Protest fails to mar spirits
THE mood couldn’t have been more different. Outside, an angry mob baying for the destruction of the State of Israel and burning an effigy of the Premier, who they accused of supporting an “apartheid” regime. Inside, the Premier himself, joined by the Leader of the opposition, the Israeli Ambassador and a wealth of senior politicians, diplomats and community leaders, all pledging support for the Jewish State and emphasising their commitment to peace and the two-state solution.
THE mood couldn’t have been more different. Outside, an angry mob baying for the destruction of the State of Israel and burning an effigy of the Premier, who they accused of supporting an “apartheid” regime.
Inside, the Premier himself, joined by the Leader of the opposition, the Israeli Ambassador and a wealth of senior politicians, diplomats and community leaders, all pledging support for the Jewish State and emphasising their commitment to peace and the two-state solution.
The scene was the Hotel Windsor on Tuesday night and a belated Yom Ha’atzmaut reception hosted by the Zionist Council of Victoria and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.
To gain entry, guests had no choice but to brave the 100-strong anti-Israel rally outside, where banner-waving, leaflet-brandishing protesters – held back by a line of police – chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Long live the intifada.”
They couldn’t sway the resolve, though, of the great and the good of Victoria, who were determined to celebrate Israel’s 64th birthday.
“I’ve been coming to this event for many, many years,” declared Premier Ted Baillieu.
“And this event has been an event that has been proudly bipartisan, proud in its conviction, in every possible sense, in a belief that Israel has a right to exist and has a right to be supported. And I stand here unashamedly tonight to repeat that message to one and all here.”
Reflecting on the protest outside, he added, “In our city from time to time – in our state, in our country – we will confront those who have a different view, and that is part of a peaceful democracy: the right to express your view. The wonderful thing in this country is you can have your view. The even better thing in this country is I can stand here and say, ‘You’re wrong.’”
Hailing Israel as “a beacon of Western democracy”, Baillieu spoke of the country’s duty to “present democracy, peace and multiculturalism in its finest form in some of the most difficult circumstances”.
It was a role, he said, that “Israel plays out with extraordinary courage, extraordinary determination and extraordinary conviction”.
Addressing the ongoing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, Baillieu lamented that contracting it to an acronym, BDS, “gives them a legitimacy they don’t warrant or deserve”.
Suggesting “we take that acronym and turn it back on them”, Baillieu said it should be renamed “Bigoted, Dangerous and Shameful”.
He concluded by recalling the 1972 Olympics, in which his own brother participated. “I remember vividly the distress, the pain and the horror of those events; we should never ever forget them.
And again it’s another reason to remind those who would have it another way that they are wrong.”
The message, he reiterated was that “we stand with Israel at every turn, and we will not be thrown off balance.”
The sentiment was echoed by Leader of the Opposition Daniel Andrews, who said, when asked to confirm he would be attending, “I made the point that protest or no protest, I would be here tonight to make it very clear to this group and the broader Victorian community that I fundamentally support the right of the State of Israel not only to exist, but to exist in secure and defendable borders.” Stressing that both parties supported Israel “absolutely, unequivocally”, he looked ahead to next year, saying “If we’ve got to come through those scenes again, then we’ll all do it with pride.”
As well as praising Israel’s achievements – “A story of 64 years of hard work, toil, democratic freedom, a free trade union movement, a booming and innovative economy … but above all … a story of hope” – Andrews also praised the local Jewish community, which he said “has made Victoria a fairer and better and stronger state”. And that, he added, “should be a source of abundant pride to every member of Victoria’s, and indeed Australia’s, Jewish community”.
In his address at the reception, Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem shared his reflections on the country’s unique status: “At 64, we are the only United Nations member state whose right to exist is constantly challenged, whose elimination from the world map is an aim of at least one other United Nations member state and whose population centres are deemed fair game for rockets fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza and Hezbollah camps in Lebanon.
“At 64, none of the countries that are serial human-rights violators – not Iran, North Korea, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Sudan or any of the others – get anything near the relentless, obsessive, guilty-till-proven innocent scrutiny that democratic Israel receives from United Nations bodies with their built-in
anti-Israel majorities in New York and Geneva.”
After noting Israel’s outstanding contributions in all spheres of human activity, Rotem went on to offer the hand of friendship to the Palestinian people: “We have no reason or interest to fight you, we don’t wish to control you, rule over you or determine your life. We want to live with you and not die with you. We want to share with you and not take from you, we want to respect you as good neighbours, and not fear you as a dreaded enemy … forsake the cult of death and culture of incitement that has been imposed upon you, appeal to our hearts and you will find us yearning to make a generous and genuine peace with you … build with us a dream of two states for two people living side by side in security and peace.”
ZEDDY LAWRENCE
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