http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2009/09/24/2695036.htm
Anger: taming the fury
by Annabel McGilvray
There's growing evidence anger can be harmful to your health. But what's the best way to manage this fiery emotion?
Published 24/09/2009
[Image source: iStockphoto]Health effects
Psychotherapy
Meditation
Distraction
Redirecting anger
Finding help
More info
We all know anger. It manifests as anything from a toddler tantrum to a family feud and takes place anywhere from the office to the kitchen sink.
For most of us, anger rises and falls relatively quickly – disappearing altogether for long periods, before perhaps returning with momentary vengeance. But for some people, it's never far from the surface and can result in frequent physical and verbal outbursts that wreak untold havoc.
Media headlines regularly holler about out-of-control politicians and athletes letting their fury get the better of them. Then there are reports of high-profile people receiving counselling on how to put the not-so-friendly genie back in the bottle.
For these reasons, managing the anger that disrupts lives has become a small industry and researchers in Australia and around the world are employing everything from chilli sauce to magnetic resonance images (MRIs) to determine the mechanisms behind anger and, where necessary, how to control it.
So when does part of the normal emotional spectrum become a problem? And what can be done to stop it causing physical and emotional damage?
Health effects
Typically, anger arouses the central nervous system, triggering symptoms similar to the 'fight or flight' response in the amygdala region of the brain. When you get angry your blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate all increase; your digestion slows; and you start to sweat.
There is already some evidence that people who experience these anger symptoms regularly may be doing long-term damage to their heart and other organs.
In particular, a US study found one in every 40 heart attacks can be linked to a recent incidence of anger. As well, a 2004 international study linked family conflict and work stress – both common sources of anger – to an increased risk of heart attack.
The bottom line is that learning how to manage anger may not only improve your quality of life, it may also extend it.
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Psychotherapy
Cynthia Morton's life was once a maelstrom of anger. Having been abused as a child, by 16 she was homeless, dependent on alcohol and more serious drugs, and prone to react with angry violence to a whole host of triggers.
She says her nadir came when she regained consciousness after a suicidal overdose and was still angry.
"I was so angry when I woke up in intensive care, that I couldn't even do that [suicide by overdose] properly. I was at war with myself."
But this was the turning point for Morton. While still in the hospital psychiatric ward, and under the guidance of a psychologist, she learned how to defuse some of the destructive thoughts that made her anger snowball.
"It's almost like installing new programs and connecting them up so that you've got access to these resources within.
"The first thing for me was to understand that the anger was a part of me that didn't make me any better or worse than anybody else. It was hardwired."
Today Morton is an ambassador for Relationships Australia and uses her experience to help others whose anger may cause them to hurt themselves.
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Meditation
An important part of Morton's own anger management is daily meditation, which research has shown to be helpful for a range of conditions including depression, anxiety, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Morton relies on two different forms of meditation practice – focused meditation and mindfulness meditation.
Focused meditation involves concentrating on an image, a sound or your breath, and gently pushing aside any stray thoughts. It creates changes in the body and mind that are a strong antidote to anger. These include lowered heart rate and blood pressure, reduced stress hormones and a state of mental stillness.
While mindfulness meditation is also calming, it emphasises broadening the focus of your attention rather than narrowing it. Typically it involves practising being aware of everything that passes before your attention – sounds, images thoughts and feelings – and importantly, learning not to judge or evaluate these observations.
It's a way of training yourself to be less reactive to intense feelings, says Dr Belinda Khong, a mindfulness meditation expert and psychology lecturer at Sydney's Macquarie University.
You ultimately learn to become more of a 'detached observer' rather than someone who actively engages with difficult emotions when they arise. "You can still respond with anger, but it would be a response, not a reaction," Khong says.
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Distraction
But there are many other ways to short-circuit anger's effects.
At the University of New South Wales, where MRIs have been used to map the pathways of anger in the brain, research suggests simple distraction can be an effective tool.
UNSW researcher and psychologist Dr Tom Denson believes distracting yourself works better than trying to analyse what you're feeling.
'It's kind of counterintuitive, because people think that when they're angry, you've got to think your way through it," Denson says. '[But] people who ruminate tend to eventually lose control.
"What we're finding, is that with something distracting – although it's probably not good to go play a violent video game – with a distraction that's neutral and consuming, it's much better for diminishing anger… Distraction allows all of the anger to subside."
Sitting down to read a book, or even cooking a meal, may be enough to allow the height of the emotion to subside and enable you to approach the problem with less aggression at a later stage.
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Redirecting anger
At Macquarie University however, Dr Wayne Warburton is less sold on the notion of distraction and instead suggests learning to redirect anger to more positive outcomes.
Anger can motivate someone to reach extreme sporting achievements or write beautiful music, he says.
"Some of the great concertos and some of the most beautiful music – Bob Dylan's music, Neal Young's music – is written out of anger, but it helps to make the world a better place.
"I think good anger management helps to harness the energy to look for positive expressions, and focus it so that the expression of anger is related directly to what makes the person angry. That's a helpful way of dealing with anger.
Warburton says we all have different triggers for our anger and we can all express it in a whole range of different ways. But his research suggests that repeated exposure to violent media – including some computer games – can make it much more likely that anger manifests itself as aggression.
He and his colleagues have been gauging the level of aggression triggered by different stimuli using an excruciating method – measuring how much very hot chilli sauce a person is prepared to make an innocent volunteer eat.
"They know that if they put a lot in the cup it's going to make the person's mouth burn, their eyes water, perhaps make their tongue go numb and if they give them too much it will probably put them in hospital. Despite that, you still get people who will put in a whole cup.'
It might seem an unorthodox approach but it's revealing a clear pattern: Expose yourself to violent media regularly and 'each time it happens, you're more likely to respond to triggers with aggressive behaviour.' The take home message is that if rage is a problem in your life, avoiding violent influences may help you keep it under control.
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Finding help
Ultimately, managing anger is not about avoiding anger altogether, but having calming techniques ready for those occasions when it rears its ugly head.
Whether it is you or somebody that you know that struggles with anger, psychologists and counsellors can provide important guidance on which techniques may be most effective in particular circumstances.
The Australian Psychological Society can help in finding a suitable local psychologist and Medicare rebates are available for a series of initial consultations with registered psychologists on referral by a GP. Some health funds also offer rebates for such consultations.
Whichever solution you try, Cynthia Morton warns not to expect a quick fix. It might be a case of 'if at first you don't succeed, try and try again'. But eventually your persistence should pay off and the outcome will be worth the effort.
"It's the old thing of 'what we hope to with ease, we must first do with diligence'," she says.
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More info Health Insite
Managing your anger - Australian Psychological Society
Anger - how it affects people - Better Health Channel
Anger and agression - Health Insite
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Happy Jewish New Year 5770.
SHANA TOVA,- HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR JEWISH PEOPLE EVERYWHERE ESPECIALLY IN ISRAEL.
Is there any independent nation state other than Israel which creates such negative reactions to every even mildly positive comment about it? It's almost as though Israel is the country which some people most love to hate. Why? Are her enemies so much worthier than the Jewish citizens of Israel?
