NSW Community Relations Commission chair Vic Alhadeff resigns over Gaza comments

 

Photo: Vic Alhadeff is the CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies. (Supplied)

New South Wales Community Relations Commission (CRC) chair Vic Alhadeff has resigned after making comments about Gaza that caused a backlash among the Arab community.

Mr Alhadeff, who is also the chief executive of the Jewish Board of Deputies, recently sent out an email where he said Israel's operation in Gaza is purely self-defence.

The email upset members of the Arab community and led to calls for his resignation.

In a statement, Mr Alhadef said it was clear the email caused offence to some and has become a distraction to work of the CRC and the role of the chair.

He said his resignation is in the interest of the Commission, which aims to foster harmony within society.

He was appointed to the role seven months ago.

At least 1,030 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the fighting since July 8 when Israel launched its offensive, aimed at ending rocket fire by Islamist militants out of Gaza.

About 40 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, while three civilians in the Jewish state - two Israeli citizens and a Thai labourer - have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

NSW Community Relations Commission chair Vic Alhadeff resigns over Gaza comments - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Gaza: A human tragedy - What is it like to live in Gaza under Israeli offensive?

 

 Sarah Ali 20 Jul 2014 15:16

Sarah Ali is a Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip. She studied English Language and Literature and currently is working as a teacher in Gaza City.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced by the Israeli attack on Gaza [AFP]

Boom! It's 3:05 am. We wake up for suhour, the pre-dawn meal in Ramadan, after a long and horrifying night made worse by the thick presence of Israeli surveillance drones in Gaza's sky. Friends on my Facebook newsfeed complain of sleep deprivation and continuing Israeli air strikes around them. The radio has a bad signal, so I turn it off. My two-and-a-half-year-old niece flinches as a deafening explosion strikes a nearby area. Her forefinger pointed upwards, she exclaims, "wawa!" (a colloquial Arabic word babies use to say they are in pain). 

On July 7, Palestinians found themselves in the throes of yet another Israeli aggression. Thirteen days into the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, over 400 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians. At least 77 children are among the dead. Thousands of people have been injured and over 50,000 displaced. Some 15,000 houses have been destroyed or severely damaged, and dozens of fishing boats have been burned, destroyed or partially damaged.

The main water line for al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza was bombed and damaged, while 50 per cent of sewage pumping and treatment centres are no longer operating. A home for the disabled run by a charitable centre was destroyed, killing two women and injuring others. A kindergarten was hit and damaged. A rehabilitation hospital was targeted. The house of police chief Tayseer Al-Batsh was hit by two Israeli bombs, critically injuring him and killing 17 people of Al-Batsh family. Four children playing on the beach were slain as an Israeli gunboat targeted them in broad daylight. Another three children were killed while playing on the rooftop of their house. The list goes on and on.

In response to Israel's occupation and illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip (with Egypt's complicity), its wreaking havoc across the West Bank, its constant human rights violations and arrests, shooting at Palestinian fishermen and farmers, and frequent bombing of Gaza - Palestinian armed groups have fired a barrage of rockets into Israeli territory. Sirens go off in Jerusalem, Sderot, Tel Aviv, Isdoud, Ber Saba', and other areas, forcing Israeli citizens into shelters. So far there have been two civilian deaths in Israel and five Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with Palestinian fighters.

In late afternoon on July 16, the house of my deceased grandparents - home to four families and 12 people in East Gaza - was bombed. My uncles and cousins received no phone call, no messages, nothing (not that a phone call telling you "we'll bomb your house" makes it any better). The distance between their house and that of their neighbours is less than a metre. No rocket could have possibly been fired from their house into Israel. And, yet, an Israeli "targeted" strike hit them. When the first missile fell, they ran out of the house. My uncle and 70 year old aunt sustained injuries but they all miraculously survived.

Homeless, in every sense of the word, they are now split into relatives' homes. Their house has been completely destroyed. Most of their belongings remain in the street; they visit every morning, trying to find and pull out of the rubble anything still fit for use. My uncle's wife, an agriculture engineer and a lifelong embroidery enthusiast, laments, "How did I not take my embroideries? Why did I leave without them?"  

We are still in the holy month of Ramadan, a time of spirituality, reflection and religious devotion, when people socialise outside and at home with family and friends. Mornings and evenings of Ramadan are no longer the same, though. Most workplaces are closed. People do not go to school or work. They are careful not to go out a lot, although many Palestinians still venture out to get food and perform Taraweeh - evening prayers. At night, most people, except for medical staff and journalists, remain indoors. 

War is horror. War is our vulnerability and helplessness. It is our inability to protect family and friends. It is deciding not which area in Gaza is safer, but which one is less dangerous. It is packing official papers, a bottle of water, life savings, a mobile with a dead battery, and, above all, memories into one small "emergency bag" and forgetting the bag altogether once your house is shelled. War is having no time to say goodbye to your window, or the stickers on your wall, or a piece of embroidery, or that crack in the door you always hated. War is leaving your house barefoot. War is your grief aired live on TV. War is humiliation. War is remorse for things you have not done. War is traumatised children and traumatised adults. War is broken hearts and scars that do not heal.

War is the painful abruptness of loss. All it takes is a minute, or perhaps less than a minute. A sky lantern lights up the whole area around the "target", guiding the Israeli apache or F16 through the dark strip. A terrifying whoosh accompanies the missile as it falls upon the house. Screams and silent tears. A last declaration of faith in Allah and His messenger. A last breath. The sky lights up again. A massive explosion is heard outside. Smoke clouds the area and the air around smells of death. Flames erupt. The explosion echoes in your ear. In seconds, someone's memories are buried under the rubble of their home. Someone's loved ones are gone forever.

