AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL REVIEW

VOLUME 45 No. 12 DECEMBER 2020

AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL & JEWISH AFFAIRS COUNCIL

BIDEN: HIS TIME

A new US administration and its potential new Middle East policies

ISRAEL “CANCELLED” MULTICULTURALISM VIEW FROM THE UAE FANNING THE UNDER FIRE FLAMES How the Jewish state came to be An Emirati diplomat Challenges to this explains her country’s Turkey and Pakistan at the centre of a new intellectual key Australian policy vision for regional the key drivers behind mythology ...... PAGE 31 in 2020 ...... PAGE 22 peace...... PAGE 25 a new wave of Islamist outrage ...... PAGE 26 NAME OF SECTION

WITH COMPLIMENTS

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AIR – December 2020 AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL VOLUME 45 No. 12 REVIEW DECEMBER 2020 EDITOR’S NOTE NAME OF SECTION his AIR edition looks at the potential foreign policy of the incoming Biden adminis- ON THE COVER Ttration in the US – specifically with respect to the Middle East. Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin It includes a comprehensive guide to the Biden camp’s policy statements on Israel, Netanyahu (L) shakes hands the Palestinians, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Middle East issues compiled by BICOM, with US Vice President Joe and a look at Joe Biden’s general relationship with Israel from Amotz Asa-El. In addi- Biden during their meeting tion, Ahron Shapiro reports positive signs on the health of bipartisan support for Israel at Netanyahu’s residence in in the US, while Israel Kasnett hears from some top experts about how Biden’s team Jerusalem March 9, 2010. IGPO/ might handle the Iran nuclear challenge. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun Also featured this month is Naomi Levin on the unique challenges Australian Multi- culturalism faced this year as a key government policy. Plus, veteran reporter Matti Friedman looks at how Israel ended up being at the core of the new “cancel culture” rocking campuses and intellectual circles. And don’t miss: Jonathan Spyer on the new leading role of Turkey and Pakistan in stirring up international Islamist outrage, UAE diplomat Hend Al Otaiba giving her country’s perspective on regional peace prospects, and Jeremy Jones’ thoughts on a strange campaign against the most widely-respected definition of antisemitism. As always, your feedback is invited on any aspect of this edition at [email protected]. Tzvi Fleischer CONTENTS FEATURE STORIES REGULAR COLUMNS BIDEN: HIS FROM THE EDITORIAL CHAIRMAN TIME COLIN RUBENSTEIN ...... PAGE 4 ...... PAGE 5 BY BICOM WORD FOR WORD President-elect Joe Biden will SCRIBBLINGS confront a much-changed TZVI FLEISCHER ...... PAGE 6 region from the one during his DECONSTRUCTION ZONE days as Vice President under President Obama ...... PAGE 12 SETH FRANTZMAN ...... PAGE 7 ARE ISRAELI WORRIES ABOUT BIDEN JUSTIFIED? ASIA WATCH BY AMOTZ ASA EL ...... PAGE 15 MICHAEL SHANNON ...... PAGE 8 WILL BIDEN FOLLOW OBAMA ON IRAN? EUROPA EUROPA BY ISRAEL KASNETT ...... PAGE 17 DOUGLAS DAVIS ...... PAGE 9 BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL A WINNER BEHIND THE NEWS...... PAGE 10 BY AHRON SHAPIRO ...... PAGE 19 STRANGER THAN FICTION...... PAGE 11 AUSTRALIAN MULTICULTURALISM 2020 Challenges to a key policy in an extraordinary year NOTED AND QUOTED...... PAGE 35 BY NAOMI LEVIN ...... PAGE 22 IN PARLIAMENT...... PAGE 36 REGIONAL PEACE : VIEW FROM THE UAE BY MEDIA MICROSCOPE HEND AL OTAIBA ...... PAGE 25 ALLON LEE ...... PAGE 39 TURKEY AND PAKISTAN FANNING THE FLAMES THE LAST WORD BY JONATHAN SPYER ...... PAGE 26 JEREMY JONES ...... PAGE 40 CONSPIRACY THEORIES: AN UPDATE BY RAN PORAT ...... PAGE 28 HOW TO USE OUR INTERACTIVE EDITION

BIBLIO FILE: FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP • Tap/click to return to the Contents page BY JONATHAN SCHANZER ...... PAGE 30 • All listed articles link to their page. ESSAY: YOU’RE ALL ISRAEL NOW • Best viewed in your desktop browser or the Books (iOS) or The Jewish state and “Cancel Culture” equivalent e-book reader app in portrait mode. BY MATTI FRIEDMAN ...... PAGE 31 3

