Editorial (August 7, 2009)
Terrorist TV
FOR most Australians, the biggest issue currently facing the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is how to deal with the execrable radio jock Kyle Sandilands following the “lie detector” stunt on Sydney radio last week.
But the Jewish community has a serious issue of its own, the apparent watering down late last year of broadcasting regulations to the point where Hezbollah TV station al-Manar can now broadcast into Australia.
According to the federal Government, only Hezbollah’s “external security organisation” is listed as a proscribed terrorist organisation. This means that broadcasting from groups linked to Hezbollah is permissible.
Already, there are concerns that al-Manar content broadcast into Australia is soliciting funds for al-Emdad -— a charity wholly owned and operated by Hezbollah -— which Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) believes contravenes the law.
AIJAC’s concern is a possible breach of anti-terror laws. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) is also watching closely, concerned the content on al-Manar breaches Australia’s racial vilification laws. Those who make it their business to monitor media outlets believe the network has already faltered in this regard.
Given there is grounds for concern with al-Manar, we strongly urge AIJAC, ECAJ, or any other community group, to take up the offer of assistance from Palestinian Media Watch, the Jerusalem-based organisation whose founder and director, Itamar Marcus, has extensive experience in monitoring Arab media outlets.
It was Marcus who bought Farfur to our attention, the utterly charmless figure that resembled Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. He was used to spread venomous anti-Semitic messages on al-Aqsa, the Hamas-run television station.
There is no better monitor of the Arab media than Marcus, so it is to be hoped the community moves quickly, gives Marcus the direction he needs and lets him get to work demonstrating to ACMA that al-Manar, and its vile programming, has no place on Australian airwaves.
Shootings are despicable
A BRUTAL attack on a Tel Aviv community centre for gay and lesbian teenagers and young adults shocked Israel and the Jewish world this week.
The shootings, which claimed the lives of two and injured four others, have been condemned across much of Israeli society.
Israel’s President Shimon Peres slammed the crimes as “despicable murder” that “a cultured and enlightened people cannot accept”.
In Australia, Jewish gay and lesbian individuals and the Dayenu and Aleph organisations have added their voices to the condemnation.
The tragedy is even greater because the Tel Aviv centre provides a secure environment for gays and lesbians, and those who have not yet come out, to find a safe space to map out their short-term and longer-term lives -— away from tawdry bars and other threatening backdrops.
An Australian man has spoken to The AJN about the emotional support he received from the centre at a critical phase of his life.
It is not yet known who committed the crimes, and police have not made any arrests, so it would be wrong to rush to judgement. But at the same time, opponents of homosexuality in Israel should take these murders as a signal for them to differentiate between criticism and incitement in their narrative.
In the recent past, members of ultra-Orthodox political parties have made inflammatory comments about gays and lesbians.
Last year, a Shas MK actually suggested in the Knesset that earthquakes were a divine punishment for homosexuality.
The line between hateful language and violence is easily crossed. In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox protester stabbed three marchers at a Jerusalem gay parade. Israelis know that combustible words can lead to tragedy, as was graphically demonstrated by the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
Opponents of homosexuality need to curb their unconstructive language and refrain from making statements that delegitimise the gay and lesbian community and the right of Israeli gay and lesbians to live as safely and securely as anyone in Israel’s broad and diverse society.
If it turns out the shootings were a hate crime, it would be a harsh reminder that hatred between Jew and Jew is an insidious dimension of life in Israel that threatens to undermine Israeli society, as if the problems Israelis find immediately beyond their borders were not enough.