One glance at the letters pages of the general media, as well as even our own AJN, is enough to make one feel absolute despair if one is part of the 80% of the community of more or less active supporters of this tiny sliver of land which is referred to as "the Jewish homeland" and that is called Israel.
Apparently Israel has all kinds of different supporters, while one wrote to the AJN wondering why anyone would support such a terrible country and thinks that, because of a film he saw called "Defamation", supporting Israel at all is 'irresponsible'. I don't blame him entirely because films can have that effect. When I saw the Australian film "Samson and Delilah', I too felt ashamed of Australia as it is portrayed to the world in that one very moving story.
However, because I know a little more of what lies behind that sorry tale about our Aborigines in the outback, I also know that it is not the whole story, therefore 'those who live in glass houses should not throw stones'.
Making judgments based on knowledge is one thing,- making false assumptions based on ignorance or dogma or inherent bias and then wanting to believe evil propaganda is totally different.
Israeli speakers too should be aware that they face an ignorant and hostile world far too ready to embrace the anti-Zionist, pro-Arab and Islamist view of their country and the Jewish people without the interest to put it all into context. With typical Jewish chutzpah, academics in particular seem to have developed an arrogant disregard for the whole truth and no responsibility towards the security of this nation State. Israeli professors in particular,outside their country cannot claim 'academic freedom' to express their particular brand of nationalism. It does not allow them the freedom to preach 'incitement to hatred', which is only one step ahead of 'treasonous speech' and many steps beneath the 'freedom of speech' which they covet at home.
I wonder why the interest in Arabs vs. Jews among those vociferous critics?
If the Palestinian Arabs would be the bastions of fairness, democracy, human rights, women's rights, progress in some spheres of benefit to humanity or even just to themselves,- if they would do anything worthwhile to help themselves and their own people instead of their perpetual victimhood as 'refugees' and victimization of Israel and Jews,- if only they would have 'taken the bull by the horn' and said to themselselves, let's learn to build like the Jews instead of destroying like the Taliban,- then I would understand feeling for them as being worthy of Jewish and Western support and taking sides against the Israelis.
But who among their brethren cares for them? They obviously don't deserve it.
The Western governments know exactly who they are dealing with,- on both sides. They know exactly who deserves to be treated with respect and compassion,- and who doesn't. They know on whom they can rely in times of trouble and whom they cannot.
They also know who they are dealing with at home!
The only true friends Israel can rely on through thick and thin in this world, is the Jewish world,- the 80% who are organised and are respected and the Israelis had better understand that! Israel is all we've got as a people.
The rest don't care. Love and respect is a two-way street,- nationally and individually. Israel has earned it from us,- others have not,- not those jews who sit in comfort and criticise her from afar, nor those who love to hate her here, nor her enemies over there.
SHALOM,- may peace prevail upon all lands including Israel. May the Almighty save the innocents in all conflicts because humans are not good at it even when they try.
"Look what's happening all over the Islamic world, dear God, even when our Aussie troops try to save them from their own, they get themselves killed and blamed. You dear God are to blame,- do something about it!".MM
Is there any independent nation state other than Israel which creates such negative reactions to every even mildly positive comment about it? It's almost as though Israel is the country which some people most love to hate. Why? Are her enemies so much worthier than the Jewish citizens of Israel?
One glance at the letters pages of the general media, as well as even our own AJN, is enough to make one feel absolute despair if one is part of the 80% of the community of more or less active supporters of this tiny sliver of land which is referred to as "the Jewish homeland" and that is called Israel.
Apparently Israel has all kinds of different supporters, while one wrote to the AJN wondering why anyone would support such a terrible country and thinks that, because of a film he saw called "Defamation", supporting Israel at all is 'irresponsible'. I don't blame him entirely because films can have that effect. When I saw the Australian film "Samson and Delilah', I too felt ashamed of Australia as it is portrayed to the world in that one very moving story.
However, because I know a little more of what lies behind that sorry tale about our Aborigines in the outback, I also know that it is not the whole story, therefore 'those who live in glass houses should not throw stones'.
Making judgments based on knowledge is one thing,- making false assumptions based on ignorance or dogma or inherent bias and then wanting to believe evil propaganda is totally different.
Israeli speakers too should be aware that they face an ignorant and hostile world far too ready to embrace the anti-Zionist, pro-Arab and Islamist view of their country and the Jewish people without the interest to put it all into context. With typical Jewish chutzpah, academics in particular seem to have developed an arrogant disregard for the whole truth and no responsibility towards the security of this nation State. Israeli professors in particular,outside their country cannot claim 'academic freedom' to express their particular brand of nationalism. It does not allow them the freedom to preach 'incitement to hatred', which is only one step ahead of 'treasonous speech' and many steps beneath the 'freedom of speech' which they covet at home.
I wonder why the interest in Arabs vs. Jews among those vociferous critics?
If the Palestinian Arabs would be the bastions of fairness, democracy, human rights, women's rights, progress in some spheres of benefit to humanity or even just to themselves,- if they would do anything worthwhile to help themselves and their own people instead of their perpetual victimhood as 'refugees' and victimization of Israel and Jews,- if only they would have 'taken the bull by the horn' and said to themselselves, let's learn to build like the Jews instead of destroying like the Taliban,- then I would understand feeling for them as being worthy of Jewish and Western support and taking sides against the Israelis.
But who among their brethren cares for them? They obviously don't deserve it.
The Western governments know exactly who they are dealing with,- on both sides. They know exactly who deserves to be treated with respect and compassion,- and who doesn't. They know on whom they can rely in times of trouble and whom they cannot.
They also know who they are dealing with at home!
The only true friends Israel can rely on through thick and thin in this world, is the Jewish world,- the 80% who are organised and are respected and the Israelis had better understand that! Israel is all we've got as a people.
The rest don't care. Love and respect is a two-way street,- nationally and individually. Israel has earned it from us,- others have not,- not those jews who sit in comfort and criticise her from afar, nor those who love to hate her here, nor her enemies over there.
SHALOM,- may peace prevail upon all lands including Israel. May the Almighty save the innocents in all conflicts because humans are not good at it even when they try.
"Look what's happening all over the Islamic world, dear God, even when our Aussie troops try to save them from their own, they get themselves killed and blamed. You dear God are to blame,- do something about it!".MM
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
HATRED DRIVES TODAY'S VIOLENT WORLD
Once upon a time, especially after WW2, everyone tried to preach 'love',- e.g. love thy neighbour like yourself, love thy mother and father, love thy wife and children, make love not war, etc., etc. At the same time there was a similar sentiment about 'honour',- honour you mother and father, honour women, honour your teachers,,- as well as 'respect',- respect for elders, respect for authority, respect your leaders, etc.
While the majority of people still adhere to these sentiments in their day-to-day lives, others who should know better or for various cultural or other reasons, have moved away from all of these positive life-saving feelings, only to be replaced by the worst negatives like hate and sex replacing love, while honour and respect need to be 'earned',- but how? Laying a gentle hand on one's children is taboo; enforced discipline is frowned upon and 'freedom of speech' is blamed, below,for the racist violence in society today. Why? Because 'hate speech, any speech' has to be tolerated in the same way as truth, tolerance and respectful speech.
"How Can We Fight Hatred When Its Sources Are Being Protected [By The Political System]?" is asked by the editor of 'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat' below.
