Labels: Australia, Islamic terrorism
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:41 PM
4 comments
In his book, “Diary of a Foreign Minister,” Mr. Carr reveals that Mr. Kerry did little to discourage a U.N. Vote to recognize Palestine as a state, despite American opposition.
Mr. Carr wrote that when he met with Mr. Kerry after the vote, the secretary said Australia’s “yes” vote on a Palestinian state was “fine by him,” Business Insider reported Aug. 22.
He added that Mr. Kerry told him, “If the vote were held today the Israelis wouldn’t get a vote from anyone except themselves.”
In April, Mr. Kerry was caught on tape supporting a separate Palestinian state saying, “A unitary state winds up being an apartheid state with second-class citizens or it end up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state.”
Mr. Carr also revealed that Mr. Kerry had undergone plastic surgery saying he admired Mr. Kerry’s “baby-fresh skin,” but noticed “something about the skin under John Kerry’s eyes, smooth and slightly discolored,” Business Insider reported.
He added that a month later, when he saw Mr. Kerry again, “The surgical scars under his eyes I noticed in April have faded in a triumph of American cosmetic surgery.”
Labels: Australia, Barack Hussein Obama, John Kerry
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:07 PM
1 comments
"We asked the government to reverse this position," Abdulhadi said of the diplomatic protest.
He threatened that trade sanctions could be put in place against Canberra if the government persisted with its stance, which he said left Australia isolated.
"It depends on the reaction of the Australian government," he said, adding that the issue could also be taken to the United Nations General Assembly. "Unfortunately I think there will be negative consequences for the (Australian) government."
Australia's export trade with the Middle East is significant, accounting for billions of dollars annually, particularly in wheat and meat, with Qatar and Jordan being major markets for live sheep.
"We want to maintain the trade and we will work very hard with them to ensure that that happens," Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told reporters on Friday.
Abdulhadi said he would meet Foreign Minister Julie Bishop next week and was hopeful that, after being threatened, Australia could explain the decision.
"Maybe we can avoid all this sort of thing if we can have good discussions," he said.Something tells me that Julie Bishop is quite capable of handling Mr. Abdulhadi.
Labels: Arab honor, Arab League, Australia, East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Julie Bishop, occupation, Organization of Islamic Countries
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:06 AM
0 comments
“Palestine will request that the Arab League and the Islamic Conference [Organization of Islamic Cooperation] review the relations of the Arab and Islamic world with Australia in light of Australia’s unlawful recognition of the illegal settlement regime in occupied Palestine,” Saeb Erekat wrote in the letter, dated June 5.
...
In the letter, Erekat responded to Brandis’ statement, saying it showed that Australia “does not intend to comply with its duty under international law not to recognize Israeli sovereignty over any part of the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967, including East Jerusalem.”He added that the term “occupation” reflects a “legal fact” based on UN resolutions.
...
In May, Australia’s ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, drew fire after meeting with Housing Minister Uri Ariel in the latter’s East Jerusalem office.
Hey Saeb! If it's illegal, why don't you just take them to court? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!“It should be noted that diplomatic recognition of the situation created by the attempted annexation of our capital is a flagrant violation of international law,” Erekat wrote to Canberra after that meeting.
Labels: Arab League, Australia, East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Julie Bishop, occupation, Organization of Islamic Countries, Saeb Erekat
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:34 AM
0 comments
“The description of east Jerusalem as ‘Occupied East Jerusalem’ is a term freighted with pejorative implications, which is neither appropriate nor useful,” George Brandis said, reading out a statement written following a conversation with Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop.Bishop - and the Australian government in general - is apparently even more sympathetic to the Israeli position.
“It should not and will not be the practice of the Australian government to describe areas of negotiations in such judgmental language,” he said.
Brandis said the description of areas, which are the subject of negotiations, by reference to historical events was “unhelpful.”
He added that Australia supported a peaceful solution to the Palestinian- Israeli conflict that “recognizes the right of Israel to exist peacefully within secure borders and also recognizes the aspiration to statehood of the Palestinian people.”
The comments came following a heated debate Wednesday evening in the Senate, where Brandis took issue when a Greens party senator referred to “occupied east Jerusalem.”
In January, Bishop – during a short visit to attend Ariel Sharon’s funeral – took issue with those calling the settlements illegal. Indeed, Australia now refrains from using the term “illegal” to refer to settlements. Canberra also does not refer to the West Bank as “occupied” territory, but rather “disputed” territory.Meanwhile, the little rump king in Amman is fuming.
