Jake Lynch
In Australia last month, Melissa Parke, a former Labor federal legislator and UN legal officer in Gaza, won a libel case against Colin Rubenstein, director of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.
He issued a statement in settlement, affirming that she was not, in fact, “a compulsive slanderer, a conspiracy theorist, a liar, a fanatic, or an anti-Semite”.
Ms Parke had taken the action, she explained, “seeking an acknowledgment that I was not any of the things imputed of me” and to resist “the inappropriate weaponisation of accusations of anti-Semitism”.
In March, in the United States, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Jewish National Fund against the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
By Patrick Goodenough | May 7, 2021 | 4:41am EDT
The U.N. World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa in 2001. (UN Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – Canada and Australia have confirmed that they, like the United States, will not be participating in the United Nations’ commemoration later this year of the so-called Durban process, an “anti-racism” initiative that has been plagued by controversy since its launch with the World Conference Against Racism two decades ago.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Thursday that his government would not attend the event, planned in New York during the high-level opening of the U.N. General Assembly session in September, citing the singling out of Israel.
By Patrick Goodenough | May 7, 2021 | 4:41am EDT
The U.N. World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa in 2001. (UN Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – Canada and Australia have confirmed that they, like the United States, will not be participating in the United Nations’ commemoration later this year of the so-called Durban process, an “anti-racism” initiative that has been plagued by controversy since its launch with the World Conference Against Racism two decades ago.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Thursday that his government would not attend the event, planned in New York during the high-level opening of the U.N. General Assembly session in September, citing the singling out of Israel.
Photo: AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed
WITH the US on Wednesday voicing disagreement with Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s allegation that Israel is committing “apartheid” against the Palestinians, Australian Jewish leaders say its report is a “textbook example of a biased organisation knowing what conclusion it wants to reach and then writing a report to substantiate it”.
In a report on Tuesday, HRW said that Israel is “committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution,” saying Israel had an “overarching” policy to “maintain the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians.”
Israel, which is facing an investigation at the International Criminal Court opposed by the United States, denounced the report and accused the New York-based group of having an anti-Israel agenda. Israel’s ambassador to the United States said the report was full of “lies and fabrication” that were “bordering on antisemitic.”
While Indonesia and Malaysia remain publicly supportive of Palestine and refuse to establish ties with Israel, both countries have successfully pursued a secret trade and diplomatic relationship with Tel Aviv for decades.