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Tag Archives: Palestine

Hatred

I was sent this quote by Bertrand Russell this morning:

“When you hate, you generate a reciprocal hate. When individuals hate each other, the harm is finite, but when great groups of nations hate each other, the harm may be infinite and absolute. Do not fall back upon the thought that those whom you hate deserve to be hated. I do not know whether anyone deserves to be hated, but I do know that hatred of those whom we believe to be evil is not what will redeem mankind.” (Bertrand Russell, Human Society in Ethics and Politics (1954) Part 1. Ethics Ch.VI: Scientific Technique and the Future, p. 271).

Does any one deserve to be hated?

Russell starts with hatred on a personal level. People hate others, people who used to love each other, marry, have children… and divorce for any number of reasons, some people can continue having a reasonable relationship with divorced partners, other cannot forgive, cannot get past the hurt and ensuing hatred of a marriage breakdown. The scars penetrate the fabric of the rest of the family. But life outside those relationships continues, friends, neighbours, work continues as though nothing has happened, the hurt caused by hatred is confined to those directly involved.

In work and social setting, dispute resolution ensures that the workplace and social environments remain friendly. If there can be no resolution, people are ‘moved on’ in one way or another.

We have choices to make at times of crisis, whether a small crisis between friends, differences over creeds or culture, the things we allow to divide us do not need to divide us.

Religion can be a great divider as history has repeatedly shown us: fractures within churches, such as the Reformation of the 16th century, or the Inquisition, to ensure that religious doctrines and creeds are not abused with severe punishments for those who flagrantly stepped outside the established orthodoxy, and even today we see people expelled from church groups for not living within the prescribed rules.

Interpretation of sacred texts where one understanding takes precedence over others, based often on the more powerful, such as a large denomination, such as the Catholic Church or the fractures within the various splinter groups or sects.

Or when one religion takes on the mantle of a state religion, as we have seen with Christianity in Europe through the Middle Ages and into last century, Islam in the Middle East with Iran as a Shia dominated nation, conflict between Shia and Sunni in Pakistan and Iraq, the dogmatism of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Sunni in Saudi Arabia, Hindu Nationalism in India. Each state is dominated or strives to dominate its chosen creed and discriminates against others, in India that is the exclusion of Islam and Sikh, and Sikh separatists seeking independence from India for the Punjab to separate from Hindu control.

Religious control ends in bloody battles and extreme forms of punishments, hatred because others do not believe what ‘I’ believe, in other words, a form of thought control which was also evident as political dogma in the USSR and China during the darkest times of Communism under Stalin and Mao.

Race divides when people of one race choose to hate those of another race, when the colour of skin or language difference become a symbol of hatred. When people are denigrated because of difference, most notably when people are enslaved to do tasks that are beneath the dignity of the slave master, such as the black birding of Pacific Islanders to harvest sugar crops in Queensland in the late 1800s and early 1900s, or those kidnapped from Africa and sent to the Caribbean and later the Virginias and the southern states of the US to grow tobacco and cotton; tasks not fit for the ‘white man’.

And race still divides. I was talking with friends and they claimed not to be racist, until challenged that because they are part of the white majority, they did not really understand how racism manifests itself in everyday life when you fall outside the majority. When you are Asian or African or even a First Nations person, racism is an every day experience. Systemic racism includes treatment in the local supermarket where First Nations people are carefully monitored, or where for some reason or other the police decide to pull the car over for a traffic stop because the driver is coloured. Or people appear to be invisible when it comes to being served in a service environment. An Asian lady serving me at the local library the other day agreed with my assertion but said that for me to experience racism I should try living in an Asian country. Or an African country.

Who deserves to be hated?

Currently there are over 117 million refugees in the world, that is about four times the population of Australia. Included are about 6 million Palestinians, many of whom are in refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan and have been for generations (since 1948 in Lebanon and 1967 in Jordan).