It is 3:30 A.M. I hear the third boom in a span of only a few minutes as a reminder of the war. War is waking up for suhour not by an alarm clock, but by a blast. Faces are pale and food is tasteless. Time is meaningless. Power is now off and there is no way I can make sure my friends are alive. My niece, still crying and terrified by the sounds of bombing yawns, her tears lulling her to sleep. I turn on the radio again only to hear about Western leaders staunchly asserting, from the comfort of their countries, the right of our oppressor to "defend" itself, while simultaneously denying a defenceless and besieged population that right. I smile at the irony of it all as another explosion roars in the background.

Sarah Ali is a Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip. She studied English Language and Literature and currently is working as a teacher in Gaza City.

Gaza: A human tragedy - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Islamic State: an unlikely harbinger of peace?

By Shahram Akbarzadeh

Photo: It is in Iran's interest to put out the fire of sectarianism. (AFP: Al-Furqan Media)

The crisis in Iraq offers Iran and Saudi Arabia common cause for a mutually beneficial arrangement, and a rare opportunity to stabilise the region, writes Shahram Akbarzadeh.

The military advances of the Islamic State (or IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) are seen as a very worrying development in the international media.

Predictions of doom and gloom abound, but the crisis in Iraq may provide the right push for a major regional shake-up and make the unthinkable possible: policy coordination between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The establishment of the Islamic caliphate, encompassing parts of Iraq and Syria, presents a direct challenge to both. IS is their common enemy.

Ironically, a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement is more challenging than the much-anticipated normalisation of relations between the United States and Iran. That is because, as the two major Islamic states of the Middle East, they both claim the leadership role in the Muslim world. Such claims are exclusive and result in delegitimising the other.

The ideological wall between Iran and Saudi Arabia has been reinforced by the spread of sectarianism across the Arab world.

But no Saudi-Iranian rapprochement is possible while Iran is seen to be pulling the strings in Iraq. This may be a political caricature, but the Saudis see Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki as an Iranian puppet. Saudi Arabia holds an even dimmer view of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

This perception has fed Saudi Arabia's open hostility towards the Malaki government and facilitated the tacit endorsement of IS when it emerged in Syria.

Saudi Arabia's attitude towards IS has undergone a fundamental change as Riyadh has grown weary of the security risk posed by returning IS fighters. It has now banned Saudis from joining the war in an effort to curtail the recruitment of Saudi citizens by IS.

The formation of the Islamic caliphate elevates the challenge to Saudi Arabia from a potential security threat to an ideological battle.

The self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi demands allegiance from all Muslims, dismissing other Muslim leaders as heretical and illegitimate - an obvious snub to the Saudi kingdom. The pride and joy of the kingdom is its position as the custodian of Islam's holy sites and the champion of the global Muslim community, the ummah. The Saudi leadership cannot tolerate this challenge from al-Baghdadi. But, its position in relation to IS is complicated by Riyadh's antipathy towards Malaki.

Malaki is proving to be a stumbling block in the formation of a regional and international alliance to address the IS threat.

Suggestions from Tehran that Iraq should form a government of national reconciliation to include the disaffected Sunni community signal that they in fact see Malaki as a liability and not an asset. This is a difficult test for the presidency of Hassan Rouhani. He needs to convince the Saudi leadership that Iran is not wedded to the Iraqi prime minister.

It is also in Iran's interest to put out the fire of sectarianism. Sectarianism undermines Iran's reach and the Iranian leadership has actively tried to transcend the confines of the Shiite sect when dealing with the Arab world.

However, the Syrian uprising highlighted a major drawback in Iran's policy. Shiite Iran had developed close links with Sunni Hamas and prided itself on forming an Axis of Resistance with Hezbollah, Syria and Hamas against Israel. But the escalation of sectarian conflict in Syria has split the axis and diverted attention from Israel. For Iran, sectarian cracks need to be repaired and the crisis in Iraq offers an immediate opportunity to do that.

There is a discernible degree of distrust between Iran and Saudi Arabia. But faced with a common enemy, the two states need to work together to save Iraq and prevent the spread of sectarian violence. Each has the means to influence potential allies in Iraq to explore a compromise, to form an inclusive government of national reconciliation. This would involve pushing Malaki aside; his record is too divisive. And the Iranian leadership has hinted at that possibility.

The crisis in Iraq offers Iran and Saudi Arabia common cause for a mutually beneficial arrangement; a rare opportunity to stabilise the region.

Shahram Akbarzadeh is Professor of Middle East and Central Asian Politics at Deakin University. View his full profile here. His research on this topic has been funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP grant 6-028-5-006). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the author.

Islamic State: an unlikely harbinger of peace? - The Drum (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Jailed al-Jazeera journalists guided by ‘devil’, says Egyptian court

Agence France-Presse theguardian.com, Wednesday 23 July 2014

Australian reporter Peter Greste and colleagues accused of taking 'advantage of the noble profession of journalism’

Left to right: al-Jazeera's Baher Mohamed, Mohammed Fahmy and Peter Greste were convicted of spreading false news. Photograph: Heba Elkholy, El Shorouk/AP

An Egyptian court that jailed three al-Jazeera journalists for alleged ties with Islamists said on Tuesday that "the devil guided" the group to spread false news defaming the country.

Australian journalist Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed were convicted in June of aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood and spreading false news that portrayed Egypt as being in a state of "civil war".

Greste and Fahmy received seven-year terms, while Mohamed was jailed for 10 years, in a case that sparked international outrage.

