Antisemitism Report 2009 - World Jewish Congress

Palestinian people". It is clear that this unity will not negotiate peace with Israel, with the paper stating
"this unity in battle must not fall into the trap of dialogue that the decrepit Arab regimes of the region
are producing." The Flame defines Israel as "the enemy" and demands violent "resistance" while
pouring scorn on negotiations or dialogue, It praises the assassination of a "Zionist minister" as
"courageous."
The radical anti-Israel stance of Green Left Weekly is no secret. However, the message it pitches to the
Arabic-speaking community of Australia is far more inflammatory. Unbeknown to its English readers, it
supports terrorist groups such as Hamas whose goal is to create a state where there would be no place for
the gays, lesbians, feminists and trade unionists who read the English-language edition of the paper.
Ilan Grapel is a researcher with the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.
* Green Left Weekly published a feature ―Israel – an apartheid state‖ by Tony Iltis, which
claimed Israel was founded on ―ethnic cleansing‖, ―The largest ghetto was created in 2005
when Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip, while retaining total
control of airspace, coastal waters and the entry or exit of goods and people.‖; ―Western
politicians and media routinely accuse Hamas of denying the Nazi Holocaust took place.
This lie actually obscures the lessons Hamas have drawn from that tragedy. In an April 17
Washington Post article, Mahmoud al-Zaher, Hamas negotiator an health minister, said:
―Resistance remains our only option. Sixty-five years ago, the courageous Jews of the
Warsaw ghetto rose in defense of their people. We Gazans, living in the world‘s largest
open-air prison, can do no less.‖ This is hardly Holocaust denial. Zaher‘s argument was
partly directed at collaborationist Palestinian leaders. While the Warsaw Ghetto fighters –
who had to deal with Jewish collaborators as well as the Nazis – suffered appalling
casualties, their survival rate was higher than those who did not resist. It is a doomed
strategy to seek to collaborate with those who see you as ―sub-human exterminable filth‖, to
use the Nazis‘ term.‖ and concluding ―The global solidarity movement needs to demand an
end to apartheid and support the creation of a democratic, secular, multicultural state that
belongs to all its people – where no one religion subjugates all others.‖ (6/1/09).
* Green Left Weekly published an article by John Pilger ―Holocaust denied‖ which
portrayed the entire span of Israel‘s modern history as equivalent to the build-up to the Nazi
genocide, and quoting approvingly a woman speaking about ―the Holocaust we are all
witnessing and responsible for in Gaza today‖. (21/1/09).
* In an article on Sri Lanka, Tony Iltis wrote that events there were ―a grim reminder that
the Israeli assault on the Gaza ghetto is not the only holocaust at the start of the new year.‖
(Green Left Weekly 21/1/09).
* The Australasian Spartacist (January 2009) headed their feature article ―Zionist Means
Murder‖.
* Green Left Weekly featured a cartoon by Latuff depicting Israelis as butchers deliberately
murdering Palestinians. (28/1/09).
* The Democratic Socialist Perspective, which describes itself as ―a Marxist Tendency in the
Socialist Alliance‖, published a call for Australia to end ―economic, diplomatic, military and
cultural ties with the Israeli apartheid state‖ and circulated posters ―Stop the Holocaust in
Gaza!‖. (8/1/09).
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