Greens' new MP in storm on Israel Sallie Don From: The Australian April 05, 2011

A SECOND NSW Greens politician has been accused of dissembling over the party's policy towards Israel. Influential union and ALP figure Paul Howes said newly elected state MP Jamie Parker may have misled him over inflammatory remarks about sections of the Jewish community.
Mr Parker, who narrowly won the Sydney seat of Balmain from Labor's Verity Firth, yesterday did not deny claims he made sweeping remarks about Jews in an interview with online publication NewMatilda last week.

But Mr Howes, the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, yesterday reaffirmed to The Australian that Mr Parker had denied making the comments when the union leader confronted him about the original NewMatilda article.

Mr Howes had aimed to blast Mr Parker in an opinion piece published in the Sunday Telegraph over language he deemed "abhorrent".

In the NewMatilda article, journalist Antony Loewenstein had quoted Mr Parker as saying the boycott, divestment and sanctions policy (BDS) against Israel supported by NSW Greens had made many Jewish people unreasonable, and even "progressive Jews" had failed to have a moderate response. "These Jews provide cover for extreme actions if they occur," Mr Parker was reported saying in NewMatilda.

"If there's a sniff of you being critical of Israel, such Jews will attack you and cut you loose."

When Mr Howes called to check with Mr Parker about whether the quotes were accurate before publishing his column, Mr Parker told him they were not and he had been misquoted.

"He told me he never said it," Mr Howes wrote in his Sunday Telegraph column.

When informed yesterday that Mr Parker had subsequently not denied making the statement, Mr Howes told The Australian: "Look, Jamie could be lying to me. I don't know; I hope not".

Yesterday, Loewenstein published an article in NewMatilda saying he stood by the accuracy of the quotes of Mr Parker.

"I stand by my original story 110 per cent," he told The Australian.

Loewenstein added in his retort in NewMatilda that he had taken accurate notes of the interview and checked the quotes with the Greens MP before publishing.

"In the case of Parker, I read back his quotes to confirm what he said," Loewenstein wrote.

"He was happy for me to publish them."

Mr Parker refused repeated requests from The Australian to discuss the matter, but Greens spokeswoman Susie Gemmell forwarded a statement he had provided to NewMatilda.

In the statement, Mr Parker does not specifically deny the accuracy of the quotes as attributed to him by Loewenstein.

But he says: "Certain quotes are attributed to me which do not reflect the language that I have always used in relation to the conflict in the Middle East."

The controversy surrounding Mr Parker is the second to engulf a NSW Green in weeks.

The Greens candidate for the Sydney seat of Marrickville, Fiona Byrne, narrowly lost to incumbent Labor MP Carmel Tebbutt after The Australian revealed she had twice made misleading statements about her support for the BDS campaign, and her plans to address a pro-Palestinian rally under the banner of fighting "Israeli apartheid".

This is beginning to be a habit with these people.

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO THEY'RE ANTI SEMITIC NOOOOOOOOOOOOO ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) Who gives a sh it. Most rightards are anti Mohammad, hypocrites.
I think all religions are bullsh it, so I'm anti everyone. ::) ::) ::)

You righties really have a hardon for the greens.

Once again, being critical of Israel is NOT antisemitism.

skippy. wrote on Apr 5^th, 2011 at 10:32am:

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO THEY'RE ANTI SEMITIC NOOOOOOOOOOOOO ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) Who gives a sh it. Most rightards are anti Mohammad, hypocrites. I think all religions are bullsh it, so I'm anti everyone. ::) ::) ::)

See, I can never be called racist because I hate everyone equally.

Please delete wrote on Apr 5^th, 2011 at 10:35am:

You righties really have a hardon for the greens. Once again, being critical of Israel is NOT antisemitism.

The hypocritical rightards are too smacking stupid to work that out.

The actions of any violent and oppressive regime or organisation or individual are to be condemned - regardless of the religious beliefs behind such actions...

That said, entire groups of people should not be condemned for the actions of a few extremists - but it is incumbent upon moderates within those groups to denounce and depose the extremists amongst them...

It is hypocritical (and dangerous) for outsiders to condone or condemn the actions of any group on the basis of the religious beliefs underlying those actions...

Israel is one such violent and oppressive regime that has effectively been given free reign by the international community - purely on the basis of religious-cum-political allegiances...

It is time that such atrocities and regimes were resoundingly condemned!