Refugees have no rights, they are dependent on handouts from Red Cross, UNHCR and other welfare agencies. They are denied citizenship, they are effectively no-bodies. Recent elections in Europe have seen a hardening of heart, a refusal to accept refugees into a number of nation states, the Presidential election campaign in the US has illegal immigration high on the issues chart, here in Australia we send anyone trying to arrive illegally off to a prison island, never to be seen on Australian soil. Refugees from Gaza are not allowed in for fear of bringing their fight to our shores. We fear the hate they will bring, but do they bring hate or are they seeking a safe place to live?

At a time of geopolitical conflict we are in essence told to take sides, that one side has the right to kill but the other side does not. The division may be based on political ideology, as during the Cold War period where there were communists and the west. Or with the decline of the British Empire during the 1950s and 60s with ‘liberation’ movements in Malays and Kenya, the other side, the freedom fighters were terrorists, outlaws, criminals. And isn’t that still the same? We are told who the terrorists are, if and when we demonstrate we are told effectively which side we should be on. Do not wave Hamas or Hezbollah flags, they are terrorists and we cannot support terrorism.

Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organisations. I know this because it is a repeated refrain whenever the crisis in the Middle East is raised. There is never the question of why they are deemed to be terrorist organisations, nor what led to them becoming such organisations in the first place. That seems to be a bridge too far, just accept our word for it, Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organisations.

Both organisations have their origins in the defence if Palestinians as they are marginalised and dehumanised.

Do Palestinians deserve to be marginalised and dehumanised?

Israel has the right to defend itself. I do not dispute that at all.

What defines the State of Israel as proclaimed in United Nations Resolution 181, adopted on 29 November 1947?

The resolution aimed to:

“… divide Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states in May 1948 when the British mandate was scheduled to end.”

The settlement of displaced Jews in Israel/Palestine was determined by the UN but was never really negotiated. Palestine was a British protectorate, a colonial outpost and whoever came there or lived there did so at the behest of the British. I guess a bit like when Captain Cook raised the British ensign on Possession Island, so many years ago, claiming half the land mass of Australia for the British crown. The people who lived on the big island had no say, nor did they when the British decided it was a good place to make an outdoor prison for the desperately poor British people who dared to steal a rabbit or a fish from the King’s forest.

As for the settlement of Jews in Israel/Palestine, negotiation has been with no preconditions from the Palestinians. They were merely there being protected until the British left. Can you really call that ‘negotiations’?

We as individuals can make choices: we can choose to hate or we can choose not to hate; we can choose instead to respect the rights of others.

We can choose to accept others, whether the others are of a different faith-based creed, a different ethnicity, a different language group or holding a different political view, or we can choose to reject others.

As we see the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, and conveniently ignore the other conflicts around the globe as we see the anniversary of the beginning of this conflict, but deny that the seeds of the conflict sprouted behind the barriers that have served to imprison over 2.3 million Palestinians for no other reason than they are Palestinians, that the discrimination and marginalisation has been going on for 76 years, we may not fly the flags of Hamas or Hezbollah, they are terrorists… (or are they freedom fighters?)

I choose not to hate. I strive to respect the humanity of all peoples. and in this conflict that is the right to exist for Israelis, for Palestinians, for Iranians, for Lebanese, for those who are Christians, or Muslims, Judaism or whatever faith they choose to believe, even those who say there is no god. I respect their humanity and their right to live in peace.

 

 

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More women and children killed in Gaza by Israeli military than any other recent conflict in a single year – Oxfam

Oxfam Australia Media Release

Israeli explosive weapons hit civilian infrastructure in Gaza – including schools, hospitals and aid distribution points – once every three hours.

More women and children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades, new Oxfam analysis has found.

As hostilities and tragic loss of life spread in Lebanon and the West Bank – including East Jerusalem – the regional escalation underscores the urgent need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

Conservative figures show that more than 6,000 women and 11,000 children were killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the last 12 months. Data from 2004-2021 on direct conflict deaths from the Small Arms Survey, estimates that the highest number of women killed in a single year was over 2,600 in Iraq in 2016.

