THE reality of Australians for Palestine lobby group’s grubby distortions to further their demonisation campaign against Israel is more pressure on our Jewish community (“Activists’ Gaza deception”, 28/8). Security and intelligence services are already overstretched due to saturation coverage of the Gaza conflict.
These are the sort of photos that create hatred and inspire revenge. There are some members of society who will react in anger.
The increase in anti-Semitism is at an all-time high because there are many in our society who do not differentiate between what happens in the volatile Middle East involving Israelis and Palestinians with members of the Jewish diaspora in Australia.
This Palestinian propaganda stunt places in doubt everything else that is disseminated by their lobby groups. Well done to Liberal MP Luke Simpkins for being so alert and having the courage to take on this highly emotional issue
Michael Burd, Toorak, Vic
YOUR newspaper reported that Australians for Palestine were taking advantage of tragic child victims in Syria to blame Israel for atrocities committed in Gaza. In an earlier posting to our email lists, I inadvertently used an image of dead children in Syria when I was intending to show children killed by Israel in Gaza.
When the error was pointed out by a handful of people, I apologised to them for my error, and I apologise now.
Events overtook me and the correction email was never sent to our lists. There was no intention to deceive as is clear from my response to Liberal MP Luke Simpkins.
It was the picture that was wrong, not the report about Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian children.
Children slaughtered anywhere is cause for grief. Most people do not want to see the horrific images. However, when people are being bombarded as the Palestinians certainly were by Israeli bombs, we should report on the outrages as best we can.
Those who wish to make mileage out of some wrong images being used cannot negate the realities on the ground in Gaza. They are well documented by the media, medical teams working there and organisations such as Amnesty International. The statistics alone speak for the horrors and devastation that Israel has caused the Palestinian people.
Sonja Karkar, Australians for Palestine, Melbourne, Vic
ACTIVIST group Australians for Palestine used fraudulent propaganda believing it was justified in support of their cause and that of terrorist group Hamas. Meanwhile, Australian Muslims are travelling to join terrorists overseas and Muslim groups are opposed to counter-terrorism laws when 77 per cent of Australians are in favour, thus isolating themselves from the mainstream.
As Isaac Newton showed, every action has an equal and opposite reaction; extremism breeds extremism. Australia is dividing.
Iain Rae, River Heads, Qld
IT IS regrettable that Australians for Palestine wrongly used a photograph of dead Syrian children as images of Palestinian children killed by Israeli bombing. From your report, one understands the purpose of the picture was to expose the horror of Israel’s actions on the children of Gaza.
It would be a tragedy if this unfortunate incident obscures the fact that more than 2000 Gazans have been killed in this latest conflict.
Bill Mathew, Parkville, Vic
THE federal government is keen to legislate to prevent jihadists repatriating with impunity. Very well. But if the onus of proof is reversed, the jihadists will have won and undermined our democracy. And a law for one must apply for all, including for example, to Australians returning from service with Israel’s defence forces. Otherwise, such a law will be unfair.
David Faber, Adelaide, SA
GREENS leader Christine Milne displayed ignorance of international affairs and security matters when she said Australia had no business intervening in Iraq.
Heaven help us (and the world) should the Greens ever win power, or again have the sort of influence they wielded over the Rudd-Gillard governments. Someone should drum into her that burying her head in the sand will not stop jihadists from separating it from her torso should their dreams of a caliphate not be stopped.
Gerry Carman, Keysborough, Vic
