Well done Julie. In a world (sadly) full of journalists caught up in the contagion of group think, here we have a journalist with a spine. You can handle a dose of cognitive dissonance and sit with it, not cancel it's source. Instead, it makes you curious. Thank you for being a meticulous truth seeker. Perhaps you could be a full timer at The Australian. Your viewpoints are precious and often expose our blindspots.
I have reviewed my position on the Israel/Palestine question and I have decided that I cannot be either pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian in an identitarian way.
My position on the issue is pro-democracy, pro-human rights, pro-equality, pro-peace, pro all those political forces, whether Israeli or Palestinian, who support these principles and anti all those political forces, such as Hamas on the Palestinian side and Likud on the Israeli side, who do not.
While I am not willing to take a position on this issue that is identitarian rather than values-based, I recognise that both Palestinian and Israeli Jewish national identities exist and strongly influence the ideas and actions of the people who identify with one or other of these identities, and must be pragmatically taken account of in attempting to resolve the issue. Therefore, both of these national identity groups should be able to enjoy the right to self-determination on mutually agreed terms, and neither should dominate the other or enjoy greater rights or privileges than the other.
Finally, I must soberly recognise that the current situation in Israel/Palestine is now several decades away from the outcome outlined above, and that, at best, a long and slow process of gradual improvements and humane compromises lies ahead for people whose perspective is broadly in line with what I have outlined above.
It also seems to me that many of the people Julie criticises in the OP are pro-Palestinian in an identitarian way, and/or have not thought through their position on the issue on the basis of universalist democratic principles. This makes it impossible for them to adopt and express a reliably anti-Hamas position.
I think one of the things that Australians should be mindful of is the contrast between the rawness and intensity of the negative emotions that many Australians are feeling about the current war and the crimes of 7 October that started it, and the limited ability of actions by Australians to make a difference to events on the ground. I have reason to think that the mental health of some people is suffering as a result of this, and I have written previously of my fears that the political polarisation over the issue could degenerate into sectarian and/or communal conflict.
Yes; it has zero to do with this piece which is about activist journalism versus the old fashioned kind and not about whether anti Zionism is necessarily anti Semitism.
Thank you Julie - you have summarised what I have been observing in the papers and on the TV ....but becoming less of the "both-sideness" reported to now just outright pro Hamas propaganda. The "left" has a strange sense of what is "right" v "wrong"; opinion trumps reality again and again. So much so that the reality of the lessons learnt in WW2 history now apparently lost. Australian society is now a victim of its dream of a peaceful multicultural society, a dream that has and is fast becoming a nightmare when people bring their hatreds to this country. IA about to loose a subscriber with the 7 Oct not counted as the start of this horror........
Well done Julie. In a world (sadly) full of journalists caught up in the contagion of group think, here we have a journalist with a spine. You can handle a dose of cognitive dissonance and sit with it, not cancel it's source. Instead, it makes you curious. Thank you for being a meticulous truth seeker. Perhaps you could be a full timer at The Australian. Your viewpoints are precious and often expose our blindspots.
That's so touching, thank you. I'm not the full-timer type, but I hope to be writing more for The Australian next year!
I have reviewed my position on the Israel/Palestine question and I have decided that I cannot be either pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian in an identitarian way.
My position on the issue is pro-democracy, pro-human rights, pro-equality, pro-peace, pro all those political forces, whether Israeli or Palestinian, who support these principles and anti all those political forces, such as Hamas on the Palestinian side and Likud on the Israeli side, who do not.
While I am not willing to take a position on this issue that is identitarian rather than values-based, I recognise that both Palestinian and Israeli Jewish national identities exist and strongly influence the ideas and actions of the people who identify with one or other of these identities, and must be pragmatically taken account of in attempting to resolve the issue. Therefore, both of these national identity groups should be able to enjoy the right to self-determination on mutually agreed terms, and neither should dominate the other or enjoy greater rights or privileges than the other.
Finally, I must soberly recognise that the current situation in Israel/Palestine is now several decades away from the outcome outlined above, and that, at best, a long and slow process of gradual improvements and humane compromises lies ahead for people whose perspective is broadly in line with what I have outlined above.
Hard to disagree with any of that Paul.
It also seems to me that many of the people Julie criticises in the OP are pro-Palestinian in an identitarian way, and/or have not thought through their position on the issue on the basis of universalist democratic principles. This makes it impossible for them to adopt and express a reliably anti-Hamas position.
Here's an excellent overview of what's gone wrong with much of the Left in recent times, not least on issues like Israel/Palestine.
https://htsf.substack.com/p/yes-there-is-now-a-pro-houthi-left
A terrific recommendation .. but my God, how gone is the left...
I think one of the things that Australians should be mindful of is the contrast between the rawness and intensity of the negative emotions that many Australians are feeling about the current war and the crimes of 7 October that started it, and the limited ability of actions by Australians to make a difference to events on the ground. I have reason to think that the mental health of some people is suffering as a result of this, and I have written previously of my fears that the political polarisation over the issue could degenerate into sectarian and/or communal conflict.
I suppose there's no point in reminding you that anti - Zionism does not always equate to antisemitism.https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/us/politics/anti-zionism-antisemitism.html?mwgrp=c-dbar&unlocked_article_code=1.IU0.rtpM._SSVsKltqraq&smid=url-share
No idea how this remark relates to anything I wrote in this piece.
Did you read the article ?
Yes; it has zero to do with this piece which is about activist journalism versus the old fashioned kind and not about whether anti Zionism is necessarily anti Semitism.
Fair enough.
Wow! Brilliant piece. I too left my union in November and I was my workplace union rep
Thank you Julie - you have summarised what I have been observing in the papers and on the TV ....but becoming less of the "both-sideness" reported to now just outright pro Hamas propaganda. The "left" has a strange sense of what is "right" v "wrong"; opinion trumps reality again and again. So much so that the reality of the lessons learnt in WW2 history now apparently lost. Australian society is now a victim of its dream of a peaceful multicultural society, a dream that has and is fast becoming a nightmare when people bring their hatreds to this country. IA about to loose a subscriber with the 7 Oct not counted as the start of this horror........
Yes it's a strange story, for sure. But I think the reporter's social media posts, and one of them in particular, was the bigger problem.