Sydney Now has No Go Zones

The Syrian Sydney Morning Herald reports:

Parts of Sydney's Muslim community have been accused of carrying out terrifying campaigns of boycotts, violence and unofficial policing of members of rival religious sects.

Community leaders fear an all-out sectarian war reminiscent of the Balkan proxy war of the 1990s as the conflict in Syria ignites tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Sydney. Some suburbs have ''no-go zones'' as death threats and verbal stoushes escalate into firebombings, bashings and shootings.

It's not just the Syrians.

Australian Syrian Association spokesman Mohamed al-Hamwi admitted anti-Assad groups were taking matters to extremes but said they were Lebanese Australians, not Syrians, who had been provoked by Shiites.

Same Shiite, different day. And I'm guessing they weren't Christian Lebanese...

He said he had instructed Sunnis not to travel to areas such as Arncliffe, Rockdale and Belfield.

Nice.

Reviews In

Antony Loewenstein has a very long history of puffing up his virtually blank resume. Most recently this included taking full credit for a book co-written with three others.

Following this week’s release of my new book, one of Australia’s leading independent book chains, Readings, publishes a wonderful review:

Antony still uses his favourite word "leading" too often. Even Readings own website doesn't make such a claim.

A far more sober review appears in The Australian:

The arguments, which are all pretty well timeworn, rise and fall, and no major new philosopher or theologian is unearthed. One phenomenon stands out above all, however. The intellectual standard of today’s religious thought seems to me to be low. Smart and Woodlock are both believers and also pro-fessionally involved in the teaching of their respective creeds. Caro and Loewenstein follow careers that have nothing to do with their atheism.

Loewenstein has a career?

Of the atheists, Loewenstein has his own tic. No matter what the topic, he manages to introduce his conviction about the infamy of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. He is the most openly perplexed of the panel, and this is winning, but there seems something curiously restricted in his sympathies and world view. Quite blithely, for example, he appears to equate love with sexual love. More than the others he betrays a personal context that must play into his thinking, but is unexplored – not least a longstanding alienation from his father.

Loewenstein's response:

For the record, the writer’s description of my relationship with my father is false and not reflected in the text of the book. I am extremely close to my dad, though years ago this was very different, something I explicitly explain in the book:

Apparently it wasn't such a good explanation after all.

Diligent Fairfax

A bizarre letter in the Sydney Morning Herald:

Jew diligence

The Australian government should have at least one Jewish member to avoid having elections on a Jewish holiday. 

Andrew Partos Seaforth

There are two Jewish Members of Parliament in the Government. Michael Danby and Mark Dreyfus who also happens to be the Attorney-General. Nice bit of "diligence" by the Herald...

The election date nominated by Julia Gillard happens to be on Yom Kippur, the 'day of atonement' and holiest day of the Jewish calendar. It's a day Jewish people are supposed to spend the day in synagogue, fasting for 24hrs in repentance for their sins. 

If the election takes place on this date, this year it's expected they'll be dancing in the aisles...

Look at these Animals

New Syrian pastime - iPhone videos of beheadings.

Note the number of children there. These people are sick.

And they've got friends here.

Making History

Antony Loewenstein's latest sellout appearance has me weeping for the future of our students.

I spent the weekend in Brisbane, Queensland giving the keynote address at the annual Queensland History Teacher’s Association conference.

Fortunately it wasn't an English Teacher's [sic] conference.

Over 220 teachers came from across Queensland, young and old, males but mostly females. 

Males that are mostly female?

I admit to being pleasantly surprised by the frank honesty expressed by countless teachers

Antony is surprised they weren't all liars? As for them being "countless" he also said there were no more than 220 teachers present. Once again, Loewy can't count. Probably a good thing it wasn't a Maths Teachers' Conference

(though I think I upset the conservative politician who opened the event) 

Who was probably also wondering who funds the Association if this is the calibre of "expert" they invite to speak to educators. 

