Creating conflict
By Stephen Fitzgerald
What started out as a pathetic little grab for votes in the Wentworth by-election, by the LNP, has now been escalated to include threatening every Australian citizen and Australian trade.
“Wentworth voters see embassy relocation as a targeted pitch to Jewish voters“:
The response to the proposal relocation of the Australian Embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem met with outrage across the Muslim world. That includes protests from our closes and dearest neighbour, Indonesia.
“Protest call to occupy Australian embassy in Jakarta”:
Several hundred Indonesian protesters have demanded Canberra drop any plans to move its Israel diplomatic mission to Jerusalem, calling on other Islamic groups to occupy the embassy, raising security concerns over an issue that already threatens to derail one of Australia’s most important relationships. And derail it has.
“Australia warns citizens on travelling in Indonesia ahead of expected Jerusalem move“:
SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia on Friday (Dec 14) warned citizens to take care while travelling in neighbouring Muslim-majority Indonesia, ahead of an expected but contentious move by Canberra to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In addition, our trade with Indonesia has been directly threatened by Scott Morrison stupidity.
“Jerusalem embassy proposal delays Australia-Indonesia trade agreement“:
The Australia-Indonesia free trade deal has been put on hold with the Indonesian Trade Minister confirming there will be no agreement while Australia considers moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
“Australia to recognise Jerusalem as Israeli capital, delay embassy move a report“:
It was not clear if the government intended to recognise the entirety of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, or just West Jerusalem, which Israel has held throughout its existence, as opposed to the eastern sectors of the city that it captured in the 1967 Six Day War.
The announcement was welcomed by Israel, but heavily criticised by Palestinians and a number of Muslim-majority countries in Asia, including neighbouring Indonesia, with which Australia is trying to clinch a landmark free-trade deal.
On Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority delegation to Australia slammed the reported upcoming announcement, with envoy Izzat Abdulhadi saying his people should not have to pay the price for some kind of face-saving move. A face saving move by our esteemed prime minister has threatened Australian trade and exposed every Australian citizen to extremist Muslim reprisal.
Why would any thinking clear minded government do that? It certainly plays into the hands of the right-wing. If you don’t have sufficient national threat create some! A national threat, a terrorist threat, a Muslim threat plays into the hands of right-wing governments who wish to act as our guardian saviours. They do this to divert attention away from governing for themselves, corporates and the financial elite?
So, Morrison thinks; “Tick, tick? Geez I’m clever. Let’s save face and, as a bonus, kill two birds with one stone”:
(1) Instil a bit of fear in to the community so we can save them, and (2) Give the burgeoning Australian arms industry, a bit of a kick start, by creating some more global conflict.
“Australia’s bold plan to become one of world’s top 10 arms exporters“:
Australia’s expansion plans come amid increased global demand for military hardware, prompting criticism from aid agencies who argue Australia could make human rights violations worse if weapons were sold to the wrong buyers.
Australia will create a A$3.8 billion fund to lend to exporters that banks are reluctant to finance, a central defence export office and expand the roles of defence attaches in Australian embassies around the world. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that with A$200 billion budgeted to increase Australian defence capabilities in the next decade, Australia should rank higher than 20th among arms-exporting countries.
The planned Australian military build-up was the largest in its peacetime history, he said. Given the size of our defence budget, we should be a lot higher up the scale than that. So, the goal is to get into the top 10, Turnbull said. And, Scott Morrison is with him.
“Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has been accused of being an arms dealer amid secrecy over Australia’s military exports to Saudi Arabia“:
But they insist whatever equipment has been exported is not being used in the Yemen conflict and a Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign.
So, once again the LNP create terrorist fear in the community and escalate global conflict to improve Australia’s chances of being in the top 10 arms manufacturers and exporters. Moving the Australian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has precisely this effect.
Just like big brother America, recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and just like America become a war economy. In other words, along with pandering to the financial elite and corporates, go after the big ‘arms dealer’ bucks to throw at cohort mainstream media to lie, cheat, deceive, bribe and buy your way into government?
Are the LNP completely insane? This right-wing Liberal National Party government, under the leadership of Scott Morrison, are showing signs of being homicidal maniacs. What won’t they do to try to stay in power?
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Andrew Smith
Return to home pageIsrael captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and it was integrated into Jerusalem by extension of its municipal borders and was placed under the law, jurisdiction, and administration of the State of Israel by the State of Israel.
In a unanimous General Assembly resolution, the UN declared the measures trying to change the status of the city to be invalid. Jerusalem was effectively annexed by Israel in 1980, an act that was internationally condemned and ruled “null and void” by the United Nations Security Council.