A report by the organisation Every Casualty Counts examined information on over 11,000 children killed across the first 2.5 years of the Syria conflict, an average of over 4,700 deaths a year. UN reports on Children and Armed Conflict over the last 18 years show that no other conflict killed a higher number of children in one year.

Israel’s military assault began last October, following the attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. Almost 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, including at least 282 women and 36 children – the deadliest day in Israel’s history. These targeted attacks constituted serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). More than 250 people, including 38 children, were taken hostage, 96 of whom are reported to still be held in Gaza.

Separate data from Action on Armed Violence up to 23 September shows that Israel hit civilian infrastructure across Gaza with explosive weapons once every three hours on average since the war began. Other than the six-day humanitarian pause last November, there were just two days in the entire year without bombardment.

Records – which are not comprehensive – show that Israeli explosive weapons hit, on average:

  • Homes every four hours
  • Tents and temporary shelters every 17 hours
  • Schools and hospitals every four days
  • Aid distribution points and warehouses every 15 days

Throughout the last year Israel has committed serious violations of IHL at a level which may rise to the level of crimes against humanity. This includes a level of destruction observed which is indicative of Israel’s use of disproportionate force in relation to military objectives and a failure to discriminate between military targets and the civilian population. The Israeli military has relentlessly targeted infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival. Civilians have been forcibly displaced dozens of times to so-called ‘safe zones’ that fail to meet humanitarian obligations and have also been regularly bombed or attacked.

The UN Children and Armed Conflict reports highlight the number of Palestinian children killed in Gaza and the West Bank. In the last year, over five times more children were killed in Gaza than between 2005 and 2022.

The record number of women and children killed in Gaza does not include those among nearly 20,000 people who are either unidentified, missing or entombed beneath rubble. Earlier this year, a study published in The Lancet estimated the true number of deaths in Gaza could be over 186,000, taking indirect deaths – for example due to starvation and lack of health care – into consideration.

Civilian infrastructure has either been completely destroyed or severely damaged, including around 68 per cent of cropland and roads. Only 17 of 36 hospitals remain partially functional, and all suffer from a lack of fuel, medical supplies, and clean water.

Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Director, said: “These staggering figures are both appalling and heartbreaking. Influential actors in the international community have not only failed to hold Israel to account, they are also complicit in the atrocities by continuing to unconditionally supply it with arms. It will take generations to recover from the devastating impacts of this war and there is still no ceasefire in sight.

“Our colleagues and partners are displaced themselves, yet every day are doing their utmost to respond to this humanitarian catastrophe. It’s unprecedented on so many levels – the fastest acceleration into famine, the reemergence of polio, the utter devastation of daily life faced by the entire population. Israel’s free pass for impunity and exemption from international humanitarian law must end – we cannot allow the relentless horror and suffering to continue.”

Dr Umaiyeh Khammash, director of Oxfam partner Juzoor, which is supporting hundreds of thousands of people in more than 90 shelters and health points across Gaza said: “The past year has had a devastating impact with women bearing a double burden. Many have suddenly become the heads of their households, navigating survival and care in the midst of destruction. Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers have faced immense difficulties, including from the collapse in healthcare services.

“For children, the trauma is equally profound. Over 25,000 children have either lost a parent or become orphans, leaving them in deep emotional distress. Most children are grappling with anxiety and severe physical injuries, with many having lost limbs.”

In the occupied West Bank, the unprecedented escalation and levels of violence are raising concerns that serious violations of international law and war crimes are being committed. Since last October, more than 680 Palestinians have been killed either by Israeli settler or military violence. More than a thousand settler attacks on Palestinians have been recorded, with direct attacks on agricultural land resulting in the destruction of crops, irrigation systems and greenhouses, including internationally-funded and Oxfam-supported projects. The Israeli military has forced the demolition of more than 2,000 Palestinian homes with massive damage to public infrastructure including roads.