(MM)
---------------------------------------------------
MEMRI
Special Dispatch | No. 2534 | September 14, 2009
U.S. and the Middle East/ Reform Project
'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat' Editor: Bin Laden, Holocaust Museum Shooter Driven By Same Hatred
Following the June 10, 2009 shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, editor of the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, wrote an editorial titled "Crime at the Holocaust Museum."
In the editorial, which was published June 15, 2009, Al-Rashed stated that anti-black racism was the same as anti-white racism, said that Osama bin Laden and the museum shooter were driven by the same hatred, and faults the U.S. for allowing such hatred to proliferate by protecting freedom of speech.
The following is the editorial, in the original English.(1)
"The Anti-Muslims Are The Same as the Anti-Semites; Those Who Are Racist Against Blacks Are The Same as Those Who Are Racist Against Whites"
"The body count may not have been large, it was an individual attack, and no organization has claimed responsibility for it. One victim was killed, while the perpetrator ended up in hospital awaiting trial on charges of murder, simply because the [U.S. political] system does not punish hatred or racism. This is just one more racially motivated crime in a multi-ethnic society where cultures are beginning to compete.
"The paradox is that this crime took place at a museum that deals with the history of the Holocaust – a story of racism that many reject, not because it did not occur, but because it is part of an ongoing ideological conflict. Evidence of this is that Holocaust deniers publicly call for getting rid of other ethnic groups and promote white European supremacy.
"The perpetrator of the crime has all the qualities that contradict the stereotypical definition of a racist; he is 88 years old, white – the most privileged racial group of all – and lives in an economically rich country. If one has these characteristics and lives in a country that allows freedom of expression and the right to [political] objection via elections, why would anyone need to take a gun to a museum and kill an African-American guard in order to express their hatred of the Jews?
"This is proof that hatred has nothing to do with poverty, literacy, political suppression, religion, or even youth; rather, it is tied to culture. This must be understood by those attempting to play down the security threat, as well as those who are searching for scapegoats in Islamic books and Muslim society. It is not difficult to find evidence to implicate the wrong people, which is what happened [initially] with regards to the Holocaust Museum shooting.
"The anti-Muslims are the same as the anti-Semites; those who are racist against blacks are the same as those who are racist against whites. They are all alike."
"Why Does a Young Millionaire Like Osama Bin Laden End Up Fighting Others?... This Is the Same Hatred That Made a White Christian American Head To a Museum" to Commit Murder
"Do not underestimate the power of culture, especially the power of the culture of hatred, and the influence that this can have on an individual. Why does a young millionaire like Osama bin Laden end up fighting others? What transforms an intellectual physician like [Al-Qaeda deputy leader] Ayman Al-Zawahiri into a killer on the basis of religious identity?
"This is the same hatred that made a white Christian American head to a museum with the intention of carrying out an act of premeditated murder in order to express his opinions. Hatred has the capacity to destroy the desire for respect and dialogue; it has the capacity to destroy the desire for coexistence."
"How Can We Fight Hatred When Its Sources Are Being Protected [By The Political System]?"
"According to statistics, the number of websites belonging to racist white supremacist groups has increased by the thousands. This is not because the situation on the ground has worsened, but because the means for spreading racism has become cheaper and more readily available. These websites are full of incitement against Muslims, blacks, and Jews, and are full of myths about Islamic conspiracies to occupy the U.S., or Jewish conspiracies to control the U.S. central bank, and so on.
"These groups operate in the open under the protection of the U.S. [political] system that allows this culture [of hatred] to spread in the name of protecting civil liberties afforded by the U.S. constitution. At the same time, the U.S. government travels around the world and urges others to fight against this same culture of hatred [that it protects].
"In fact, much of the racist literature found on extremist Islamic websites comes from white neo-Nazi websites that have fabricated much of their information. How can we fight hatred when its sources are being protected [by the political system]?"
Endnote:
(1) The text has been lightly edited for clarity.
ABSOLUTELY MUST WATCH VIDEO!!
Understanding the Islamic & Arab world from within.
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1363wmv&ak=null
================================================
While the majority of people still adhere to these sentiments in their day-to-day lives, others who should know better or for various cultural or other reasons, have moved away from all of these positive life-saving feelings, only to be replaced by the worst negatives like hate and sex replacing love, while honour and respect need to be 'earned',- but how? Laying a gentle hand on one's children is taboo; enforced discipline is frowned upon and 'freedom of speech' is blamed, below,for the racist violence in society today. Why? Because 'hate speech, any speech' has to be tolerated in the same way as truth, tolerance and respectful speech.
"How Can We Fight Hatred When Its Sources Are Being Protected [By The Political System]?" is asked by the editor of 'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat' below.
(MM)
---------------------------------------------------
MEMRI
Special Dispatch | No. 2534 | September 14, 2009
U.S. and the Middle East/ Reform Project
'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat' Editor: Bin Laden, Holocaust Museum Shooter Driven By Same Hatred
Following the June 10, 2009 shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, editor of the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, wrote an editorial titled "Crime at the Holocaust Museum."
In the editorial, which was published June 15, 2009, Al-Rashed stated that anti-black racism was the same as anti-white racism, said that Osama bin Laden and the museum shooter were driven by the same hatred, and faults the U.S. for allowing such hatred to proliferate by protecting freedom of speech.
The following is the editorial, in the original English.(1)
"The Anti-Muslims Are The Same as the Anti-Semites; Those Who Are Racist Against Blacks Are The Same as Those Who Are Racist Against Whites"
"The body count may not have been large, it was an individual attack, and no organization has claimed responsibility for it. One victim was killed, while the perpetrator ended up in hospital awaiting trial on charges of murder, simply because the [U.S. political] system does not punish hatred or racism. This is just one more racially motivated crime in a multi-ethnic society where cultures are beginning to compete.
"The paradox is that this crime took place at a museum that deals with the history of the Holocaust – a story of racism that many reject, not because it did not occur, but because it is part of an ongoing ideological conflict. Evidence of this is that Holocaust deniers publicly call for getting rid of other ethnic groups and promote white European supremacy.
"The perpetrator of the crime has all the qualities that contradict the stereotypical definition of a racist; he is 88 years old, white – the most privileged racial group of all – and lives in an economically rich country. If one has these characteristics and lives in a country that allows freedom of expression and the right to [political] objection via elections, why would anyone need to take a gun to a museum and kill an African-American guard in order to express their hatred of the Jews?
"This is proof that hatred has nothing to do with poverty, literacy, political suppression, religion, or even youth; rather, it is tied to culture. This must be understood by those attempting to play down the security threat, as well as those who are searching for scapegoats in Islamic books and Muslim society. It is not difficult to find evidence to implicate the wrong people, which is what happened [initially] with regards to the Holocaust Museum shooting.
"The anti-Muslims are the same as the anti-Semites; those who are racist against blacks are the same as those who are racist against whites. They are all alike."
"Why Does a Young Millionaire Like Osama Bin Laden End Up Fighting Others?... This Is the Same Hatred That Made a White Christian American Head To a Museum" to Commit Murder
"Do not underestimate the power of culture, especially the power of the culture of hatred, and the influence that this can have on an individual. Why does a young millionaire like Osama bin Laden end up fighting others? What transforms an intellectual physician like [Al-Qaeda deputy leader] Ayman Al-Zawahiri into a killer on the basis of religious identity?