I’ve been writing about the Middle East for over 10 years. I’ve visited Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine and Iran.

Palestine is not a country. Geography Teachers should book him for their conference now.

Every country presented its own challenges. Language, culture, political persuasion, gender and religion. 

Countries have a gender? I always did think Belgium was a bit girly.

To be sure, I’ve faced threats and challenges but mostly I’ve found warmth.

Well, yes. There was that one time Antony got stoned. And let's never forget the (ahem) countless "death threats" he claims to have received. Antony makes Salman Rushdie look like a big chicken.

This is not to ignore or romanticise the hatred, racism and violence that’s become endemic across the region, especially since 9/11.

You would think at this point just one of the history teachers present might express some frank honesty. Such as: "You don't know what the hell you are talking about".

Much of this instability is fueled by Western meddling, arming the worst brutes and enabling the Mubarak’s, Qaddafi’s and Saddam’s.

How can someone write for ten years and still not understand how apostrophes work? Apropos Western Meddling, the absolute, undeniable largest source of conflict is Arab-on-Arab violence. It is nothing to do with Jews or the West. However, as Dan Gillerman once noted "we live in a world where if Christians kill Muslims, it’s a crusade. If Jews kill Muslims, it’s a massacre. And when Muslims kill Muslims, it’s the Weather Channel. Nobody cares."

We ignore our own complicity through willful ignorance.

Ignoramus.

Israel, the highest recipient of US aid annually, ironic for a nation that claims to be independent,

Doesn't....understand.....word.....ironic...

uses these weapons to occupy, imprison and torture millions of Palestinians.

Israel imprisons and tortures "millions" of Palestinians? Where do they find the time...

merely a few years after the greatest tragedy to befall the Jewish people, the Holocaust, an event that affected virtually every Jew on the planet including my family, most of whom were unable to leave Germany and were murdered in the death camps at Auschwitz.

Hmmm... After all these years I don't remember Antony ever mentioning family at Auschwitz. I do however remember Tim Blair's observation that "Antony visits Auschwitz and emerges questioning ... Jews." Truly a first.

Having rushed to get an EU friendly passport:

It’s a quirk of history that I recently became a German citizen.

He'll be getting fitted for the Marschstiefel jackboots shortly.

I wonder how my now deceased family members would feel about this, perhaps uncomfortable that anybody could forgive but not forget the past.

Curiously Antony doesn't care what his living family members think of him. Not very much.

None of this should distract us from the vital task of teaching Israel/Palestine and the Middle East to a new generation that is more connected and informed than any before it.

A guy who doesn't know the difference between Haifa and Lebanon probably shouldn't be involved in teaching anyone anything.

Antony complains about media bias:

“There is a preponderance of official ‘Israeli perspectives’, particularly on BBC 1, where Israelis were interviewed or reported over twice as much as Palestinians.

It's a conspiracy! Or.... It's because Israelis are better educated and more likely to speak English for the benefit of BBC viewers. Not as many Israelis interviewed on Al-Jazeera. It may also be because Israelis are statistically less likely to hack journalists' heads off.

Antony explains "occupation":

Without explanations being given on the news, there was great confusion amongst viewers even about who was ‘occupying’ the occupied territories. Some understood ‘occupied’ to mean that someone was on the land (as in a bathroom being occupied)

Are they teaching history in kindergarten now?

Back to Antony's resume:

Having been a professional journalist for over ten years, I regularly hear about fellow reporters and editors, in most media organisations,

A professional journalist? Antony failed to hold down a simple cadetship. He has euphemistically called himself "Freelance" ever since as it sounds better than "unemployable".

As for fellow editors, well... Joe Hildebrand said it best:

@antloewenstein Don't hate the media just because you can't get a job in it Antony.

The rest of his speech descends into the usual wild conspiracy theories and (of course) advocating for a boycott of the Jewish state.

You have to seriously wonder what other ideas Queensland history teachers could be feeding students.

Qantas Moral Compass Broken...

