Hello there! As you’ll glean from this piece, it’s likely writing like this will very soon be criminalised or deemed “hate speech”. My particular reputation for being an outspoken critic of Israel will undoubtedly soon prevent me from being hired to speak at public festivals and cultural institutions, and possibly curtail my work altogether. If you like what I have to say and want to support me to keep saying it, please consider become a paid subscriber. You can pay monthly, or purchase an annual subscription. I am not exaggerating when I say the support of readers is the only thing paying my bills right now, and that is about to become even harder. Voices like mine that speak with truth, courage and resolve are essential in the fight against authoritarianism, but we can only keep speaking so long as we can also pay our bills. Thank you, and fuck the fuckers ✨
Here it comes, right on schedule. The government’s crackdown on “hate speech”.
Having long since abandoned his principles to devote himself instead to the preservation of his political career, Anthony Albanese has capitulated to the Zionist lobby to announce that his government will adopt all 13 of the (absurd) recommendations put forward Jillian Segal’s Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism report.
If you haven’t read the report, I highly recommend that you do because it’s an excellent illustration of how propaganda hides behind seemingly incontrovertible statements and largely non-extrapolated ‘evidence’.
(Of particular interest is the report’s fixation on the attitudes of ‘younger Australians’, a majority of whom have apparently been manipulated into expressing antisemitic beliefs by the unregulated ‘hate speech’ they consume online. More on that later.)
Research for the Envoy’s Office has highlighted particular concerns around some of the attitudes of younger Australians. As such, it is imperative to act to prevent this threat becoming a long-term or intergenerational one.
Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism, pg 5
Since its publication in July, the government has been hesitant to implement the report’s recommendations - presumably because there are still people within its ranks who retain some semblance of rationality, and who therefore recognise how fucking dangerous it is.
After Sunday’s (contemptible, horrifying, unforgivable, awful, devastating, disgusting - yes, I feel all of these things) attack on Jewish people gathered in Bondi to celebrate the first night of Hannukah, that hesitation has been predictably subject to endless and vehement criticism from political actors eager to weaponise this tragedy for their own ends. I don’t just mean Zionist lobby groups (although I definitely also mean them - they certainly showed up straight away for this grotesque display of opportunism). I mean also the usual agents of fascism with their spit soaked invective and their badly written political theatre. The hounds who are kept fed and bloated by the Murd(er)och machine, who devote themselves day after day to undermining the so-called ‘social cohesion’ they claim to be fighting for, cultivating in their easily satisfied viewers a robust hatred of minorities - Indigenous people first and foremost, Muslims, immigrants, women, trans people, ‘the looney left’ and yes, even antizionist Jewish people (who seem to be torn apart with particular relish, their annihilators gobbling down the excuse to be actually antisemitic with impunity).
The terrorists responsible for Sunday’s attack had barely been neutralised (let alone identified) before these mendacious ghouls raced to file their columns and front cameras for largely online audiences, grandstanding in regards to why this happened with the audacious and unearned authority you’d expect from people whose bread and butter comes from their willingness to be as awful and hateful as possible. Curiously, the Special Envoy on Antisemitism and her shameful, genocide laundering report doesn’t seem all that concerned about the radicalisation of Australians via the hate speech proliferated night after night on Sky News, which reminds me of an axiom I have yet to see proven untrue: if Sky News and the Australian are on your side, you’re a piece of shit with bad politics and worse hair.
According to the Horcruxes charged with storing Rupert Murdoch’s much disintegrated soul, it was the government’s fault that two men who’d been stockpiling guns for years (while clocked by ASIO back in 2019, under the authority of the Liberal government) chose to commit a heinous act of mass murder on Sunday night. Albanese had failed to contain the scourge of antisemitism (not to mention all those bloody Muzzie migrants) represented by the pro-Palestinian movement, all of whom were directly responsible for this heinous act - all of them! Even the (many, many) Jewish members of that HATEFUL group of people!
That the two shooters were quickly linked to ISIS is seemingly irrelevant. The plot itself wouldn’t have happened unless:
a) those antisemitic critics of Israel hadn’t spent two years bringing attention to the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza; and
b) if the GUBMENT hadn’t let the festering HATRED of ISRAEL HATERS run rampant on the streets of bloody good old Astraya - where racism was never a problem until some bloody privileged university students decided to terrorise the nation by donning keffiyahs and calling for an end to the slaughter of children.
