Latest news with #Mendelle
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Israeli-Iranian coalition call on Albanese govt to 'crack down' on Islamic extremism before it can 'take root' on home soil
A Jewish and an Iranian-Australian coalition have called on the Albanese government to 'crack down' on Islamic extremism before it can "take root" on home soil. A Jewish and an Iranian-Australian coalition have called on the Albanese government to crack down on Islamic extremism before it can "take root" on home soil. Israeli-Australian Roz Mendelle said she was concerned about extremism being promoted by Greens politicians and prominent activists across Australia. Ms Mendelle became trapped in Jerusalem after Iran began targeting civilian centres in missile strikes on Israel earlier this month in retaliation to the IDF's tactical bombings of Iranian nuclear and military targets in mid-June. After she received videos of 'violent protests and marches' back home from Iranian colleagues and friends, Ms Mendelle said the Greens politicians and activists were calling for sanctions on Israel while 'excusing' the actions of the regime's terror proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. 'With this in mind, I hope the government will crack down on these extremists who are spreading hate at home,' Ms Mendelle told Fighting Islamic extremism on home soil Ms Mendelle is the founder and co-director of Brisbane-based Minority Impact, a self-described group of Australians from multi-ethnic backgrounds united in promoting social cohesion and opposing radicalism. Minority Impact is currently running a national campaign in solidarity with Iranian refugees who are calling for a free Iran. Iranian-Australian Azin Naghibi, who is a co-director of Minority Impact, said she connected with Ms Mendelle after October 7 when Hamas shared footage of its barbaric attacks on Israeli citizens. Ms Naghibi said after October 7, radicalism had taken place on the steps of the Sydney Opera House which made her realise Israelis and Iranians had one thing in common. "(It) struck me that Israelis and Iranians are suffering from the same enemies: radical Islamists and terrorist ideology," Ms Naghibi told Ms Naghibi said she connected with Ms Mendelle and others, including members of the Hindu community who were also victims of persecution, to stave off radical Islamic extremism in Australia. "We have established the Minority Impact Coalition organisation to work together to make Australia safer for all minorities. We don't want to see radicalism take root here in our second home," she said. Ms Naghibi said the story of Israeli Shani Louk, who was kidnapped from the Nova festival before she was tortured, raped and killed, reminded her of a similar brutal repression of women in Iran. "We had a similar story that had happened in Iran during the 2022 national uprising known as the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Her name was Nika Shakarami, whose life was taken facing similar brutality and violence at the hands of the IRGC, the terrorist organisation in Iran," she said. Ms Naghibi recounted a moment from 2009, before migrating to Australia, where she and her husband watched a young Iranian protester get shot "right in front of our eyes" by the IRGC. "My husband and I, along with others, helped put his body into a car to take him to the hospital, but later we found out it was too late," she said. "That moment was a turning point in our lives; we could no longer be the same people as before. From that day on, we committed ourselves to doing whatever we could against the Islamic regime and its oppressive forces." Ms Naghibi said she and her husband attended every protest and were beaten "several times" at demonstrations. They were also exposed to numerous threats after they stopped identifying as Muslims. "One significant incident was when the Islamic regime shut down our business, accusing us of being followers of Satan," she said. "In short, everything culminated in a situation where our lives were at risk, leading us to flee the country and seek for a safe haven in Australia." She said she and her husband fled Iran to Australia because they believed it would be "our safe haven", but realised the Islamic regime in Iran has attempted to "export their ideology, even here in Australia". "We have seen that after October 7, many terrorists used the anti-Israel movement to spread hate within society," she said. "We want the Australian government to make Australia safe for everyone.' — Morgan C. Jonas 🇦🇰 (@morgancjonas) June 23, 2025 Holding Australian society together Ms Mendelle said most Australians do not realise the war between Iran and Israel was 'unique'. 