AIR – December 2020 Australia/Israel Review A journal of analysis and opinion published by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC)

Editorial Chairman

EDITORIAL Dr COLIN RUBENSTEIN AM Editor-in-Chief Dr TZVI FLEISCHER Senior Contributing Editor A TIME OF TRANSITION JEREMY JONES AM Staff Writers ALLON LEE, JAMIE HYAMS, AHRON he time between the Nov. 3 US presidential election and the Jan. 20 inauguration SHAPIRO, SHARYN MITTELMAN, NAOMI LEVIN, OVED LOBEL, JUDY MAYNARD Tof a new president is, as is well known, the transition period. It is a phase in which Publishing Manager outgoing President Donald Trump could spring a number of surprises. MICHAEL SHANNON Correspondents His reluctance so far to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden has com- ISRAEL: AMOTZ ASA-EL plicated the current transition and unfortunately may diminish the legacy of a number of EUROPE: DOUGLAS DAVIS NEW ZEALAND: MIRIAM BELL his Administration’s dramatically positive and path-breaking contributions to US foreign National Editorial Board policy, particularly in the Middle East. KEITH BEVILLE, RABBI RALPH GENENDE OAM, GARY HERZ, MIRIAM Especially problematic for his Administration’s positive Middle East legacy is his ques- LASKY, STEVE LIEBLICH, RABBI JOHN tionable decision to draw down major portions of the US troop presence in both Afghani- LEVI AM, Hon. HOWARD NATHAN AM, IAN WALLER SC stan and Iraq before Jan. 20 – which can only embolden dangerous actors such as the Taliban in Afghanistan and the pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias in Iraq. AIJAC While Trump was the quintessential Washington outsider, and Obama also a relative National Chairman newcomer, Biden is one of DC’s best-connected political insiders, whose career took root MARK LEIBLER AC NSW Chairman in a legislative era that operated with far more comity and bipartisanship than is evident PAUL RUBENSTEIN today. Executive Director Dr COLIN RUBENSTEIN AM Moreover, as veteran Washington Middle East expert Dennis Ross, who worked along- Director of International & Community Affairs side Biden in the Obama administration, recently pointed out, Biden has a long history of JEREMY JONES AM “figuring out how to manage disagreements and work them out” – of being a broker of Senior Policy Analysts AHRON SHAPIRO, JAMIE HYAMS, ALLON compromises. LEE, NAOMI LEVIN, SHARYN MITTELMAN Biden is a self-professed “Zionist”, whose deeply felt support for Israel and knowledge Policy Analysts OVED LOBEL, JUDY MAYNARD of the Jewish state’s security dilemmas is not in doubt. Hopefully, then, he will use his Associate Director of Public Affairs leadership role to help shepherd the US political centre back into the familiar pastures of JOEL BURNIE broad-based, bipartisan, pro-Israel consensus that was the status quo until recent years. National Media & Public Affairs Officer While the Obama administration in which he served certainly contributed to the ARIEL ZOHAR Multimedia Designer breaking of that consensus through its conscious policy of seeking “daylight” from the AREK DYBEL Israeli government, and a stubborn determination to reach an agreement with Iran on Events Coordinator HELEN BRUSTMAN OAM almost any terms in the face of Israeli opposition, a return to that negative, clinical and Administration inept approach under Biden seems unlikely. MELBOURNE: ROSEMARY SANDLER, RENA LANGBERG It is worth recalling that, as Ross says of the Obama years, “vice president Biden was a SYDNEY: LOUISE DE MESQUITA consistent questioner of those who wanted to put pressure on Israel… He would con- Israel Liaison PETER ADLER stantly say, ‘it’s OK for us to ask Israel to do things, but it can’t be that we’re asking only Founding Chairmen Israel to do things.’” ISADOR MAGID AM (OBM) ROBERT ZABLUD (OBM) While growing elements of the Democratic party are extremely critical of Israel and

HEAD OFFICE of the Israel-US relationship, happily these elements were weakened by a poor electoral Level 1, 22 Albert Road, showing (see p. 19). Biden should therefore be free to navigate a path consistent with his South Melbourne, VIC 3205, Australia Telephone: (03) 9681 6660 natural pro-Israel inclinations. Fax: (03) 9681 6650 Email: [email protected] Additionally, realities have changed significantly since the Obama years. Biden has pub- SYDNEY OFFICE licly supported the US-brokered normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab coun- 140 William Street East Sydney, NSW 2011, Australia tries and promised to continue the momentum. These agreements mean that the Palestin- Telephone: (02) 9360 5415 Email: [email protected] ian issue is no longer acting as the roadblock it has long been to progress on various issues