Although the European Union routinely states the settlements are “illegal,” the US – which is adamantly opposed to Israel’s settlement policy – refrains from using that term, now generally calling them “illegitimate” or “unhelpful.”
Last month, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat wrote Bishop slamming Australia’s ambassador to Israel, David Sharma, for meeting Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel in his east Jerusalem office.
Erekat said the meeting had the “effect of attempting to legitimize the illegal situation on the ground and may be deemed as aiding, abetting or otherwise assisting illegal Israeli policies.”
Canberra simply ignored the protest.
The report cited Jordanian government spokesman Barbat Amon as stating that all territory gained by Israel in the "Six Day War" of 1967 is considered "occupied territory" by international law. Those territories include east Jerusalem and the Old City, which were wrestled from Jordanian control in the war.It's hard for the Arabs to hear the truth, isn't it? What 'international law'?
Labels: Australia, East Jerusalem, Jordan is Palestine, Jordanian occupation, Judea and Samaria, Julie Bishop, occupation
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:26 PM
1 comments
"New and credible information has come to light in relation to the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean," Abbott told the Australian parliament.I'm still leaning toward one of the pilots deciding to commit suicide as happened with EgyptAir 990. Too bad he had to take all those people with him.
"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has received information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search."
"Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified," he said.
Abbott said he had already spoken with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak and cautioned that the objects had yet to be identified.
"The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out they are not related to the search for MH370," Abbott said.
...
Australia is leading the search in the southern part of the southern corridor, with assistance from the US Navy.
The exact location of the possible debris was not clear, and Abbott did not say if it was in the search area set out by AMSA.
The area that Australia was searching on Wednesday was mostly around 2,000-3,000 meters deep, although that part of the ocean does go as deep at 4,000-5,000 meters.
That would make recovering the "black box" voice and data recorders that may finally unlock the mystery of what happened aboard Flight MH370 extremely challenging.
Labels: Australia, EgyptAir, Malaysia, terrorism
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:02 AM
1 comments
It is 6 times larger than the Bakken, 17 times the size of the Marcellus formation, and 80 times larger than the Eagle Ford shale.
All told the recent discovery outside a sleepy Australian town contains more black gold than in all of Iran, Iraq, Canada, or Venezuela.
The current estimates of 233 billion barrels are just 30 billion barrels shy of the estimated reserves in all of Saudi Arabia.
Now, one renowned international energy expert predicts the proven reserves will be much bigger.
"The find may land at 300 or 400 billion barrels, making it one of the greatest unconventional oil discoveries any of us will see in our lifetimes," says Dr. Kent Moors and advisor to six of the top 10 oil producers and active consultant to 20 world governments.
"It represents a bona-fide redrawing of the global energy map as we know it," Moors says, "and the mainstream media is completely ignoring it."
...
Labels: Australia, oil and gas exploration, Saudi Arabia, world economy
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:11 AM
7 comments
Efi Stenzler, world chairman of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, announced that he will convene an emergency meeting of his organization’s international representatives following the beating of Australian emissary Shlomo Ben-Haim and his wife in Sydney on Saturday.
The Ben-Haims and three other Jews were beaten on their way home from synagogue, resulting in wounds requiring hospitalization.
“The violent Sydney attack which came just hours after an anti-Israel protest in Denver, Colorado, as well as demonstrations in France and Belgium, require that we address the situation immediately,” Stenzler said.
The KKL-JNF executive was referring to protests outside of the home of Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who was hosting KKL-JNF officials in town for their annual conference. The protesters, who also gathered outside the hotel in which the event was being held, waved signs calling for the end of Israeli “ethnic cleansing.”
“Attacks and demonstrations against us [Jews] have picked up momentum of late, we are targeted first and foremost because we are helping to realize the Zionist vision,” Stenzler said. “The protesters denounce KKLJNF since they recognize us as an organization that realizes the vision of Zionism.”
The Sydney attack is suspected of being racially motivated, with Ben-Haim telling the press that his assailants yelled “bloody Jews” during the melee.You will note that there is still no hint as to the ethnicity of the attackers - not even their names. You'd have to read me or Robert Spencer to know that. Read the whole thing. I hope that at least the Jews are getting it.
Labels: anti-Semitism, Australia
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:24 PM
1 comments
St Vincent's Hospital spokesman David Faktor, a member of the Bondi Jewish community, told the Sydney Morning Herald that the victims told him the attack was unprovoked and racially motivated.