UPDATE – 1:00pm 15th December 2018
Why Scott Morrison moving the Australian embassy to West Jerusalem would be a big deal
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/why-scott-morrison-moving-the-australian-embassy-to-west-jerusalem-would-be-a-big-deal
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed his government will formally recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Palestinian advisers have reportedly called on the Arab world to punish Australia economically if Mr Morrison announced the move.
“We’re asking the Arab world to include Australia in boycott measures,” Nabil Shaath, a senior PLO official told website Plus61J on Friday. “Saudi Arabia is the largest importer of live meat from Australia. I talked to the Saudis and said that ‘you should at least tell the Australians that means we are going to look for other [suppliers]’,” he said.
Ms Sosnowski said when the US embassy moved to Jerusalem “we saw an uptick in protests in Gaza and in the West Bank”.
“We may see [another] upsurge in violence and that could have a direct impact on the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians.”
“What tends to be forgotten in these international diplomatic manoeuvrings is that people are very much affected by these decisions.”
The Australian Government will recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but will not immediately move its embassy from Tel Aviv. https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/government-to-recognise-west-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-but-keeps-embassy-in-tel-aviv/ar-BBQXPAx?ocid=spartandhp
“It serves no Australian interest, will weaken our trade and security relations with regional partners, and may irreparably injure our international reputation by aligning Australia with the Trump and Netanyahu governments against an overwhelming international consensus regarding the status of Jerusalem,” APAN’s president Bishop George Browning said.
Hartley’s ‘The Go-Between’ begins with “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
I love that sentence especially now that I am witnessing how badly/poorly we are dealing with so many issues TODAY in this country, even the PAST was better, let’s choose a progressive Government and ‘pray’ and hope for good/ better things to happen in the FUTURE….Sigh…
It should be obvious to all that the inmates are running the asylum!
Greg Sheridan in the Australian has said that Morrison’s backflip should be applauded “he’s got the balance right”.
As I read it we are back to square one and as Julie Bishop has clearly enunciated : “Jerusalem is a final status issue and we have maintained that position for decades and we are doing all we can do to ensure that any support we give to the Palestinian Authority is only used for purposes that we determine.”
Internationally it seems to be the case that West Jerusalem will be recognised as the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the Palestinian capital when a peace settlement is achieved and that now appears to be the position that Morrison is supporting [while it’s politically in his interests to do so].
What a shambles.
“rubbergums mcshoutyface”
“He’s trying to be all things to all men.” said Neddie Seagon.
“It must be hell in there.” replied Major Bloodnock.
Kronomex
🤣
Mr Morrison said Australia would set up a trade and defence office in West Jerusalem… https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/critics-take-aim-at-rookie-call-after-pm-confirms-israel-policy-tilt-20181215-p50mi0.html
Defence office in the middle east? One small step for the LNP’s ambition to see Australia become one of the top 10 international arms traders and, one giant leap for global conflict and perpetual war.
Do we really think that Israel’s Netanyahu is going to give up East Jerusalem along with the Israeli occupied Palestinian territories of Gazza Strip and the West Bank? Not likely in this generation or any. Morrison is a moron and, people with limited mental capacity and asperations of power are extremely dangerous. As we are seeing.
Jeez, talk about overwhelming arrogance from Head Thug of the LNP –
“Morrison also accused the United Nations of antisemitism, saying: “We regard the biased and unfair targeting of Israel in the UN general assembly in particular, as deeply unhelpful to efforts to build peace and stability. The UN general assembly is now the place where Israel is bullied and where antisemitism is cloaked in the language of human rights.””
This shit and his cronies are trampling all over human rights in Australia and he has the hide accuse the UN of being nasty.
Great composite photo of Dear Leader at head of article. Reminiscent of street posters and newspaper front pages from 1930s Italy Spain Russia and Germany.
Fair dinkum does absolutely everything this moron and his henchmen touch immediately turn to sh*t?
Five years of not just inept bumbling but deliberate obfuscation corruption lies dishonesty and criminal behaviour from fraud to treason. How dare any of these gangsters claim to be righteous godfearing and law abiding or having anything more than a pretence of civic pride and nation building.
Dear Leader and his evil cohorts are so lucky to be Australian…. consider the fate of the gang of thugs running Romania in the 1990s.
Australia should do the right thing, no matter what the cost, who is offended by it, etc.
This not the right thing and it definitely isn’t for the right reason/s.
Morrison is a bog ignorant sod – has he ever had a single history lesson in his life?