CASE CLOSED.
Now, I admit I’m not entirely up to date with the various terror plots that have been executed by ISIS…but logic tells me a terrorist organisation is probably less likely to be emotionally motivated (or brainwashed) by anti-genocide protesters relentlessly calling for peace than it is willing to capitalise on the divisive culture wars run by the mouthpieces who loudly declare themselves to be defending western ‘civilisation’. Antisemitism is a scourge, and antisemitic violence must be stamped out as all violence against marginalised group must be - but the fact is that the evidence released so far doesn’t link the two shooters to the pro-Palestinian movement and its activism after October 7 at all, but to ISIS, an organisation that has been operating since 2013 and that has been fairly indiscriminate in terms of its targets’ identities and faiths. One is not interchangeable for the other, no matter how ferociously the defenders of Israel and the global colonial project want to insist they are.
Still, the hounds are ferocious. And Albanese wants to remain in power, so he will capitulate to their demands and call it leadership and hope that voters agree come the next election. Yes, he’s said. Segal’s recommendations pose a dangerous threat to democracy, free speech and the rights of citizens to gather peacefully in protest - but this will get the hounds off my back.
And it won’t, of course it won’t. Just as capitulating to Netanyahu over and over again while continuing to send weapons parts to Israel didn’t prevent accusations of antisemitism when he (flaccidly) moved to recognise Palestinian statehood.
This is perhaps the most egregious thing about Albanese’s fall from integrity and into the pit of self preservation - how unutterably pathetic he looks while he grovels to the people (Netanyahu, the Zionist lobbyists, the right wing media) who eagerly exploit that capitulation to send him snivelling even further into the realm of monstrous-demands-that-must-be-condoned if he wants to prove his loyalty to them and keep their support.
What a fucking loser. Our rights to freedom of thought, speech and assembly are being sold down the river by a fucking toadie loser.
As to the report itself, it’s very clearly a Trojan Horse whose intention is to open the gates to a more authoritarian (and locked in) system of social control under the guise of ‘fighting antisemitism’ - which, according to Segal, includes not only increasing police powers and judicial reach but also training both to ensure they have a ‘thorough understanding of antisemitism’.
But surely that’s a good thing? you might think.
Firstly, history is quite explicitly clear that it’s never a good thing for a state to increase the power and reach of its police force. (See: Nazi Germany)
But secondly, exactly whose understanding of antisemitism are we talking about here?
As per Recommendation 3.1 (Definition), that would be the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which states:
Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.
Okay, but what’s the problem with that?
Well, if you look at IHRA’s website, you’ll see that it further asserts that “rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism…might include the targeting of the state of Israel.”
Some of the “contemporary examples” of this so-called “targeting” are (and I quote in full, but the italics are my emphasis):
Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g. by claiming that the existence of the State of Israel is a racist endeavour
Applying double standards by requiring of it a behaviour not demanded of or expected of any other democratic nation
Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.
Not unlike Segal’s report, the “contemporary examples” outlined by IHRA are carefully presented as indisputable fact when in reality they’re highly subjective statements - which explains why the definition itself is publicly rejected by over forty Jewish organisations worlwide, including the Jewish Council of Australia, Jewish Voice For Peace, the International Jewish Anti Zionist Network and Israel’s Coalition of Women For Peace.
Here’s my analysis of why they undermine the premise of defining antisemitism in order to stop it and instead work to create plausible defence for Israel’s crimes:
Jewish people have the right to self-determination, as do all humans. This is distinct from the rights of a political state, whose actions must always be subject to scrutiny and critique.
The State of Israel IS a racist endeavour, not least of which is because it operates an apartheid system and is in repeat violation of international law including via the expansion of its illegal settlements. To use Jewish people’s right to self-determination - which is undeniable, as it is for all people - as a shield for the rejection and even IDENTIFICATION of Israel’s racist and illegal policies and actions is not just diabolical, it directly contravenes the last “example” given here: that one ought not to hold Jewish people collectively responsible for the actions of the State.