Eleven defendants tried in absentia, including one Dutch and two British journalists, were given 10-year sentences.

"The defendants took advantage of the noble profession of journalism … and turned it from a profession aimed at looking for the truth to a profession aimed at falsifying the truth," the court said in a statement explaining its verdict.

"The devil guided them to use journalism and direct it toward activities against this nation," it said.

Since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the authorities have been incensed by the Qatari network's coverage of their deadly crackdown on his supporters.

They consider al-Jazeera to be the voice of Qatar, and accuse Doha of backing Morsi's Brotherhood, as the emirate openly denounces the repression of the movement's supporters which has killed more than 1,400 people.

Sixteen of a total of 20 defendants in the trial were Egyptians accused of belonging to the Brotherhood, which the authorities designated a "terrorist organisation" in December.

Foreign defendants were alleged to have collaborated with and assisted their Egyptian co-defendants by providing media material, as well as editing and broadcasting it.

Jailed al-Jazeera journalists guided by ‘devil’, says Egyptian court | World news | theguardian.com

Iraq: a broken state

By Amin Saikal

Photo: The Obama administration has serious misgivings about the Maliki government. (Jim Young : Reuters)

After all the human and material costs, Amin Saikal says the time has come for those Western leaders responsible for the invasion to acknowledge their role in the mess that is Iraq today.

Iraq has fallen apart. Bearing responsibility for this is not just the incompetent Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The former US president George W. Bush, who ordered the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the British and Australian leaders who supported the invasion, for which there was no specific UN authorisation, must also share the responsibility for the dire predicament in which Iraq finds itself today.

The invading powers were repeatedly warned by many world leaders and specialists at the time that whilst the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship might have been highly desirable, it was not foreseeable that such an act would result in the creation of a new stable, secure and democratic Iraq. However, the warnings were dismissed in pursuit of a wider goal: a democratic transformation of Iraq as a beacon for stabilising and democratising the entire Muslim Middle East.

More than a decade later, Iraq has become a nightmare for the Iraqi people and for the US and its allies.

For all practical purposes, Iraq is now divided into three political and territorial entities. Whilst the country's two substantial minorities, the Kurds and Sunnis, have gone their own ways, its majority Shiite population, with control over the capital Baghdad and another major and oil-rich city, Basra, has been struggling to keep the country together. The Kurds have established virtually an independent state in the north and have lately gained control of the Kirkuk oil fields, which provides them with much needed revenue. Disillusioned with the Shiite-dominated Maliki's exclusionary government, many Sunnis have made cause with a militant Islamic group - the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). ISIL has declared a caliphate or Islamic state in the areas that it has lately conquered in western and north-western Iraq, as well as north-eastern Syria.

These developments have pitched Iraqis against Iraqis, sinking them deeper into bloody ethnic and sectarian conflicts, and have alarmed Iraq's neighbours and the West, particularly the United States, which withdrew its forces from Iraq at the end of 2011 without achieving any of its original goals. Neither the Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis nor the country's neighbours, namely Iran, Turkey and the conflict-ridden Syria, want to see an independent Kurdistan, which could embolden their own sizable Kurdish populations. At the same time they are all, minus many Iraqi Sunnis, opposed to ISIL's creation of a caliphate - a position which is shared by the United States and its Western allies.

Backed by some of its allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Saudi Arabia has not stood above the fray either. Whilst not openly lending support to ISIL, which has been shunned by other states in the region and beyond as a 'terrorist' cluster, it has nonetheless stood for the cause of the Iraqi Sunnis. It has done so mainly as part of its sectarian and geopolitical rivalries with the Shiite-dominated Iran, which has bonded closely with the Iraqi Shiites and the Shiite-linked Alawite-dominated government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

The whole situation has confronted Washington with serious quandaries. The Obama administration wants to see the elimination of the ISIL's caliphate and is ready to reengage Iraq militarily to achieve this objective. Meanwhile, it has serious misgivings about the Maliki leadership, and does not want its long-standing adversary, Iran, to gain wider regional influence either. Nor does it wish to do anything that could offend its traditional oil-rich Arab ally, Saudi Arabia. It has conditioned its assistance to Baghdad on the Iraqi parliament electing a new prime minister, who would pursue inclusive politics. It is of the view that any military assistance would not be successful, unless it is accompanied by a political solution.

The Iraqi parliament has failed twice in as many weeks to have a quorum to elect a new prime minister. However, in its last meeting on July 15, it elected a consensus Sunni politician, Salim al-Jabour, as its new speaker as a prelude to possibly replacing Maliki, who has stubbornly refused to step down. Tehran has indicated that it might back away from Maliki, provided that its Shiite allies retain their dominance in the Iraqi government.

Strangely enough, Washington's interest and that of Tehran have come to coincide in a common opposition to ISIL. But both sides have so far declined to cooperate in Iraq. President Obama is restrained by the fact that the current negotiation over Iran's controversial nuclear program has not resulted in a comprehensive agreement yet, and that Israel and its supporters in the US Congress keep branding Iran as an existentialist threat.

Similarly, the moderate Islamist president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, is under pressure from his hard-line factional opponents not to allow the US to become once again militarily involved in Iraq, whilst the US and its Western allies are maintaining their crippling sanctions on Iran. Rouhani has said that Iran will provide the Baghdad government with only non-combat military support. There is a view in Tehran that ISIL may possibly be a ploy orchestrated by the Saudis and Americans to suck Iran into another war - similar to the one that Saddam Hussein initiated with regional Arab and US support against Iran in 1980, resulting in a very devastating conflict for eight years.