Regardless of what anyone thinks of religion, a good Christian is a good person and good citizen.
Morrison is a fake Christian, an evil man claiming the cover of the God he supposedly believes in to do whatever it takes for the advancement of his own personal power, wealth and kudos.
People voted for Morrison (and Abbott, Dutton, Frydenberg, et al) and continue to support their policies.
What does that say about Australia?
Thank you, Margcal. Australia rarely does the right thing. We are an ecological disaster, a bad neighbour in every sense, we support wars and regime change…
You would think the LNP’s votes would have disappeared for good after the most recent events…
What does it say? That the median Aussie is arrogant, racist, willing to lie to get ahead, lacking in empathy for the poor…
Thinking people in this place strive for a better future. We remember a much better past. We are a minority …
Morrison and his ‘grab a policy and run with it, no consideration necessary” government are merely continuing the fire sale of our common wealth, our human rights, our environment, our principles of justice and fairness and, now, our national security.
We are becoming mini-America and we now have our own mini-Trump, and our own version of tea party politics.
As for the cross benchers, (who we all thought would be at least a brake on the self serving policies of this government, their IPA mates and a compliant opposition) they have proven to be ‘votes for sale’ only.
The survival of this dysfunctional rabble over the last months of parliament, when it was obvious the LNP were more focussed on their own power games and shifting of deck chairs than on actually governing for Australians, is largely due to the cross benchers refusal to call for and add their voices to a vote of no confidence.
As a result, we’ve left the ‘kids’ in the shed playing with matches next to the petrol can, unsupervised.
Margcal and Christopher – There may be some explanation. First we need to know how the world works…
Corporates lobby politicians for legislation that favours corporates and corporates donate to election funds in return for favours. The LNP go after the big bucks. They govern for themselves and the top end of town for money to throw at cohort main stream media to lie, cheat, deceive, bribe and buy their way into power. They rely heavily on the ignorance vote. The good people of Australia are starting to wake-up.
It’s the right-wing media and the shock jocks that are a major problem diverting the truth. It’s the ignorance of people who believe them, people who don’t check out the facts that is the problem. People constantly need to be nudged in the direction of the truth and shown how to press the ‘google’ button.
The LNP constantly and persistently lie and ignorant people believe them – There is the problem.
Kronomex – I couldn’t believe my ears with Morrisons vicious attack on the United Nations? Who the hell does he think he is dragging down the one body on the planet that tries to make a difference for the better. I’m shocked and dismayed.
When is the L/NP going to put what benefits Australia and Australians first and “Make Australia Great Again” before doing the bidding of foreign powers that is not in Australia or Australians best interest. Or is Morisscum actions that of a desperate politician trying to create a terrorist situation that will create his own”Tampa Moment” and win the unwinnable election.
Steve, thanks. ‘The good people of Australia are starting to wake-up.’
Yes, but look how many of them are asleep, bro? Morrison should be on single digits, same as his party, but they’re not.
Look at how the Aussies voted back in BJ
SteveFitz: “There may be some explanation. First we need to know how the world works…”
Sadly, Steve, I did know all that already.
The lying and greed of the corporate sector sickens me.
The demise of the MSM can’t come soon enough: Murdoch and all he controls and all who feel compelled to follow him, and shock jocks without moral compass.
But these could be overcome if voter ignorance could be overcome. At a personal level ….
Just before the recent Victorian election I had to explain the difference between the Legaslative Assembly and the Legislative Council to an otherwise well educated person working in a senior management position.
At the last federal election a well educated friend also holding down a senior management position voted Liberal. In spite of being an atheist her children go to the local Catholic school because the local underfunded state school is well below par.
I despair.
Some how missed this.
It is yet another issue politicised by the government for reasons entirely unrelated to the issue itself, for electioneering purposes.
I THINK HUMANITY HAS REACHED A CROSS ROADS
At the beginning of his presidency, Trump was quite strong with his message to the Western allies. He pointed out that the allies need to pay their way. You can’t expect America to foot the bill for your defence forever. Fair enough, I guess, and it makes you wonder just how much the allies do contribute to defending the West?
That’s not the point for now though, the point is this: Where is Trumps message leading – What’s he pushing?
They tell us America’s not as strong as it once was. It seems there may be a push to cut back on deference spending, they tell us? Or, on the other hand, the American defence industry, as an essential part of any war economy, sees an opportunity to go global and expand inside Western allied countries.