This conflation of Jewish people with Zionism (and therefore, Israel) is a clever sleight of hand that underpins much of the rhetoric Israel uses to deflect attention from its crimes. If Israel is an ideological homeland when its actions are criticised but a state when its citizens are, then it is both everything and nothing where Jewish people are concerned.
As rhetorical manifestations go, that sure is a powerful one.
The “double standards” pointed to here are left to the reader’s imagination, which means they’re conveniently malleable when resisting criticism of Israel’s actions.
After October 7, a popular Zionist defence of Israel’s brutal assault in Gaza was to insist this “double standard” was in play - because Israel was catching heat never applied to America and its heavy handed response to September 11.
Not only is this demonstrably untrue (literally - when America invaded Iraq, it prompted the biggest anti-war rallies the world had ever seen - that is, until post Oct 7 and Palestine) but it’s also a bizarre argument. You let other people wage genocides but you don’t want Israel to do it because you hate Jews is an insane way to combat antisemitism, not to mention counterintuitive to distinguishing the Jewish people from the actions of a right wing fascist state.
More recently, this narrative has shifted from you let other people do genocide! to why don’t you ever post about Sudan???
Again, this is a demonstrably untrue assertion. The pro-Palestinian movement very robustly argues for liberation for Sudan, whose horrendous suffering is in large part facilitated by Dubai’s plundering of their gold supply and so therefore goes ignored by the same capitalist, colonial, imperialist forces of destruction that enable and empower Israel.
But again, whatabouting as a defence against state actions that have been declared a violation of international law as a way to somehow combat antisemitism is insane. The state of Israel is not entitled to conduct a genocide on the basis that it’s “antisemitic” to criticise them for doing so. That should be a no-brainer.
Antisemitic tropes about Jewish people feasting on the blood of children or killing Christ are heinous, and they have long held historic power. But the reference to “blood libel” here is deliberately vague by design, because (as has been widely demonstrated by Zionist rhetoric) it apparently now means any mention or reference to Israel’s factually inarguable slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, of whom tens of thousands are children.
Fact: Israel’s genocide has officially murdered 20,000 children since Oct 7 in Gaza alone.
Fact: By September 2023, Israel’s militia had killed almost 300 children in the occupied West Bank - the largest annual number of children killed by Israel on record.
Fact: IOF militants have posted endless videos of themselves mocking the murder of children and even claiming their kills directly.
Fact: Hind Rajab, a 5 year old girl, was shot 355 times by an IOF militant while she was trapped in a car and surrounded by dead family members.
Fact: Children have been targeted by Israeli drones and bomb strikes year after year in Gaza, since well before Oct 7, 2023.
Fact: Israel is responsible for creating the world’s largest demographic of child amputees.
Fact: The acronym WCNSF was created by health workers shortly after Israel began its genocide, to refer to patients who were “wounded children, no surviving family”.
Fact: Members of Israel’s Knessett have referred to Palestinian children as “snakes” and future terrorists who must be eliminated.
Fact: Israeli propaganda and openly spouted rhetoric persists in repeating the claim that it is Palestinians who teach their children to hate them.
Who decides what defines “blood libel”, and why is an ancient term being used to deflect factual evidence of criminality and murder anyway? If we can’t criticise fact based Israeli actions without being accused of “ancient and antisemitic blood libel”, that is deeply fucking insane.
Israel does mimic Nazi Germany. Again, it is factual to state this. Everything the Israeli state has done to dehumanise Palestinians - referring to them as snakes and rats who must be eliminated if Israel is to survive, for one - is directly gleaned from Nazi behaviour.
Next.
See point 1.
So, back to the recommendations of the “Special Envoy” report.
Not only do these recommendations pave the way for government and cops to crack down on peaceful demonstrations, they also affirm that the deeply problematic IHRA definition of antisemitism will now be applied to all government bodies and publicly funded institutions.
I’ve already demonstrated how the IHRA definition is fundamentally flawed, deliberately manipulative and fucked on a very basic level. Using it to frame Australia’s response to anti-Israel protests is pure mendacity, and it will only further endanger Jewish people by underhandedly assigning blame to THEM for Israel’s actions. The IHRA definition as we can see conflates anti Zionism with antisemitism, which means any new “tough” laws on hate speech will likely include anti Zionist slogans, criticism of Israel and condemnation of Israel’s genocide - and guess who’ll be blamed for that?
