Subscribing to the absurd
The natural end point of those who accept the IHRA definition of antisemitism is believing that Israel is beyond criticism. Yet that is absurd. No nation on earth is perfect, all could, and should, do better. But Julian Leeser MP, in proposing his Private Member’s Bill to establish a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities, clearly subscribes to that absurdity. He fails to distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of Israeli genocide. Perhaps he is incapable of making that distinction. Many are … “because of” the IHRA’s nonsensical definition.
What Leeser and those who think like him, both Jewish and otherwise, fail to understand is that those sitting in at universities, marching in the streets, blocking wharves, and offering all other manner of support to Palestinians would be acting and speaking in exactly the same way if it were, for example, China, Nigeria or Martians who are committing genocide in Palestine. It is persecution, illegal settlements, ethnic cleansing and genocide (none of which started on 7 October 2023) that we are against, “not” Jewish people or Israeli citizens because they are Jews.
I, for one, deplore the roles of the US (major) and Australia (minor) in enabling this horror.
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