Dora McPhee (VIC) on Koutsoukis article The Age 24 June 2009 June 24, 2009
The Age: “Israel to Gillard: thanks for standing by us” by Jason Koutsoukis
http://www.theage.com.au/national/israel-to-gillard-thanks-for-standing-by-us-20090623-cvcg.html
As our Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard stressed “honesty” in her remarks
in reply to the warm tribute for her support of Israel’s offensive on Gaza,
there was no mention of how she had helped Israel by spreading the
misinformation that Israel was defending itself against a breach of the
ceasefire when in fact Israel had deliberately broken the truce that had
held for months, while all eyes were on the American elections. By
assassinating six members of Hamas and tightening the crippling siege that
effectively shut down the territory’s economy and deprived its 1.4 million
people of food, medicine, fuel and basic necessities, Israel was
deliberately acting to provoke a response that would enable it to set in
motion its “Operation Cast Lead” which it had been planning for months and
which saw the slaughter of 1400 Palestinians many of whom were children.
If this is honestly then it must be a politician’s “honesty”. It is clear
the Rudd government, far from returning to an even-handed policy compared
with the Howard government’s pro-Israel stance has gone even further than
the Howard government in its not only unconditional support for Israel’s
aggression against the Palestinian people but is prepared to cheer from the
sidelines, when the rest of the world is appalled by war crimes of Gaza,
that it should be noted are still being investigated as such. If Israel is
not guilty of any wrongdoing one has to ask why it is not co-operating with
the UN mandated team commissioned to investigate what happened in Gaza. It
is no wonder Gillard is being feted for her services to Israel but I think
Australians would rather be known for helping to establish the truth rather
than helping to cover it up.
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