Awake O Sleeper
 
“Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit around and eat blackberries”. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Aurora Leigh)
 
In the 1930’s, African American Vernacular English adopted ‘woke’ as a clarion call, drawing attention to injustice, specifically the injustices daily faced by black Americans. The word is of course vernacular for ‘awake’. Fast forward 100 years: the word is not now used by those seeking justice, but used as a weapon by the political right and powerful against those who do. The intent is to demean any who question a so-called conservative agenda. It has become a politically based word of derision.  Perhaps more seriously, it is used by those who feel entitled to that which they would like to remain excluded from others – fairness and justice.

So, what is, and what is not, a conservative agenda?

I grew up in a conservative household, formed by Christian values. I consider myself to be a Christian conservative. What do I mean by that? The core of the matter is that I understand myself to be formed in relationship with God, with the places in which I have resided, with people whose lives I have shared, with all for whom I bear a level or responsibility, including the created order.  I am ‘Adam’, an earth person. My ‘right’ to do as I please is tempered and defined by and through all those other relationships.  All commitments, especially parenthood, marriage, respect for family and community, care for the natural order, are sacrosanct to me. In as much as I have held positions with authority and influence, I have believed the purpose of these positions has been to enhance the lives of others.  I believe humanity is deepened through service and diminished through the exercise of power. In the biblical tradition, as in many indigenous cultures, being bare foot is a sign of humility, Elizabeth Barrett Browning is profoundly perceptive to point out that it is only in this mindset that life can be fully embraced.

In the past I have seen conservative, Christian, values played out in the lives of those who have called themselves “Liberals”.  Today, there appear to be very few if any “liberals” left.  The extreme right has taken over and adopted the term “conservative”, but it is not a use I recognize; indeed, the policies of such people appear to be its very antithesis.

Australian conservatives appear to be adopting uncritically the American conservative right, who through Senator Johnson in 2018 gave conservatism a seven-point definition:

1. Individual freedom
2. Limited Government
3. Rule of Law
4. Peace through strength
5. Fiscal Responsibility
6. Free Markets
7. Human Dignity

All seven points are flawed, because they lack a discernible, undergirding, ethical or moral foundation – not withstanding they have been adopted by the Christian right.

Individual freedom.  This is the conservative right’s touch stone, but it is wrong, dangerously wrong. Society, civilisation, community, family, are all built on an unspoken understanding or covenant that individuals will seek to better that which is beyond or greater than self and in so doing also better self. The US version of individualism, the version of the gun lobby, the version of the gambling industry, the version of Gina Reinhart and Rupert Murdoch not to mention leading conservative politicians, the version of self-interest, will bring society to its knees, especially through arrogant lack of responsibility for a sustainable natural order. It will bring civilsation to its knees because seeking advancement at the expense of another, be it another individual or the earth itself, weakens the whole fabric.

Limited Government.  In its narrowest sense government is the legislature, in practice it means functions pursued out of the public purse.  From John Howard to the present, the conservative right is obsessed with privatizing public services. (I was present in Canberra when this policy was delivered, losing corporate knowledge and costing the taxpayer much more through consultancies). A wide range of services should not be managed by sectional interest or profit making. Water and its delivery should not be privatised, nor should the prison system – to name but two. Privatising NDIS delivery has unsustainably blown the budget. The privatising of poles and wires has made energy transformation infinitely harder to achieve.

Rule of Law.  There should be no argument about the application of the rule of law.  However, practice shows it is not so simple. The powerful and privileged have access to a justice system out of reach of ordinary citizens.  Australia has incarcerated more children and more indigenous people than any other comparable Western Society. Politics have prioritized punitive resources and minimised restorative resources.

Peace through strength. From the Vietnam war onwards, Australia has combined with the US to fight wars on other continents that have wrought unspeakable division and suffering. Currently, Israel would not be able to reek its devastation on Palestinians without US resources, and without tacit acquiescence from much of the Western world. In practice, strength does not mean peace, it means fighting to keep pole position.

Fiscal Responsibility.  Sounds good, but how is it defined?   In my house it has always meant three things. Priority to health, education and well-being.  Expenditure on life giving experiences rather than things. A significant proportion of time and resource devoted to others.  In the conservative ideology, it appears fiscal responsibility means ‘dig baby dig’, investment in wealth. Wealth builders are remuneratively rewarded, care givers are undervalued. It means three classes of people, those whose wealth is derived from investments; those whose wealth is derived from wages; and those whose survival is dependent upon welfare. The second category pay the most tax; proportionately, the first category contributes least.

Free Markets. The price paid for ‘free’ is minimal or non-existent regulation, requiring environmental or social cost to be calculated and applied.  Regulation requiring environmental or social outcomes is derided.    

Human Dignity Of course!  But in practice there is no ethical foundation to deliver this ideological principle. In Australia refugees and asylum seekers have been appallingly treated.  Indigenous peoples have had their ‘Voice’ denied. Women do not enjoy equal place in conservative politics. In US conservative politics much emphasis is placed upon the conservative Christian agenda of gender and sexuality, diminishing the dignity of those whose identity does not conform.

Since the re-election of Donald Trump there have been many triumphant conservative voices claiming that woke is dead.  If this were true, then the future for civilization let alone the future of the planet would be bleak. 

