Friday, 9 January 2026

Post No. 3,366 - A linked pair of activism emails

PS - see also (and note that I consider these to be additional to my views below, which I still hold to):    

  • “The Biggest Propaganda Campaign in Australian History? | The West Report”   https://youtu.be/UEdhtoHBvlQ   “Australia now has a Royal Commission into antisemitism, announced belatedly in the wake of the Bondi attacks. But how did we get here, and who shaped the agenda?   We examine the terms of the RC, and the coordinated media and lobbying campaign that followed the Bondi tragedy, the role of political advocacy groups, and the pressure placed on the federal government to narrow the scope of the inquiry. To stick a PR judge in the job.   We look at attempts to derail the appointment of former High Court Justice Virginia Bell, questions around the proposed terms of reference, and whether the Commission will examine all drivers of antisemitism, including political extremism, foreign influence, and institutional failures. Will it cover the behaviour and role of Israel and its proponents in Australia?   We also discuss the distinction between antisemitism and criticism of the state of Israel, the use of the IHRA definition, and the implications for free speech, protest rights, and social cohesion in Australia.”   

 

These two emails are based on events in Australia. 

The first, from Tuesday is: 

Re: Action against hate: address the whole flood - don't just try to stop one channel of the flood 
 
Dear [State MLA], 

I note and endorse the Victorian Pride Lobby's support (reported at https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national-news/new-south-wales-news/pride-lobby-supports-vics-proposed-roll-back-of-protest-laws-similar-to-nsw/240303) for the proposed five stage plan. 

In particular I support: 
  • action to force social media companies (and Facebook was a key part of the genocide of the Rohingya, WhatsApp has been used in lynchings in South Asia, and the former Twitter has been an agent of hate against many groups as examples of the worst that they can be) to take realistic action against hate speech; and 
  • ensuring the targetted hate speech is extended to include ALL vulnerable groups - including First Peoples, LGBTQIASB+ people, all women, etc. 



Dear [Federal MP], 

I note Ian Thorpe's call (reported at https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/ian-thorpe-leads-campaign-for-royal-commission-into-anti-semitism/240361) for a Royal Commission that goes beyond the tragedy at Bondi to include ALL targets of hate speech. 

From the linked article: 

“Unfortunately Jewish people are not the only group targeted by hate. First Nations people, people of different faiths, ethnicity and even LGBTIQ+ people remain among those facing rising levels of vilification and targeted violence.”

“Governments at both the federal and state level must do everything in their power to protect all communities who are subjected to hate and violence, now!”

I consider the call for a WIDER Royal Commission at a National level into a broader consideration of hate to merit genuine consideration: 
  • other groups, including the mentioned First Nations and LGBTIQ+ people, and also women, members of Islam and other religious groups (including my minority religion) and other ethnicities including Palestinians are also targetted, and thus MUST also be included in the scope of any such Royal Commission lest we find ourselves trying to cut the middle out of a flood and ignoring the reality that the removed component will simply be refilled by the adjoining sections of the flood; 
  • the aspects that create receptivity to hate must also be identified in order to enable them to be addressed - and that must include: 
    - fear, including financial/survival fear, 
    - the human- and social-capital destruction caused by neoliberalism, 
    - inadequate development (not just "teaching") of active critical thinking and emotional competence skills in ALL people; 
  • the existence and allowed continued existence of hate and hate's precursors bias, discrimination & bigotry, in police, prison, intelligence, border, military, and all other government departments - state and national - that have coercive, controlling, or life altering powers. 
    This inclusion is essential. 
    From https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national-news/new-south-wales-news/pride-lobby-supports-vics-proposed-roll-back-of-protest-laws-similar-to-nsw/240303:    

    "“The relationship between police and the LGBTQIA+ community is fraught and an increase in police powers does not equal community safety for many other marginalised groups,” says Victorian Pride Lobby Co-Convener Ari Casanova.""

  • the essential necessity of protecting key aspects of democracy such as non-violent protest. 
    From https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/78ers-in-support-of-legal-challenge-to-new-anti-protest-laws-in-nsw/240326: 
    "We are concerned at false perspectives designed not only to blame but to inflame, such as the conflation of peaceful protest against war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide with antisemitism. Many thousands of LGBTIQA+ Australians have attended and marched in anti-genocide rallies over the past more than two years. They have done so because they know that silence in the face of oppression is not an option.   ...   We assert that rights to peaceful protest should be enshrined not only in law but in the hearts and minds of all citizens. Education, dialogue and collaboration are required to build trust and to foster a healthier interaction between governments, the police, minority groups and the broader community."

I commend consideration of a broader and deeper Royal Commission, one neoliberals would be incapable of conceiving and possibly comprehending, yo you. 


No reply to this email is necessary, but I would be happy to discuss these matters further. 

 

The second email was today (Friday, in Australia), after a more narrowly focused Royal Commission was announced (yesterday):  

Dear [Federal MP], 

Re: Concerns about the Prime Minister's views on social cohesion 

I note that the Albanese government has decided to have a Royal Commission that is narrowly focused on antisemitic hate, rather than the broader approach (“Action against hate: address the whole flood - don't just try to stop one channel of the flood”) I suggested earlier this week. 