Oxfam is calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and unlawfully detained Palestinians, an end to all lethal arms sales to Israel and full access across Gaza for humanitarian aid. In light of the recent International Court of Justice advisory opinion and in order to avoid complicity, third states must do everything in their power to bring an immediate end to the illegal Israeli occupation, the removal of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and reparations paid, including restitution, rehabilitation, and compensation for affected communities.

 

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Why are so many women and children being killed in Gaza and Lebanon?

The statistics are horrific.

On October 7 last year, 1200 Israelis were killed and over 200 hostages were taken in an attack on a music festival near the Gaza/Israel border. Included among the fatalities were a number killed by ‘friendly fire’ when the IDF were deployed to take care of the situation.

Of the fatalities recorded to date of deaths in Gaza, more than 40,000 – over 60% – are women and children. Women and children tend not to be soldiers fighting in the war zone, but rather ‘collateral damage’, unfortunate people who just happened to be in the way as the bombs went off. Reports tend not to tell of Hamas fighters being killed.

In Lebanon, including the targeted attack using pagers and walkie talkies and the targeted blowing up of buildings where Hezbollah leaders meet has killed 569 people including 50 children and wounded 1,835 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Oh, and yes, a senior Hezbollah commander was among those killed.

Why are there no clearer indications given of actual fighters being killed or are all males over a certain age considered to be enemies or potential enemies?

Available on ABC iview there is a documentary film, Prosecuting Evil, about a Jewish lawyer, Ben Ferencz, who as a 27 year old graduate in 1945 was the prosecutor in the Nuremberg War Crimes trials. In his opening statement to the court he said:

“Vengeance is not honourable.

Nor do we seek merely a just retribution.

We ask this court to affirm by international penal action man’s right to live in peace and dignity regardless of his race or creed.”

As the trial off 22 Nazi officers proceeded, each pleaded their innocence, but were convicted on their documentation of the deaths they were held to account for, but there was one defendant who stood out for the prosecutor. He was Otto Ohlendorf, a doctor, a general, a father of five children and a devoted husband. In presenting his rationale for the killings he signed off on, apart from the plea of ‘following orders’, couched in his subservience to Hitler who had said that Russia was going to take over Germany and the Jews would take over too or words something like that, but claimed his sense of humanity, his attempt to make the murders less traumatic, that he did not ‘smash babies heads against trees’ instead order that when a mother was holding a baby, to shoot the baby and so doing kill both mother and child. That was far less traumatising and far more efficient. I somehow come to the conclusion that the trauma alluded to was not that of the victims. His plea of self defence was based on the perceived threat from Russia and the survival of the Jewish people and how that endangered his and Germany’s existence.

After the Colonel-Doctor was convicted and sentenced to hang, the young lawyer visited him to ask, person to person, looking for some measure of remorse, some acknowledgement that the had in fact committed a war crime, a crime against humanity.

Perhaps an apology to his family for his crimes.

“Can I do something for you?”

“You will see that I was right. The Russians will take over, The Jews will survive.”

I relate that because after the war, the Nuremberg Trials exposed the criminality of the Nazi regime who conducted, in fact industrialised the mass murder of people based on ethnicity, both Jews and Gypsies, and on sexuality by killing homosexuals, and those who were deemed to suffer from mental disorders, or anyone else who did not conform to the Nazi definition of who was allowed to live.

More than the Nuremberg Trials, the newly formed United Nations passed a resolution to partition the middle eastern British protectorate of Palestine to be a two nation state for Jewish refugees, survivors of the Holocaust to settle alongside the existing Palestinian population.

And still more was done: the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights was written and endorsed by all member states, including the newly formed nation of Israel. The declaration re-affirmed the ideals of freedom of religion, that there cannot be discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, sexuality, that there is freedom of thought and speech, for refugees the right of return and so many other rights we have as human beings.

But it didn’t stop there, the International Court of Justice was formed to allow for leaders who perpetrated crimes against humanity could be held to account.

These were actions taken to try to in some way redress the horrors of the Holocaust and acknowledging the attitudes which led up to the marginalisation and genocide which had occurred, trying to ensure that such events would never occur again.