The principles upon which the universe is founded can be ignored but they cannot be abrogated. The universe and all life within it, is relational to its core. To act otherwise is destructive. This is the message of science and Christianity.
   
To Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, and other triumphalist leaders – take off your shoes. If you will not, then do not be surprised when members of common humanity throw theirs at you.
 
Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” for the light makes everything visible. (Ephesians 5:14)
 

Peace on Earth

Luke begins the Christmas narrative by saying: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was ruler of Galilee and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis and Lysanias ruler of Abilene during the priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas” - a very specific context.

There is always a context.   That is why this year we have seen Pope Francis praying in front of the Vatican crib with the baby Jesus wrapped in a keffiyeh, the easily distinguished Palestinian head dress. How can we not remember that Betlehem has been a besieged Palestinian town on the West Bank since 1967, flanked by walls, searchlights, checkpoints, occupation, and denial of economic life. Whatever encounter with the divine we may have experienced, or seek to experience, there is always a context. This year’s global context is one of great deprivation and violence for many and of obscene ambition for power and control by a few. Into this circumstance, despite this circumstance, love continues to pour.

As we prepare for this year’s celebration of incarnation – God with us, we cannot claim or expect divine company without, in mind and spirit, seeking to host the downtrodden, and calling out the misuse of power that is the cause of this suffering by the few.    We cannot celebrate without reciprocating with love.

At home more people are living in economic precariousness.

In Sudan, Syria, Gaza, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Ukraine, the situation for millions is much more serious than simply ‘precarious’.  The reason for this dreadful situation is not some kind of disease or phenomenon of nature inflicted upon hapless humanity, but human recklessness, mindless ambition for domination and expansion exercised by those with weapons supplied by a global economy benefitting from others misery.

Truth, with which religion and science are in lockstep agreement, is that the universe is relational to its core. The Zionist philosophy is a denial of this truth. Israel has been built not on gracious relationships, but on exclusion.  That is why violence will continue to accompany its existence until it breaks free from the political philosophy that is destroying its moral heart, as well as the physical existence of its Palestinian residents.  

I love Christmas decorations, the tree, the music, the laughter and of course, the food!  But the true gift and surprise of Christmas is what it reveals of the nature of God. And what a surprise it is. As Paul would later say: “foolishness to Greeks and a stumbling block to Jews”. God comes as a vulnerable baby.  There is no pretentiousness or grandeur.  More, this is not simply revelation about the nature of God, it is a revelation about the true nature of reality, including human reality. Peace cannot be found by winning a conflict, it is found in being at one, with oneself, with others, with the created order, and with God. 

The problem is not simply that the world does not get it, but, so often, Christian life and teaching does not demonstrate it.

The God who embraces us as a vulnerable baby embraces us with the capacity to become fully human. 80 years of human life is very short in the scheme of things. We only have one shot at it. In this period, we are to discover what it means to be fully human.  History shows the more powerful or wealthy we become, the more likely we are to completely miss the mark.

Vulnerability is seen as weakness.  Power is perceived as strength. During the past year, there have been too many examples of people condemned, even imprisoned, for giving humanity their best shot.  Thousands of Palestinians have risked everything to protect children and the vulnerable, and to provide dignity to the dead and injured. For their trouble they are labelled terrorists.  Zomi Frankcom gave her life for manning a kitchen. She gave being human her best shot. At home countless numbers have lost their employment for blowing the whistle on malpractice in their organisation. David McBride has been sent to gaol for 5 years for blowing the whistle on malpractices in the armed forces. Bernard Collaery could have faced a gaol sentence for blowing the whistle on the previous government’s attempt to steal resources belonging to the Timorese people.

Becoming fully human is our only calling.  Having been in a position of considerable authority for many years, on reflection I can see that holding that position was not the important matter, being a full human being notwithstanding that position, was the real calling. How, if at all, I managed to steer through a possible minefield of self-delusion, others will have to judge.

In the early years of my ministry, I participated in two weeklong missions in the company of the legendary Bishop Howell Witt.  On about the fourth day, wishing to tackle the matter of life and its meaning, (standing on the front pew to give more leverage to his five foot five Welsh scrumhalf stature) he would declare: “God did not come to make you more religious, he did not come to make you more prosperous, he did not even come to make you more Christian, he came to make you more Human”.

Next year we face the prospect of being globally led by leaders who appear to despise the nature of God, and the true nature of humanity revealed in the nativity.  And yes, they are all males.
Perhaps it has been ever thus.

That people can transcend their leadership is a reason for hope. Palestinian and Jewish people can and will reach above and beyond the walls that have been built to divide them. Australian citizens will fly Indigenous flags no longer recognised by prospective leaders. Christian, Jewish and Muslim men and women will celebrate together the God who belongs to none of them but serves all of them.
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Crowds asked him: “what then shall we do”.
In reply he said to them:
“Anyone who has two coats must share with those who have none
And whoever has food must do likewise. (Luke 3: 10 – 11)”
 
 
 
 

The legacy of Fethullah Gülen

“A person is truly a human if he or she learns, and teaches, and inspires others. It is difficult to regard as truly human someone who is ignorant and has no desire to learn”.
“To defeat terrorism, we must acknowledge that we are all human beings. It is not our choice to belong to a particular race or family. I believe that dialogue and education are the most effective means to surpass our differences”.