Putting aside the filth and sub-human utterances which spout from the mouth of the intellectual pigmy known as skippy, let us ask what has brought the Greens to this position.
Is it a matter of competing with Labor for the muslim vote? Possible.
As they are mainly an inner city party, might it be something to do with the concentration of Jewish people in the eastern suburbs of Sydney? There might be some obtuse rationale her but I don't know what it is.
Do they hate Israel for defending itself against the rabid dogs of Islam which surround it? Certainly there would be something here.
But many green supporters are genuine people, lovers of the environment, and must be greatly dismayed by the image which the party seems to be increasingly presenting to the public and which it will soon be tagged with.

bogarde73 wrote on Apr 5^th, 2011 at 10:50am:

Putting aside the filth and sub-human utterances which spout from the mouth of the intellectual pigmy known as skippy, let us ask what has brought the Greens to this position. Is it a matter of competing with Labor for the muslim vote? Possible. As they are mainly an inner city party, might it be something to do with the concentration of Jewish people in the eastern suburbs of Sydney? There might be some obtuse rationale her but I don't know what it is. Do they hate Israel for defending itself against the rabid dogs of Islam which surround it? Certainly there would be something here. But many green supporters are genuine people, lovers of the environment, and must be greatly dismayed by the image which the party seems to be increasingly presenting to the public and which it will soon be tagged with.

You seem to wear your tag as an extreme rightard hater of freedom with pride, don't sweat the small sh it, my little brained hypocriter.

Much as it is unusual me to be in agreement with some of the more rabid extremists here, I agree that criticism of Israel is not anti-semitism.  The whole middle east question has taken up far to much of the time, effort and resources of the rest of the world and I for one am sick of hearing about it. Every other nation should just ignore them until they learn to play nicely together.

bogarde73 wrote on Apr 5^th, 2011 at 10:50am:

Putting aside the filth and sub-human utterances which spout from the mouth of the intellectual pigmy known as skippy, let us ask what has brought the Greens to this position. Is it a matter of competing with Labor for the muslim vote? Possible. As they are mainly an inner city party, might it be something to do with the concentration of Jewish people in the eastern suburbs of Sydney? There might be some obtuse rationale her but I don't know what it is. Do they hate Israel for defending itself against the rabid dogs of Islam which surround it? Certainly there would be something here. But many green supporters are genuine people, lovers of the environment, and must be greatly dismayed by the image which the party seems to be increasingly presenting to the public and which it will soon be tagged with.

C'mon Bogey, that's ridiculous...

Think about it...staunchly-religious people tend to be staunch conservatives who do not vote for lefties who believe in sexual liberation and gender equality...

Ironically, most wars are fought between conservatives (often with religious overtones) on both sides...

Why would conservative religious people vote for a party that believes in gay rights!?

Either way, the Greens are on about peace, respect and human rights for all - and removing the influence of religious extremism of any kind from the business of Govt (including a distinct separation of church and state)...

Belgarion wrote on Apr 5^th, 2011 at 10:56am:

Much as it is unusual me to be in agreement with some of the more rabid extremists here, I agree that criticism of Israel is not anti-semitism.  The whole middle east question has taken up far to much of the time, effort and resources of the rest of the world and I for one am sick of hearing about it. Every other nation should just ignore them until they learn to play nicely together.

I do not understand why the Libs are playing this anti-semitic game - what mileage do they hope to get out of criticising political opponents for refusing to support a regime that commits such atrocities - especially in the context of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan (and Lybia) on the pretext of stopping similar atrocities!?

Equitist wrote on Apr 5^th, 2011 at 11:11am:

Belgarion wrote on Apr 5th, 2011 at 10:56am: Much as it is unusual me to be in agreement with some of the more rabid extremists here, I agree that criticism of Israel is not anti-semitism.  The whole middle east question has taken up far to much of the time, effort and resources of the rest of the world and I for one am sick of hearing about it. Every other nation should just ignore them until they learn to play nicely together. I do not understand why the Libs are playing this anti-semitic game - what mileage do they hope to get out of criticising political opponents for refusing to support a regime that commits such atrocities - especially in the context of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan (and Lybia) on the pretext of stopping similar atrocities!?

Bogarde hates muslims. Equating greens to muslims is the worst thing he can think of.

Longweekend likes this game, too.

While Egypt guns down Sudanese refugees fleeing the murderous oppression of their government, Israel gives them home and shelter.

While Lebanon denies Palestinian refugees access to healthcare, Israel provides emergency treatment for the residents of the West Bank and Gaza strip.

while Syria keeps the Palestinians in refugee camps and sporadically slaughters them, Israel offered full citizenship to all its Palestinians after the Arab states attempted to destroy Israel and slaughter its Holocaust survivors in 1948.