"This is the same hatred that made a white Christian American head to a museum with the intention of carrying out an act of premeditated murder in order to express his opinions. Hatred has the capacity to destroy the desire for respect and dialogue; it has the capacity to destroy the desire for coexistence."
"How Can We Fight Hatred When Its Sources Are Being Protected [By The Political System]?"
"According to statistics, the number of websites belonging to racist white supremacist groups has increased by the thousands. This is not because the situation on the ground has worsened, but because the means for spreading racism has become cheaper and more readily available. These websites are full of incitement against Muslims, blacks, and Jews, and are full of myths about Islamic conspiracies to occupy the U.S., or Jewish conspiracies to control the U.S. central bank, and so on.
"These groups operate in the open under the protection of the U.S. [political] system that allows this culture [of hatred] to spread in the name of protecting civil liberties afforded by the U.S. constitution. At the same time, the U.S. government travels around the world and urges others to fight against this same culture of hatred [that it protects].
"In fact, much of the racist literature found on extremist Islamic websites comes from white neo-Nazi websites that have fabricated much of their information. How can we fight hatred when its sources are being protected [by the political system]?"
Endnote:
(1) The text has been lightly edited for clarity.
ABSOLUTELY MUST WATCH VIDEO!!
Understanding the Islamic & Arab world from within.
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1363wmv&ak=null
================================================
Monday, September 14, 2009
MICHAEL DANBY MHR:"The dark and ugly recesses of the internet."
http://www.danbymp.com/index.php?article=414&DMAP=467
The Dark and Ugly Recesses of the Internet
by Michael Danby MHR
Monday September 7, 2009
(See also The Australian 12 September, Headlined Creepy vitriolic bigotry of the internet's fringe-dwellers)
House of Representatives, (address to Australian Parliament)
The Dark and Ugly Recesses of the InternetMr DANBY (Melbourne Ports) (9.01 am)-
Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, offered the following comment in response to a recent speech by Iranian President Ahmadinejad:
There can be no doubt as to the most tenacious ideology of modern times. German fascism came and went. Soviet Communism came and went. Anti-Semitism came and stayed.
Rabbi Sacks went on to note that the re-emergence of anti-Semitism is one of the most frightening phenomena of his lifetime because it is happening after 60 years of education about the Second World War, anti-racist legislation and interfaith dialogue. As a member of parliament in this great democratic country of Australia, I am saddened to have to agree with the Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth. Indeed, there is a modern resurgence of anti-Semitism, although Australia, with its unofficial doctrine of a fair go, is perhaps the most tolerant and pluralist of all global societies. Constituent communities contribute to the success of pluralism.
Eric Beecher, owner of Crickey.com
The Australian Jewish community has made a substantial and durable contribution to this country, offering a distinct culture that nonetheless furthers cohesion and the national interest by its commitment to core democratic values, secularist laws and the constraints of our parliamentary system.
As members will no doubt know, the Jewish presence in Australia began with the First Fleet and has grown to some 120,000, according to the authoritative Jewish population survey just published by the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University. Recent generations of Australian Jews have never forgotten the debt to the Australian people who provided refuge to our parents and grandparents, the remnants of European Jewry, during and before the darkest period of Jewish history, the Nazi genocide of the Second World War.
Within this history and context of Australian tolerance and pluralism, I recently spoke of the bigotry that has attended the exponential rise and proliferation of the internet. In particular, I focused on two Australian online magazines, Newmatilda and Crikey, with their slanted commentary on the Middle East which has been used as a cover for unmoderated, unleashed and unhinged comments on their websites.
My analysis prompted an exchange of letters between well-known civil rights organisation the Anti-Defamation Commission and Newmatilda's editor,
Marni Cordell. In April of this year the Anti-Defamation Commission sent Cordell a sober, detailed and careful analysis of the magazines' contents for the first three months of 2009, highlighting ADC's concerns over not its partisan opinion but the broad slabs of hate speak published in the comments section following each article. En passant, Cordell virtually agreed that her online publication presented no semblance of fairness, asserting her publication's role was as a counterweight to the biased, pro-Israel media. One wonders what planet she lived on during the war in Gaza.
Cordell fudged why Newmatilda publishes blatantly bigoted commentary, even though the magazine explicitly reserves the right to moderate that commentary if it is abusive or promotes hate. Only since being exposed has Newmatilda stopped publishing race hate in its comment columns. I seek leave to table some of the comments that followed articles in these two publications during the first three months of 2009:
Comments from Crikey.com and New Matilda.com
"61% of Jews don't live in Israel and they are perfectly safe as they would be if the stupid place ceased to exist tomorrow." -blogger maryj commenting on David Hollier's article ‘Obama can Convince Israel', 25/03/2009 New Matilda
"The racist Zionist(s) are not simply un-Australian in their lying, bigotry, psychotic injustice and racism - they are also anti-Australian and pose a huge threat to not only Australia but the whole World." Blogger DrGideonPolya commenting on Michael Brull's article ‘If Israel Does It Then It Can't be Wrong' 13/1/09 New Matilda
"Nazi German and Israeli policy will herd people into concentration camps, ghettos and other forms of imprisonment whilst simultaneously embarking on a policy of genocide, infanticide, theft of lebensraum, eradication and ethnic cleansing". Blogger Rockjaw commenting on Roland Boer's article ‘The Myth of the Holy Land' 2/2/09 New Matilda
"Only fascist states like Israel today, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, and countless non-democratic, tyrannical, thug states like Israel do this in this day and age." Blogger RosRoss commenting on Bruce Riedal's article ‘Palestine: The Ultimate Franchise', 5/2/09 New Matilda
"The greatest difficulty is the level of denial with which most Israelis and all of their supporters live which ranges from delusional dysfunction to the criminally psychotic." Blogger RosRoss commenting on Antony Lowenstein's article ‘An Israel of the Mind', 19/2/09 New Matilda
"Most people find it an increasingly inescapable conclusion that Zionism and Nazism are fundamentally of the same genus: to whit, an attempt to glorify a largely imagined nation-race (a "superior" race to boot) by somehow resurrecting its semi-mythological past in the form of a modern and expansionist nation-state, which in both cases only leads to mass murder." -blogger Rockjaw commenting on the article ‘The Things You Don't Want to See', By Michael Brull 4/2/09 New Matilda
"Society will have to become aware of the structures used by our zionists to effect this dark control over our cultures and to intervene on behalf of both Jew and gentile to free Jews from that inner darkness and Palestinians from racist murdering zionist genocidalism." Blogger Rockjaw commenting on Antony Loewnstein article ‘An Israel of the Mind' 19/2/09 New Matilda
‘The Gaza Ghetto-like shooting fish in a barrel. Don't it make you feel proud?'- blogger Tim commenting on ‘The Gaza Strip: A Crikey ceasefire wrap' compiled by Eleri Harris 8/1/09 Crikey.com
"tell us your last name..or are you just another Zionist coward, barracking from behind your nom de plume for the killing of innocent civilians .....you are full of shit........but of course the Crikey readership had made up its mind in that regard long before this issue arose......ZIONIST COWARD." Blogger Kevin Charles Herbet commenting on Guy Rundle's article "The comic tragedy of Gaza" 13/1/09 Crikey.com
"Sadly the power base of modern Judaism/Zionism, not to mention fundamentalist Jewish Orthodoxy, is a racist, xenophobic group of "Australian Jews," nearly all males, nearly all completely racist in that they view everything in life through the prism of race and tribalism."Blogger Hugh commenting on Greg Barns' article "It's ok to be racist, just not about Israelis" 2/2/09 Crikey.com
"The Zionists exploit the massive racist discrimination and genocide exercised by the Nazis against Jews in general as a means of deflecting criticism from their own racist policies which they pursue with vigour." Blogger Greg Angelo commenting on Greg Barns' article "It's ok to be racist, just not about Israelis" 2/2/09 Crikey.com
"Like any other reasonable person, I know full well that millions of gypsies, disabled, homosexuals, Jews and members of many other minorities were murdered in "The Holocaust", but still, isn't freedom of speech more important? It's also worrying that nobody seems to be speaking for the millions of people other than Jews killed during this time. Are their voices being drowned out by the Jewish and Jewish influenced, media? blogger Bill Malkin commenting on Antony Loewenstein article -"Palestine, Israel and the need for freedom of speech" 18/5/09 Crikey.com
"Zionism and the Zionists which it breeds is a sickness. Zionism is a debilitating fatal disease which has infected this planet for too long and it is encumbent upon mankind to rid ourselves of this disease before it reaches a terminal stage and consumes us all." - blogger Rockjaw commenting on Israelis following Jim Alexander's article ‘Peeking into Gaza'-22/1/09
‘Why does history have to repeat itself? Why does humanity have to go through the pain of having to rid itself of yet another group of sick psychopathic savages hell bent on genocide or suicide?