Sometimes good men and women slip out of sight and mind because those with a megaphone have used it to wrongly portray them negatively. Also, because those who should have spoken up have lacked the courage to do so.

This is the case with Fethullah Gülen who died in exile from his native Turkey on October 20 aged 83.
Gülen was a devout Muslim who longed for his country, its politics, its institutions, its people, to be formed by and in the Islamic faith. Nothing particularly noteworthy about that you might think. The context in which he formulated his ideas was what he observed as a growing secularism in Turkey accompanied not simply with a loss of spiritual identity but with a growing materialism focussed on what he considered to be a diminished version of what it means to be human.

Thus, he began a movement he and his followers called Hizmet which means service. He considered the true nature of Islam to be known and expressed not as a system of beliefs but as life lived in service, nurtured by the five pillars of Islam.

The movement was never a highly structured organisation, least of all a political party, but a loosely connected network of people who were inspired to follow this path. Gülen, living in Izmir until1999, did not directly oversee the work.

Over many years, more than 1000 schools were established globally as well as universities.  Graduates were encouraged to take roles in the public service judiciary and other positions of influence.
Technical and scientific advances of modernity were embraced.   Students received what might be described as a liberal education. Democracy was taught, tolerance and respect for others expected. Interfaith dialogue encouraged.  Politicisation of religion condemned.  Students and teachers were imbued with a strong code of moral and ethical behaviour.

Margaret and I were guest of the Hizmet movement on a visit to Turkey in 2012. We were overcome by the kindness, generosity and openness we experienced. Our Christian faith was honoured and respected. The manner in which the Islamic faith shaped the quality of living in the lives of all we met was truly inspiring.

Take away the institutionalised dogmas and historical layers of fear and suspicion, in both Christianity and Islam, I was struck by the reality that the heart of both religions springs from the same root – love.
In 2013 the movement in Turkey began to fall out with the AKP, the party of President Tayyip Erdogan, over its increasing authoritarianism and corruption.  The Hizmet movement’s activity was restricted and then overtly linked (blamed) for the attempted coup in 2016 which led to the arrest of thousands of teachers, professors, judges, police and public servants, and the permanent exile of Gülen. (He had moved to the US for medical treatment in 1999 and lived in Pennsylvania). What the ‘attempted coup’ was really about there is much speculation but no definitive answer.  That Gülen and the Hizmet movement were responsible simply does not make any sense, given their philosophy of non-violence and their lack of any necessary organisational structure.  Türkiye was never able to provide evidence to the US to warrant an extradition order.

It is desperately important that Gülen’s legacy lives on, not simply in Islam but as a feature of religion worldwide. Whether in Russia, India, Pakistan, Israel, or the US, religion is a politicised tool of nationalism, its fundamental character as an instrument of service in personal and public life is lost. As a consequence, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism in these countries have not been agents of inclusivity and tolerance, unfortunately, quite the reverse.

On the other hand, in countries like Australia, faith generally lives in the margins, with little impact upon public policy let alone ethical life.
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The inspiration behind founding the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture on the edge of the parliamentary triangle in Canberra was to openly and publicly engage the Christian faith, indeed all faiths, with Australian public life.   It was in this context that I first encountered the Hizmet movement.
 
 
 
 
 

Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant

When recently sacked by Netanyahu, Gallant, in an emotional speech said: “Israel has fallen into moral darkness”. Despite prosecuting Israel’s war in a savage manner as minister for defence, it was still not enough for Netanyahu.  Gallant’s view is that bringing hostages back was not and is not a priority to him. Investigating how and why October 7, 2023, occurred Netanyahu will not allow. 

Gallant’s words could well apply to the global community in 2024. Needless, senseless and cruel wars have engulfed much of the world: while the world not at war produces armaments and makes profit from those that are.  Monies spent on armaments grossly eclipses monies committed to addressing the climate change threat.

The 29th global (COP) in Baku, Azerbaijan has again failed to set fossil fuel reduction targets which will safeguard the future of the planet and life upon it; this, despite irrefutable evidence of the precipitous path upon which we have embarked.  Added to that the US has elected a leader who derides environmental responsibility.

But let me stay with Gallant and Netanyahu.

The lie, personified in recent comments from Senator James Paterson, the Australian shadow minister, is that Israel is righteously defending itself, indeed defending democracy.  As Netanyahu’s actions have amply demonstrated, this ‘war’ is not about defending the right of the State of Israel to exist, it is certainly not about the defense of democracy; it is about attacking and eliminating those who get in the way of, or oppose, Israel’s annexing Palestinian land and diminishing Palestinian people. It is about treating every Palestinian as the ‘enemy’, simply because they exist.

It is ill-informed, or worse, for public figures to claim those who condemn Israel’s violence are antisemitic. Indeed, many Australian Jewish groups make the same criticism of Israel that I do.  The critique is of Zionism and its cruel agenda. The Zionist Federation of Australia most certainly does not speak for all Jews. Zionism, in and of itself is a threat to Judaism as amply demonstrated by the extra security good Jewish people worldwide have now needed to avail themselves.

No, this war is not about defending Israel, it is about crushing any opposition to its expansionist agenda.