What ultimately may transpire in Iraq is hard to predict at this point. But it is clear that Iraq is now a broken state. Irrespective of whether or not the Kurds achieve full independence and ISIL's caliphate, which faces opposition from within the jihadist movement as well as from regional and international actors, it will be very difficult to put Iraq back together.

After all the human and material costs on the part of the Iraqi people and the invading forces, the time has come for those Western leaders responsible for the invasion to acknowledge their role in the mess that is Iraq today.

Amin Saikal is Professor of Political Science, Public Policy Fellow, and Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (the Middle East and Central Asia), and the author of Zone of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq, London: I.B. Taauris, 2014. View his full profile here.

Iraq: a broken state - The Drum (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Flight MH17: Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile the most likely culprit in deadly attack on passenger jet

 

Related Story: Live: Airliner shot down over Ukraine; 27 Australians among 298 dead

Related Story: Russian jets shoot down Ukrainian warplane

Map: Ukraine

Military analysts say a medium-range surface-to-air missile is the weapon most likely to be used to shoot down a passenger airliner.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine overnight, killing all 298 people on board, including 27 Australians.

Experts say a medium-range surface-to-air missile would be well able to hit the plane, which was reportedly flying at an altitude of more than 10 kilometres.

Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have variants of the Buk, a surface-to-air missile system - including SA-11 and SA-17 missiles - that can hit targets at an altitude of up to 25 kilometres.

Under NATO's terminology, the Buk missile is referred to as the "Gadfly".

Shoulder-launched weapons have been blamed for the downing of several Ukrainian aircraft in recent days, but those attacks occurred at much lower altitudes, analysts said.

"A short-range, shoulder-launched weapon has been responsible for several aircraft lost in the last few days ... but it wouldn't be able to reach an altitude of 30-odd thousand feet," said Edward Hunt, senior defence analyst at IHS Jane's consultancy.

"It would have to be a missile of a certain capability."

Another scenario for the downed airliner could involve an air-to-air missile launched from a fighter jet, though there has been no indication of a warplane nearby at the same time.

The Buk surface-to-air missiles are in wide use. Before the conflict in Ukraine erupted, Kiev government forces had about six to eight batteries, Mr Hunt said.

Video: Video shows debris falling from sky in Ukraine (YouTube: Andrew Andreysky)

Russia has many more in its arsenal, as well as more sophisticated surface-to-air missiles, including the S-300 and the S-400, though it was unclear if those would be in use in or around Ukraine.

The S-400 is the most advanced and is believed to be deployed around Moscow and a few other areas.

It would be logical if the Russian armoured battalions deployed near the Ukrainian border had some Buk batteries with them, given that Moscow has said the units are on "exercises," analysts said.

But the missiles are not simple to operate like shoulder-launched weapons and it would be unlikely for pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine to be operating the Buk batteries.

"They're normally not seen within insurgent or separatist forces for the very reason they're quite manpower intensive, training intensive and spare parts intensive," Mr Hunt said.

The Buk missiles are mobile systems installed on vehicles and are designed to strike aircraft, cruise missiles, helicopters and other targets.

The Buk systems have appeared on Red Square at military parades and were first produced in the 1970s during the Soviet era.

The latest versions are manufactured at a factory in Ulyanovsk by Almaz-Antey, a firm that has been targeted by recent US sanctions against Moscow.

The Buk missiles also reportedly have been spotted in Syria. Russia delivered the systems to Damascus in recent years.

Photo: A Buk anti-aircraft battery launches a ground-to-air missile during Ukrainian army military manoeuvres at the Chauda firing ground in the Crimean peninsula, 1999. (Reuters)

AFP

Flight MH17: Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile the most likely culprit in deadly attack on passenger jet - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Malaysia Airlines crash: Australian PM tells Russia to explain disaster

Daniel Hurst, Helen Davidson and Oliver Laughland

theguardian.com, Friday 18 July 2014

Tony Abbott tells MPs: 'This is not something that can just be dismissed as a tragic accident when you have Russian proxies using Russian-supplied equipment'

Follow live updates on flight MH17 here

Tony Abbott talks to the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, in the House of Representatives on Friday morning. Photograph: Mike Bowers

The Australian prime minister has warned that Russia will bear a heavy share of responsibility for the loss of a Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 27 Australians “if as now seems certain it’s been brought down by a Russian-supplied surface-to-air missile”.

Tony Abbott used the strong language as he convened a meeting of the national security cabinet committee after flight MH17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 298 people on board.

Australia would summon the Russian ambassador to seek a categorical assurance that the Russian government would fully co-operate with a thorough investigation, Abbott said, as “it seems” the plane was shot down by Russian-backed rebels.

“This is no light thing; this is not something that can just be dismissed as a tragic accident when you have Russian proxies using Russian-supplied equipment to do terrible things – if in fact this is what turns out to have been the case. At the moment all we can say is the indications are this way,” Abbott told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

Abbott said people around the world should be “filled with revulsion” at the loss of innocent lives and he offered his deepest condolences for families and friends of those aboard the plane. “Australians stick together in tough times; but it is a grim day for the world,” he said.

The Australian government is pressing for “a full, independent, international inquiry and investigation” into the circumstances and has not ruled out cancelling an invitation for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to the G20 summit in Brisbane scheduled for November.

The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, said there was “very strong speculation” the Boeing 777 had been shot down and this would be an “unspeakable crime”, but she added: “We can't yet point the finger of blame until there's been a full investigation.”

