Israel-Palestine tensions bubble over on ABC’s Q+A
Prominent Australian Palestinian advocate Nasser Mashni has described the pro-Israel crowd at Melbourne’s Caulfield on Friday night as a ‘baying mob of Australian Jews’.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni has described the pro-Israel crowd at Melbourne’s Caulfield on Friday night as a “baying mob of Australian Jews … as if it was like a West Bank settler pogrom of clearing a village, reclaiming the dirt”.
The protest saw violent clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Caulfield, an area with a high Jewish-Australian population.
When asked whether he thought it was appropriate for that protest to be held in Caulfield, Mr Mashni said “everyone should be able to go where they want”.
He said pro-Palestinian protesters had gathered to “pray, to chant some anti-racism chants”.
Monday night’s episode of Q+A on the unfolding situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip had a strained atmosphere both on and off camera: the “difficult and sensitive discussion” was held without a live studio audience as is otherwise the case for the show – with prerecorded questions taken over video – and there was a strong police presence outside the studio.
On the topic of the Caulfield protest, former Australian ambassador to Israel and erstwhile Liberal MP for Wentworth Dave Sharma called out Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, accusing political leaders of “failing to call out” anti-Semitism “as clearly as they should”.
“Penny Wong was asked about these protests in Caulfield, said that it was good that they apologised,” Mr Sharma said. “Well, yes, it was good that they apologised but it shouldn’t have happened.”
Mr Sharma was referring to how the organisers of the pro-Palestinian protest had apologised for holding the event near the Caulfield synagogue and that the incident led to the synagogue’s evacuation.
“She also said we shouldn’t be seeing any Islamophobia either,” Mr Sharma said. “I wasn’t aware that there were any anti-Islamic sentiments expressed in Caulfield on that night. If there were, I condemn them as well.
“But when the line is crossed here, it’s not, there’s fault on all sides here, we need to call out the party that is crossing that line.”
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council chair Mark Leibler drew a distinction between the tone of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine events in Australia.
“When you look at the Jewish protests … they are praying for the release of the captives,” he said. “They are singing the Israeli national anthem in solidarity with the Israelis.
“Now, look at the pro-Palestinian rallies and, bear this in mind, the first rallies and particularly the one that caused all the problems in Sydney, was before Israel had been anywhere near Gaza … ‘Gas the Jews. F … the Jews’.
“Do you see Jews walking around with banners saying, ‘Destroy Hamas’? They don’t do it. This is not something which is in line with Jewish tradition.
“What do the Palestinians do? Whether it’s 9/11 or 7th of October, they hand out lollies and they celebrate when people are hacked to death.
“I don’t know. That happens to be a fact. That’s reality.”
Mr Mashni said the refrain popular at pro-Palestinian rallies, “from the river to the sea”, was not calling for the destruction of Israel.
“I accept that they hear it differently and they are ascribing an intention on me,” he said.
The panel also fielded a question from Hash Tayeh, owner of the Burgertory shop in Caulfield, the burning down of which sparked the Friday evening protest.
Mr Tayeh asked, referring to his involvement in pro-Palestine protests in the last few weeks: “How can we protect people standing up against injustices without the threat of being cancelled or defamed?”
Mr Mashni was also questioned about a report in The Australian that his charity set up for Palestinian children and orphans had sent money to a Gaza-based health organisation accused of being affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group.
He did not answer directly whether he was “sure” that money had not gone to “Hamas or terror”, but said the organisation had “abided by every single Australian law”.
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