Which idiot at Qantas thought this would be a good idea?

Qantas wants frequent flyers to install a toolbar on their web browser that records their internet searches and web browsing activity for "marketing targeted and relevant products, services and offers"... In return for surrendering personal search data, which Qantas will tie to its customers' frequent flyer membership, it plans to award users up to 150 Qantas frequent flyer points a month...A customer who uses the toolbar and never flies with Qantas would take 35 years to earn the 64,000 points required to fly from Sydney to London's Heathrow Airport.

In exchange for which:

Qantas states in its terms and conditions that it "cannot ensure" that users' information will be dealt with by FreeCause in accordance with the same laws, standards or obligations that are applicable under Australian privacy law. "By agreeing to the Qantas Frequent Flyer Toolbar Terms and Conditions, you agree to these disclosures," its terms state.

This follows Qantas getting into bed with Emirates airlines, run by the Arab Emirates which one might reasonably also say doesn't have "the same laws, standards or obligations" as any civilised democracy. After that achievement every other morally bankrupt decision seems easy in comparison.

Private Informant

Our ABC was once again short of a guest and knew Antony would be available. Looks like he has a new job title also.

Information activist and writer Antony Loewenstein says, even if the motion does pass, any statement is unlikely to provide much information. ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN: Regardless of who’s in power in Canberra there’s a sense somehow that although the US prosecutes intelligence security around the world, Australia wants to be seen under that umbrella and rarely asks questions privately or publicly.

Apparently all-seeing Antony knows what's being asked privately. He's reading your thoughts people!

Live from the Living Room

Antony Loewenstein:

The great Al Jazeera media program The Listening Post this week tackles Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning and Wikileaks. They asked me to comment on the ways in which the Snowden story unfolded in the press.

No they didn't and Antony knows it. They asked anybody to send in webcam clips.

From the program's website:

Don’t forget to send us your video blogs for Global Village Voices – Listening Post is your show. Send us your videos.

They're not fussy either.

We’re also looking for new voices and we’re willing to give anyone a try.

No kidding!

This isn't the first time Antony has inflated his appearance on the program (itself insignificant). Perhaps tomorrow morning Antony can ring talkback and boast he was interviewed live.

Leunig Not So Large

Referring to the 'Sexist Menu':Andrew Bolt:

In fact, the menu was not produced for the LNP fundraiser at all, as the editor should know. It was a private “joke” between the restaurant owner and his son, unlike the sexist and rude menu mocking Tony Abbott which the Age editor distributed to every Age reader this morning in retaliation for something of which Abbott is entirely innocent. There is no excuse for this menu drawn up by Age cartoonist Michael Leunig for a collective snigger with more than 200,000 readers.

Does The Age still have that many readers? Either way, I can't imagine that many sniggering at anything Leunig has drawn. Ever.

And ten out of ten homeless people also choose fresh air...

Antony Loewenstein is unaligned:

I’ve spent most of the last decade unaligned with a major news organisation, wanting to remain independent.

For 'unaligned', read 'unemployed'. Antony has previously been called out for inflating his resume.

I’ve published in countless publications

Antony can't count. He also doesn't know the difference between a writer and a publisher.

around the world, indy and mainstream

I'm being 'published' on Blogger, owned in America. I guess I'm an internationally published writer as well.

but a key issue for me is the choice to speak my mind without corporate interference.

Yeah. Those damned corporationey types just hate it when you call for Six Million Jews to be killed. And they hate writers with a long history of embarrassingly basic errors. Not to mention the increasing costs of stress-leave for Antony's editors. Antony continues to moan:

It’s often financially challenging but my ongoing work, including upcoming releases, proves that it’s possible.

There's always Centrelink.

In the coming months I’ll likely be asking readers and supporters for financial support on a major project.

Perhaps Hamas or the Iranian Government will thrown in a few bucks. Why do I get the feeling Antony's parents have stopped giving him pocket money?

Something else to boycott...