Gaza is essentially a refugee enclave. While many are generational residents of this small strip of land many others are descendants of those who lost their homes as a result of Israel’s creation. The plight of Gazans and the lifting of the blockade should have been constantly on the agenda of the international community for resolution. No humans can live peacefully whilst enduring indefinite life sapping deprivation. The brutality of October 7 can only be condemned, but that it occurred should not have been a surprise.

Israel’s recognized international borders do not include the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The residents of Jenin, Nablus and Hebron are not terrorists. They are men and women boys and girl who endure daily privation. They have no civil rights; they live under military law imposed by hostile occupation. Do we seriously expect them to accept that this is their lot?  It is outrageous they are collectively called terrorists

Last week a resolution passed the UN General Assembly recognizing the inalienable rights of Palestinian people to their land and its resources. Australia supported the resolution, the US voted against.

The real terrorists are the right-wing messianic thugs of Israel and those who do their bidding. The real terrorists are those responsible for the death of Zomi Frankcom, as well as countless journalists, doctors, nurses, and aid workers.

Netanyahu needed the war; he also needs it to continue. While at war he is protected from judicial investigation. In some respects, he is a pathetic figure, slave to the consequences of his ego driven life and politically slave to those more theocratically extreme than himself. Itamar Ben-Gvir, minister for National Security and Bezalel Smotrich, Minister for Finance, have reason to fear they will also receive arrest warrants: their advocacy and demands have led to some of the worst abuses.
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The arrest warrants should be unequivocally supported by any nation which champions international law. As a trading nation, not only should we champion international law, but we depend on it.
 
 

Archbishop Justin Welby

News this week of the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury will have been a shock to all Anglicans, as will have been horror that terrible abuse has been perpetrated yet again by a person while acting in the name of the Church as a carer and nurturer of young people.

It was right that the Archbishop resign, but it is wrong that he be the subject of unwarranted and ignorant vitriol and smear, particularly from social media and from some sections of the Church whose beef with the Archbishop has little if anything to do with this matter.

As Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby had ultimate responsibility for all matters of oversight in the Church of England.  To fulfil his obligations, of necessity he had to rely on others. Apparently, knowledge of the dreadful and extensive nature of Smythe’s abuse was made known to the then bishop of Ely in 2013, the year Justin Welby became Archbishop. Apparently, that bishop passed the information informally to the police and wrote a letter conveying concern to the Diocese of Cape Town where Smythe was then residing.  Information of this action was conveyed to the Archbishop’s episcopal chaplain, appointed to first deal with these matters for the Archbishop, and then to the Archbishop himself.  Wrongly, as later revealed, the Archbishop came to the conclusion, protocol had been followed, appropriate authorities had been informed. The Church’s protocol required the matter be left with the police to make their enquiry.  In reality, the then bishop of Ely had not formally reported the matter to the police, as he thought, and consequently no enquiry was being made by them. The Archbishop’s guilt lies in that he did not initiate enquiry as to the matter having been followed up. He has not used his undoubted impossible workload as an excuse.

No suggestion has been made that the Church, least of all the archbishop was attempting a cover up.

The Archbishop’s resignation, is a standard seldom followed in public life in Britain, or in Australia.  He has taken full responsibility and not sought to make others responsible.  Would that this standard was the norm in industry and commerce and particularly in political life.

Now 68, the Archbishop worked in the oil industry until 1989 when he began study for the priesthood.  He was ordained in 1992.  Since then, he has had a meteoric rise, first becoming Bishop of Durham and then Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.

Conscious of the biblical injunction that a house divided against itself falls, the Archbishop’s 12 years in office have been spent attempting to hold the unity of the Anglican Communion as his major priority.  Afraid to offend, the consequence has inevitably been less clarity in leadership that many, including me, would have liked. It would have been bitterly disappointing to him that many bishops within the evangelical faction of the Church refused to join him at the 2023 Lambeth Conference.  Presumably it would have been someone identifying with this faction who posted on social media their hope that the next Archbishop of Canterbury would be a Christian.

I have not personally been happy with everything the Archbishop has said, or has refrained from saying.  It took him a long time to appropriately condemn Israeli abuses of civilians in Gaza. He has not had the presence of a Temple, Ramsey, Williams, or even a Coggan. However, he is transparently a very good man who has sought to fulfil the Micah challenge: to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
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Those unable to accept this challenge, as he has done, accuse him of “wokeness”, a word spat with increasing vehemence by supporters of Donald Trump. If it is a word of derision made by those who obviously find Christ-likeness distasteful, it should be worn as a badge of honour.

As the Archbishop with his wife and children step into a less public world he deserves to be remembered as a man of deep faith and courage, referenced in the future through his life of outstanding witness and service and not by the manner of his departure.
 
              
 
 
 

Learning from the Trump Victory
 
Peter Dutton and Gina Reinhart would have us learn from Trump’s victory.  I agree, but what exactly are we learning?

Shaun Micallef alerts us to what we knew before the election, and what has not been changed by the election:

he was (is) a well-known quantity: a fulminating blowhard with neither dignity nor shame; a cry-baby idiot who knew nothing worthwhile about anything, least of all his limitations; a pompous, inarticulate, opportunistic, grifting windbag; a liar, a cheat, a moral and, on a number of occasions, actual bankrupt; a felon several times over; a fire-and-Fred Flintstone carnival-barking Florida real estate salesman playing to, it turns out, not so much the lowest but the largest common denominators of aspiration and greed.