'It's a war against oppression and terrorism, at the source. The same extremist regime in Iran that funds Hamas and Hezbollah is also building nuclear weapons and silencing its own citizens,' she said Ms Mendelle said she wanted the same 'spirit of cohesion' and mutual respect in Australia as was prevalent in Israel among Jews, Arab Israelis, Druze, Baha'is and other groups. 'Since the October 7th massacre, which was funded primarily by this oppressive Iranian regime, Jewish Australians have struggled to feel support from the Labor government,' she said. 'Now, in a time when Israel is helping to prevent an oppressive dictator from building nuclear weapons, I expect our government to show moral clarity and unashamed support.' She urged Australians to listen to people who have fled the Iranian regime, who had 'lost daughters' and who still carry the scars of oppression. 'If you want peace—stand with the people, not the oppressors,' she said. 'We need a government that stands for truth and freedom. The Australian government can help bring Australian society together by demonstrating strength against violent and inciteful actors, adding the Iranian Regime's IRGC to the terror list (which USA and Canada have already done), and helping to humanise and support all minorities.' Trapped in the Middle East Ms Naghibi's family remains in Tehran and when Israeli media and the Trump administration alerted people to leave Iran's capital, she and her family immediately began to worry. "We were all panicked - what's going to happen? I hardly contacted my mum and asked if they had a plan to leave Tehran, she said they feel safe as the Israeli Airforce were only targeting the military bases and IRGC commanders," she said. "But (she) promised me as soon as they think it's not safe anymore they will go to the north." Ms Naghibi said Iranians believed their country had been "occupied by the Islamic regime". She said Ruhollah Khomeini - the first leader of the regime - said Islam was "against nationalism" and wanted people to be part of the Islamic Ummah, and not part of a nation. "Therefore, Iranians see the Islamic regime and the IRGC as our enemies who spend our money to export terrorism and radical ideology against Western civilisation," she said. "Iranians believe this was not, and will not be, our war; this is Ali Khamenei's war. He wants a nuclear bomb to make his dream come true: to wipe Israel off the map." Ms Mendelle said the war did not start with the exchange of rockets, but had been ongoing for decades. 'As Israelis, whether Jewish or Arab, we are accustomed to being the target of air strikes and terror. This war with the regime in Iran did not start with this escalation - the Islamic Regime has been funding terror networks around the world for decades, including Hamas and Hezbollah, bringing death and ruin to innocent civilians across the region,' she said before President Donald Trump announced Israel and Iran had agreed to a "complete and total ceasefire" 'We are scared. We all remain a stone's throw from a bomb shelter. When a siren rings, I have 90 seconds to get underground. It takes me, with both babies under three, 60 seconds from our door to the shelter.' Ms Mendelle said she shared a bomb shelter with a number of families from different backgrounds, including a family of Eritrean refugees, a Muslim Arab Israeli single mother and a number of Jewish families with children. She said her daughter, who celebrated her third birthday while sheltering from Iranian bombs, knew 'something serious' was happening, but forgot the stress and began playing with the other children despite the dangers outside. 'There is something different this time. Unity. Confidence. We know we are doing the most noble mission imaginable; preventing a diabolic dictator from using nuclear weapons,' Ms Mendelle said. She said it would help 'free the brave men and women of Iran' who had been 'begging' for the rest of the world to wake up and hear their cries since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. 'We all want peace, and we want nothing more than to help Iranians reclaim their rights, their freedoms, and build a true peace-waging democracy,' she said. 'After all, at least we have a bomb shelter. Here in Israel, our government does everything possible to protect its citizens—sirens, shelters, coordination. In Iran, the people are unprotected, censored, and silenced, with no access to internet or safety.' Ms Mendelle said this simple difference was a 'chilling reminder' of the privilege citizens of democracies take for granted.
