It is not unusual for anyone with a dogmatically one-sided view of an issue to blame the media for the lack of support.
That is what Greg Barns has done in his latest anti-Israel diatribe (Talking Point, February 17). According to Barns, the only reason Australians don’t share his take on the Israel-Palestinian conflict is because we see the Palestinians as “the other”, and only recognise the unique identity of Israelis, who are seen as living among the savage others in an inhospitable land.
That’s a roundabout way of calling Australians racists.
Barns indulges in a bit of stereotyping of his own. Australian attitudes are shaped by media, he tells us, and Israel is “a rich nation with a large diaspora that knows how to influence politicians — they are master lobbyists — and use the media”. Elsewhere he refers to “the Israel lobby and its media friends”.
That “large diaspora” apparently means Jews living out of Israel, specifically the vast majority of Jews who feel a sense of responsibility to ensure the State of Israel continues to exist. According to a 2017 survey, 88 per cent of Australian Jews fall into that category.
The juxtaposition of Israel, Jews, supposed wealth and alleged control of the media is all too familiar.
It is a fallacy to suggest that every criticism of Israel is antisemitic. The serious charge of antisemitism should not falsely be made in order to stifle debate. However, it is equally fallacious to assert that there are no forms of criticism of Israel which are antisemitic.
It is beyond belief Barns accuses the Sydney Morning Herald of underplaying the Palestinian perspective. Has he forgotten the incident in 2014 when, after a public outcry, the newspaper apologised for publishing an antisemitic cartoon about the conflict in Gaza alongside a vicious polemic against Israel?
Read the article by Peter Wertheim AM is the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in the Mercury.
[This article is in response to one by Greg Barns in the Mercury.]