Well, that just about covers it!

So, what are we learning?

1.If we believe our self-interest is being served, shame and dishonesty do not matter.
 
Clearly, an unregulated and tax reduced world serves Gina Reinhart and Elon Musk very well. The end of wokism, whatever Nigel Farage thinks that is, appeals to him. That the poor in the rust belts also believed their interests would be similarly served is tragic. It is beyond dispute we (the global community) are moving from an industrialised world based on fossil fuels to a digital, electronic age served by renewable energy and shaped by circular economies. The industrialized world, which has shaped communities and economies for more than 200 years is ending. Every era has a limited time in the sun. Trump can cry ‘dig baby dig’ all he likes, but in doing so he is digging an economic as well as environmental hole which will see the US decline while other nations and economies begin to thrive.  
 

1. Empty statements without reason or logic are all that a politician needs to deliver.

 
Trump was a master at this. Who can forget his promise to end war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Apparently, Dutton is adopting this modus operandi. The most obvious example being the promise to deliver baseload nuclear energy without costing, without community consultation, and with a timeframe that even at its best does not deliver carbon neutrality within the frame demanded by science.
 
3.The ‘most Christian country in the world’ can abandon traits of integrity in support of exclusivity.
 
The Christian right’s help in shaping the Trump victory was significant. To do this it sacrificed integrity in leadership to gain support for an ideology of exclusivity on several fronts: including gender, sexuality, women’s rights and the triumph of Israel notwithstanding genocide. ‘Jesus is my Saviour and Trump is my President’ must be the most idolatrous statement I have ever heard. Linking a saint in that fashion, no matter how noble, would be idolatrous, and Trump is no saint, indeed by any discernible measure he is not a man of faith. Rank individualism, which appears to be a cornerstone of American life, certainly of its right wing represented in Trump and Musk, is anathema to Christian life. Christianity is, of its very nature, socialistic, it is belief in the unity of life, respect for others including the natural order, lifting the poor out of poverty: - it is belief in a life of service.
 
4.Truth does not matter. 
 
It is inevitable that politicians will massage truth to suit their message. However, what Trump has done is lift untruth to an entirely new level. Because his self-belief is superiority in all things no story can be told, no message given, other than one that presents him as the extraordinary genius he clearly believes he is. Because one cannot believe anything he says, it is yet unknown whether he will carry through or some of the more outrageous statements he has made, not least his statements of vengeance and reprisal.
Sadly, Trump’s behaviour in this way seems to have bequeathed two sources of news and information across the globe.  On the one hand there are those outlets that strive, no matter how imperfectly, to provide genuine information and facts, and news outlets whose sole objective has nothing to do with fact, but the promotion of a Trump like brand.   In the latter category we find Sky News in Australia and Fox News  in the US.  Because Dutton appears addicted to a Trump-like version of truth he continues, as do all his acolytes, to undermine sources of news however imperfect which attempt to convey truth realistically – notably the ABC, a source of news paid for by the public purse.
 
5.America first, the rest of the world must fall in behind

Because the US is such a big economy, global best interest matters greatly. What the US does or does not do has a disproportionately greater affect on the wellbeing of others than most other countries.   The threat of abandoning environmental responsibility is morally outrageous for those living in more vulnerable parts of the world.  However, it is also reprehensible action for younger US citizens as well as younger people everywhere in the world. Climate disruption with only a 1.5 degrees rise is barely manageable, the consequences of a three-degree rise, which will happen with this kind of irresponsibility is unthinkable.
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So, Dutton and Reinhart, please learn from the US election, if that is the world you wish to live in, move to the States, it is not a world you should be imposing upon Australia, we are better than that.
 
 

The Banning of UNWRA
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Let us be abundantly clear.

What Israel is intending is against its obligations under international law
What Israel is intending is against its moral obligations as fellow citizens of the human race.

The United Nations Relief Agency UNWRA has been in operation since the early 1950’s and has hundreds perhaps thousands of employees. Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, but especially in Gaza have been totally reliant upon it for their welfare.

That in any organisation this large, there might be some who do not comply with the organisation’s charter is both possible and probable.  No different to any large organisation, charitable or commercial, anywhere in the world. However, Israel accuses the organisation of large-scale corruption and malpractice, even supporting terrorism. It has provided no evidence. You will remember Israel gaoled the previous head of World Vision in Gaza under accusations of corruption, and directing funds to Hamas, without providing a skerrick of evidence. Mohammed EL Halabi has subsequently been in an Israeli gaol since 2016. A thorough audit has shown the accusation was simply not plausible. He could have been released had he confessed to something he has not done. He has refused

Similarly, following an audit, the Australian government has satisfied itself that it is safe to continue channelling Australian charitable aid through its large-scale distribution network to the millions of Palestinians in need, believing the Israeli accusation to be false.

To imagine that another network, trusted by Palestinians, can suddenly emerge to distribute the level of aid required is worse than naïve. It takes years to develop both the infrastructure and trust required.