The plane from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur came down close to the village of Grabovo in eastern Ukraine, which is part of the area controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Bishop confirmed 27 of the passengers on the flight were Australian nationals, saying the government’s thoughts and prayers were with family and friends.

Nine of the victims are believed to be from Queensland, the premier, Campbell Newman, said.

By 9am AEST about 170 people had called the consular emergency centre of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“I understand this was a flight connecting to Australia,” Bishop said. “It was Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur, Perth and that there are a number of Australians on that flight. I also understand that a number of people who were travelling to Melbourne for the 2014 Aids conference commencing this weekend were also on board,” she said.

Bishop said Australia was seeking to send consular staff from Warsaw to the rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, but would require access.

Responding to reports Russian separatists had taken the black box flight recorder, Bishop said she urged them to cooperate with an investigation into the crash and “if they have taken the black box that must be returned to authorities immediately”.

The incident underlined the urgent need to de-escalate the tensions and the situation in eastern Ukraine, Bishop said.

Political leaders opened parliament on Friday with offers of sympathy to friends and family of the victims.

Abbott told parliament the government owed it to the families of the dead to find out exactly what had happened and who was responsible, as it looked “less like an accident than a crime” and the perpetrators “must be brought to justice”.

“I can inform the house that as quickly as possible Australia will be working at the United Nations security council for a binding resolution calling for a full and impartial investigation with full access to the site, with full access to the debris, with full access to the black box and with full access to all individuals who might be in a position to shed light on this terrible event,” Abbott said.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, told parliament the “tyrannical, wild act” was a “violation of the rules of civilisation”.

“There are at least 27 Australians who have been murdered,” Shorten said.

“The missile that brought down MH17 and the missiles that have claimed numerous other Ukrainian aircraft could not possibly be made by the people who've possibly fired them. These separatist terrorists are obtaining these instruments of murder from elsewhere.”

In an offer of bipartisan support, Shorten said the opposition understood the complexity of the decisions the prime minister would have to make and would cooperate. He said this might include actions involving the G20 and Labor would work with the government in taking a “measured approach”.

The Greens deputy leader, Adam Bandt, added his voice to the parliamentary speeches, saying thousands of lives would be “touched by this tragedy and it’s a reminder that any one of us in this parliament or this country could have been on that plane”.

Flight MH17 was flying over Ukrainian airspace, 1,000 feet above a no-fly zone when it is believed to have been shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

Ukraine’s government and Russian separatists have blamed each other for the crash.

“This was not an 'incident', this was not a 'catastrophe', this was a terrorist act," said the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko.

Putin laid the blame for the crash at Ukraine's door. “There is no doubt that the nation over whose airspace this happened bears responsibility for the terrible tragedy,” he said.

Abbott was asked whether Australia would rescind an invitation to Putin to attend the G20 summit it was hosting in November. “I don’t want to pre-empt what happens down the track,” he said.

The flight departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm local time, and was due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10am local time.

The route had been declared safe by aviation authorities, and the aircraft did not make a distress call, Malaysia Airlines said.

 

Malaysia Airlines crash: Australian PM tells Russia to explain disaster | World news | theguardian.com

After his Gaza comments, Vic Alhadeff should step down

Joseph Wakim theguardian.com, Monday 14 July 2014

Comments by the chair of the NSW community relations commission have inflamed tensions between Arab and Jewish Australians at a sensitive time

'His role is to prevent this kind of stone throwing, not engage in it.' Photograph: Supplied

When former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell appointed the incumbent CEO of the NSW Jewish board of deputies, Vic Alhadeff, to the chair of the community relations commission (CRC) in December last year, did he think Alhadeff could straddle both roles?

Having been a commissioner myself, under both Labor and Liberal governments, I am acutely aware that this statutory body demands ambassadors of harmony. Yet a recent release, disseminated among his Jewish constituents, has achieved the opposite effect.

Wearing his CEO hat, Alhadeff issued a community update on 9 July, titled "Israel under Fire: Important points about Operation Protective Edge". His statement reached the Arab Australian community and went viral.

In the post he condemned the "Hamas terror organisation" for its "attacks on Israeli civilians", for "violating international law and engaging in war crimes as its militants launch rockets indiscriminately at civilians from civilian areas".

His statement failed to condemn the collective punishment and indiscriminate attacks against Gaza. As chairman, his role is to prevent this kind of stone throwing, not engage in it.

Community relations commissioners are not appointed to advocate for foreign governments. We are tasked with bringing local leaders together, as neutral arbiters. A Jewish colleague of mine, from my time in Melbourne, is a lifelong friend; we were part-time commissioners but full-time ambassadors. Whatever our other roles, we worked together, cautiously, to extinguish sparks before they became fires.

When he accepted the chairman’s position, he declared that he was “passionate about the need to advance social harmony and combat racism”. The Jewish board of deputies espouses the same view; its goals include combating all forms of racism. Alhadeff has spoken out in favour of retaining section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and opposes all forms of racial vilification. Yet he makes an exception, when Israel vilifies Arabs.

His statement copy-pastes the Frequently Asked Questions from Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs. The references to Israel as "we" and "our operation" under his name raises serious questions about whether he can truly be an ambassador for community harmony.

He refers to "self defence in response", "operating with care" and "pinpoint technologies to hit targeted infrastructure". Yet he fails to explain, or even mention, how Israeli strikes had already killed Gazan children and civilians by the time his release was published. The Gazan fatalities now exceed 160.

The release refers to the "recent kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers", but not the recent burning alive of a 15 year old Palestinian student, even though Alhadeff personally tweeted his dismay. Neither did it mention the countless Palestinian children who are snatched from their beds, never to be seen again, and never to attract global condemnation.

