ALP’s anti-Semitic views behind push for trip ban

Jewish advocacy groups are “cancerous” and “malicious” and try to “deny, misinform and scaremonger”.

A NSW Labor politician voiced these incendiary words — the first NSW Muslim MP, in fact, Shaoquett Moselmane.

He didn’t utter them in the privacy of his own home. He felt comfortable enough broadcasting this anti-semitic sentiment within the walls of the NSW Parliament. This is terrifying in itself.

The MP, who ironically decried racism in his first speech to parliament, made the remarks just two years ago, in May 2013. He was not shouted-out of the high office he holds for racist commentary. On the contrary, Labor continues to support him and Moselmane is now a vocal advocate behind a push to ban Labor MPs from visiting Israel on trips funded by Jewish organisations.

A group Moselmane is aligned with, Labor Friends of Palestine, supports the ban on the trips while the Netanyahu government continues settlements, refuses a Palestinian state and “brutally mistreats Arab residents of the West Bank.”

This is one of 39 resolutions critical of Israel submitted to the NSW Labor conference this month.

By comparison, just 17 motions have been put forward that relate to other countries, including Iraq, Syria, China or Libya. There are none on Saudi Arabia or Iran.

Countries that kill women for adultery. That jail writers, like Raif Badawi, for supporting free-speech. That censor the news. That destroy ancient relics. That fund terrorists who kill innocent people as they go to the theatre or draw cartoons.

But no, NSW Labor is most worried about Israel, a tiny Jewish state. A democracy. A country that has lively political debate within its society and media. Where one of its mainstream newspapers, Haaretz, criticises the government daily. Where some of its population complain and campaign loudly about Netanyahu and illegal settlements.

The father of the anti-Israel movement is Bob Carr, whose speeches have on at least one occasion, in July last year, elicited anti-semitic commentary from the audience, with a remark made about “the Jews” and their “3000-year fundamentalist influence.”

Following Carr in his unhealthy Israel obsession, are MPs in marginal western Sydney seats who weakly give up key Labor values of tolerance and fairness in order to appeal to their Muslim constituency.

Banning trips to Israel is not the answer to illegal settlements. Negotiations and dialogue are.

By enforcing a rule that equal time must be spent in Israel and Palestinian territories, Labor leaders are making a judgement about their colleagues’ level of intelligence and credulity, implying they are incapable of forming their own views after meeting Jewish Israelis.

The NSW branch of the Labor party — a mob so hopeless that they couldn’t sort out Sydney’s traffic chaos — should focus on refining their health, education and transport policies, before they begin to get involved in the Middle East.

Sharri Markson travelled to Israel last year with Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council