Trump shocks allies and advisers with plan to pull US troops out of Syria.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/19/us-troops-syria-withdrawal-trump
Now, if I was an ally to America I’d be thinking. “You Bastards!!! How dare you. Now we’ll have to spend more on our own defence. Bastards!!! O.K calm down and take a deep breath. Spend more on defence… spend more on defence because Trump is forcing us to spend more on defence?
As pointed out already, the defence companies, as I like to call then, have arrived in Australia. Some like to call them “arms dealers” but I’m a diplomate. Now, with these defence companies I figure they are driven the same way as any corporation or privately-run prison. It’s all about money and profit to shareholders. I once heard someone famous say: “Every war, someone always makes a profit”. Same applies to an arms race.
America saying to the allies “You need to do more to defend yourself”. Has opened the door for defence companies to thrive. They just need the support of any right-wing government, that is in power, and then quickly install a compliant leader. Preferably someone really dumb who is easy to manipulate. Someone who is so dumb he repeats himself three times, every other sentence. It seems they may have achieved that, right here, right now, in Australia.
It appears that there is a right-wing military defence build-up happening in the West. That is, if America and defence companies have their way. It also appears that all the major wars and conflicts today are fought over oil and natural gas and, this is where it gets a bit creepy.
There’s a lot of conflict and posturing going on with the global super-powers, at the moment. Even North Korea jumped in: “We won’t get rid of our nukes until America does”. This conflict seems to be escalating, along with the progression to arms build-up in the West. I have a funny feeling that America is calling on old favours. Its calling on the allies to muscle-up. The thing is, do we wish to be part of the war economy mind set? Do we wish to be suckered down that path?
In most wars there are casualties. A weapon of war is the innocent, women and children. To make the creation of refugees, starvation and deaths acceptable, it’s called “collateral damage”. There’s not much we can do about it. It’s just a fact of war, they tell us. With defence spending, armament build up and conflict as the focus, climate change has just become collateral damage. Who can think that far ahead when there’s strategic advantage and money to be made on black gold and armaments.
The whole world is fighting over oil and natural gas and, the arms dealers love it. If we replace oil and natural gas with renewables there’s no conflict and no one to sell arms to. Also, oil and natural gas become worthless and there’s no money to be made there either? Screeecch… Hang on morons. You are fighting over something that, if you burn it all, it will most definitely destroy the planet. Well, not the planet – Just life as we know it and, besides extinctions, millions will perish.
If we fast track to renewables we don’t need oil and natural gas. All our energy needs can be captured from the sun. No point fight for something that is no longer needed. So, all these shitty oil wars stop, and we can put a bit of energy into civilisation. In other words, the world becoming more civilised and, wouldn’t that be nice. Or, we could be part of the war machine. Kill, maim, destroy and go ferrel to take us out as a species, and the rest of the world along with us.
It’s the classic Greek drama – Good v evil, saviour and saved. With the villains beating down and oppressing the population. Distract them, lie and deceive them, keep them compliant, keep them poor, threaten the weakest in society, keep them in fear and above all cut down the opposition. Massage where the big money is for the LNP to stay in power. No problem, arms dealers, come on in. We’ve got the population brainwashed and under control. Well almost, with your help, we’ve got six months to work on it.
We have a choice – If we go arms build-up and war economy, we also need global conflict and/or perpetual war to prosper. America is starting to worry about China and Russia who, like all dictators, won’t be dictated to. The East and West are rubbing each other the wrong way so, this looks like a good reason for an arms race. As we have already acknowledged, the threat of nuclear war and global destruction has prevented a third world war and, that has been our protection for 70 years. So, arms build-up is really about making money and not protection.
At the same time as all this conflict and excitement, global powers have dropped the ball on renewables and impending catastrophic climate change. If we drop the ball on climate change, we have also dropped the ball on the future of humanity. There will be nothing left worth fighting for if we don’t start thinking ahead. The world won’t be much better than if we do have that nuclear war.
So, here is the cross-road. Do we continue down the path of war, conflict and destruction run on fossil fuel, to make a few people filthy rich? Or, do we turn a new page for humanity, run civilisation on renewable energy, save the planet from global warming and, save the future for our children?
We have the vote, and this is the choice that will define us.
The United States is the worlds largest arms dealer – So, buy arms and, pay our way we shall – It’s good for the American economy. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/top-countries-exporting-weapons-arms-sales-2018-3?r=US&IR=T
The US sold weapons to at least 98 countries between 2013 and 2017. Its largest clients were: Saudia Arabia (18% of all sales), United Arab Emirates (7.4% of all sales), and Australia (6.7% of all sales). The US accounted for 34% of all global arms exports and its exports increased by 25% compared to 2008-2012.