What message does his statement send to half a million Australian citizens of Arab ancestry, many with relatives cowering under beds in Gaza? Would such statements build bridges and community relations, or build a wall between us and them?

Alhadeff has neither retracted nor apologised for his statement. Instead, Yair Miller, the president of the Jewish board of deputies, added insult to injury when he criticised Sunday’s pro-Palestinian rally as activists bringing “foreign conflicts to the streets of Sydney”. So it's permissible to justify a foreign war on the Jewish board of deputies letterhead, but not to protest against war in the streets of your own city?

A spokesperson for Mike Baird, the NSW premier, gently rebuked Alhadeff in a statement, saying that while he "was not writing in his capacity as CRC chair ... “He has acknowledged the need to focus on issues in NSW and avoid using inappropriate language regarding overseas conflicts”.

Baird is not responsible for appointments made by his predecessor. Asking Alhadeff politely to resign for his comments, made at such a tense time, would be the moral thing to do. It would be pro-harmony. To avoid escalating tensions, it would be wise to announce a date for Alhadeff to step down – for him to essentially "give notice".

Honest dialogue may result from what has been a painful experience. It should go beyond exercising restraint about public statements, but on educating both parties about their impact on fellow human beings. Ironically, this what the chair of the community relations commission should have done in the first place.

After his Gaza comments, Vic Alhadeff should step down | Joseph Wakim | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Jewish leader Vic Alhadeff slammed over Hamas 'war crimes'

Nicole Hasham, State Politics July 11, 2014

EXCLUSIVE

Public rebuke: The head of the NSW Community Relations Commission Vic Alhadeff.

Premier Mike Baird has publicly reprimanded the chair of the NSW Community Relations Commission, Vic Alhadeff, over “inappropriate” remarks that accuse Palestine of war crimes and appear to gloss over Israeli violence.

But critics say the rebuke to Mr Alhadeff, who is also chief executive of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, does not go far enough and say he should be removed from the government-appointed position.

The dispute has laid bare the deep fissures between Sydney’s Arabic and Jewish communities, and raises questions over Mr Alhadeff’s dual roles, which require him to both support the Jewish cause and promote community unity.

But Mr Alhadeff says he has “worked tirelessly with leaders across the Muslim and Arab communities” and “I stand on my track record of sowing harmony ... in NSW”.

In an email to members of the Jewish community this week, Mr Alhadeff condemned acts by Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas during conflict ignited by the murders of three Israeli students last month.

The incidents triggered a suspected reprisal killing of a Palestinian teenager, followed by riots in East Jerusalem and the exchange of rockets between Israel and Gaza.

Mr Alhadeff's email, titled “Israel Under Fire”, criticised the “Hamas terror organisation” for launching rockets on Israeli towns, saying families had been forced into shelters and “children kept from summer camp”.

Israel would “do whatever is needed to defend its citizens. All options are on the table”, he said.

He accused Hamas of “war crimes” for “indiscriminately” attacking civilians, claiming in contrast, Israel uses “care to avoid civilian casualties” and “pinpoint technologies to hit the targeted infrastructure”.

The statement triggered outrage amongst Arab leaders in NSW, including Joseph Wakim, former Victorian Multicultural Affairs Commissioner and founder of the Australian Arabic Council, who described the views as “biased and provocative”.

He said Mr Alhadeff ignored the attack on the Palestinian teenager and failed to mention “air and sea strikes that have already killed 35 Palestinian civilians”.

“He has very clearly taken one side and said ‘here are the goodies and here are the baddies’,” Mr Wakim said.

“Do such statements build bridges and community relations, or wedge a wall between us and them?”

Mr Wakim said Mr Alhadeff’s appointment to the Community Relations Commission in December last year “should never have happened” because it created a serious conflict of interest. He called on Mr Alhadeff to relinquish one role.

A spokesman for Premier Mike Baird said Mr Alhadeff “has done an excellent job” as CRC chair but his statement "may be considered inconsistent” with promoting community harmony.

“[Mr Alhadeff] has acknowledged the need to focus on issues in NSW and avoid using inappropriate language regarding overseas conflicts,” the spokesman said.

He added: “Few people have done more to promote inter-faith engagement and understanding between the Jewish and Muslim communities in NSW than Mr Alhadeff".

Mr Alhadeff said he frequently spoke out to condemn racism against the Muslim community and “worked tirelessly with leaders across the Muslim and Arab communities”.

“Despite occasionally differing views on issues, surely we all share a determination to live peacefully and harmoniously together in a tolerant and inclusive NSW,” he said.

“The role of the CRC Chair is to fight racism, promote multiculturalism and ensure community harmony. This is what I have done passionately and will continue to do.”

Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan said Mr Alhadeff had “helped the Muslim community” in his role as chairman, such as contributing to establishing an Australian Muslim community foster care program.

"My engagement with Vic … has been a very positive engagement," Mr Dandan said.

But he cautioned that while Mr Alhadeff was entitled to a political opinion "he needs to be conscious, in his role as CRC chair, of only saying things that are very positive".

In a statement, co-convenors of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Palestine, Labor MP Lynda Voltz and Greens MP David Shoebridge, said Mr Alhadeff’s comments were “deeply inappropriate” and unless they were withdrawn, his community relations role was “clearly untenable”.

Jewish leader Vic Alhadeff slammed over Hamas 'war crimes' remark#ixzz37AaFV93u

Musa Cerantonio: The tale of the try-hard jihadist

Caroline Zielinski July 13, 2014

It is difficult to believe that one of Australia’s most wanted religious extremists, Musa Cerantonio, grew up in a big, Catholic Italian family of six in a suburb in Melbourne’s west. It is equally surprising that the man who supports jihadists once dreamt of becoming a professional football star. 