Clearly this is a disease, an incurable malady. Does the world really want a state set aside exclusively for a nation of psychopaths, pathological liars, genocidaires, killers and empty, backward, soulless non-productive parasites with nothing to contribute to humanity but deceit, suspicion, greed and malice.'-blogger Rockjaw commenting on Israelis following Jim Alexander's article ‘Peeking into Gaza'-22/1/09
"These intellectually & morally corrupt Israeli fascists don't care what the world thinks of their atrocities...just like the Nazis didn't. They expect to get away with it...and why wouldn't they given their jackbooting of the past 41 years. Mugabe has more credibility than these bastards." Blogger Kevin Charles Herbert commenting on Greg Barns' article ‘ Backman column: Israeli lobby censorship', 23/1/09 Crikey.com
"The Zionists exploit the massive racist discrimination and genocide exercised by the Nazis against Jews in general as a means of deflecting criticism from their own racist policies which they pursue with vigour." Blogger Greg Angelo commenting on Greg Barns article ‘It's ok to be racist, just not about Israeli's' 2/2/09 Crieky.com
Crikey and its editor, Jonathan Green, have made no explanation or issued no apology. Eric Beecher, the owner of Crikey, who hails from a similar ethnic cultural background to me, owes an explanation for Crikey's publication of these hate filled comments. Such comments would be suited for publication in Julius
Julius Streicher
Streicher's Der Sturmer.
I take as my guide the definition suggested by former Soviet dissident and human rights activist Natan Sharansky in addressing these issues in total. Mr Sharansky distinguishes the anti-Jewish hatred and legitimate criticism of Israel by his 3D principles. He warns to look for three things: demonisation, delegitimisation and double standards.
Looking at the coverage in Crikey and Newmatilda we see a tiny country of seven million people portrayed as a manipulator of world events, a state engaged in ethnic separation-without any mention of the thousands of civilians murdered by homicide bombers- and an initiator of wars that have no strategic or defensive codex. That is demonisation.
Of course people can be fairly critical of any state in the world and critical of particular actions of any state, but, following the Sharansky model, anyone who looks at Cordell's Newmatilda or Green's Crikey during this period could only conclude that Israel was a country deserving of rocket attacks on its citizens and not entitled to defend its sovereignty. That is delegitimisation. Scant attention is given in the same publications to Burma, Darfur, Zimbabwe, Tibet, North Korea, Chechnya, Eastern Turkistan or any other place witnessing gross abuse of human rights. That is a double standard.
I was particularly outraged, however, by the tenor of some readers' comments which followed these articles and contained repeated examples of bigotry. I have tabled a small percentage of these verbatim comments from the Newmatilda and Crikey websites from the first three months of this year. Of course, all members will find these comments as abhorrent as I do. No doubt some members will ask the obvious question: how does this kind of vile commentary following the articles-I am not talking about the actual articles; people are entitled to have different
views on these kinds of things-find its way onto a site that reserves the right to censor such comments?
The editors of Newmatilda were not moved to address this issue until I publicly intervened. Thereafter, on 7 July, they responded by way of an editorial that began:
Regular readers will notice that we have turned off all comments on articles about Israel/Palestine. Predictably, what followed was a long self-justification, which read in part:
Historically, we have erred on the side of free speech-we did not pre-moderate comments on the site, which is rare in this litigious age, because we wanted to promote open and diverse debate. Open and diverse debate is different from publishing unregulated, vile racism.
Again, I repeat that the Newmatilda decision to moderate their own site happened not out of consistency or out of some sense of decency but because the searchlight of public opinion was shone on these dark and ugly recesses of the internet.
Two regular contributors to Crikey and Newmatilda-Antony Loewenstein and his Sancho Panza, Michael Brull-also responded tomy speech in a jointly authored article stating that my criticism could be condensed into the following:
Michael Danby erodes his credibility by accusing two Jews of anti-Semitism because they don't agree with him ...
I am certainly content to reiterate here that, in relation to their commentary of the conflict, the two individuals are guilty of double standards, demonisation and delegitimisation. However, contrary to their response, their ethnicity was not addressed in my speech at all because it was clearly not my principal concern.
Their writing and the editorial bias of the online publications for which they write clearly puts them on the fringe of Australian politics. If one compares the things that they wrote with, say, Labor Party discussions at the recent national conference, one would see that they are completely outside the mainstream of the centre-left party in this country, for instance. For those writers to seek refuge behind their ethnicity is particularly craven. It is dishonest.
The thrust of my previous speech and tonight's lies with the creepier bigotry that their articles and other articles unleashed in these two online publications, which apparently had no problem with publishing them.
I agree with Thomas Friedman, who wrote:
Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction- out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East-is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest.
In examining the evidence of lopsided coverage of these two internet publications, our toughest critique must be of their unadulterated racism: the perverse nature of their criticisms and the vitriol that is not present in the appraisal of other conflicts; the use of terms such as ‘ethnic cleansing' and ‘Nazi'; and the dropping of all pretence of anti-Zionism by openly discussing Jews and so-called Jewish proclivities.
George Orwell wrote: To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle.
Perhaps-but my fear is that the internet is now so pervaded by such views that they can attain a patina of truth and respectability. In many of the articles in both magazines, the ability to link and cross-reference to other sites and commentaries apparently bolsters and legitimises the views of the authors in circumstances where readers cannot vouch for the credibility of the concurring opinion. Opinions and commentary are therefore expressed in an ethical vacuum absent of the strictures which we have come to accept as inherent in the profession of journalism, such as fact checking and peer review.