The push by American arms manufacturers and distributers is on, with President Trump as the vehicle to drive it forward. And, by all accounts, cutting back on fossil fuel consumption and addressing climate change does not come into the equation. It’s about money and power and stuff the consequences. Stuff society, stuff civilisation and stuff the world.
SteveFitz, i think we are doomed …. and i don’t think that is a bad thing.
Humankind had their day in the sun, we looked around this splendiferous earth and marvelled … as we schemed and plotted the destruction and subjugation of everything and everyone, that wasn’t us and ours. Hopefully whatever survives the impeding mass extinction will evolve into something a tad more sensible so the remaining few billion years of this solar system, this extraordinary ecosystem, might be more harmonious.
Excellent summary Steve
https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/09/18/us-arms-exports-up-13-percent-over-2017-as-trump-champions-deals
There is a beast lurking among us – Where’s Godzilla when you need him?
Countries buying the most weapons from the US government:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/countries-buying-the-most-weapons-from-the-us-government/ar-AAnhTh3
World’s biggest arms companies:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/world-biggest-arms-companies-171007084157108.html
There’s money in conflict and war and the perpetual fight for oil and gas – There’s no money in addressing climate change. It’s a short-sighted approach, by those with the money and power, and a one-way ticket to global catastrophe with the blessing of right-wing governments. Who incidentally, are in climate change denial because it doesn’t fit the agenda. They must be stopped! They must be voted down! Only we can do it.
SCIENTISTS CALCULATED A ‘POINT OF NO RETURN’ FOR DEALING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/global-warming-point-of-no-return-temperature-2018-8?r=US&IR=T
The goal of the Paris Agreement was to ensure global temperatures didn’t rise more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. If temperatures hit that point, we’ll be more likely to see the worst projected effects of climate change, including rising seas, unprecedented severe storms, extreme heat, drought, and fires. In fact, that is what we are experiencing right now in 2018.
The world needs to transition to renewable energy fast if we don’t want temperatures to rise that much, according to a new study. In that study, the authors calculated a “point of no return” for acting on climate – and it’s soon.
There’s nothing mysterious about what it will take to limit climate change: The world needs to transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. But the timing of that transition is extremely important. According to a new study published in the journal Earth System Dynamics, we could soon cross a point of no return. After that, it will be almost impossible to keep Earth’s temperature from rising 2 degrees Celsius.
The new study calculates that if the world’s governments don’t initiate a transition to clean energy sources by 2035 – meaning that the share of renewables starts to grow by at least 2% each year – we’ll almost certainly pass that point of no return.
THE WORLD COULD HIT A TIPPING POINT THAT CAUSES WARMING TO SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL
A SCENARIO SCIENTISTS CALL ‘HOTHOUSE EARTH’
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/hothouse-earth-climate-change-tipping-point-2018-8
We need to take action to restore Earth’s systems back to their natural states as much as possible. That means doing more than cutting emissions. It requires planting and improving forests, managing biodiversity, and potentially creating technologies that can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or, use Earths natural processes to capture atmospheric CO2.
Avoiding a Hothouse Earth scenario requires a redirection of human actions from “Exploitation” to “Stewardship” of the Earth system.
Thank you and best of the season to you, Steve.
The solution requires the complete mobilisation of the world and we all know that isn’t going to happen, bro. The rabid right of the LNP, most of them from what I can tell, simply do not believe in the science.
I tell Lovey not to expect more than two years.
Hopefully ageing electorates in the Trump’s GOP US, Brexit chaos UK and Australia will wake up, provided they can stop thinking of themselves, their passive acceptance of white Nativist Christianity &/or Conservatism and start thinking about real issues. However, one is little sceptical when research shows that ageing can bring more fear, uncertainty and selfishness (helped along by MSM), with deference to old Conservativism and short term horizons.
Conversely, difficult with news media or PR as entertainment, lack of critical thinking and every barrier possible to preclude renewing the lower age end of the electorate (E.g. raising idea of voter ID, excluding 16 year olds from voting, Australians both young and working age become disenfranchised if abroad for one year+)
.
At least Australia has compulsory voting, while it has been stated that with same voting patterns, a Brexit vote would not be possible (within one year of the EU referendum) due to significant number of leave voters who’ve been compelled to ‘leave’ this earth.
One believes underlying demographic changes are underpinning the (encouraged) fear held by WASPs and wannabes venting about immigration, borders, Moslems, security, etc. as their agitprop complains of ‘white genocide’, ‘brown people outnumbering white people’ , lack of respect for Conservative Christians etc