AIJAC

The Australia/Israel Affairs Council is an independent organisation involved in high-level communications with both government and media.

AIJAC NEWS

From Warfare to Lawfare

The political campaign by NGOs to demonise and delegitimise Israel – exemplified by the Goldstone Report relying upon their evidence – may be even more of a threat to the Jewish state than actual war according to NGO Monitor President Gerald Steinberg.

Steinberg, whose Jerusalem-based organisation monitors the activities and funding of NGOs, outlined the contours of this new threat to Israel called “lawfare” in Melbourne last night while delivering the 2010 Hans Bachrach Oration.

“It is more dangerous than actual warfare because we are still learning to deal with this new type of threat which accuses Israel of war crimes and being an apartheid state,” Steinberg warned.

The Goldstone Report into Israel’s conduct during the January 2009 Gaza conflict with Hamas relied upon 500 “claims, submissions and testimonies” made by various NGOs about the Gaza conflict, Steinberg claimed.

He said the quality of the Goldstone Report’s eyewitness evidence must be measured against the fact it was gathered from Palestinians in Gaza under the watchful eye of Hamas and minimised the real war crimes committed by Hamas.

The campaign against Israel is run by NGOs like Oxfam, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and World Vision that in many instances undertake valid humanitarian work elsewhere in the world but this doesn’t alleviate the problem that ”even a little poison can kill you,” he said.

Organisations like Human Rights Watch are not just constituted with human rights professionals, Steinberg claimed, but often unelected and unaccountable ideologues twisting international law and morality to suit their goals by pushing propaganda that masquerades as truth and fact.

“You cannot claim to be a credible human rights organisation if you are claiming universality of rights but end up only demonising one country,” Steinberg said.

The failure of NGOs to probe the real human rights breaches of Hamas and Hezbollah and countries like Syria and Saudi Arabia shows that the one-sided and political bias in this campaign to delegitimise Israel is not about the universality of human rights, he suggested, but rather denying the right of Israel to be a Jewish state.

“Human Rights Watch has not written one report on Hamas’ capture of Gilad Shalit nor rocket attacks on the Israeli town of Sderot but solicited funds in Saudi Arabia to continue its work against Israel,” Steinberg said.

The cycle of delegitimisation begins with NGOs dedicating a large percentage of very substantial budgets to focus upon and release reports on Israel and its alleged war crimes, Steinberg explained.

“The media then acts as an automatic amplifier of these NGOs and their reports attacking Israel as an apartheid state and being guilty of war crimes.

“The UN gets in on the act and then foreign ministers put out statements largely based upon what the media reported. And there is unquestioning acceptance of the reports’ claims and testimony,” Steinberg said.

Steinberg was particularly critical of the role played by the New Israel Fund (NIF) in dispensing millions of dollars every year to Israeli NGOs that do not represent the views of the Israeli mainstream but rather adopt the classic narrative of Palestinians as victims and Israelis as perpetrators.

“The NIF claims it supports pluralism and democracy in Israel but let’s see it support the Palestinian equivalent of Peace Now, but they cannot because no such group exists in Palestinian society,” Steinberg noted.

He traced the rise of the campaign to isolate and demonise Israel back to the 2001 United Nations Durban I conference that was convened to tackle racism in the 21st century. The conference was hijacked by NGOs and only singled out Israel to the exclusion of all other countries, Steinberg said.

“The obscenity is that legal mechanisms like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that were developed in the wake of the failure to prevent the Holocaust are now being used against Jews and unfortunately Israel has only belatedly recognised this new type of lawfare,” Steinberg said.

He said the most effective method of stopping the delegitimisation of Israel is to name and shame these NGOs by exposing them as “unaccountable, unelected organisations operating according to their own rules” and publicise the internal contradictions and mistakes in their reports.

Some successes are being achieved, Steinberg said, noting the New York Times opinion piece by Robert Bernstein, the founder of Human Rights Watch, which attacked the organisation. Likewise some major sponsors have withdrawn funds after realising their support for genuine human rights purposes was being allocated to one-sided political campaigns against Israel, Steinberg said.

Allon Lee is a policy analyst with the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council which co-sponsors the Hans Bachrach Oration.

For further information on NGO Monitor please visit www.ngo-monitor.org

Al-Manar to be further investigated

Al-Manar, the reported Hezbollah-backed TV station fed into Australia via satellite, is the subject of a new investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authroity.

The ACMA enquiries will focus on how the station’s programming complies with Australian guidelines in the areas of terrorism and racial vilification and hate speech.

ACMA will examine content broadcast by Al-Manar since December 2008.  In a statement released today ACMA outlined their immediate plans.