Peace has never been easy to find. And despite the best efforts of the International community it seems peace in the middle east is particularly elusive. What does not help is the rhetoric both from the Israeli leaders and military spokes people, and from the Palestinian side along with their regional supporters. While international support for Israel was strong immediately after the October 7 attack, the devastation of their retaliation which smacks more of vengeance and retribution that to seriously search out the Hamas leadership and seriously negotiate the release of hostages, some of whom have also been accidentally killed by Israeli soldiers.

With the death toll now approaching forty, Palestinian lives for each Israeli life lost and the seemingly complete destruction of anywhere to live within the Gaza strip, that support is fading fast, and now to make the claims that their intelligence is so good they can find the leadership of Hezbollah whereever they are, the bombing of residential buildings and subsequent loss of civilian lives, including women and children again appear to be more vengeance than an execution or assassination of a known target.

To date, there has been no reported deaths by Hezbollah attacks into Israel, but the death toll in Lebanon as a result of those attacks is climbing fast. If Israel invades, as seems to be their threat, it will be the sixth time since 1978.

It seems the Israeli leadership, the Zionists and Prime Minister Netanyahu will not be satisfied until the Biblical promise of the land belonging to the descendants of Abraham is realised, and the land cleansed of those who are not identified as such… and the identification is one of belief, a religious creed, that of Judaism. In effect, using the same argument the Nazis had for eliminating people who did not conform to their definition of what a good German looked like.

But why are there so many women and children killed in these conflicts?

Could it be that each child killed cannot grow up to become the enemy?

And could it be that by killing women and children cannot be born to grow up to become the enemy?

 

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Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

It wasn’t that long ago that Australia was being praised around the world. Remember when we had an intelligent, articulate, diplomatic leader with a vision for the future?

We survived the GFC with Wayne Swan being awarded the world’s best Treasurer by the magazine Euromoney “for his careful stewardship of Australia’s finances and economic performance, both during and since the global financial crisis”.

Julia Gillard led the way in action on climate change by introducing a price on carbon prompting praise from around the world.

“Australia will create tens of thousands of clean jobs in the coming years. You will save billions by eliminating wasteful energy usage, money that can be directed to other pressing social and infrastructure demands.

Australia will be helping lead the world out of this crisis, sending a powerful message that, yes, it can be done. Despite all the barriers, despite all the bitter, misleading opposition, Australia is leading the world toward a brighter, more sustainable future.”

In April last year, Julia Gillard also displayed her diplomatic skills in China.

“TEN foreign leaders visited China this week but only Julia Gillard scored what could turn out to be the deal of the decade. The Prime Minister’s coup in striking a “strategic partnership” and securing annual talks with China’s leaders will be her foreign policy legacy. It guarantees Australia access to the growing superpower at the highest levels and is being hailed by some as one of the most significant breakthroughs since Gough Whitlam’s courageous step 40 years ago to establish diplomatic links with China.

The China deal locks in formal annual talks between Australia’s PM and the Chinese Premier, as well as meetings for Australia’s foreign affairs minister, treasurer and trade minister with their counterparts.”

I could go on listing the previous government’s achievements – introducing our first paid parental leave scheme, environmental protections with water trigger and Murray-Darling buyback and marine parks, the NDIS, the NBN, education funding – the list is long and visionary.

But for some unfathomable reason, the majority of Australians were convinced that Abbott could do a better job. We could blame the media (and I do) but in reality, it is us who are to blame for our unquestioning acceptance of the lies we were being told. It is our own fault that we have moved from a position of world admiration for a responsible egalitarian society to one where we are being lampooned internationally and well and truly screwed domestically.

The Coalition began by stating we didn’t need Indonesia’s permission for our asylum seeker policy, a statement which infuriated them. We then had the odious Mark Textor suggesting that Indonesia’s foreign minister looked like a 70’s porn star, and the revelation that we spied on the President’s wife – something for which Abbott was incapable of saying sorry. We also violated their sovereign waters because apparently our Navy can’t tell where they are. We have been vilified for setting people adrift in life rafts, and censured for presumptuous plans to collect intelligence in Indonesian villages and to buy their fishing fleet.

