Scott Morrison has flagged moving Australia’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, copying Donald Trump’s controversial proposal, in a shift that appears timed to coincide with the Wentworth byelection.
Israeli occupation forces shot dead 6 Palestinians on Friday in one of the deadliest days in months of mass protests along the security fence separating Gaza and Israel, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. The ministry added that at least another 140 Palestinians were wounded by live bullets. It said that four of those killed were targeted at one of the five camps along the fence where protesters convene.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to the Palestinian Authority and to the international community during Sunday’s cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
I wasn’t entirely sure how to begin writing the following words. I felt that I was walking on egg shells, and had to be careful to not say anything that might be interpreted in a way I did not mean. Then it hit me. This was the very problem I am attempting to address. You see, I came across a Haaretz article recently about anti Semitism. J.K Rowling, the well known author of the popular “Harry Potter” book series, had written a new novel where the villain is critical of Israel, thus being labeled an anti Semite. Immediately I realized the absurdity and danger of this characterization. For a while now there has been an attempt to paint anyone critical of Israel as an anti Semite, but this is a new level, now making its way into children’s literature. Rowling’s justification for the characterization is due to what she believes to be rising anti Semitism in Europe. Replying to a comment that states Arabs cannot be anti Semitic because Arabs are Semites too, Rowling shared a dictionary definition of anti-Semitism that states it’s “hostility to or prejudice against Jews.” I wonder, when did we shift definitions to fit our narrative? Then I realized this is a type of Orwellian newspeak, wherein the very people who call themselves peacemakers that drone strike civilians, change labels to suit themselves.
The Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said he would like to see Google, Facebook and other major social media behemoths broken up like the federal government did to Standard Oil more than a century ago. Landry said the internet giants are suppressing conservative agendas, stifling competition, and infringing on antitrust laws.