“In this investigation, the ACMA will take a broad approach which, among other matters, will consider community and industry standards, international regulatory approaches, specialist expertise within the Commonwealth and relevant research.

If members of the public are aware of specific content on the Al Manar service that they consider is terrorist-related or includes racial vilification and hate speech, they can refer this content to the ACMA for consideration as part of the investigation.

The investigation will have regard to all relevant information and evidence, and the ACMA anticipates that the investigation will be concluded by the middle of this year. At that time, the ACMA will determine whether any change to the current regulatory arrangements should be considered.

ACMA will receive submissions from the public up to March 5.

A delegation from the the Executive Council of Australian Jewry visited Canberra last August to discuss the station with Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.

J-Wire asked the ECAJ for comments on the news that a new investigation is to be undertaken.

President Robert Goot said: “The announcement by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) of a further investigation into Al-Manar TV is a most welcome development.  It is gratifying that the scope of the investigation, as announced by ACMA, incorporates the breaches of licence conditions by Al Manar that were specified in the ECAJ’s formal written submission to the government in September last year.”

“The ECAJ will be working closely with other interested organizations in the community to ensure that the complete range of matters referred to in the announcement, are thoroughly investigated.”

The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council also registered their concerns with the Minister.

Executive Director Colin Rubenstein said: ” We welcome the  announcement by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to re-open its investigation into whether Hezbollah’s television station al-Manar breaches Australia’s anti-terrorism standard.

A previous ACMA investigation into al-Manar, which found the station did not breach the anti-terrorism standard, was wanting in the scope and quality of its research.

According to ACMA, the new investigation will welcome public submissions. The regulatory authority conceded that the reason it re-opened its investigation was public concern over the limited number of al-Manar shows reviewed in the previous investigation, and the lack of specialist knowledge at ACMA, which caused it to overlook an advertisement directly recruiting funds for an Hezbollah-run organisation. Australia’s anti-terrorism standard stipulates television stations cannot directly recruit either members or funds for terrorist organisations. AIJAC made public its concerns at the time the previous report was published, with opinion pieces in The Age (August 7, 2009) and The Australian (August 11, 2009).

I am satisfied that the new investigation will also investigate whether al-Manar breaches Australia’s racial vilification and hate speech code. Al-Manar is well known for its antisemitic content – including, most notoriously, material based on the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and the medieval blood libel accusing Jew of murdering non-Jews to use their blood for religious purposes.”

Dr. Rubenstein added, “ACMA’s decision to re-open its investigation of al-Manar is good news. Al-Manar is a station owned and operated by a terrorist organisation, which airs programs espousing hatred of Jews and glorification of terrorism.”

“We have long argued that either ACMA or the government undertake whatever initiative is required to change Australia’s anti-terrorism standard, to ensure that all media owned and operated by terrorist organisations be banned in Australia. It is with satisfaction that I note that ACMA will review its current regulatory arrangements upon the completion of this investigation,” he concluded.

Strong reaction to Arab League’s consideration of Australia’s pro-Israel stance

Jewish leaders have reacted strongly to reports in “The Australian” that the Arab League “would take Australia’s pro-Israel position into account” in exercising their 22 votes for the election of a seat on the UN Security Council.

The newspaper also reported Arab League  Secretary-General Hasehm Youssef as saying “Canberra kept bad company”.

Robert Goot, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, issued a statement in which he said:

“The Arab League representative has brazenly admitted that his organisation is prepared to use sheer force of numbers to try to bully Australia into changing the way it votes at the UN.  He should know that Australians do not succumb to stand-over behaviour.

Australia’s votes at the UN have been based on principle.  Australia has condemned Hamas for firing rockets into Israel; acknowledged that Israel has both the right and duty to use force to defend its towns and cities against such attacks; boycotted the Durban 11 Conference in Geneva at which Ahmadinejad engaged in yet another antisemitic rant; walked out of the UN General Assembly when Iran’s President Ahmadinejad spoke in 2009; and supported Israel being given the opportunity to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council and to vote at its meetings.”

Together with the US, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands,  Panama, Poland, Slovakia and Macedonia, among many others, Australia voted against the adoption of the Goldstone Report by the General Assembly.  Every other developed democracy abstained.   By referring to all these States as “bad company”, the Arab League representative has insulted the entire western world and endorsed the odious dictatorships that were among the States which voted to adopt the Goldstone Report.”

It would be a good thing for Australia to have a seat on the UN Security Council, but not if the price for obtaining it is to abandon our principles and bow to bully-boy threats.  The Australian Jewish community is confident that the Government has the moral fibre not to compromise its principled bipartisan support for Israel, a two state solution and a comprehensive peace in the region.”

