Blinded by political donations:
Appeasing a rogue state and its extremist lobby
By Ali Kazak
Jan 11, 2025
Atef Tayeh (5 months) One of the victims of the war of genocide, starvation and thirst waged by colonial Israel against the Palestinian people – AFP (Photo inserted)
It seems like Western countries cannot draw lessons from their shameful past. Just as they appeased the Nazi and apartheid regimes, they are repeating their mistake by appeasing the Zionist regime in occupied Palestine while it’s waging a war of genocide against the Palestinian people.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sent Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to visit Israel for a week to “mend” his government’s relations with the rogue state of Israel as if Australia has done something wrong.
What is there for the government to apologise for? The one who is internationally condemned and needs to apologise and be reprimanded is the Israeli government.
Furthermore, Dreyfus is a supporter of Israel, and he was a National Editorial Board member of the extremist Israeli lobby group “The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC)”.
Let’s see what some people have to say about AIJAC.
In his book The Power Broker – Mark Leibler, an Australian Jewish Life, Michael Gawenda quoted Jewish academic and former director of Monash University’s Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Mark Baker, saying, “AIJAC tried to silence people, that their criticism of people who held views they didn’t like was almost always extreme and sometimes personal. …AIJAC wounded people. They have created an organisation that represents the far right in Israel. Every word that comes out of AIJAC is of the far right.”
Prominent Australian journalist, John Lyons, described AIJAC in his book, How the Australian public is short-changed on Israel and Gaza, saying, “AIJAC is aligned to the far right of Israeli politics.”
And former editor of The Australian newspaper, Chris Mitchell AO, has been quoted in Lyons’s book Balcony Over Jerusalem, saying, “Of all the Jewish groups, I found AIJAC the most hardline.”
The Israel lobby bets on both horses; they cleverly manipulate their political donations to the Labor and Liberal parties by making them compete with each other in supporting Israel to win the lobby’s blessing, even when it is at the expense of Australia’s national interests, its values and international law, making Israel exceptional.
Let me provide some quotes to illustrate that.
In his book, Run for Your life, former foreign minister and the longest continuously serving premier of the state of NSW, Bob Carr, wrote, “The hold of the Israel lobby over Australian politicians is based on two facts: first, donations to the political parties from the Jewish community leadership; second, paid trips to Israel extended to every member of parliament and journalists, from the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) over 700 trips alone. This political influence is particularly noticeable with the Victorian ALP Right and deserves some examination by journalistic sleuths, who seem reluctant to touch the subject. No other community, in my experience, treats politicians as their poodles; even when making a political case-not the Tamils or Sinhalese, the Chinese, the Macedonians, the Cypriots, the Turks nor the Armenians.”
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser wrote in an article titled The isolation of Hamas is impeding peace in the Sydney Morning Herald on 11 August 2009, “Those who believe Israel’s policies are misguided should not remain silent and governments should not be locked into uncritical support of Israel…Australian governments have paid lip service to even-handedness between Israel and the Palestinians… Fear of criticism from the Jewish lobby in Australia has so far prevented Australian governments taking effective action…”
And former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party, Doug Anthony, was quoted in The Age on 21 July 1993, saying, “… maybe the Jewish lobby is twisting somebody’s tail. They are powerful. They work at it. They are a minority who have to battle very hard and they do battle, to Australia’s disadvantage in this case.”
There is no justification and nothing to be mended with Israel other than to grovel and appease the Israeli lobby to gain their political donations at the expense of Australia and its international standing and reputation.
It is inconceivable that a Labor or Liberal Government would treat a Russian, Japanese or Chinese lobby group the way it deals with Israel and its lobby, even though China is a neighbour, a superpower and Australia’s biggest trading partner.
Albanese is discrediting his government, the Labor Party and Australia by appeasing an occupying, colonial, apartheid regime committing a war of genocide against the Palestinian people. Israel is condemned by the overwhelming majority of countries around the world, including the United Nations, international law, the International Court of Justice. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
Despite the government’s display of humiliation and shame, the Opposition, under Peter Dutton, is further humiliating Australia by calling for even more appeasement of the isolated and internationally condemned rogue state, abandoning its liberal Western values and displaying a great deal of hypocrisy.
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of citizens have been demonstrating weekly, in cities all over Australia, for well over a year, demanding the government show consistent respect for international law as it does vis-a-vis other countries, by imposing an economic and military blockade on Israel, withdrawing the ambassador from Tel Aviv, and expelling the Israeli ambassador, not groveling to the lobby of this rogue regime.
While the Israeli lobby has succeeded in achieving its influence through political donations, the Jewish community does not have the power of influential electoral votes. Australia’s electoral vote is on the side of justice, equality and peace for the Palestinian people.
Ali Kazak is a former Palestinian ambassador and head of delegation to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific region. He is an expert in Australian-Arab relations and affairs, and author of “Australia and the Arabs”. (In Arabic).
https://johnmenadue.com/blinded-by-political-donations/