Mr Cerantonio, 29, or, as he was known then, Robert Cerantonio, was a typical teenager who did what adolescents are wont to do: he attended what was then known as Footscray Technical College, he partied, drank alcohol, went on dates with girls and played footy with his mates.

So what happened to turn this otherwise regular teen, who was arrested in the Philippines on Friday and faces deportation to Australia, into one of Australia’s most radical preachers?

Philippine police officers escort Cerantonio upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquiono International Airport in Manila. Photo: AP

A family friend, who declined to be named, told The Sunday Age that Mr Cerantonio’s rising infamy as an Islamic preacher was a shock to the family.

“I knew that he’d become a Muslim, but not to this extreme,” he said. “To be one of these radicals…he’s just off his head,”   

The friend, who knew Mr Cerantonio when he was a child, said he was a “real fantastic kid” who “could have played professional AFL”.

“He was a great kid, and he used to play footy, and was really good at it,” the friend said.

“The Western Jets wanted him to try out for them when he was about 15 or 16. He was a good looking boy, just a normal kid - I don’t know what happened.”

The friend said that once in high school, Mr Cerantonio would “hang out with Muslims”, but that he could not recall him acting unusually.

“I can’t remember him acting [like a] Muslim at 17. He was a regular kid who liked girls and going out with friends.”

While Mr Cerantonio’s Italian father and Irish mother have declined to comment on their son’s predicament, the friend told The Sunday Age that all they wished for was to see their son safe and home after years of separation.

“They just want their son to come home,”  he said. “They’re happy he got caught by the right people, and that he might now be extradited. Although they don’t condone it, he’s still their son.”

A father to at least two young daughters, Mr Cerantonio has been estranged from his family for nearly a decade, the friend said.

The radical preacher, who is regarded as one of the top propagandists for jihad, recently had his Facebook page shut down for urging Muslims to kill Western leaders and for encouraging young Australians to risk their lives in Syria and Iraq.

He was arrested on the island of Cebu, in the Philippines, early on Friday morning after being pursued by the Australian Federal Police for possible charges under Australia’s Foreign Incursions Act, which prohibits fighting with foreign paramilitary organisations, including recruiting others.

During a conference detailing his conversion to Islam five years after the event,  Mr Cerantonio talked about his journey from an increasingly faithless Catholic to that of a faithful Muslim, referring to his Christian upbringing as “Catholic by name only”.

“We weren’t very practising, and whilst we were Catholic by name, we didn’t go to church except on Christmas or Easter, or when someone died or was getting married,” he said. “And while I loved all the [Bible] stories, I didn’t have the access to turn that love into religious action.”

Mr Cerantonio, who attended a small Catholic primary school in Footscray before enrolling in the former Footscray Technical College, described his high school as “a very liberal school”, influenced by the politics of socialism.

“We didn’t have uniforms, we wouldn't call our teachers by their [surnames] - they wanted to instil in us a sense of freedom, and [to follow] politics”.

In what Mr Cerantonio described as a “socialist and atheist” atmosphere, the teenager soon began seeking solace in religion. In the year 2000, when Mr Cerantonio was 15, he visited the Vatican to strengthen his faith in Christianity, but was disappointed by what he saw.

“I began to question the role of the Pope in the Catholic Church…and saw people praying to a dead body [embalmed body of a Pope]. There was idol worship at the home of my faith…and I felt in my heart that this was not right.”

When he returned home, Mr Cerantonio’s faith in the Catholic Church was shattered, and he began reading about other religions. With encouragement from his Muslim friends, the teenager's interest in Islam grew, eventually leading him to convert in 2002, at age 17.

Since then, it is understood Mr Cerantonio has studied history and communications, as well as being the president of the Islamic Society at Victoria University.

The religious extremist was last seen being ushered through a crowded Manila airport on Saturday after refusing to answer questions by Philippines police.

Musa Cerantonio: The tale of the try-hard jihadist

Australian Islamic preacher arrested in Philippines over alleged Isis links

Kate Hodal in Singapore theguardian.com, Saturday 12 July 2014

Melbourne-native Robert Cerantonio accused of recruiting fighters as government lists Isis as terrorist organisation

Robert Cerantonio is escorted by police on arrival in Manila after being arrested in Lapu-Lapu city. Photograph: Stringer/ Philippines/ Reuters

An Australian Islamic preacher suspected of rallying support for Isis militants in Syria has been arrested in the Philippines, where he has been preaching radical Islam and recruiting militants since February, according to Australian police.

Melbourne-native Robert Cerantonio, 29, who goes by the alias of Musa, was arrested on Friday morning in Lapu-Lapu city on the island of Cebu in the central Philippines, along with a Filipina woman and Filipino man, a stack of different currencies, SIM cards, mobile phones and his passport.

“He has been literally calling for jihad,” a senior police intelligence official told Reuters. “He has been recruiting Filipino Muslims to fight in Iraq and Syria.”

Australian federal police had been reportedly tracking Cerantonio for months and are likely to deport him back to Australia for full questioning. His arrest is a major boon for the intelligence community as it is the first known link between Islamist militants in the Philippines and foreign jihadists who support conflicts in the Middle East.

Cerantonio is considered by terrorism experts to be one of the world’s most influential “inspirations” for militants in Syria and Iraq, according to Australian media. Police said Cerantonio had given lectures in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) in Basilan and Sulu, two southern Philippine provinces where Filipino Muslim extremists operate, and that he may have been involved in distributing an online video showing what appear to be militant Filipino prisoners inside a jail supporting Isis.