He said the victims were members of a family, and that they did not know their attackers or do anything to incite the violence. He said the male victims were wearing skullcaps and told him the attack felt like it went for about 15 minutes.
''Any kind of serious unprovoked attack is of great concern but the fact it was racially motivated is all the more concerning,'' Faktor said.
''It is extremely shocking that an attack like this could happen in Australia, let alone in Bondi being such a multicultural area.''
Faktor said the families of the victims are "very upset" and cannot understand why people would want to hurt them.
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Beach Road Hotel licensee Ben Pearce told the Morning Herald that four bouncers and two managers from the hotel jumped into the brawl in an effort to break it up and were able to restrain a couple of the attackers before the police arrived.
''The guys did the best they could to grab as many of [the attackers] as possible,'' Pearce said. ''The fact that it had that extra component [was racially motivated] makes it even more ugly. 'If it ever happened again we'd do the same to try and help.''Sounds like these people were lucky to escape alive.
True to form, the mainstream media doesn't mention the identity of the perpetrators, but that in itself is a clue as to who they were: if the attackers had been neo-Nazis, the Herald would have had no trouble saying that. Only when it comes to Muslims do "brawls" and "bombings" and "violence" just happen by themselves, with no clear perp. Also, the mention of the facts that the attack was "racially motivated" and in a "multicultural area" makes clear the identity of these "youths" (a common mainstream media term for violent young Muslims in any case).
But why the coverup? Why must we read tea leaves when it comes to Muslim violence? The mainstream media is doing a grave disservice to the public by reporting stories in this way, rendering them ignorant and complacent in the face of a real threat.Indeed.
Labels: anti-Semitism, Australia
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:30 AM
7 comments
Australia had no evidence that a dual Australian-Israeli citizen and suspected Mossad spy, who died in jail in Israel in 2010, had been involved in the assassination of a Hamas arms procurer in Dubai, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Wednesday.
Carr also said Australia had found no evidence of the misuse of any of the Australian passports taken out by the man, Ben Zygier, who had changed his name several times and obtained new Australian passports each time.
However, Carr said the Zygier case raised unresolved questions about Australian passports held by dual citizens who work for a foreign government, and said Australia would lodge the strongest possible protest if it was found that Israel had used an Australian passport for spying.
"We have our own sources. None of them have information at this time that one of his passports was misused. But we are very alive to the possibility," Carr said as he released a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade report into the case.It will be many years - if ever - before the full truth is known about this case.
Labels: Australia, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Mossad, Prisoner X
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:50 AM
0 comments
Labels: Australia, George Galloway
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:37 AM
1 comments
There are no answers, but Zygier and two other Australian Jews who also worked for the Milan firm were reported to have been successful agents. "The nature of their business gave them access to military and secret installations," said an Austrialian intelligence source.
Zygier's case provides insight into the methods of Mossad. It shows how the service recruits agents and masks operations.
As a young man, Zygier got involved with the "Community Security Group" in Melbourne, a kind of Jewish citizens' defense league. These groups often have links to Mossad and are instructed by agents. Ben Zygier was probably recruited in this way. At around the same time, Paul Y. and David Z. were recruited.
Australian Jews are particularly attractive to the Mossad because of a quirk in the law: Australians are allowed to change their first and last names once a year. It's a wonderful way to adopt a new identity.
After he completed his education, Zygier emigrated to Israel. Y. and Z. also moved there. The three of them -- all holding Israeli and Australian citizenship -- got jobs with the Milan-based firm. Back in Australia, they applied for new names. Ben Zygier got the names Benjamin Burrows and Benjamin Allen. Y. and Z. also changed their names at least twice.All three men visited Iran. One of them visited Syria, Egypt and Dubai. (Okay, I know other Israelis who have visited Dubai and I know many Israelis who have visited Egypt - including me in 1980). Zygier's two colleagues are said to be living in Israel.
Labels: Australia, Iranian nuclear threat, Italy, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:36 PM
0 comments
ABC, which originally broke the story of Zygier's suicide in an Israeli jail under a fake name last week, reported Monday that Zygier gave detailed information about various Mossad operations, including a major operation in Italy, that had been planned over a period of several years.
According to the report, Zygier had applied for a work visa to Italy on one of his trips back to Australia.
