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Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel revokes visas for some Australian diplomats
SYDNEY: Israel's foreign minister said on Monday he had revoked the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority, following a decision by Canberra to recognize a Palestinian state and cancel an Israeli lawmaker's visa. The Australian government said it had canceled the visa of a lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition who has advocated against Palestinian statehood and called for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Australia's ambassador to Israel had been informed that the visas of representatives to the Palestinian Authority had been revoked. Like many countries, Australia maintains an embassy to Israel in Tel Aviv and a representative office to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah. 'I also instructed the Israeli Embassy in Canberra to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to Israel,' Saar wrote on X, describing Australia's refusal to grant visas to some Israelis as 'unjustifiable.' The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning Israel's decision as illegal and 'in violation of international law." Australia is set to recognize a Palestinian state next month, a move it says it hopes will contribute to international momentum toward a two-state solution, a ceasefire in Gaza, and the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza. Simcha Rothman, a parliamentarian from the Religious Zionism party led by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, had been scheduled to visit Australia this month at the invitation of a conservative Jewish organization. Rothman said he was told his visa had been canceled over remarks the Australian government considered controversial and inflammatory, including his assertion that Palestinian statehood would lead to the destruction of the state of Israel and his call for Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank. 'Nothing that I said personally has not been said over and over again by the vast majority of the public in Israel and the government of Israel,' Rothman said by phone. Rothman said he had been informed that his views would cause unrest among Australian Muslims. Asked about Canberra's decision on Palestinian statehood, Rothman said that would be a 'grave mistake and a huge reward for Hamas and terror.' Australia's Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, said in an emailed statement that the government takes a hard line on those who seek to spread division in Australia, and that anyone coming to promote a message of hate and division is not welcome. 'Under our government, Australia will be a country where everyone can be safe and feel safe,' he said. The Australian Jewish Association had invited Rothman to meet members of the Jewish community and show solidarity in the face of 'a wave of antisemitism,' AJA Chief Executive Robert Gregory said. In June, Australia and four other countries imposed sanctions on Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over accusations of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Why Israel is systematically erasing Gaza's intellectuals
The killing of seven Palestinian journalists and media workers in Gaza last week has prompted verbal condemnations, yet has inspired little to no substantive action. This has become the predictable and horrifying trajectory of the international community's response to the ongoing Israeli genocide. By eliminating Palestinian journalists like Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qraiqeh, Israel has made a sinister statement that the genocide will spare no one. According to the monitoring website Israel has killed nearly 270 journalists since October 2023. More Palestinian journalists are likely to die covering the genocide of their own people in Gaza, especially since Israel has manufactured a convenient and easily deployed narrative that every Gazan journalist is simply a 'terrorist.' This is the same cruel logic offered by numerous Israeli officials in the past, including President Isaac Herzog, who declared that 'an entire nation' in Gaza 'is responsible' for not having rebelled against Hamas, effectively stating that there are no innocent people in the Strip. This Israeli discourse, which dehumanizes an entire population based on a vicious logic, is frequently repeated by officials who fear no accountability. Even Israeli diplomats, whose job in theory is to improve their country's image internationally, frequently engage in this brutal ritual. In comments made in January 2024, Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely callously argued that 'every school, every mosque, every second house has access to tunnels,' implying that all of Gaza is a valid military target. This cruel language would be easily dismissed as mere rhetoric except that Israel has, in fact, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports, destroyed more than 70 percent of Gaza's infrastructure. While extremist language is often used by politicians around the world, it is rare for the extremism of the language to so precisely mirror the extremism of the action itself. This makes Israeli political discourse a uniquely dangerous phenomenon. There can be no military justification for the wholesale annihilation of an entire region. But again, Israeli politicians are not shying away from providing the discourse that explains this unprecedented destruction. Former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin chillingly said in May that 'every child, every baby in Gaza is an enemy … not a single Gazan child will be left there.' However, for the systematic destruction of a whole nation to succeed, it must include the deliberate targeting of its scientists, doctors, intellectuals, journalists, artists and poets. While children and women may be worst affected by Israel's indiscriminate bombing raids, many of its targeted assassinations appear to be specifically aimed at disorienting Palestinian society, depriving it of societal leadership and rendering the process of rebuilding Gaza impossible. The following figures powerfully illustrate this point. According to a report released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, based on a satellite damage assessment conducted in July, 97 percent