One of the strongest messages conveyed is the nature of our local lobby which promotes the most extreme variety of pro-Israeli misinformation and discussion blocking in the world.
John Lyons, one of the most distinguished journalists in the country, presents numerous examples of the extreme positions taken by the local Israeli lobbyists which are out of sync with what the actual mainstream of the Israeli security and informed political leadership admits.
While in Jerusalem, he was told by a senior IDF officer, that “…he believed that it could be argued that the lobby in Australia had more influence in its country ‘pound for pound’ than any other.”
It seems in sync with the present extremist Netanyahu Cabinet which is creating such ructions within Israel itself.
One Jewish leader told Lyons he knew the Jewish people were forbidden in their religion from ruling over another people but he was too fearful of attack to publicly express that opinion.
The lobby has become so extreme that observant Jewish journalist Jodi Rudoren for the New York Times, reporting from Jerusalem, was branded ‘a Nazi bitch’ by a US-based pro-Israel lobby group for replying ‘shukran’ to a congratulatory note sent to her by an Arab-American.
The venom of the Australian pro-Israel lobby was aptly demonstrated over the Four Corners program Lyons developed, “Stone Cold Justice,” with the attacks beginning before the program was aired.
Lyons spent two months working on the program and three months defending it.
He is convinced that these attacks are a deliberate tactic to discourage stories on Israel or Palestine.
The Venom in Play – Netanyahu and Sabawi
Two issues with great impact, deal with Netanyahu’s visit to Australia and the attacks upon Australian Palestinian writer Samah Sabawi, an evolving national treasure.
Netanyahu on his visit in 2017 held a briefing for editors of major newspapers.
“During the briefing, he talked mostly about settlements, as a rightwinger, Netanyahu’s priority was to keep encouraging as many new settlements in the West Bank as possible, to create ‘Eretz Israel’ or Greater Israel.
“The power I witnessed was captured in an email at 11.54 am on 24 February. It was sent by Colin Rubenstein, the head of AIJAC, to the editors of The Australian. Under the heading ‘Netanyahu Settlements’, Rubenstein told the editors that ‘you can’t use what he [Netanyahu] said there’, he wanted to make sure that whatever Netanyahu said at the briefing remained a secret.”
Settlements are clearly illegal under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel is in violation of the ban on transferring civilian population into occupied territory.
Lyons said he found the Rubenstein email astounding and its suggestion that what might instead be reported on was “the attached fact sheet AIJAC has prepared on the subject.”
Not a word of Netanyahu’s briefing was published.
“It’s worth pointing out that Rubenstein is not an elected official. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry is the elected representative body of Australian Jewry. AIJAC is a privately funded lobby group which over decades has been supported largely by Melbourne corporate lawyer Mark Leibler.”
No other lobby group could get away with such blatant interference.
Another example of the power play deals with the contribution of Samah Sabawi, the Australian-Palestinian writer, to the ABC’s Religion and Ethics department.
Scott Stephens from that department sent her article without telling her, to Bren Cahill of the Zionist Federation of Australia.
Stephens emailed Sabawi using words similar to those which Cahill used in criticism of her article which was published alongside hers.
The ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs team found that Stephens had breached the organisation’s principles.
Sabawi was given an apology but that was about it.
On 9 September 2020 Stephens emailed that the Israel/Palestine issue was ‘too hot’ and ‘we’ve made an editorial decision to “go quiet” on the matter for a while.
Monash University is to be congratulated upon its courage to produce the series In the National Interest and its appointment of Lousie Adler to commission it.
Dateline Jerusalem. Journalism’s Toughest Assignment by John Lyons is the first.
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