To imagine that Israel’s defence force will itself meet this need quickly, generously, and thoroughly is bizarre. Apart from anything else where would trust be found amongst Palestinians to believe and cooperate with the very people who have demolished schools, hospitals, distribution outlets, and blocked safe aid transition for over 12 months.  It simply does not work to expect aid from the one who is the cause of your devastation.

Israel now has an almost impossible task in convincing the world it is not a pariah state.  If this resolution of the Knesset is not rescinded, Israel must be immediately subject to isolation and boycott.
Messrs Dutton and Albanese you are now in full glare of the headlights.  What is your response?  Israel has the right to defend itself? This has absolutely nothing to do with defending itself.  It has everything to do with an intention to remove by any means possible a whole race of people from their land. The very fact of passing a law with effect in Gaza and the West Bank indicates the mind of the Knesset that it already possesses sovereignty over these occupied lands.  It does not have sovereignty. But this is clearly the intention.  If it did have legitimate sovereignty, all Palestinians should have full rights as citizens. The West Bank and Gaza are clearly intended to become part of greater Israel – but without a Palestinian population.

So, Messrs Dutton and Albanese, not to mention Biden, Trump and Harris, what is this nonsense you keep sprouting about a two-state solution while doing absolutely nothing to stop what in the mind of Netanyahu is clearly a fait accompli, sovereignty of Israel from the river to the sea.

The situation could not be grimmer, or graver.

We hardly need to be reminded by Dr Martin Luther King or Archbishop Desmond Tutu that those of us who are not affronted by evil become part of it.

Please do all in your power to lift voices in condemnation of a decision, which, if left to stand, could have apocalyptic consequences for the people of Gaza and severe distress for the people of the West Bank.
 
 
 

This blog was posted on Pearls and Irritations 13 October 2024

Dutton and Netanyahu’s projection of Good and Evil
 
The leader of Australia’s Opposition, Peter Dutton, is aligning himself with a proposition about good and evil, civilisation and tyranny, that can only lead to the perpetuation of violence and the glorification of war, not its diminishment. The position of both men is dishonest, self-deluding and dangerous. Dutton is knowingly or unknowingly aligning himself with a quasi-religious proposition that because the cause is ‘righteous’ it permits evil.   This is a matter which should deeply concern any and all who are followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  
Peter Dutton’s agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel is engaged in a war against evil and tyranny that every civilised nation on earth should support is not the view of thousands of Jewish people worldwide, nor is it the view of the US, Canada, Great Britain, nor should it be the view of the Christian world.  It is outrageous that Dutton is advocating the position of Israel’s Zionist extreme right, a position highly disputed within Israel itself, let alone in the world community and a position which has caused terrible suffering and evil to prevail.   

Of course there must be a ceasefire and release of captives. And of course there must be commitment to the recognition of Palestine.

Neither good nor evil reside exclusively anywhere. Good to the exclusion of evil most certainly does not reside in the Israeli Knesset.  All human beings, all communities and nations are capable of extraordinary heights of morality, sacrifice and goodness, but all are equally capable of rank evil.  There is no excusing evil. Excuse based on ‘defence’ or righting wrong, does not diminish evil but reinforces it. To declare one section of the world evil, and by implication another part ‘good’ is to mimic the terrible error of the medieval crusades. This mimicking was of course done by George Bush Jn, resulting in the calamitous aftermath of the Gulf and Afghan wars.

 The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, was pure evil. But in equal measure, the Israeli slaughter of Gazans, the destruction of their homes and infra-structure has been evil on a terrifying scale.  In both cases the intention has been to cause as much suffering and devastation as possible.

Dutton’ contribution to this week’s parliamentary debate on a resolution marking the first anniversary of October 7 was ugliness personified. He must be reminded that words have consequences.

The Israeli right wing which he so enthusiastically supports, has called for starvation to be used as a weapon of war. The same Israeli politicians have said killing Palestinians should be rewarded.  Equally they have said Palestinians are not humans therefore their killing is warranted.  Peter Dutton, your words implying moral superior support these views.

For more than a decade it is well known that Benjamin Netanyahu gave covert support to Hamas to aid his goal of undermining Palestinian political unity and fuelling Palestinian political division and ineptness. Doing this may not in itself be described as evil, but it has had evil consequences for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

That antisemitism has been on the rise across the world, including Australia, is indisputable. Any form of racism is evil.  Why it’s rise?  That there are rabble-rousers in every society and in every city square who enjoy any opportunity to demean is certainly true.  But this is not the reason.  The reason is that Benjamin Netanyahu and the extreme right-wing government which holds him captive have accelerated injustice, suffering, and dehumanising of Palestinians. They have ignited ire amongst global citizenry everywhere. Unfortunately, this ire has fallen on Jewish people as a collective, rather than where it belongs on the promoters of this Zionist pogrom.    It is fruitless for Australian politicians to decry antisemitism within Australian society without addressing the reason for its rise.  Dutton is politically driven to ugliness in speech, believing as Abbott did, it would be interpreted in the electorate as strength in leadership. In fact, the stupidity of his words, decrying a cease fire and pouring ice cold water on any thought of a Palestinian State, only leads to more misdirected ire.

The current tragic situation did not begin 12months ago.  It is deeply rooted in decades of ill treatment, expulsion into refugee status, abuse, lack of rights, unlawful imprisonment and theft of homes and livelihood by the expanding Israeli State.