Israel's technological innovation continues to amaze. This time in the form of a system for allowing blind people to read.

The system is designed to both recognize and speak “text in the wild,” a term used to describe newspaper articles as well as bus numbers, and objects as diverse as landmarks, traffic lights and the faces of friends.

It currently recognizes English-language text and beginning this week will be sold through the company’s Web site for $2,500, about the cost of a midrange hearing aid.

Add this innovation to the list of things the BDS chuckleheads should steer clear of.

This is the output of a society which values life over death. Whereas the only thing Israel's neighbours are exporting is Jihad.

The Arab world would be much better off if they tried to emulate the Jews instead of murder them.

Births, Deaths and Mobiles

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has a useful site called Moneysmart which is designed to help people make sensible financial decisions. A good thing.

Their "Life Events" page lists tips to help when facing big financial or "life decisions".

Alongside having a baby, buying a home or losing a loved one, big life events now includes "Buying a mobile".

Jews Harvesting Organs

When a three-year-old Israeli child fell out the window and was pronounced clinically dead, his parents decided to donate his organs. One kidney was given to another Israeli child. The other has saved the life of a 10-year-old Palestinian.

Clearly the child's family didn't get the memo to boycott all Israeli products...

Meanwhile, up the road in Syria:

About 2,000 Palestinians are in the custody of Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled regime, the Palestinian Authority labor minister estimated Monday. 

Ahmad Majdalani, who returned Friday from a brief visit to Syria, told Ma'an that about 1,300 of the 2,000 Palestinians in Syrian custody were thought to have taken part in the fighting there.
But he said the others had no involvement and should be released. 

He referred to the conflict in Syria as a "nakba," or "catastrophe," worse than the 1948 exodus. 

Standby for a Syria BDS campaign. Any day now...

(The headline of this post is based on a disgusting blood libel propagated by The Guardian)

Reviews In

Antony Loewenstein is excited about the "First positive review" of his new book. It's by an old mate of his, former Webdiary contributor Chris Saliba, who writes:

Loewenstein is a committed journalist whose work shows sensitivity and balance. He mixes research with on-the-ground reporting, seeking out the truth as experienced first-hand.

By "committed", Saliba presumably means "unemployable". As for Loewy's truthful "on-the-ground" reporting, you'd have to wonder whether Saliba was aware of Loewenstein's "research" not actually undertaken prior to his massively error-riddled Israel book.

As Saliba himself wrote in his review of the book at the time:

I know diddly squat about the Israel / Palestine conflict.

He should submit a manuscript to Melbourne University Press. They'd publish it for sure.

Community Standards

The Guardian's "Community Standards":

1. We welcome debate and dissent, but personal attacks (on authors, other users or any individual), persistent trolling and mindless abuse will not be tolerated. The key to maintaining the Guardian website as an inviting space is to focus on intelligent discussion of topics.

3. We understand that people often feel strongly about issues debated on the site, but we will consider removing any content that others might find extremely offensive or threatening. Please respect other people's views and beliefs and consider your impact on others when making your contribution.
4. We reserve the right to redirect or curtail conversations which descend into flame-wars based on ingrained partisanship or generalisations. We don't want to stop people discussing topics they are enthusiastic about, but we do ask users to find ways of sharing their views that do not feel divisive, threatening or toxic to others.

Except where the comment occurs in a post about Tony Abbott:

How fuckin' sad that this hollow man is going to be the next Prime Minister...

That comment was 'upvoted' 19 times, more than any other comment on the page. A subsequent comment however crossed the line:

This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. 

You'd have to wonder what it said!

It looks like the ABC's Unhinged Unleashed section might be facing some competition for Moonbat eyeballs.

Update: PeterB notes another comment that seems to have made it past their moderators:

If you are a patriot who cares for this country , there are other ways than voting to stop a lunatic from becoming the next PM. 

Since my suggestion will not be considered politically correct I refrain from making any suggestions.

What is it with the Left and violence?