But here’s something specifically terrifying:
Recommendation 3.7 of the report states that public funding will be denied or even taken away from cultural institutions found to “endorse antisemitic themes or narratives”.
Listen, there is no publicly funded institution in the country that has endorsed a platform of antisemitism, or that has proliferated anti Jewish sentiments, actions or bigotry. This inclusion is superfluous and based on fabrication, not fact.
But we know by now that it’s not about stopping antisemitism, but shutting down anti Zionism - which the report insists is the same thing. When anti Zionism is legally inextricable from antisemitism, it makes any speech, activism, performance or art that criticises a foreign state essentially against the law. Apart from the fucked up implications of that in general, what it means for Australia going forward is that publicly funded cultural institutions (like libraries, writers festivals and public broadcasters) will have to avoid any criticism of that foreign state and its documented genocide, or risk being defunded.
This recommendation - which again, the government has announced it will adopt, along with the rest of the fascist laced directives designed to curb public protest, free speech and resistance against oligarchy - essentially shuts down any politically progressive discussions or even artistic exploration of Israel’s actions, which have been factually declared by the UN to constitute genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass starvation. It will make it more illegal and prosecutable for Australian citizens to criticise Israel, a foreign state, than it is (yet) to criticise our own government.
But questioning that will, under the IHRA definition, also be open to condemnation as an act of “antisemitism”.
This recommendation alone will force Australian institutions, individual artists, writers and academics to agree to a mass denial of the findings of the UN and arrest warrants issued against Netanyahu by the ICC by essentially making it punishable to acknowledge their existence.
How can any of that be in service of “social cohesion”? How can exceptionalising Jewish people in a world already predisposed to racism and bigotry possibly make that world safer for them? Zionism insists that antisemitism is inevitable while nurturing the perfect conditions for it to grow. The call is coming from inside the house.
Crucially, this definition (from which all 12 other recommendations flow, including the one that advises greater data surveillance, increased police powers and crackdowns on university protests, because young people and their irritating compassion for human life is too susceptible to views that contradict government control) does exactly what anti Zionist activists are persistently accused of doing: making Jewish people indistinguishable from the actions of a government and state entity.
If criticising Israel and Zionist ideology is now antisemitism, the Australian government is itself declaring that Jewish identity and Israeli government policy are the same thing. This is deeply antisemitic (even IHRA agrees) and will do lasting harm to Jewish people and escalate the danger already present.
Where does this leave Jewish people who oppose Israel and are staunchly antizionist? Will they now be defunded or removed from workplaces because they dare to criticise a government they’re also told is an inextricable part of their identity?
This is terrifying stuff, and not just because it fails to address the real threat to EVERYONE (which is to say, imperial violence, colonialism and fascist power structures) but because history tells us these are never the first steps - they’re just the ones we’re on when we notice the terrain has started to change.
See what can be excused in order to crackdown on public protest.
How far can we push it to establish total control, and how do we usher it in under the guise of public safety.
How much will they let us get away with before they realise what they’ve lost.
This is my non-conspiracy theory conspiracy theory.
If they do this, the Albanese Labor government will be remembered as having bolted the country in to a fascism that will soon stop bothering to conceal its aims. There will be no criticism of billionaires and corporations allowed. No protesting of mining companies or weapons manufacturers. No public assembly or freedom of movement if you’ve been deemed “dangerous”. People will be penalised and incarcerated for being declared enemies of the state. Universities, theatres and arts festivals will be placed under surveillance and punished for broadcasting speech deemed to be critical of the state - not just the Israeli one, but the one that oversees data collection, “unity” and “cohesion”. Attempts to overthrow the fascist hierarchy will be met with swift retaliation, most of it conducted remotely by someone (or more likely, a machine connected to mass CCTV and satellite) clicking buttons to send out weapons via drones.
This is already the next stage, folks. The plans have been drawn up, the soil dug up and the foundation put in place. We didn’t even know the land had been sold! Silly us.
This isn’t how fascism begins. It’s just where our illusions end.
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Spot on - you've just earned my subscription! Vive la resistance!
Amazing article! Made me sign up as a paid subscriber. I had been following you for many many years on other social media accounts, first for your feminist content. Then I was so happy to see your heavy criticism of Israel. The power of your words is enviable.