We insulted the Prime Minister of PNG by suggesting he had lied, and then confiscated documents from the lawyer representing Timor l’Este in the International Court where we stand accused of bugging their Parliament to gain trade advantages for private firms. Abbott also had to “offer an act of contrition” to Malaysia for his previous comments about their human rights record.

Abbott offended war veterans and their families by praising the “honour” of the Japanese who attacked us, while Julie Bishop infuriated China by calling in their ambassador to berate him for the dispute over islands in the East China Sea prompting this response in the Chinese version of the Global Times:

“China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn’t even have the tools to deal with this kind of ‘complete fool’ of a foreign minister.”

When Tony Abbott rushed to condemn the Russians in the hours after the downing of the plane in the Ukraine, he incurred the wrath of both China and Russia.

The official Xinhua news agency said in an English-language commentary that officials from the United States, Australia and other Western countries had jumped to conclusions in pointing their fingers at the rebels in eastern Ukraine and for blaming Russia for the escalating violence.

“The accusation was apparently rash when the officials acknowledged they did not know for the time being who is responsible for the attack, while condemning Russia’s military intervention,” Xinhua said.

“Without bothering himself about evidence and operating only on speculation, Mr T. Abbott assigned guilt,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. “Abbott’s statements are unacceptable” going on to say “Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has gone farther than others in making irresponsible innuendoes against our country even though one would think that her position presupposes building bridges between countries, not destroying them.”

In another inexplicable brain fart that even the US was quick to distance itself from, our Attorney General decided to inflame tensions by deciding that East Jerusalem would no longer be referred to as Occupied Territory. In the process, Australia was hailed by Israel’s government, scolded by a group of 57 Muslim-majority countries, and had multibillion-dollar export trades put under threat.

Along with defending the rights of bigots and then linking the backtrack in the repeal of the Racial Discrimination laws to ramped up anti-terrorist laws, Brandis and Abbott have alienated the Australian Muslim community.

And one can only wonder as to why Abbott has chosen to instruct the Scottish people on how they should vote in their upcoming referendum on independence. Their response:

“Mr Abbott’s comments are hypocritical because independence does not seem to have done Australia any harm. They are foolish, actually, because of the way he said it. To say the people of Scotland who supported independence weren’t friends of freedom or justice, I mean, the independence process is about freedom and justice.”

The first minister said Scotland’s referendum on independence was a “model of democratic conduct” and Mr Abbott’s comments were “offensive to the Scottish people”.

Whilst alienating Russia, China, Indonesia, Palestine, Scotland, Malaysia, East Timor, PNG, the Muslim community, and veterans, we have also earned ourselves the title of Colossal Fossil for our refusal to take part in global action on climate change.

Domestically the picture is even more ridiculous. We reinstate knights and dames, we defend the rights of bigots, poor people don’t drive cars, breast cancer is linked to abortion, we are “unprepared for global cooling”, and can someone please explain to Brandis and Abbott what metadata is?

The Australia Institute, in a scathing review of the Commission of Audit, asked the following questions:

As one of the richest countries in the world Australian people have the potential, when working together, to do anything they want. But, we cannot do everything we want. Australia will need to make choices and it is our choice whether we want to:

  • have the world’s best education and health systems or the world’s lowest taxes
  • continue to outspend our neighbours on defence or underspend on tackling climate change
  • increase the incomes of the elderly and the sick or to cut the taxes of our wealthiest residents.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

Now it looks as though they’re here to stay

Oh, I believe in yesterday

 

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Julie Bishop’s SNAFU moments

On February 2, Insiders began their commentary for 2014. As usual, they included a right-wing voice for “balance”. This time it was Niki Savva from the Murdoch propaganda sheet, the Australian. Whilst she may be preferable to the vile Piers Ackerman, Ms Savva adds very little to critical analysis of our political scene as she regurgitates the Murdoch script – Labor bad, Tony good.