of Gaza's educational facilities have been affected, with 91 percent in need of major repairs or full reconstruction. Additionally, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students have been killed. But why is Israel so intent on killing those responsible for intellectual production? The answer is twofold: one is unique to Gaza and the other is unique to the nature of Israel's founding ideology, Zionism. First, regarding Gaza. Since the Nakba in 1948, Palestinian society in Gaza has invested heavily in education, seeing it as a crucial tool for liberation and self-determination. Early footage shows lessons being given in tents and open spaces, a testament to this community's tenacious pursuit of knowledge. This focus on education transformed the Strip into a regional hub for intellectual and cultural production, despite poorly funded UNRWA schools. Israel's campaign of destruction is a deliberate attempt to erase this generational achievement, a practice known as 'scholasticide,' and Gaza is the most deliberate example of this horrific act. Second, regarding Zionism. For many years, we were led to believe that Zionism was winning the intellectual war due to the cleverness and refinement of Israeli propaganda, or hasbara. The prevailing narrative, particularly in the Arab world, was that Palestinians and Arabs were simply no match for the savvy Israeli and pro-Israel public relations machine in the West. This created a sense of intellectual inferiority, masking the true reason for the imbalance. The Gazan intellectual community managed, in two years, to reverse most of Zionism's gains over the past century. Dr. Ramzy Baroud Israel was able to 'win' in the mainstream media discourse due to the intentional marginalization and demonization of Palestinian and pro-Palestine voices. The latter had no chance of fighting back simply because they were not allowed to and were instead labeled 'terrorist sympathizers' and such like. Even the late world-renowned Palestinian scholar Edward Said was called a 'Nazi' by the extremist, now-banned Jewish Defense League, which went so far as to set the beloved professor's university office on fire. Gaza, however, represented a major problem. With foreign media forbidden from operating in the Strip as per Israeli orders, the Gazan intellectual community rose to the occasion and, in the course of two years, managed to reverse most of Zionism's gains over the past century. This forced Israel into a desperate race against time to remove as many Palestinian journalists, intellectuals, academics and even social media influencers from the scene as quickly as possible — thus, the war on the Palestinian thinker. This Israeli scheme is, however, destined to fail, as ideas are not tied to specific individuals and resilience and resistance are a culture, not a job title. Gaza shall once more emerge, not only as the culturally thriving place it has always been, but as the cornerstone of a new liberation discourse that is set to inspire the globe regarding the power of intellect to stand firm, fight for what is right and live with purpose for a higher cause.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israel Revokes Visas for Some Australian Diplomats
Israel's foreign minister said on Monday he had revoked the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority, following a decision by Canberra to recognize a Palestinian state and cancel an Israeli lawmaker's visa. The Australian government said it had cancelled the visa of a lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition who has advocated against Palestinian statehood and called for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Australia's ambassador to Israel had been informed that the visas of representatives to the Palestinian Authority had been revoked. Like many countries, Australia maintains an embassy to Israel in Tel Aviv and a representative office to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "I also instructed the Israeli Embassy in Canberra to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to Israel," Saar wrote on X, describing Australia's refusal to grant visas to some Israelis as "unjustifiable". Australia's government did not immediately comment. The Palestinian foreign ministry issued a statement condemning Israel's decision as illegal and "in violation of international law. Australia is set to recognize a Palestinian state next month, a move it says it hopes will contribute to international momentum towards a two-state solution, a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza. INVITATION BY JEWISH ORGANIZATION Simcha Rothman, a parliamentarian from the Religious Zionism party led by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, had been scheduled to visit Australia this month at the invitation of a conservative Jewish organization. Rothman said he was told his visa had been cancelled over remarks the Australian government considered controversial and inflammatory, including his assertion that Palestinian statehood would lead to the destruction of the state of Israel and his call for Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank. "Nothing that I said personally has not been said over and over again by the vast majority of the public in Israel and the Government of Israel," Rothman told Reuters by phone. Rothman said he had been informed that his views would cause unrest among Australian Muslims. Asked about Canberra's decision on Palestinian statehood, Rothman said that would be a "grave mistake and a huge reward for Hamas and for terror". Australia's Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke said in an emailed statement that the government takes a hard line on those who seek to spread division in Australia, and that anyone coming to promote a message of hate and division was not welcome. "Under our government, Australia will be a country where everyone can be safe, and feel safe," he said. The Home Affairs Ministry declined further comment. Rothman had been invited by the Australian Jewish Association to meet members of the Jewish community and show solidarity in the face of "a wave of antisemitism," AJA Chief Executive Robert Gregory said. In June, Australia and four other countries imposed sanctions on Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over accusations of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