It is clear in my view that Newmatilda.com and Crikey.com disgraced themselves and the wider circle of Australian journalism-and the tolerant ethos that characterises Australia-by publishing clearly bigoted comments in
the comments sections of their publications in the first three months of this year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Readers feedback
I am forever being surprised (and delighted) when I hear (often incidentally) that yet another noted person in society, in any one of the countless areas of the arts, the professions and entertainment etc. happens to be Jewish. Then again, I am not really surprised, am I, for yes, without a doubt, the influence, historically, of this most worthy minority is far, far above its numerical strength when compared to other socio-religious groups. Like most others I cannot explain the vitriolic and mindless attacks poured upon it, (ie apart from those who are taught from babyhood to HATE any Jew)other than to believe such rantings are the primal outpourings from crooked (mostly ignorant) souls who basically are envious and jealous of Jewish folk and their achievements .... indeed infected by the "tall-poppy syndrome" if you like. The internet is perfect for such craven uglinessss: unseen and unknown, individuals can type away, press a button and presto, it"s there for the world to see and to give to their anonymous purveyors that momentary gratifying flash of "fame" obviously missing from their own inglorious lives. Thank you Michael Danby for publically naming Crikey and New Matilda and their editors as the trash that they are.
Posted by Annabelle on 2009-09-13 12:26:59 GMT
*******
Before 1967, the widespread anti-Semitism in Australia, as well as many other countries, was simply treading on the Jewish stereotypical, despicable underdog. Since 1967, it has changed in many people to virulent spiteful envy and hatred, because of Israeli and Jewish successes. Jewish non Zionists cannot escape that hatred. Lowenstein and his ilk are seeking publicity and notoriety with their anti Israel statements, and many of the fringe media are only too happy to oblige, and fan the flames of anti-Semitism, by claiming equal exposure for a very minute fraction of the Jewish community. I would like any of the anti-Semites to show what they have done for the advancement of the community. I suggest they look up Jewish Nobel prizewinners, but for their successes, many of these anti-Semites would have been dead by now.
Posted by Harry S on 2009-09-13 11:19:11 GMT
******
Hear, hear!! What a relief to see true leadership displayed in our national Parliament. Thank you Michael!
Posted by Steve Lieblich on 2009-09-13 09:45:25 GMT
********
Thank you Michael for being publicly frank and outspoken. There is an element in Australian society that loves to hate,- they hate us Jews; they hate Israel; they hate every successful person in what’s called the "tall poppy syndrome; they hate each other; their hatred comes out in violence in the streets, in violence against their partners at home in what"s called domestic violence. My bet is that these people also hate animals! What the internet has allowed them to do is to express their hatred on blogs,- if they allow them! The newspapers don"t print these vile comments,- the writers know they won"t print their rubbish, but the internet? It’s a free-for-all for crazies in particular! Thank you for pointing it out that it is our community which is too often targeted,- as for Israel, just because it is a Jewish and very successful nation State, these haters cannot bear it. Do they love its Arab enemies more? I doubt it.
Posted by Malvina on 2009-09-13 07:34:11 GMT
********
Well done, Mr Danby. You are the only effective voice speaking for Jews in Australia at the moment. So dysfunctional is regulation of the Australian media that countless letters and protests against biased and anti-Jewish/Israeli coverage fall on indifferent and callous ears. Fortunately, comments in Parliament have much more effect in rectifying the calumny our haters promote. Bigotry, hatred and their offspring, antisemitism, thrive on the internet and in many media vehicles in this nation, and they seem unstoppable. Cordell of newmatilda, Green of crikey and their execrable cronies have sold out to racism and forfeited their standing as independent sources of reasoned commentary. They are manipulated by bigoted and violent forces, and they seem to revel in their new found readership. The influence of Goebbels resonates in these publications and their modus operandi. Never in his wildest dreams or most fervent hopes would he have expected to be this successful 70 years later, half a world away. Your efforts, Mr Danby, are exemplary and we are truly grateful.
Posted by Dr Barry Walters. Perth on 2009-09-13 06:38:54 GMT
*********
Well done Michael Danby. When are your colleagues in govt going to publicly support you?
Posted on 2009-09-13 04:54:40 GMT
********
Full credit to Beecher for conceding Crikey went too far.You should post on this site. Marked contrast to Lowenstein.
Posted on 2009-09-13 03:13:41 GMT
********
The Dark and Ugly Recesses of the Internet
by Michael Danby MHR
Monday September 7, 2009
(See also The Australian 12 September, Headlined Creepy vitriolic bigotry of the internet's fringe-dwellers)
House of Representatives, (address to Australian Parliament)
The Dark and Ugly Recesses of the InternetMr DANBY (Melbourne Ports) (9.01 am)-
Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, offered the following comment in response to a recent speech by Iranian President Ahmadinejad:
There can be no doubt as to the most tenacious ideology of modern times. German fascism came and went. Soviet Communism came and went. Anti-Semitism came and stayed.
Rabbi Sacks went on to note that the re-emergence of anti-Semitism is one of the most frightening phenomena of his lifetime because it is happening after 60 years of education about the Second World War, anti-racist legislation and interfaith dialogue. As a member of parliament in this great democratic country of Australia, I am saddened to have to agree with the Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth. Indeed, there is a modern resurgence of anti-Semitism, although Australia, with its unofficial doctrine of a fair go, is perhaps the most tolerant and pluralist of all global societies. Constituent communities contribute to the success of pluralism.
Eric Beecher, owner of Crickey.com
The Australian Jewish community has made a substantial and durable contribution to this country, offering a distinct culture that nonetheless furthers cohesion and the national interest by its commitment to core democratic values, secularist laws and the constraints of our parliamentary system.
As members will no doubt know, the Jewish presence in Australia began with the First Fleet and has grown to some 120,000, according to the authoritative Jewish population survey just published by the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University. Recent generations of Australian Jews have never forgotten the debt to the Australian people who provided refuge to our parents and grandparents, the remnants of European Jewry, during and before the darkest period of Jewish history, the Nazi genocide of the Second World War.
Within this history and context of Australian tolerance and pluralism, I recently spoke of the bigotry that has attended the exponential rise and proliferation of the internet. In particular, I focused on two Australian online magazines, Newmatilda and Crikey, with their slanted commentary on the Middle East which has been used as a cover for unmoderated, unleashed and unhinged comments on their websites.
My analysis prompted an exchange of letters between well-known civil rights organisation the Anti-Defamation Commission and Newmatilda's editor,
Marni Cordell. In April of this year the Anti-Defamation Commission sent Cordell a sober, detailed and careful analysis of the magazines' contents for the first three months of 2009, highlighting ADC's concerns over not its partisan opinion but the broad slabs of hate speak published in the comments section following each article. En passant, Cordell virtually agreed that her online publication presented no semblance of fairness, asserting her publication's role was as a counterweight to the biased, pro-Israel media. One wonders what planet she lived on during the war in Gaza.