Antisemitic hate must be contained, minimised, and ultimately prevented, so that is a valid decision, but the other forms of hate also need to be addressed: that will now have to be at a future date, and I fear some of it will be after violent events (noting violence against First Peoples such as that by n_z_s against Camp Sovereignty, and the historical violence and barbarities recorded by the Yoorrook Truth Commission, patterns of violence against LGBTQIASB+ people, and a mass murder of Muslim people by an Australian in New Zealand some five years ago [and that a key person from the response to that is now head of Victoria Police). 

In noting that, I also note that many Jewish people have raised concerns about the definition supported by the Antisemitism Envoy - including the person who wrote that definition (for academic purposes), and I urge that voices such as the Jewish Council of Australia (who yesterday emailed a media release about seeking to work with the Royal Commission “... to adopt an anti-racist approach and ensure diverse Jewish voices are heard” [release not available on their website yet, unfortunately]) also be heeded. 

However, my main concern is that the Prime Minister seems to have a flawed understanding of what is involved in achieving social cohesion. 


4. Making any other recommendations arising out of the inquiry for strengthening social cohesion in Australia and countering the spread of ideologically and religiously motivated extremism in Australia.

These are two separate, but overlapping matters: 

  • strengthening social cohesion is a positivist goal, and thus requires strengthening measures, but, particularly as shown by Yoorrook, it is ESSENTIAL that past injustices be acknowledged and properly addressed to ensure any positive measures are on a genuinely solid foundation. 

    On that, many people tend to trace modern antisemitism back to the Holocaust of World War Two, but it goes back further - including Australia's reluctance to take Jewish refugees before that war when they tried to flee the obviously coming European catastrophe, but also including religiously motivated antisemitism for nearly two millennia. I have even seen film from the early 1900s purportedly showing a pogrom against Jewish people in Russia. It is such antisemitism, and the failure to address it for millennia, that I understand was a key factor in the formation of the Zionist movement in the late 1800s - the Holocaust was a terrible event, but it was also, in many ways, the straw that broke the camel's back because of the preceding two millennia of atrocities and abuses. 

    The continued failure of the world to address antisemitism, including the failure of specific commitments in the last couple of centuries, is why I consider a modern nation-state such as Israel MUST exist ... but it must exist as a modern nation-state, and not a theocracy or near-theocracy (which is a topic for some other time). 

  • Countering religiously motivated extremism is a negative goal: it seeks to contain, minimise, and ultimately prevent a problem, that problem going beyond antisemitism to cover all religiously motivated extremism - and that, I note would also include the original view of the Wieambella murders in 2022 (the coroner determined it was otherwise motivated), and quite possibly religiously motivated hate against LGBTQIASB+ people - especially trans youth, given the Queensland's government shocking decision to ignore the recommendations of the report it commissioned and continue the life-threatening denial of medical support to trans youth. (Note the Lemkin Institute's warning of the genocidal nature of so-called gender critical ideology, and the actions of the current US regime, and the links etc in my other emails on that topic.) 

    This goal would likely require what I describe as humanistic human rights actions (sustained and intelligently adapted education - especially to counter the two millennia of active social engineering of bigotry [hate] of various neochristian [I dispute that they are Christian] churches - much as done to improve awareness of the need for seatbelts, the avoidance of drink driving, not choosing to litter, and the improved education against domestic violence and other misogynistic hate, violence, and bigotry), combined with legalistic human rights actions - the changes to laws/operation of coercive authorities/etc to be recommended by the Royal Commission, such as enabling legal action to contain those of ALL religions (including neochristianity) who promote hate. . 

    I have already mentioned Yoorrook: another example of the importance of awareness and education is Australia's role in the Armenian Genocide - the atrocity that led Raphael Lemkin to develop the term. What was then the Ottoman Empire committed the Armenian Genocide in significant part because of suspicions of possible Armenian support for the ANZAC and other Allied forces land invasion of Gallipoli in April, 1915. Our national memory is committed to our military involvement in that invasion of others' lands, but, through that involvement, we also share some responsibility for what was done to the Armenian people. 

The Prime Minister's comments during the press conference (see https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-parliament-house-canberra-42) include the following: 

“Modern Australia was born with the understanding of the importance of unity. That's how 125 years ago, we came together as a nation. We chose to put aside the differences in the different, what are now our states, to come together knowing that we're better and stronger when we work together. And that remains the proud heart of our national story. A story enriched by people of every background and traditional, united by their love of this great country. The great Australian instinct to pull together will always be stronger than those who seek division and seek to drive us apart.”

With respect, while that is largely true from the point of view of governance, it is not correct from the point of view of social cohesion. A major factor in the creation of Australia was the desire to be able to keep Asian workers out of Australia - the now notorious White Australia policy (which was, in many ways, contrary to growing multicultural inclinations in the UK, partly as a legacy of the campaigns to abolish slavery, partly perhaps as part of a desire [by some] for a better functioning British Empire), and the desire to continue actively discriminating against the First Peoples of this land. In my opinion, while the wording used is positivist and promotional, I consider it would have been a stronger sign of our maturity and out capacity to learn and grow from past errors to acknowledge that Australia has made problems, and has endeavoured - or is endeavouring - to learn from and properly & genuinely address those. 

In any case, social cohesion will require a deep understanding of the social complexities, including listening to and healing those who have been scarred, often quite deeply and on an intergenerational basis, by past events. 

I suggest that suitable experts on that set of topics be consulted to ensure all statements about social cohesion are credible, rather than being unduly optimistic. 

No reply to this email is necessary. 



Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider: 

  • there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”;  
  • I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.

 

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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither).

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