SUBSCRIPTIONS across the Middle East, and Israel is today effectively a key part of a tacit regional alliance Please send all remittances, changes of of moderate Sunni Arab states, united by common fears of aggressive regional actors Iran address and subscription inquiries to: Australia/Israel Review and Turkey and their respective proxies. Level 1, 22 Albert Road South Melbourne, VIC 3205, Australia While Biden has said he will renew ties with the Palestinian Authority broken by the ISSN No. 1442-3693 Print Post Approved – 100007869 Trump Administration, he has also pledged to make US aid to the Palestinian Authority 4 www.aijac.org.au conditional on its ending financial support for convicted terrorists.

AIR – December 2020 Anyone with the long foreign policy experience that flawed to ever adequately deal with the Iranian nuclear Biden has would surely understand that a two-state Israeli- threat. Nonetheless, the Biden administration’s policy Palestinian peace agreement is not on the cards in the of return to compliance, followed by renegotiation and short term. However, a promising route to help achieve expansion, could be somewhat effective – providing it rec- it in the longer term is to continue to expand the circle ognises that the economic pressure on the Iranian regime EDITORIAL of normalisation between Israel and its Arab neighbours, built up under the Trump Administration is its best asset. thus providing a potential Arab framework of support and Only a minority of the Trump Administration’s exten- mediation for a deal down the track, as well as a Palestin- sive suite of sanctions on Teheran are specifically nuclear- ian reality check. related. Thus, Biden can offer Meanwhile, Israelis, their “Biden’s very different leadership style, and to lift all nuclear-related Arab neighbours and many divergent policy emphases, do not mean he sanctions on Iran for a return other policy watchers con- can’t build on some of the Trump Adminis- to full compliance with the cerned about the Middle East tration’s major achievements” JCPOA, while maintaining will be observing the Biden strong additional sources of administration’s potentially more demanding approach leverage on the regime via the non-nuclear sanctions. to Turkey and particularly its Iran policy with intense Furthermore, Biden hopes to be more effective than interest. Trump in recruiting European allies to support his new Biden has expressed a desire to have the US re-join strategy of improving and extending the nuclear deal – the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which could indeed help increase the pressure on Teheran. nuclear deal with Iran – providing Iran also returns to full The Trump Administration’s Persian Gulf and Middle compliance. Afterwards, his policy is to seek to assemble East regional policies were some of its most success- multilateral diplomatic pressure on Iran to improve and ful. Biden’s very different leadership style, and divergent expand the nuclear deal to address Iran’s ballistic missile policy emphases, do not mean he can’t build on some of program, curtail Iran’s aggressive subversion and support the Trump Administration’s major achievements. On the for terrorism and also extend the JCPOA’s sunset provi- contrary, Biden may be well placed to do so – providing his sions that would remove most barriers to Iranian nuclear administration is prepared to acknowledge the profoundly development within a few years. changed realities in the Middle East since 2016, and adjust The JCPOA’s terms, as written, are too fundamentally US policies accordingly.

Jerusalem, and work to reopen the PLO mission in Washington.” US vice president-elect Kamala Harris, speaking prior to the US WORD election (Al-Arabiya, Nov. 3). FOR WORD “Against the backdrop of the talks [PA President] Mahmoud Ab- bas held about Israel’s commitment to signed agreements with “Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Joe, we’ve us, and based on official written and oral messages we received, had a long & warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, which prove Israel’s commitment, the ties with Israel will re- and I know you as a great friend of Israel. I look forward to turn to their previous state.” working with both of you to further strengthen the special alli- Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh ance between the US and Israel.” (Times of Israel, Nov. 18). Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu congratulates US president-elect Joe Biden (Twitter, Nov. 8). “Even though some govts started a treacherous, contemptible move toward normalising relations with the Zionists, they’re “The president-elect thanked the prime minister for his con- too small to end the matter of #Palestine. No! Palestine will be gratulations and reiterated his steadfast support for Israel’s free, while the fake Zionist regime will perish. There’s no doubt security and its future as a Jewish and democratic state... [He] about this.” looks forward to working with Israel to build an ever stronger Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Twitter, Nov. 3). partnership between our two countries.” Statement from the Biden transition team following phone calls “I’m saddened by the death of Saeb Erekat. Saeb dedicated his between Biden and Netanyahu and Biden and Israeli President Reuven life to his people. Reaching peace is my destiny, he used to say. Rivlin (New York Post, Nov. 18). Being sick, he texted me: ‘I’m not finished with what I was born to do.’ My deepest condolences to the Palestinians and his “We will take immediate steps to restore economic and humani- family.” tarian assistance to the Palestinian people, address the ongoing Former Israeli Foreign Minister and peace negotiator Tzipi Livni humanitarian crisis in Gaza, reopen the US consulate in East (Times of Israel, Nov. 10). 5