ARABS AND MUSLIMS IN ISRAEL

The freest Arabs, Christians, Jews and Muslims in Mideast are Israelis
Even after the "Palestine Liberation Organization" got authority over 95% of the Arab Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the more than one million Arab Palestinians in Israel chose to continue to live under Israeli sovereignty in the Jewish state of Israel rather than choosing to live under the all-too-unfortunate oppression which is the lot of their Arab and Muslim brothers throughout the Middle East. 77% of Israeli Arabs would even live nowhere else than in Israel. Moreover, millions of Arab Palestinian imagined "refugees" desire to "return" living in Israel.

Arabs in Israel have equal rights under the law
Arabs in Israel can vote for whoever they want
Arabs in Israel can worship freely
Arabs in Israel are entitled to the full same state education as all other Israelis
Arabs are members of the Israeli parliament and ministers in the government

Israeli society gives more opportunity to Arabs than do Arab states to their own citizens. Israeli Arabs and Muslims have the right to vote and to hold public office, like every other Israeli citizen. Nearly one-10th of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, is Arab; there is a mosque in the Knesset building for those who are Muslim. One of the justices of Israel's Supreme Court is an Arab Muslim; so is a minister in the Israeli cabinet. Arabs are active in Israeli commerce, media, education, and law. For headstrong Arabs, bent on protest, Israel is in every respect a paradise compared with any other state in the Middle East


http://www.middle-east-info.org/gateway/arabsinisrael/index.htm

nichy wrote on Apr 5^th, 2011 at 11:23am:

While Egypt guns down Sudanese refugees fleeing the murderous oppression of their government, Israel gives them home and shelter. While Lebanon denies Palestinian refugees access to healthcare, Israel provides emergency treatment for the residents of the West Bank and Gaza strip. while Syria keeps the Palestinians in refugee camps and sporadically slaughters them, Israel offered full citizenship to all its Palestinians after the Arab states attempted to destroy Israel and slaughter its Holocaust survivors in 1948.

That's a terrible list of crimes, if a little selective.

Why don't you list ALL of the crimes against the Jewry?

You could mention Australia, and England, and the USA, and Nazi Germany, and the Catholic Church, and the ghettoes in European cities, and pogroms, and the polish peoples' connivance with the nazis, and the slavs.

All true.

Is that a justification for Israel's behaviour?

Equitist wrote on Apr 5^th, 2011 at 11:11am:

Belgarion wrote on Apr 5th, 2011 at 10:56am: Much as it is unusual me to be in agreement with some of the more rabid extremists here, I agree that criticism of Israel is not anti-semitism.  The whole middle east question has taken up far to much of the time, effort and resources of the rest of the world and I for one am sick of hearing about it. Every other nation should just ignore them until they learn to play nicely together. I do not understand why the Libs are playing this anti-semitic game - what mileage do they hope to get out of criticising political opponents for refusing to support a regime that commits such atrocities - especially in the context of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan (and Lybia) on the pretext of stopping similar atrocities!?

I think the criticism is mainly directed at looneys like the Marrickville counsellors who are imposing their own boycotts against Israel. This sort of thing is totally outside the purview of the local council, who should be concerned with roads, rates and rubbish and leaving foreign policy to those that are elected to deal with it.

If we were to boycott every nation with questionable human rights records we would find ourselves rather lonely. China for example. A major trading partner yet no one would say they are a paragon of human rights. Why is Marrickville council not boycotting China?

This is the difference between ridiculous political posturing and practical politics. We may not approve of the actions of certain countries but we must deal with them. Israel is not blameless in the way it conducts its affairs and had played the guilt card masterfully over the last 60 odd years to retain western support. However they are a stable semi-democracy in a region that has very little of either and has far superior human rghts record to any of its neighbours, even if not as good as we may wish it. Supporting them is the most practical course.

nichy, you can expound the truth till the cows come home but the ernies & skippys of this world will go on refusing to acknowledge it.
The Greens have pushed themselves to the fore in Australian politics, therefore they are open to all & any criticism for which the opportunity arises.

"This is the difference between ridiculous political posturing and practical politics. We may not approve of the actions of certain countries but we must deal with them. Israel is not blameless in the way it conducts its affairs and had played the guilt card masterfully over the last 60 odd years to retain western support. However they are a stable semi-democracy in a region that has very little of either and has far superior human rghts record to any of its neighbours, even if not as good as we may wish it. Supporting them is the most practical course. "

All fair comment, well said.

But like countries, we have a spectrum of political positions from our spectrum of pollies.

Bogarde's attempt to slander one party, because of one person's sillier utterances, is not constructive.

As I remember, even the coalition has its' "mad uncles".

Bogarde's attempt to slander one party,????

I posted a newspaper cutting the author of which swears it is a verbatim account of the Greens comments. I also commented that these reports seem to be happening regularly.
If you consult your dictionary you'll find that a charge of slander requires the malicious making of false reports.