naraburns nihil supernum
7mo ago
(text post)
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Israel-Gaza Megathread #1
This is a megathread for any posts on the conflict between (so far, and so far as I know) Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as related geopolitics. Culture War thread rules apply.
A pro-Palestine rally in Sydney has featured the same kind of naked antisemitism that is increasingly common at these sorts of events - in this case including chants of "fuck the Jews".
However, unlike America which has a first amendment to protect offensive speech, Australia is not so squeamish about cracking down on wrongthink. Conservatives tried (and failed) some years back to change the federal law that makes it illegal to "offend or insult" a person on the basis of race, and state-based racial vilification laws carry criminal penalties. States recently have been banning the swastika and other Nazi symbols too.
So, how does this get applied when the racial vilification is coming from Labor-voting Muslims rather than One Nation-voting whites? Well, we got an indication today:
NSW premier Chris Minns said the police’s decision to allow the protest was “operational”.
NSW police have launched an investigation and the premier warned anyone caught taking part in “racial vilification or incitement of hatred or incitement of violence” would be charged. He described the scenes at the Opera House as “abhorrent”.
“To have some people celebrate atrocious indiscriminate killing and kidnapping in Israel is appalling,” he said.
“This is the opposite of the dynamic multicultural community we want in NSW and Australia. Racial epithets were thrown at the Jewish community by the mere fact that they were members of the Jewish community which is shocking and abusive and potentially a crime.”
To be clear, I supported the unsuccessful move to amend the Racial Discrimination Act and generally think that expressing odious views should not be illegal. But I'm also a big believer in the even handed application of law, and given that the country decided to reject the argument that "people have a right to be bigots" (as Brandis put it), I'm going to give myself a pass to enjoy watching some of the less pleasant parts of society get an involuntary legal education.
Which is interesting considering how people openly talk about genociding Palestinians. They aren't really shown as humans and politicians openly talk about how they various war crimes should be commited against them. Funny how talking about turning Gaza into glass isn't hate speach but we aren't allowed to criticise the people of Israel. I hardly think the police would crack down on fuck the Russians at a pro Ukraine rally.
Right wingers get kicked off twitter for proposing mild measures to reduce immigration. Israelis can cheer on mass bombing of Palestinians, blocking food and electricity to civilians and demolishing their homes and churches without consequence.
Could you show me some examples of politicians saying what you believe to the the equivalent here?
I’ve certainly seen things about bombing Gaza, but this comes immediately after a terrorist attack, and there is an implied “let/force the civilians to leave”.
Here's a politician in the Israeli legislature from Netanyahu's party Likud calling for Israel to use their nuclear weapons rather than ground forces. "Doomsday weapons" is the thinly veiled euphemism Israelis often use to refer to their officially unacknowledged but open secret nuclear arsenal.
Jericho Missile! Jericho Missile! Strategic alert. before considering the introduction of forces.
Doomsday weapon! This is my opinion.
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Notes -
A pro-Palestine rally in Sydney has featured the same kind of naked antisemitism that is increasingly common at these sorts of events - in this case including chants of "fuck the Jews".
However, unlike America which has a first amendment to protect offensive speech, Australia is not so squeamish about cracking down on wrongthink. Conservatives tried (and failed) some years back to change the federal law that makes it illegal to "offend or insult" a person on the basis of race, and state-based racial vilification laws carry criminal penalties. States recently have been banning the swastika and other Nazi symbols too.
So, how does this get applied when the racial vilification is coming from Labor-voting Muslims rather than One Nation-voting whites? Well, we got an indication today:
To be clear, I supported the unsuccessful move to amend the Racial Discrimination Act and generally think that expressing odious views should not be illegal. But I'm also a big believer in the even handed application of law, and given that the country decided to reject the argument that "people have a right to be bigots" (as Brandis put it), I'm going to give myself a pass to enjoy watching some of the less pleasant parts of society get an involuntary legal education.
Which is interesting considering how people openly talk about genociding Palestinians. They aren't really shown as humans and politicians openly talk about how they various war crimes should be commited against them. Funny how talking about turning Gaza into glass isn't hate speach but we aren't allowed to criticise the people of Israel. I hardly think the police would crack down on fuck the Russians at a pro Ukraine rally.
Right wingers get kicked off twitter for proposing mild measures to reduce immigration. Israelis can cheer on mass bombing of Palestinians, blocking food and electricity to civilians and demolishing their homes and churches without consequence.
Could you show me some examples of politicians saying what you believe to the the equivalent here?
I’ve certainly seen things about bombing Gaza, but this comes immediately after a terrorist attack, and there is an implied “let/force the civilians to leave”.
Here's a politician in the Israeli legislature from Netanyahu's party Likud calling for Israel to use their nuclear weapons rather than ground forces. "Doomsday weapons" is the thinly veiled euphemism Israelis often use to refer to their officially unacknowledged but open secret nuclear arsenal.
https://twitter.com/TallyGotliv/status/1711426284322996613
Twitter has decided not to translate that for me.
It’s certainly a strong opinion.
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