Cordell fudged why Newmatilda publishes blatantly bigoted commentary, even though the magazine explicitly reserves the right to moderate that commentary if it is abusive or promotes hate. Only since being exposed has Newmatilda stopped publishing race hate in its comment columns. I seek leave to table some of the comments that followed articles in these two publications during the first three months of 2009:
Comments from Crikey.com and New Matilda.com
"61% of Jews don't live in Israel and they are perfectly safe as they would be if the stupid place ceased to exist tomorrow." -blogger maryj commenting on David Hollier's article ‘Obama can Convince Israel', 25/03/2009 New Matilda
"The racist Zionist(s) are not simply un-Australian in their lying, bigotry, psychotic injustice and racism - they are also anti-Australian and pose a huge threat to not only Australia but the whole World." Blogger DrGideonPolya commenting on Michael Brull's article ‘If Israel Does It Then It Can't be Wrong' 13/1/09 New Matilda
"Nazi German and Israeli policy will herd people into concentration camps, ghettos and other forms of imprisonment whilst simultaneously embarking on a policy of genocide, infanticide, theft of lebensraum, eradication and ethnic cleansing". Blogger Rockjaw commenting on Roland Boer's article ‘The Myth of the Holy Land' 2/2/09 New Matilda
"Only fascist states like Israel today, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, and countless non-democratic, tyrannical, thug states like Israel do this in this day and age." Blogger RosRoss commenting on Bruce Riedal's article ‘Palestine: The Ultimate Franchise', 5/2/09 New Matilda
"The greatest difficulty is the level of denial with which most Israelis and all of their supporters live which ranges from delusional dysfunction to the criminally psychotic." Blogger RosRoss commenting on Antony Lowenstein's article ‘An Israel of the Mind', 19/2/09 New Matilda
"Most people find it an increasingly inescapable conclusion that Zionism and Nazism are fundamentally of the same genus: to whit, an attempt to glorify a largely imagined nation-race (a "superior" race to boot) by somehow resurrecting its semi-mythological past in the form of a modern and expansionist nation-state, which in both cases only leads to mass murder." -blogger Rockjaw commenting on the article ‘The Things You Don't Want to See', By Michael Brull 4/2/09 New Matilda
"Society will have to become aware of the structures used by our zionists to effect this dark control over our cultures and to intervene on behalf of both Jew and gentile to free Jews from that inner darkness and Palestinians from racist murdering zionist genocidalism." Blogger Rockjaw commenting on Antony Loewnstein article ‘An Israel of the Mind' 19/2/09 New Matilda
‘The Gaza Ghetto-like shooting fish in a barrel. Don't it make you feel proud?'- blogger Tim commenting on ‘The Gaza Strip: A Crikey ceasefire wrap' compiled by Eleri Harris 8/1/09 Crikey.com
"tell us your last name..or are you just another Zionist coward, barracking from behind your nom de plume for the killing of innocent civilians .....you are full of shit........but of course the Crikey readership had made up its mind in that regard long before this issue arose......ZIONIST COWARD." Blogger Kevin Charles Herbet commenting on Guy Rundle's article "The comic tragedy of Gaza" 13/1/09 Crikey.com
"Sadly the power base of modern Judaism/Zionism, not to mention fundamentalist Jewish Orthodoxy, is a racist, xenophobic group of "Australian Jews," nearly all males, nearly all completely racist in that they view everything in life through the prism of race and tribalism."Blogger Hugh commenting on Greg Barns' article "It's ok to be racist, just not about Israelis" 2/2/09 Crikey.com
"The Zionists exploit the massive racist discrimination and genocide exercised by the Nazis against Jews in general as a means of deflecting criticism from their own racist policies which they pursue with vigour." Blogger Greg Angelo commenting on Greg Barns' article "It's ok to be racist, just not about Israelis" 2/2/09 Crikey.com
"Like any other reasonable person, I know full well that millions of gypsies, disabled, homosexuals, Jews and members of many other minorities were murdered in "The Holocaust", but still, isn't freedom of speech more important? It's also worrying that nobody seems to be speaking for the millions of people other than Jews killed during this time. Are their voices being drowned out by the Jewish and Jewish influenced, media? blogger Bill Malkin commenting on Antony Loewenstein article -"Palestine, Israel and the need for freedom of speech" 18/5/09 Crikey.com
"Zionism and the Zionists which it breeds is a sickness. Zionism is a debilitating fatal disease which has infected this planet for too long and it is encumbent upon mankind to rid ourselves of this disease before it reaches a terminal stage and consumes us all." - blogger Rockjaw commenting on Israelis following Jim Alexander's article ‘Peeking into Gaza'-22/1/09
‘Why does history have to repeat itself? Why does humanity have to go through the pain of having to rid itself of yet another group of sick psychopathic savages hell bent on genocide or suicide?
Clearly this is a disease, an incurable malady. Does the world really want a state set aside exclusively for a nation of psychopaths, pathological liars, genocidaires, killers and empty, backward, soulless non-productive parasites with nothing to contribute to humanity but deceit, suspicion, greed and malice.'-blogger Rockjaw commenting on Israelis following Jim Alexander's article ‘Peeking into Gaza'-22/1/09
"These intellectually & morally corrupt Israeli fascists don't care what the world thinks of their atrocities...just like the Nazis didn't. They expect to get away with it...and why wouldn't they given their jackbooting of the past 41 years. Mugabe has more credibility than these bastards." Blogger Kevin Charles Herbert commenting on Greg Barns' article ‘ Backman column: Israeli lobby censorship', 23/1/09 Crikey.com
"The Zionists exploit the massive racist discrimination and genocide exercised by the Nazis against Jews in general as a means of deflecting criticism from their own racist policies which they pursue with vigour." Blogger Greg Angelo commenting on Greg Barns article ‘It's ok to be racist, just not about Israeli's' 2/2/09 Crieky.com
Crikey and its editor, Jonathan Green, have made no explanation or issued no apology. Eric Beecher, the owner of Crikey, who hails from a similar ethnic cultural background to me, owes an explanation for Crikey's publication of these hate filled comments. Such comments would be suited for publication in Julius
Julius Streicher
Streicher's Der Sturmer.
I take as my guide the definition suggested by former Soviet dissident and human rights activist Natan Sharansky in addressing these issues in total. Mr Sharansky distinguishes the anti-Jewish hatred and legitimate criticism of Israel by his 3D principles. He warns to look for three things: demonisation, delegitimisation and double standards.
Looking at the coverage in Crikey and Newmatilda we see a tiny country of seven million people portrayed as a manipulator of world events, a state engaged in ethnic separation-without any mention of the thousands of civilians murdered by homicide bombers- and an initiator of wars that have no strategic or defensive codex. That is demonisation.
Of course people can be fairly critical of any state in the world and critical of particular actions of any state, but, following the Sharansky model, anyone who looks at Cordell's Newmatilda or Green's Crikey during this period could only conclude that Israel was a country deserving of rocket attacks on its citizens and not entitled to defend its sovereignty. That is delegitimisation. Scant attention is given in the same publications to Burma, Darfur, Zimbabwe, Tibet, North Korea, Chechnya, Eastern Turkistan or any other place witnessing gross abuse of human rights. That is a double standard.