ABC emphasized that it was not clear whether Zygier or ASIO had initiated the contact.It is likely that one or more investigations into Zygier's tenure with the Mossad, and into his arrest and suicide in the isolation area at Israel's Ayalon prison, will be opened.
Zygier reportedly met a number of times with agents of the Australian Secret Intelligence Organization and shared comprehensive details with them about Mossad's operations abroad, including his own work in Australia and a long-planned secret mission in Italy, according to reporter Trevor Bormann who last week broke the story of the Prisoner X affair.
Bormann said it was not yet clear whether Zygier initiated contact with the ASIO or was summoned for investigation. Reports from the last few days indicate that Zygier was detained by the ASIO for a long period of time while he was studying for his MBA at Monash University.
The ASIO's suspicions into Zygier reportedly began after he changed his surname in his Australian passport four times. Since the beginning of this affair, various conjectures have emerged suggesting that Zygier was in fact a double agent for the Mossad and the ASIO.
Bormann's latest report claims that during Zygier's visit to Australia, long before he was arrested in 2010, he submitted a request for a work visa in Italy. According to the ABC report, Zygier – together with two other Australian passport holders – set up a straw company in Italy to trade communications equipment with Iran and several Arab states.
Hmmm.The Mossad discovered that Zygier was in contact with the ASIO and worried that he would – or already had – exposed to them the existence of the straw company in Italy.
Labels: Australia, Australian television, Iranian nuclear threat, Italy, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:26 PM
0 comments
Even the greatest democracy on earth has Prisoner Xs: In the war on terror that the Americans have been waging since the attack on the Twin Towers, there are terrorists, mainly from al-Qaida, who were arrested in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. They are taken on airplanes in the middle of the night, and flown to what the CIA calls “black sites” – outside US territory and legal jurisdiction – which are detention and interrogation centers, where torture is sometimes used. No one knows where they are or what exactly takes place there.Read the whole thing. What bothers me - and I suspect many others as well - most about this case, is how a young man goes from being an idealist to (apparently) betraying his country.
Labels: Australia, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:44 PM
1 comments
Western sources "in the know" told Kuwait's Al-Jarida newspaper on Thursday that Ben Zygier, AKA "Prisoner X," was one of the members of the squad which assassinated senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January 2010.
The same sources noted that following the mission, Zygier contacted the government in Dubai and updated it on the details of the assassination in exchange for protection. The sources also said that Israel managed to uncover Zygier's hiding place, kidnapped him and jailed him for treason, and all this while maintaining absolute secrecy. The report has not been confirmed by any other sources.
Israel acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that it held the Australia-born dual Israeli citizen under a false name for security reasons and that he died in prison more than two years ago - details that shed new light on a case that has strained relations with its close ally Australia and raised questions about its secretive Mossad agency.
Zygier's trial took place in 2010 at the Central District Court, while he still resided in Petah Tikva. He was taken to the court under heavy security and great secrecy, and all deliberations regarding his case occurred behind closed doors.
While inside the courthouse, he was hidden and isolated from the other detainees, so that he could not be communicated with and was unable to communicate with others.
Due to the furtiveness of the deliberations, the court employees understood that something irregular was occurring at the scene – but apparently most of them had no idea what was actually going on.
Labels: Australia, Dubai, Hamas, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:19 PM
1 comments
An Australian shoe store was occupied by BDS'ers protesting the fact that the store sells shoes from Israel. Australians are very supportive of the store's owner. Owner Sally McGregor said activists had occupied her store until told to leave by police. They spent close to three hours outside and threatened to return each weekend. Sales -- already slow in the weak retail environment -- were significantly disrupted.If only the rest of the world were as clear-headed as the Australians. G'day.
But a feisty Ms McGregor, a practising podiatrist for 25 years before opening the shop on a mission for better foot health, has no intention of backing down.
"I will not be bullied," she said yesterday.
Member for Oxley and parliamentary secretary to the Treasurer Bernie Ripoll, who has already fought the BDS movement in Brisbane, said yesterday the protest "offended every fibre in my body".
"These people are extremists," he said, warning he would not just stand by in the face of their protest activities.
Mr Ripoll said BDS tactics "are not the Australian way".
"The overwhelming majority of Australians who believe in tolerance and a fair go will no doubt be dubious about the tactics of these extremists."
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:50 PM
1 comments
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that his country will follow the same sanctions against Iran that are being adopted by the European Union, and the US and EU have announced sanctions against Bank Tejarat, Iran's third largest state-owned bank. Australia will follow the EU lead in banning oil imports from Iran, the country's foreign minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday.Given that Iran has moved most of its enrichment activities underground at Fordow, I have serious doubts that sanctions are going to have much effect. There have been too many missed opportunities already.
