Are you a “Fascifist”?

You are not a humanitarian, however, if your response to this horrendous carnage is to call for a ceasefire rather than an Israeli victory and the destruction of Hamas’ military capabilities – you are a fascifist, no matter how well-intentioned.

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AIJAC disappointed by FM Penny Wong’s comments regarding a Gaza ceasefire

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) today expressed disappointment over Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong’s comments on ABC-TV’s “The Insiders” regarding Gaza this morning, saying they were “disturbing”. Senator Wong stated: “we all want to take the next steps towards a ceasefire” before adding no ceasefire could be “one-sided.”  She also called for Israel…

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AIJAC statement on the events in Caulfield South on the evening of November 10

Regarding the events that took place around Prince Park in Caulfield South, opposite the Central Shule Chabad Synagogue on Maple St,  on the evening of November 10, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said: “While we welcome the bipartisan statements in support of the Jewish community and condemnation of the incidents…

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The media, Palestinian children and the numbers game

The stories of children being killed in Gaza are indeed horrifically sad and tragic – even if we actually have no accurate numbers on the extent of this tragedy – and to some extent, it is understandable that journalists want to highlight these terrible stories. Unfortunately, the goal of at least some journalists appears to be primarily to draw some nonexistent moral equivalence between those Palestinians under 18 killed during legitimate Israeli military operations with the Israeli children brutally murdered or kidnapped by Hamas.

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How not to be pro-Palestinian

The adoption by state governments and Australian institutions of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism would help in this regard, as it emphasises, inter alia, that the denial of the Jewish right to self-determination is antisemitic. Aside from being either implicitly or explicitly genocidal or advocating terrorism, this is exactly what all of these phrases do.

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Hanan Ashrawi proves – yet again – why she should never have been a candidate for any peace prize

Today, November 6, marks exactly two decades since then NSW Premier Bob Carr presented Palestinian official, activist and academic Hanan Ashrawi the then largely unknown Sydney Peace Prize, an award that prompted major national controversy. In recent weeks, Ashrawi has made outrageous statements that have whitewashed Hamas’ barbaric crimes against Israel on October 7 – vindicating yet again the stance taken by the Australian Jewish leadership in 2003 that she should never have won the award.

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