Gaza Carr crash: Ex-premier Bob Carr under fire over Israel comments

Jews slam ‘relevance’-deprived former premier Bob Carr for comparing Israel to 20th century tyrants Josef Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung.

Former premier Bob Carr has been slammed for comparing Israel’s actions in Gaza to the behaviour of 20th century tyrants Mao Tse-Tung and Josef Stalin, with critics saying he just wanted to “provoke outrage” and return to “relevance”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said “anyone who has shared a conversation with Bob Carr knows the only thing that really matters to him is Bob Carr”.

“There is so much needless suffering and it is squarely the fault of the terrorist force that invaded a sovereign country, committed sickening atrocities, dragged 250 innocent people into dungeons and still refuses a ceasefire,” Mr Ryvchin told The Daily Telegraph.

“Carr just wants to provoke outrage from the Jewish community to propel him back to relevance. It is a shame he didn’t exhibit such vigour during his brief and forgettable tenure as foreign minister.

“But the Jewish community is unconcerned by Carr’s provocations. We have genuine concerns and he is not among them. And the desperate manner of his unsolicited interventions just shows he is manipulating the tragedy of war for his own interests.”

Mr Carr, a long-time advocate for a Palestinian state, said Israel’s actions in Gaza “really demands comparison with the worst of the last 100 years, of Stalin’s Ukraine, of the Warsaw Ghetto, of Mao’s Great Leap Forward.”

Bob Carr speaking at a pro-Palestine event.

“Unspeakable cruelty is being visited against babies and children in the enforcement of something not seen in the modern world, that is an advanced state using mass starvation as a weapon of war and giving effect to a genocide,” he told the ABC’s Radio National.

Labor Friends of Israel co-convener Nick Dyrenfurth accused Mr Carr of “wilfully lying and deliberately stoking community tensions with extremist language”.

Dr Dyrenfurth said Mr Carr did not “speak for Labor” and declared that while “war is an awful thing … there is no genocide taking place”.

“There is room for robust debate on Israel’s actions – it is instructive that Carr’s first response to the October 7 pogrom was to note ‘Hamas has won a tactical success’ and he has had little to say about this fascist terror group since without resorting to equating a vibrant democracy that protects the rights of people of all faiths, minorities and LGBT citizens with past totalitarian regimes.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Dr Dyrenfurth told Mr Carr to “promptly apologise to Australia’s Jewish community and to his fellow ALP members”.

Despite concerns about humanitarian aid and food shortages in Gaza, Israeli officials denied at a briefing in Canberra there was any starvation.

Deputy Israeli ambassador Amir Meron blamed images of starvation on Hamas propaganda. “This is a false campaign that is being (led) by Hamas, taking advantage of sick children in order to show a false claim ... of hunger and starvation,” he said.

Originally published as Gaza Carr crash: Ex-premier Bob Carr under fire over Israel comments