Colin Rubenstein, executive-direction of the Australian/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, added: “The comments by Youssef were disappointing if unsurprising. Unfortunately, the Arab League has rarely displayed any inclination to be a constructive force for Middle East peace, and their traditionally  retrograde and unhelpful strategy of focusing on boycotts and diplomatic posturing  to isolate,condemn and debunk  Israel was again on display in Mr. Yousef’s statements. There is no evidence that this is anything other than offensive rhetoric and  UN members will in any case make their selection based on a variety of considerations.  Regardless, no self-respecting Australian government would allow its policies to be influenced by such bullying tactics.

Australia helps facilitate new Israel UN role

With Australia’s support, Israel has moved closer to receiving fairer treatment within the United Nations.

Israel last week was admitted to the Human Rights Council’s JUSCANZ grouping, a sub-group of the UN regional Western Europe and Others Group, allowing it to vote (and be voted) for membership in the Human Rights Council.

AIJAC’s Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein said, “Australia should be congratulated for its role in facilitating Israel’s membership of this subgroup. I hope this means Israel will finally be allowed to take part in all UN activities. For too long, Israel has been denied equal treatment at the UN. This is a small, albeit much delayed, step toward an end to the anti-Israel ground rules and hostile sentiment that has long prevailed in the halls of the UN.”

Five regional groups operate at the UN – African Group, Asian Group, Latin American and Caribbean Group, Eastern European Group and Western European and Others Group. These groups nominate and vote for member states to join UN bodies, such as the Security Council and the Human Rights Council.

Israel is the only country in the UN not allowed full membership in any of the world body’s regional groups. Although the Asian Group is Israel’s natural geographical regional group, the Arab and Islamic states have blocked Israel’s membership.

Until 2000, Israel was not a member of any group, thus preventing it from voting for (and being voted for) membership in the UN’s important bodies. That all sovereign states be treated equal by the UN is inscribed in the organization’s charter, yet that equality had never been extended to Israel.

In 2000, Israel was granted temporary membership of the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG). In 2004, this temporary membership was extended to a permanent membership for New York activities only. This means that for UN activities and organizations based in New York, such as the General Assembly and Security Council, Israel was finally treated the same as all other UN member states. However, Israel remained excluded from membership of a regional group for UN activities in Geneva, including the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.

This is despite the Human Rights Council being seemingly fixated on Israel, passing more resolutions against Israel than all other countries combined. It has also designated a permanent investigator of alleged Israeli human rights abuses, but not of Palestinian human rights abuses.

WEOG includes states that are not in Western Europe, including Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada. It is subdivided into two consultative groups, made up of EU and non-EU member states, respectively. The second subgroup is called JUSCANZ, after its original five members, Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is has since expanded and includes other non-EU democracies, such as Norway, Switzerland and South Korea.

By allowing Israel to become a full member of the JUSCANZ group in the Human Rights Council, these democracies have recognised Israel for being “like-minded” and helped correct some of the UN discrimination against Israel.

Despite the improvements, discrimination through votes, funding of agencies and related activities will not likely be affected.

Israel still faces the automatic majority of the Non-Aligned Movement and Organisation of the Islamic Conference countries, which produce regular one-sided anti-Israel resolutions in the General Assembly, Human Rights Council and related bodies.

Condolences for Indonesia

Following the  death of former Indonesian President Abdurraham Wahid last week, the  Australia/Israel&Jewish Affairs Council Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein conveyed   sincere condolences  to his family and the Indonesian people.

“We feel very privileged to have known such a courageous  leader,  reformer, humanist and   towering figure in the promotion  of harmonious co-existence between diverse peoples,religions and nations. He was a principled defender of minority rights, a powerful voice for democracy and a leading international promoter of an inclusive and tolerant Islam.Interfaith dialogue, involving  Jews and all other faiths, was both a mission and a passion, right up until his death.Abdurrahman Wahid’s life was an inspiration to all  who strive for constructive social action in the cause of reconciliation and human rights,”Dr. Rubenstein said.

” And the Jewish world,including Israel which he visited several times and admired, certainly viewed him as an outstanding personality  and a very good friend”,Dr. Rubenstein said.

“We share in the  mourning for this great man at this  sad time  .We are  confident,however, that his  memory will long be an source of encouragement and hope  to all  of those millions of admirers in Indonesia and around the world  profoundly  touched by the  countless good deeds and bravery of this champion of human decency,”  Dr. Rubenstein concluded.

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