I was particularly outraged, however, by the tenor of some readers' comments which followed these articles and contained repeated examples of bigotry. I have tabled a small percentage of these verbatim comments from the Newmatilda and Crikey websites from the first three months of this year. Of course, all members will find these comments as abhorrent as I do. No doubt some members will ask the obvious question: how does this kind of vile commentary following the articles-I am not talking about the actual articles; people are entitled to have different
views on these kinds of things-find its way onto a site that reserves the right to censor such comments?
The editors of Newmatilda were not moved to address this issue until I publicly intervened. Thereafter, on 7 July, they responded by way of an editorial that began:
Regular readers will notice that we have turned off all comments on articles about Israel/Palestine. Predictably, what followed was a long self-justification, which read in part:
Historically, we have erred on the side of free speech-we did not pre-moderate comments on the site, which is rare in this litigious age, because we wanted to promote open and diverse debate. Open and diverse debate is different from publishing unregulated, vile racism.
Again, I repeat that the Newmatilda decision to moderate their own site happened not out of consistency or out of some sense of decency but because the searchlight of public opinion was shone on these dark and ugly recesses of the internet.
Two regular contributors to Crikey and Newmatilda-Antony Loewenstein and his Sancho Panza, Michael Brull-also responded tomy speech in a jointly authored article stating that my criticism could be condensed into the following:
Michael Danby erodes his credibility by accusing two Jews of anti-Semitism because they don't agree with him ...
I am certainly content to reiterate here that, in relation to their commentary of the conflict, the two individuals are guilty of double standards, demonisation and delegitimisation. However, contrary to their response, their ethnicity was not addressed in my speech at all because it was clearly not my principal concern.
Their writing and the editorial bias of the online publications for which they write clearly puts them on the fringe of Australian politics. If one compares the things that they wrote with, say, Labor Party discussions at the recent national conference, one would see that they are completely outside the mainstream of the centre-left party in this country, for instance. For those writers to seek refuge behind their ethnicity is particularly craven. It is dishonest.
The thrust of my previous speech and tonight's lies with the creepier bigotry that their articles and other articles unleashed in these two online publications, which apparently had no problem with publishing them.
I agree with Thomas Friedman, who wrote:
Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction- out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East-is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest.
In examining the evidence of lopsided coverage of these two internet publications, our toughest critique must be of their unadulterated racism: the perverse nature of their criticisms and the vitriol that is not present in the appraisal of other conflicts; the use of terms such as ‘ethnic cleansing' and ‘Nazi'; and the dropping of all pretence of anti-Zionism by openly discussing Jews and so-called Jewish proclivities.
George Orwell wrote: To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle.
Perhaps-but my fear is that the internet is now so pervaded by such views that they can attain a patina of truth and respectability. In many of the articles in both magazines, the ability to link and cross-reference to other sites and commentaries apparently bolsters and legitimises the views of the authors in circumstances where readers cannot vouch for the credibility of the concurring opinion. Opinions and commentary are therefore expressed in an ethical vacuum absent of the strictures which we have come to accept as inherent in the profession of journalism, such as fact checking and peer review.
It is clear in my view that Newmatilda.com and Crikey.com disgraced themselves and the wider circle of Australian journalism-and the tolerant ethos that characterises Australia-by publishing clearly bigoted comments in
the comments sections of their publications in the first three months of this year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Readers feedback
I am forever being surprised (and delighted) when I hear (often incidentally) that yet another noted person in society, in any one of the countless areas of the arts, the professions and entertainment etc. happens to be Jewish. Then again, I am not really surprised, am I, for yes, without a doubt, the influence, historically, of this most worthy minority is far, far above its numerical strength when compared to other socio-religious groups. Like most others I cannot explain the vitriolic and mindless attacks poured upon it, (ie apart from those who are taught from babyhood to HATE any Jew)other than to believe such rantings are the primal outpourings from crooked (mostly ignorant) souls who basically are envious and jealous of Jewish folk and their achievements .... indeed infected by the "tall-poppy syndrome" if you like. The internet is perfect for such craven uglinessss: unseen and unknown, individuals can type away, press a button and presto, it"s there for the world to see and to give to their anonymous purveyors that momentary gratifying flash of "fame" obviously missing from their own inglorious lives. Thank you Michael Danby for publically naming Crikey and New Matilda and their editors as the trash that they are.
Posted by Annabelle on 2009-09-13 12:26:59 GMT
*******
Before 1967, the widespread anti-Semitism in Australia, as well as many other countries, was simply treading on the Jewish stereotypical, despicable underdog. Since 1967, it has changed in many people to virulent spiteful envy and hatred, because of Israeli and Jewish successes. Jewish non Zionists cannot escape that hatred. Lowenstein and his ilk are seeking publicity and notoriety with their anti Israel statements, and many of the fringe media are only too happy to oblige, and fan the flames of anti-Semitism, by claiming equal exposure for a very minute fraction of the Jewish community. I would like any of the anti-Semites to show what they have done for the advancement of the community. I suggest they look up Jewish Nobel prizewinners, but for their successes, many of these anti-Semites would have been dead by now.
Posted by Harry S on 2009-09-13 11:19:11 GMT
******
Hear, hear!! What a relief to see true leadership displayed in our national Parliament. Thank you Michael!
Posted by Steve Lieblich on 2009-09-13 09:45:25 GMT
********
Thank you Michael for being publicly frank and outspoken. There is an element in Australian society that loves to hate,- they hate us Jews; they hate Israel; they hate every successful person in what’s called the "tall poppy syndrome; they hate each other; their hatred comes out in violence in the streets, in violence against their partners at home in what"s called domestic violence. My bet is that these people also hate animals! What the internet has allowed them to do is to express their hatred on blogs,- if they allow them! The newspapers don"t print these vile comments,- the writers know they won"t print their rubbish, but the internet? It’s a free-for-all for crazies in particular! Thank you for pointing it out that it is our community which is too often targeted,- as for Israel, just because it is a Jewish and very successful nation State, these haters cannot bear it. Do they love its Arab enemies more? I doubt it.
Posted by Malvina on 2009-09-13 07:34:11 GMT
********
Well done, Mr Danby. You are the only effective voice speaking for Jews in Australia at the moment. So dysfunctional is regulation of the Australian media that countless letters and protests against biased and anti-Jewish/Israeli coverage fall on indifferent and callous ears. Fortunately, comments in Parliament have much more effect in rectifying the calumny our haters promote. Bigotry, hatred and their offspring, antisemitism, thrive on the internet and in many media vehicles in this nation, and they seem unstoppable. Cordell of newmatilda, Green of crikey and their execrable cronies have sold out to racism and forfeited their standing as independent sources of reasoned commentary. They are manipulated by bigoted and violent forces, and they seem to revel in their new found readership. The influence of Goebbels resonates in these publications and their modus operandi. Never in his wildest dreams or most fervent hopes would he have expected to be this successful 70 years later, half a world away. Your efforts, Mr Danby, are exemplary and we are truly grateful.
Posted by Dr Barry Walters. Perth on 2009-09-13 06:38:54 GMT
*********
Well done Michael Danby. When are your colleagues in govt going to publicly support you?
Posted on 2009-09-13 04:54:40 GMT
********
Full credit to Beecher for conceding Crikey went too far.You should post on this site. Marked contrast to Lowenstein.
Posted on 2009-09-13 03:13:41 GMT
********
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