Desperate need to educate the young on Israel-Hamas conflict

Julia Gillard is to be congratulated and thanked for her forthright public statement that points out the ignorance concerning the truth of the Israel-Hamas conflict (“Ignorance feeding evil: Gillard puts social media in the frame for distorting history”, 28/5).

Gillard, constantly concerned throughout her career with the betterment of education, has brought to bear her present authority, as a former prime minister, in reminding Australians there is a desperate need for better education about the facts of this conflict and the pathways to peace.

She deplores rising anti-Semitism in Australia, especially the exacerbation of that evil since the events of October 7 last year, and points to the need to educate young people better on the subject of Israel and its origins.

That means in some way or other countering the pernicious spread through social media of anti-Semitic propaganda, bearing overtones of the tactics used by anti-Semites in the 1930s.

Jason Thomas (“Islamist ‘invasion’ is already happening by stealth”, 28/6) contends the coercion of this country by an Islamic jihad, invisible to Australians but moving through our educational institutions like a gas, has bypassed all our defences and is now operating to our abiding detriment.

As Thomas asserts, it didn’t even need to sneak in.

He correctly contends, as does Gillard, that this insidious movement has infiltrated the education of our young and that now, partly through their ignorance, our democracy is coerced and co-opted to support one of the most anti-democratic, anti-Western and anti-Semitic movements in the world.

In his words, we have every right to question this intifada movement in Australia and must do so if the Australia we know and love is to survive.

We have been warned and would do well to heed that warning if that future is to be driven by values of equality and justice.

Ian Dunlop, Hawks Nest, NSW

It is gratifying that two of our former prime ministers have spoken publicly about the unbalanced view that exists in Australia about Jewish history.

It is even more pertinent that they are from both sides of the political divide. Julia Gillard rarely intervenes in the political debate. It surely indicates to our present Prime Minister that he is the leader now, that this social rot is in his hands and he can fix it if he has any fortitude.

Valerie Donovan, Corinda, Qld

It was enlightening to read former prime minister Julia Gillard’s take on the tragedy we are now seeing unfolding in Gaza.

Her comments about a two-state solution being far off are sound given the current situation.

I have this hope that all of those young people from our universities, and indeed the university leadership as well, take the time to familiarise themselves with Gillard’s comments.

The accurate history of Israel has really been derailed by social media, as pointed out by Gillard. Anyone who puts their faith in social media for their information is treading on dangerous territory. The saddest aspect of those who have protested at our universities is that they are supposedly among our brightest young people in whose hands lies the future of Australia.

Just contemplate this for a moment: our future leaders educated by social media and administrations too cowardly to take strong action against protesters who had definitely crossed the line of acceptable protesting.

Peter D. Surkitt, Sandringham, Vic

Former Liberal prime minister John Howard has correctly observed that Australia needs to utterly reject anti-Semitism, and that the failure by current Prime Minister Anthony ­Albanese to denounce in unequivocal terms the horror of the Hamas attack on ­October 7 has set the wrong tone for the country (“PM to blame for allowing anti-Semitism to fester”, 27/5).

On the one hand, we have a national leader; on the other, a self-serving politician waiting for poll results to determine his next move.

Sadly, as we Australians now look at ourselves in the mirror, what we see is not a reflection of a united and principled nation. That horse seems to have well and truly bolted through the stable gates, as the current Prime Minister was waiting for poll results from his latest foray in dividing our nation.

Ian Pearson, Barton, ACT