Peter Dutton and Benjamin Netanyahu, do you seriously think that the crushing, perhaps annihilation, of the current Hamas guard will permanently ‘fix’ the problem.  You are deceiving yourselves. Current actions of the IDF are deepening the resolve of the next generation whom you call terrorist; but self-identify as freedom fighters. No child old enough to remember will ever forget what they have been put through. No amount of force will ever extinguish human resolve to live in freedom, to share the same rights as others, or to break the bonds of servitude inflicted by others.

The actions of October 7 must always be described as evil.  (The role or non-role of the IDF is yet to be told).
The never-ending imprisonment of all Gazans is also evil.
As is:

• The imprisonment of Palestinian children
• Settler attacks on Palestinian villages
• The imprisonment at scale of Palestinian adults without charge
• Unsubstantiated maligning of charitable or humanitarian organisations such as World Vision, UNWRA
• Unequal treatment at law of Palestinians and Israelis
• Wholesale theft of Palestinian land and assets

Do not expect Israel to ever live without the need for walls, armaments and fear, unless the reasons for such enmity are addressed.

Mr Dutton, by your language and apparent abject disinterest in facts on the ground, you are doing more than any other Australian to contribute to the lack of social cohesion which you so stridently decry.
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It is poignantly stated by many Jewish leaders that the strategy of the Israeli government does not speak for Judaism.  Thousands of Jews have contributed to values held dear in the free world. The action and behaviour of the Israeli government exists outside these parameters and no, we do not hold the same values as the Israeli government.

Israel’s goal: less defence, more domination

It was almost impossible to listen to Benjamin Netanyahu speak at the United Nations General Assembly without a feeling of despair and disgust.
Israel’s ‘friends’, which include Australia, must change their rhetoric in defence of Israel when they say: “Israel has the right to defend itself”.

No nation has the right to use this slogan to justify its actions if its very existence is hewn out of the wholesale displacement of those who should be its neighbours.  A nation only has the right to defend itself, if in its very existence it wishes to live as neighbour with those who surround it. It is a contradiction in terms to seek to be a neighbour to those whom you have been responsible for their pain and anguish. Netanyahu almost certainly disparages anything Christian, but if he is in the slightest bit interested in what is meant by the term ‘neighbour’, he would do well to listen to the parable of the Good Samaritan and be reminded that in this emblematic parable it was a Samaritan, not a Jew who bound up the wounds of the Jew fallen amongst thieves.

Thousands of Palestinians live in Lebanon.  By no means all of them are 1948 Nakba refugees and their descendants, but many are.  Those who are Palestinian Christian have been given the right to live and work in Lebanon, a right that does not, and should not, negate their fundamental right to return home to Palestine.  Sunni Muslim refugees, however, have no rights in Lebanon.  Most Palestinian Muslims are Sunni. These Sunni descendants of the 1948 Nakba have no right to work, no rights to social welfare, no rights to own property, no rights to education.  They are considered by the Lebanese government to be temporary residents on their way back to their homes in Palestine. They are utterly dependent upon UNWRA for their survival. Netanyahu is committed to ensuing they never return home.  That they are sympathetic to Hezbollah is hardly surprising.

There can never be peace in this part of the world unless or until underlying grievances are addressed. Peace is not an absence of war. Peace emanates from justice.

I do not support or condone activities of Hamas or Hezbollah which threaten the lives of Israeli citizens. However, the undeniable truth is that neither Hamas nor Hezbollah would exist if it were not for the fact that the people they represent, or who support them, have suffered intolerable injustice.
Netanyahu does his best to demean the United Nations and its agencies, especially UNWRA.  However, he needs to be reminded that his nation would not exist if it were not for a resolution of the United Nations in 1947 and its outcome in 1948. In this resolution of partition, it was intended the lands of Palestine be divided almost equally.  As a result of the war that followed, causing mass scale destruction of Palestinian homes and communities, Israel has existed on 78% of the land leaving 22% as ‘Palestinian Territories’.  In the Oslo accord of the 1990’s Yasser Arafat agreed to accept Palestinian statehood on the 22%.  What has happened since has been the Zionist pogrom of gradual destruction and occupation of the 22%.  How can any nation, given the original intention of the UN resolution, argue that Israel has the right to defend itself given this context?

What Israel is doing cannot in good conscience be called ‘defending itself’.  It is aggressively pursuing its agenda of occupation of ancient Palestine ‘from the River to the Sea’ to the exclusion of those who are not Jewish. In his UN speech Netanyahu said Israel would continue its assault in both Gaza and Lebanon until all its goals are met.  What are its goals? Clearly the goal is not ‘defence’.  The goal is the elimination of any resistance to its goal of complete control of all land from the river to the sea – preferably with no Palestinians.  It must be said often and everywhere, this is not the agenda of thousands of Jewish people, both in Israel and in the diaspora, who utterly deplore these actions and most courageously stand with their Palestinian brothers and sisters.  

Netanyahu loves maps. But the maps he uses are his version of history, not history as it occurred. He loves to use a map which totally ignores the West Bank, in his mind it simply does not exist.