"On the question of Iran, let me be absolutely clear (regarding) the actions taken in Brussels yesterday on sanctions by the European Union - we in Australia will undertake precisely the same parallel action for Australia," he told reporters during a visit to London.
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Following the EU sanctions decision, the US Treasury announced its own new sanctions on Iranian state-owned Bank Tejarat, accused of involvement in nuclear proliferation. According to an EU document published on Tuesday, Tejarat is among the entities it is blacklisting to raise pressure on Tehran.
The EU said that Bank Tejarat had directly facilitated Iran's nuclear efforts, for example by helping in the movement last year of tens of millions of dollars in an effort to assist Iran's Atomic Energy Organization to acquire yellowcake uranium.
Bank Tejarat also has a history of helping designated Iranian banks circumvent international sanctions, the EU said.
By providing financial services to other banks, Bank Tejarat has also supported the activities of subsidiaries and subordinates of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian military organizations, the EU said.
Labels: Australia, Bank Tejarat, European Union, Iran sanctions regime
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:25 PM
2 comments
In a move that reflects US concern about China, President Obama will announce during a visit to Australia next week that the US Marines will be setting up a base in Darwin, Australia. ''This is all about the rise of China, the modernisation of the People's Liberation Army and, particularly, it's about the increased vulnerability of US forces in Japan and Guam to the new generation of Chinese missiles,'' said Alan Dupont, the Michael Hintze professor of international security at Sydney University.This was actually the lead item on the 2:00 am news on Israel Radio. No, not just because it's the middle of the night. They didn't say this on the news, but as I see it, when you combine this with the upcoming US withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan (where the US is essentially cutting and running), what you are left with is that the US is abandoning the Middle East in favor of the Western Pacific.
''The new Chinese missiles could threaten them in a way they've never been able to before, so the US is starting to reposition them to make them less vulnerable. Australia's 'tyranny of distance' is now a distinct strategic advantage.''
Professor Dupont, a former Australian Defence official and intelligence analyst, said the ''Australian strategic rationale is that we are also hedging against increasing Chinese military power and their capacity to destabilise maritime trade routes. And we want to get closer to the US.
''There's no doubt at all the Chinese will have serious reservations about this''
Mr Obama and Ms Gillard are not expected to argue that China is a factor in the decision. ''This is a strong gesture that even in the face of budget constraints, the US reaction to the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan deployment is not to go home but to pivot'' into the Asia-Pacific, according to the former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, Jim Steinberg.
But Hugh White, a professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University and a former deputy secretary of defence, said the decision would have deep consequences for Australia's relations with China.
''I think this is a very significant and potentially very risky move for Australia. In the view from Beijing, everything the US is doing in the western Pacific is designed to bolster resistance to the Chinese challenge to US primacy.
''In Washington and in Beijing, this will be seen as Australia aligning itself with an American strategy to contain China.''
Labels: Australia, China, United States marines
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:33 AM
1 comments
I really hope this doesn't cost them a seat on the Security Council, but even if it does, I'm thrilled that they did it because it's the only right and moral thing to do.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia had decided not to attend the High Level Meeting on the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action scheduled to be held in New York on September 22.Heh.
Referred to as the Durban conference after the original event held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, the meeting was aimed at combating global racism. However, it was marred by anti-Semitism.
Australia and many other countries walked out of the first meeting while the Kevin Rudd government subsequently boycotted the second conference in 2009, which saw Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad deliver a long tirade against Israel.
Ms Gillard's spokesman said Australia remained involved in the early stages of consultations on the High Level Meeting in order to oppose attempts to endorse extreme language or explicit references in the text of the Durban Declaration.
"But we have not been convinced that the High Level Meeting will avoid unbalanced criticism of Israel and the airing of anti-Semitic views," the spokesman said in a statement.
"This occurred at the original Durban World Conference on Racism (2001) and the subsequent Review Conference (2009). Australia did not attend either conference.
"Nor would Australia be able to support a meeting that chooses to reaffirm the original Durban Declaration, as appears likely."
Labels: Australia, Crocodile Dundee, Durban III, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:03 PM
1 comments
Jewish shopkeepers in Melbourne, Australia are feeling a bit safer today. Here's why.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:31 AM
1 comments
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
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