with Australia or Israel.
His call came as the Zionist Federation of Australia released a statement in which it again declined to criticise Israel’s suspected role in the faking of three Australian passports to support the suspected Mossad assassination.

“The ZFA notes that Israel has not accepted responsibility for, or made any comment in relation to, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s death or the alleged misuse of passports and it believes it is not appropriate for speculation to prevail or unsubstantiated conclusions to be drawn in the absence of hard evidence,” ZFA president Philip Chester said.

The row has caused a diplomatic rift, with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith warning that if Israel is found to have sponsored or condoned the misuse of Australian passports, it would not
be seen as the act of a friend.

Mr Abdulhadi, the most senior Palestinian representative in Australia, said yesterday the reluctance of Jewish leaders to criticise the Israeli government meant they were failing to stand up for Jewish Australian citizens.

“I think the Jewish community (leaders) should be more constructive and behave as Australians and protect the integrity of Australian citizens,” he said in an interview with The Australian.
“They should support the Australian government and condemn publicly Israel’s abuse of their own Australian citizens.”

Mr Chester said he understood why the Australian government wanted to investigate any alleged misuse of its passports. “The ZFA acknowledges that it is appropriate for the Australian government and its security agencies to investigate any credible allegations of misuse or theft of Australian passports,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday rejected claims made by Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki that Australia and other Western nations had questions to answer about their role in the killing of Mabhouh because their passports had been used.
A DFAT spokesperson said yesterday: “State-sanctioned assassinations are not a policy of the Australian government.”

Prominent Australian Jews, including Peter Singer, reject the Israeli right of return

MEDIA RELEASE 3 MARCH, 2010

Today is the national launch of a prominent new Australian initiative that rejects Israel’s automatic right of return for Jews across the world.

Following a recent similar project in the US, 35 distinguished Australian Jews have signed a petition that indicates growing dissent from Zionist policies and dispossession of Palestinian land.

The ongoing occupation of Palestine, the siege on Gaza, the botched Mossad hit in Dubai and violence against Palestinians is encouraging a sea-change in global Jewish opinion towards the state of Israel.
Some of the key signatories include world-renowned ethicist Peter Singer, actor Miriam Margolyes, legendary feminist campaigner Eva Cox, La Trobe University’s Dennis Altman, Monash University’s Andrew Benjamin, Sydney University’s David Goodman and John Docker, legal scholar GJ Lindell, best-selling author and journalist Antony Loewenstein, writers Susan Varga and Sara Dowse, ANU’s Ned Curthoys and many others.

This statement is a direct challenge to the Rudd government’s closeness to Israel and plea for a more balanced approach to the Middle East question.
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