The Guardian
12-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Rightwing lobby group Advance says it makes ‘no apology' for support given to anti-Greens groups
The rightwing advocacy group Advance has acknowledged it is paying for election materials attacking the Greens to be used by third-party groups during the election campaign. 'Advance is working with hundreds of volunteers from dozens of community groups to defeat Greens candidates and we make no apology,' a spokesperson said. The spokesperson said Advance did not fund groups directly but 'we absolutely pay for anti-Greens campaign material to be at the disposal of volunteers'. 'This includes 2m flyers and thousands of T-shirts and corflutes. 'Again, we make no apologies.' The group's plan to focus its election campaign on reducing the Greens vote has been no secret. Advance's executive director, Matthew Sheahan, claimed in a February email to supporters it had already raised $7.6m to 'smash the Greens' and about $2m to target Labor. The group has spent more than $200,000 in the past week to promote posts from Facebook pages with names such as 'Greens Truth'. But it has not previously talked publicly about the extent of its support for other groups hostile to the Greens, including those that take exception to the party's position on the Israel-Gaza war or on renewable energy. The type of assistance Advance has on offer was revealed by two Jewish advocacy groups in a recent forum hosted by the Australian Jewish Association (AJA). Simonne Whine of J-United, which campaigned against the Greens in the recent Prahran byelection in Victoria, said her group reached out to Advance to get its campaign started. 'They were fantastic, efficient, strategic, well resourced,' she said. 'They supplied the flyers, the T-shirts and the corflutes, and shipped everything to Melbourne, helping us hit the ground running.' Advance even paid for a picnic to thank volunteers, Whine said. During last year's Queensland state election, the Queensland Jewish Collective (QJC) also focused on the Greens vote in Brisbane seats such as Maiwar and Moggill. One of the group's directors, Roz Mendelle, told the AJA forum QJC spoke with Advance after seeing its work during the campaign against the Indigenous voice to parliament. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter 'When time came … to do something against the Greens here in Brisbane, I knew who to turn to,' Mendelle said, claiming that they kept 'a healthy distance' while the campaign was under way. According to an event invitation seen by Guardian Australia, QJC held a volunteer event with Advance in February. Mendelle is a co-director of a new group, Minority Impact Coalition (MIC), which has started a billboard campaign against Labor and the Greens in multiple states. During the AJA briefing, Mendelle showed an image of a billboard paid for by QJC that read: 'The Greens: They've changed for the worse'. 'This is also inspired by the Advance messaging,' she said. 'But from there, we gained our footing, and we decided to just speak our truth.' MIC is using the same mobile billboard provider as Advance in Queensland, NSW and Victoria – STT Advertising. In return, Advance has also used content from groups such as J-United on social media, sharing pictures of its 'local grassroots community members' on its Greens Truth Facebook page. The likely electoral impact of the anti-Greens strategy remains somewhat elusive. The Greens hold only four seats in the lower house, of which the three they won in Brisbane at the last election appear vulnerable. They have six senators up for re-election. By contrast, six new teal independent MPs were elected in 2022 – if they hold those seats or even increase their numbers, they might be expected to have a greater say in the event of a hung parliament. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'They've clearly worked out how to get conservative people fired up enough to throw money at them, and the way to do that is by attacking the Greens,' said Peter Lewis, the executive director of Essential, which is conducting qualitative research for the ALP. 'But it's not going to do anything to help the Liberals win back teal seats.' The Advance spokesperson said: 'Our campaign against the Greens won't defeat teals because it was never meant to. We have been crystal clear for the past 18 months that our focus is on the Greens this election.' However, Sheahan told an Australian Jewish Association forum in 2024: 'Our goal is to just expose the Greens policies so that people don't vote for them … A partial benefit will be that we think that will also reduce the teal vote.' His logic for that claim was unclear. Advance has also focused on the anti-renewables movement, appearing at 'energy forums' across the country and events held by groups set up to oppose the rollout of offshore wind and solar energy. As Guardian Australia has previously documented, the Facebook account for Advance spokesperson Sandra Bourke is active in dozens of local Facebook groups and pages opposing renewable projects in places such as Lake Borumba and Mount Fox in Queensland, regularly sharing Advance content. Bourke is a regular speaker at these rallies and events – unusually for the outfit, which generally avoids a public-facing presence. Grant Piper is the former chair of the National Rational Energy Network (NRen), which brought together community groups opposed to renewable energy projects and hosted events including the Reckless Renewables rally in Canberra last year. That's where Piper first met Advance. 'We didn't tie any formal knots, but we could tell we were pushing after the same thing when it comes to renewables,' Piper said. NRen, which has recently rebranded as Let's Rethink Renewables, has had discussions with Advance 'all the way through', he said, although it has remained independent. Bourke, one of NRen's original members, is now Advance's spokesperson and the face of its campaign against the Greens. According to Piper – who appeared in Advance's anti-renewables Dollars & Destruction video series – the organisation is a natural ally for groups that feel they are mostly excluded from the conversation taking place in parliament and the media. 'Advance is helping get publicity for the grassroots people who have been shut out of everything,' he said. Others who have teamed up for the Greens Truth campaign include groups that emerged from the anti-lockdown movement, the Freedom party and Reignite Democracy Australia – which makes clear to prospective volunteers that their details will be shared with Advance. Another NRen member and former One Nation candidate, Katy McCallum, was the MC at a 'Goodbye Greens Rally' in Brisbane in late March, where QJC also appeared. Along with other event backers such as the Libertarian candidate Jim Willmott, she thanked Bourke and Advance for their help at the event. 'If our other good mate Sandra Bourke … from Advance hadn't have jumped on, this would not be happening today,' she said. Do you know more? Contact