At the end of the show the guests are invited to make a final comment. Niki chose to sing the praises of Foreign Affairs Minister, Julie Bishop saying:

“Apart from a few verbal snafus, I think Julie Bishop is doing a pretty good job. After a few turbulent years, finally Foreign Affairs have got someone who is polite, professional, hard-working and can make decisions, so they are very happy.”

So let’s have a look at a few of those “Situation Normal: All F*cked Up” moments.

Before the election, Ms Bishop and others infuriated Indonesia by insisting that we did not need their permission to drag asylum seekers back to their shores. The situation has deteriorated ever since with our Navy infringing on Indonesian territorial waters, and our refusal to apologise for spying on the Indonesian President, his wife, and several members of his cabinet.

We have also had to apologise to Malaysia for comments Tony Abbott made in June 2011 at a press conference with Scott Morrison suggesting asylum seekers would face human rights abuses if sent to Malaysia.

“Imagine taking boat people from Australia to Malaysia where they will be exposed almost inevitably to the prospect of caning and other very harsh treatment.”

At his first major international conference as Prime Minister, Mr Abbott offered “an act of contrition” to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, apologising for the way Malaysia got caught up in “what was a very intense and at times somewhat rancorous debate in Australia.”

“He knows we play our politics pretty hard in our country and I think he understood.”

“I made it very clear to the prime minister that our opposition was never to Malaysia, it was to the former government,” he said.

And then we have Papua New Guinea.

“PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has launched a scathing attack on Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, accusing him of spreading ”nonsense” and ”completely untrue” claims over foreign aid linked to the asylum seeker deal.

”I don’t particularly appreciate being misrepresented by others for their own political interests,” he said.

”I am disappointed with some of the debates put forward by some of the leaders in the opposition in Australia, in particular statements that I am alleged to have made to them which are completely untrue.”

We have also upset them by refusing to issue visas on arrival for PNG citizens coming to Australia, a move they have reciprocated.

“Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has expressed disappointment over Australia’s stand on the no visa on arrival for Papua New Guineans traveling to Australia.

He said the government cannot tell Australia what to do but would reciprocate and stand by its decision to terminate visa on arrival for Australia visitors to PNG.”

Not content with alienating our nearest neighbours, Ms Bishop, in her haste to ingratiate herself with her American counterpart, has infuriated China by siding with Japan in the escalating conflict over ownership of a few islands in the East China Sea.

And let’s not stop there. In a move that even America condemned, Ms Bishop has defended the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories, even though they have been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice. Palestine is justifiably upset at this sudden turnaround.

“AUSTRALIA has recalibrated its position on Israel and Palestine to ensure only “balanced” UN resolutions receive its support, says Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop.

Australia this month abstained from two UN General Assembly resolutions; one condemning the expansion of Jewish settlements and another calling for the Geneva Convention to apply in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The resolution to end “all Israeli settlement activities in all of the occupied territories” was supported by 158 nations. Australia was one of only eight nations to abstain.

Australia was one of only five countries to abstain from calling for Israel to “comply scrupulously” with the 1949 Geneva Convention. The resolution was supported by 160 nations.

Ms Bishop said the shift “reflected the government’s concern that Middle East resolutions should be balanced.”

We have also alienated the global community by reversing action on climate change and reneging on our commitments to renewable energy and our promised contribution to the Green Energy fund.

So aside from pissing off Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, China, Palestine and the world, minor snafus according to Ms Savva, I guess you could say “Julie Bishop is doing a pretty good job.” At what I’m not sure. It appears Armani suits, pearl drop earrings and politeness are all it takes to make DFAT “very happy”.

PS: Thank you to Fed Up for reminding me about Timor-Leste on whom we also spied and then raided their lawyer just before they took us to court for bugging trade negotiations. I also neglected to mention our active support for human rights abuses both there and in Sri Lanka.

 

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