AIR – December 2020 connect al-Qaeda’s senior leadership to regional affiliates.” • In 2011, the US State Department’s annual country reports on terrorism referred to al-Qaeda’s Iranian hub as the terrorist group’s “core facilitation pipeline”, which COLUMNS NAME OF SECTION Tzvi Fleischer allowed the jihadist organisation to shuttle personnel and funds throughout the Middle East and South Asia. AL-QAEDA IN IRAN • On Feb. 16, 2012, the US Treasury Department On Nov. 13 the New York Times reported that, according designated the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Secu- to intelligence officials, on Aug. 7 Israeli operatives work- rity (MOIS) as a terrorist organisation for its support of ing at the behest of the United States had killed Abdullah al-Qaeda, as well as other terrorist organisations. Accord- Ahmed Abdullah in Teheran. Abdullah is better known as ing to the Treasury, “MOIS has facilitated the movement Abu Muhammad al-Masri, and was al-Qaeda’s second in of al Qa’ida operatives in Iran and provided them with command, first in line to succeed current al-Qaeda leader documents, identification cards, and passports. MOIS also Ayman al-Zawahiri, himself rumoured to have died a provided money and weapons to al Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI)... month ago. and negotiated prisoner releases of Al-Masri has been indicted in AQI operatives.” the US as the alleged mastermind • In July 2018, a United Nations behind the bombings of the US panel of experts, called the Analyti- Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania cal Support and Sanctions Monitor- in 1998, which killed 224 people. ing Team, found that, “Al-Qaida Israeli sources say he had been leaders in the Islamic Republic of planning attacks on Israeli and Jew- Iran have grown more prominent, ish Diaspora targets when he was working with A[y]man al-Zawahiri Al-Qaeda No. 2 Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, better known killed. as Abu Muhammad al-Masri and projecting his authority more The information about this assas- effectively than he could previously.” sination in August raises a lot of potential political impli- But here’s perhaps the strongest evidence of all. In cations and questions – why was this news leaked now, 2007, late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden himself wrote what does it say about Israel’s intelligence capabilities and a note criticising one of al-Qaeda’s constituent groups, the cooperation with the US, etc.? However, perhaps the most Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) – which of course later broke important thing to note about the killing was its location away to become the core of Islamic State. In it he admon- – Teheran. ished the group for threatening Iran, saying: Al-Masri had actually been living in Iran since 2003, “I have a few remarks concerning the matter of your and reports say that, while initially kept under some sort threats to Iran… You did not consult with us on that of house arrest, he has been largely free of restrictions serious issue that affects the general welfare of all of us… since 2015. for as you are aware, Iran is our main artery for funds, Somehow, a lot of supposedly sophisticated analysts personnel, and communication, as well as the matter of seem to be convinced that Shi’ite Iran, the world’s fore- hostages.” most state sponsor of terrorism, is a useful ally against Yet despite overwhelming evidence, including testi- Sunni terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and Islamic State, on mony from Osama bin Laden himself, many analysts and the principle that Sunni jihadists threaten Iran and “the officials seem to think they know better – and Shi’ite Iran enemy of my enemy is my friend.” would never cooperate with Sunni jihadist groups. Of Yet al-Masri was actually part of a major al-Qaeda course, Teheran has a wary and complex relationship with operational hub in Iran which evidence clearly shows Te- al-Qaeda – but nonetheless evidence is overwhelming that heran not only tolerated but aided. This hub also included an alliance of sorts exists. This evidence cannot be wished Osama bin Laden’s late son Hamza; Abu Hamza al-Khalidi, away, and the al-Masri killing highlights this reality. al-Qaeda’s “Military Commission Chief ”; Saif al-Adel, another key lieutenant of Zawahiri; Atiyah Abd al Rahman, STEM-WINDERS al-Qaeda’s “Operations Chief” killed in 2011 in Pakistan; In keeping with this column’s tradition of reporting on and Yasin al-Suri, a senior al-Qaeda facilitator and financier. the good news that has been emerging from Israel in re- Here are just a few examples of the public intelligence cent years concerning the growing integration and success available about al-Qaeda’s hub in Iran: of Arab Israelis, here is another positive statistic. • In 2010, General David Petraeus, then commander of According to the Israeli NGO Tzofen, which seeks to the US Central Command, reported that al-Qaeda “contin- facilitate the integration of Israeli Arabs into the hi-tech 6 ues to use Iran as a key facilitation hub, where facilitators sector, the number of Israeli Arabs studying STEM subjects