According to Philippine media, the prison is a high-risk detention facility housing members of various extremist groups, including Abu Sayyaf, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the New People’s army.

Filipino Muslims have a history of taking part in conflict in the Middle East, with some militants fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Cerantonio has a huge online following and is suspected of using social media to recruit militants and urge Muslims to kill western leaders. YouTube videos show Cerantonio calling for jihad and in one video posted on his own website, he calls for “brother Muslims” to join in the war in Iraq and Syria, according to AFP senior Supt Conrad Capa.

He also seemingly knew that he was being watched by authorities. In one recent tweet he attempted to put authorities off his trail, saying: “Al-Hamdulillah I have arrived in the land of Khilafah in Ash-Sham! May Allah honour all Muslims during this blessed time in His obedience,” — indicating that he was in Syria or Iraq.

In another posting on Facebook, he baited police by writing: “Have fun finding me. I’ll be waiting for you or whichever dogs you send,” Australian media reported. Filipino analysts called Cerantonio’s arrest proof that the threat of extremism in the Philippines is “real, rather than imagined”.

“The two videos showing a few Muslims in the Philippines expressing allegiance to Isis with the use of the Black Flag demonstrates that Isis’ threat to Philippine security is real rather than imagined,” wrote Rommel Banlaoi on the online news portal Rappler.com. Banlaoi heads the Centre for Intellegence National Security Studies (CINSS) of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research.

“The so-called Black Flag movement is very active in the Philippines … [and] seems to be the unifying factor among violent extremist groups operating in the Philippines. Isis’ use of the Black Flag resonates strongly in the Philippines.”

Australia recently listed Isis along with the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Isil) as a terrorist organisation and warned that those who have fought with or financially support a listed terrorist group can be jailed for up to 25 years.

“Listing the Islamic State reinforces the government’s strong message to those Australians who may wish to participate in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq … that their activities may be subject to offences with significant penalties,” said Australian attorney general George Brandis.

Foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop said Cerantonio’s arrest indicated a real push by Australia to prevent terrorism from spreading.

“We are determined to ensure that Australians do not leave this country to take up fighting in another country, become radicalised and then return to Australia with these new skills and extremist outlooks,” she told reporters.

Australian Islamic preacher arrested in Philippines over alleged Isis links | World news | theguardian.com

Iraq crisis: Man claiming to be Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls on all Muslims to obey him in online video

 

Photo: The propaganda video allegedly shows Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi identifying himself as Caliph Ibrahim, the leader of the Islamic State jihadist group previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). (Photo: AFP/HO/al-Furqan Media)

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A man claiming to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video released on social media.

The video surfaced after social media reports that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would make his first public appearance since his jihadist group ISIS changed its name to the Islamic State and declared a caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria.

However, the Iraqi government denied the authenticity of the 21-minute video, which carried Friday's date.

"We have analysed the footage ... and found it is a farce," interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan told Reuters.

Reports of Baghdadi's death or injury had been circulating prior to the video's release.

Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

Read more on the rising star of global jihad, the commanding leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

If Baghdadi did preach in Mosul on Friday, it would be the first public appearance by the head of the militant group, which led a military offensive last month that saw swathes of northern Iraq fall to ISIS and other Sunni armed factions.

The campaign started on June 10 in Mosul, the North's biggest city, which was quickly taken by ISIS.

The video showed a bearded man in a black robe and black turban slowly ascending the pulpit below the black flag of the Islamic State, before delivering a sermon and leading prayers.

The recording called him "Caliph Ibrahim, emir of the faithful in the Islamic State, may God protect him".

It was not immediately possible to confirm the identity of the man in the recording as only two photographs of Baghdadi have previously been published.

It was also not immediately possible to confirm the authenticity of the video or the date it was made.

 

Video calls for all Muslims to obey Baghdadi

"God has granted your brothers, the Mujahideen, victory and a conquest after years of patience and holy struggle, and enabled them to achieve their objective," the man purported to be Baghdadi said.

"And they have rushed to declare an Islamic caliphate and to appoint an imam [leader], which is a duty for Muslims, a duty that had been lost for centuries that had been absent from reality, making many Muslims ignorant of it.

"I have been afflicted by this great affair, I have been afflicted by this trust, a heavy trust.

Explained: What is ISIS?

International correspondent Mark Corcoran takes a look at the feared group currently waging an insurgency across Iraq and Syria.

"I was appointed in charge of you, though I am not the best or better than you.

"So if you see me in the right, then help me, and if you see me in the wrong, advise me and put me right and obey me as long as I obey God in you."

In an audio tape, Baghdadi last week called on Muslims worldwide to take up arms and flock to the caliphate it has declared on captured Syrian and Iraqi soil.

Western governments fear the jihadist group could eventually strike overseas, but their biggest worry for now is its sweeping gains in Iraq and the likely eventual return home of foreign fighters.

The group appears to have attracted more foreigners than any of the rebel groups fighting in Syria, and unlike other groups fighting Bashar al-Assad, has sought to appeal to non-Arabs by releasing English-language magazines and videos in English, or with English subtitles.

Much of the appeal stems from Baghdadi himself - he is touted as a battlefield commander and tactician, a crucial distinction compared with Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"If you were a guy who wanted action, you would go with Baghdadi," Richard Barrett, a former counter-terrorism chief at Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, told AFP.

Reuters/AFP

Iraq crisis: Man claiming to be Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls on all Muslims to obey him in online video - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)