Let me remind him of a few facts of history.  Israel has never existed in its own right; it has always existed under the threat or with the help of a great power.  Jews were slaves under the Egyptians.  The State of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians, leaving the small State of Judah as a remnant. Jerusalem and its temple were sacked by the Babylonians. Ironically the power that allowed them some autonomy and return was the Persians – modern day Iran! The Greek, Antiochus Epiphanes erected his own image in the second temple. The Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the second temple. Over many centuries, various waves of Europeans sought control of Jerusalem and its surrounds (notably in the Crusades). In more recent times the whole of the Middle East was part of the Ottoman Empire.

It is ironic, bizarre and morally wrong that from the late 19th century onwards, waves of Jewish emigrants first from Europe and Russia and more latterly from North America are considered to have automatic right of entry and possession, while those who can trace unbroken ancestry for multiple generations have none.   It needs to be pointed out that the great power that now influences Israel’s future is the United States.  Without that support, Israel would not have been able to pursue its pogroms and be saved from multiple resolutions of condemnation at the UN Security Council where the US holds the power of veto.
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Please Anthony Albanese, do not continue the empty argument that Israel has the right to defend itself. Argue that those who have always lived there, have the right to always live there.
 
 

Melbourne Weapons Expo
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On October 7, 2024, Hamas did not have the right to enter an Israeli Kibbutz and slaughter innocent civilians.  However, the Israeli occupation, the denial of Palestinian rights, the imprisonment of Palestinian citizens, and the Zionist project to forcefully remove Palestinians from their land and birthright, is an outrage against which protest is legitimate, morally right and inevitable.  Terrorists are those who take what belongs to others, not those who protest what is taken from them.

In the same way, protesters at the Melbourne weapons expo did not have the right to disrespect the police, use violence, and generally be responsible for anti- social behaviour.  But on the other hand, not only did they have the right to protest the expo, they, along with all Australian citizens, have a moral obligation to confront an industry that is not primarily about world peace but about one of the most lucrative for-profit enterprises on the planet.

2 trillion US Dollars is a lot of money to spend on destruction when a much smaller sum could have been spent on building a fairer and more just world, and in turn become a far more effective way of building harmony and peace. 

It is a lie to suggest investment in armaments is about investment in defence. Investment in armaments is about power and advantage.  Because the US invests twice as much as its nearest rival, it has the capacity to exert power and authority anywhere in the world, often to the great disadvantage and against the will of nations in whose presence this power is being exercised.

Wars waged by the US and supported by Australia in Vietnam, the Middle East and Afghanistan have not made the world a safer place. They have caused needless death and destruction for countless people and damaged the future lives of veterans called upon to serve in these flawed campaigns.

There can be little argument that the greatest legacy of the John Howard years was disarming the Australian domestic population after the Port Arthur massacre.  This action made life for all of us much safer.  Similarly, life in our region has been made much safer through strong ties that have now been made by successive Australian governments with Indonesia, the world’s largest Islamic nation. Through diplomacy and generosity Australia, somewhat belatedly, is seeking to build a sense of family and shared commitment amongst all nations in our part of the Pacific. If we genuinely seek security, this is the way forward, not being armed to the teeth.

Christopher Pyne, who made a lightening and lucrative switch to the arms industry after leaving parliament, disingenuously said he was proud of the fact that investment in the arms industry protected the opportunity for protest in the western world.  What protects free speech and the right to protest is a vibrant democracy, not armaments. Indeed, in a vibrant democracy it should not have been possible for links made in politics to be immediately transferable to an industry whose very existence is dependent upon decisions made in politics and investments made by governments. In a democracy, his political career should have made him ineligible for a post political position in which his political knowledge and contacts had become his most valued asset.

The expo is being held in the context of a world dominated by dreadful military campaigns causing death, destruction and mass dislocation on a great scale. In the Sudan it does not appear to matter which side is the purchaser. Weapons have caused a wholesale movement into poverty and exile by vast numbers of the population. It is more than likely that arms exporters sell to both sides.

The Ukrainian conflict is about far more than the integrity of Ukraine.  It is about the relative strength of the Western Alliance vis a vis a resurgent Russia-Soviet ambition. At present everyone is losing, mostly the citizenry, including fighters on both sides who are reportedly dying in their hundreds of thousands. The solution is not going to be that the one with most or biggest weapons will win. The solution is a negotiated way forward. Reliance on armaments alone, on both sides, is the problem, not the solution.

The conflict in Palestine is being prosecuted with armaments designed for mass destruction.  While Israel claims to be using weapons capable of precision targeting this is clearly not happening. Australia has significant contracts with Elbit, the Israeli armament manufacturing company that hones its arms development through actions against Palestinians.  This company has a significant presence at the Melbourne expo.  It has long been clear that Israel’s capacity to prevail against Palestinians is entirely dependent upon armaments. The US is a major supplier of these weapons. Both the US and Australia say they want a ‘two-state’ solution.  The provision of this weaponry guarantees this will never happen and that Israel will fulfil its ambition to denude the Palestinian territories of Palestinians.

The global armament trade is an evil force. It is not about defence or security.  It is about wealth, power and dominance. It is about maintaining a position of advantage, no matter how egregious such a position might be.

The Melbourne protesters are being thoroughly patriotic. If I were in Melbourne I would be attending the protest.  I am deeply sorry the power of the protest has been diminished by behaviours that mimic the activity of those arms traders at whom the protest is directed. The protest itself is very important.