AIR – December 2020 (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has attacking institutions of the state in France. They don’t risen sharply over recent years. Its statistics show that in attack nude statues either. They attack churches. And the 2015/16 academic year, 2,691 Israeli Arab students they don’t only do it in France; attackers tend to target were studying STEM subjects, but last year this had risen churches and Christians worldwide. If the extremists are to 4,534. That’s an increase of 68% in just four years. Total radicalised by being offended over “blasphemy” and insults COLUMNS NAME OF SECTION Arab undergraduates rose only 30% during those same to their faith, then why is the response to attack religious years. buildings and innocent religious people? Arab Israeli STEM students have not quite reached par- In January 2015, after supposedly offensive cartoons ity with their Jewish compatriots – Israeli Arabs are cur- were published in France, there were attacks on 45 rently 15% of STEM students in Israel, but make up 21% churches in Niger. The churches had no connection to the of the population – but they are on track to get there in a cartoons, and Charlie Hebdo is not a Christian magazine. In few short years if recent trends continue. short, the secularism that drives critiques of religion tends STEM education is of course a key basis for Israel’s to target Christianity and Islam, and yet the extremist huge success as a hi-tech innovation hub. For a variety of response is to kill Christians and bomb churches. reasons, Israeli Arabs have not always fully benefited from Similarly, the response from Iran, Malaysia and other the hi-tech boom in Israel over the past two decades, but countries has been to deny the Holocaust. This points they certainly now seem poised to do so. to a reaction that is not about being offended over car- It’s yet another sign that, despite ongoing challenges, toons, but rather a wellspring of hatred against Jews and Israeli society is evolving to integrate the Jewish majority Christians in many countries and communities by Islamist and Arab minority like never before, with all Israelis gain- extremists who seek any excuse to carry out hate crimes ing a great deal from the process. against religious minorities. It is important to understand how this toxic blend of media-driven hype over the “insult to religion” leads to at- tacks on minorities all over the world under the guise that extremists are “angry at secularism.” The reality is not that French secularism caused of- Seth Frantzman fence, but that religious extremists linked to global Islamist movements have taught generations of young men to hate DOES SECULARISM FUEL ISLAMIST Christians, Jews, Shi’ites, Kurds, Ahmadis, Yazidis, Hin- TERROR? dus, Sikhs, Buddhists and other groups – and that every A man who beheaded a person in a church in Nice, controversy is used as an excuse to kill these groups, often France was radicalised by a recent controversy over an- targeting their houses of worship. other beheading in France. The chain of events shows that That is why synagogues have been targeted from Tunisia terrorists thrive off rumours of religion being “insulted” to to Morocco, Turkey, Israel and elsewhere. It is why Chris- then attack other religions, which would appear contradic- tians were attacked on Palm Sunday in Egypt in 2017, on tory since media reports indicated that French “secular- Easter in Sri Lanka in 2019 and in Pakistan in 2016. This is ism” was to blame for the attacks. The attacks on French why Hindu temples were burned in Bangladesh in 2013, churches are not unique; terrorists have targeted them in 2016, 2019 and 2020, a Sikh temple was targeted in Af- the past, killing a priest in 2016. ghanistan in March 2020, Ahmadi mosques were targeted Several media analyses and commentaries have pointed in 2010 in Pakistan and Shi’ite mosques were attacked in to France’s “extreme form of secularism” as the reason Afghanistan in 2016, 2018 and 2019. that terrorists are “angry” at France. However, the terror The flood of increasing attacks on places of worship, attacks look a lot more like hate crimes against Christians, almost all carried out by Islamist extremists, illustrates that including the attack on a church in al-Tabqah in Syria, than the real insult to religion has not come from secularism in they do a protest against French “secularism”. France but from far-right Islamist extremist groups that It is worthwhile to unpack the false claim that French target religion worldwide. The French cartoon controversy “secularism” causes terror attacks. If that was the reason was merely an excuse to radicalise men to conduct hate for attacks, then one would think that secular symbols of crime attacks on other religions, attacks that are part of the French state would be targeted. That’s usually how the radicalisers’ ideology. terrorism is supposed to work. Because we are told ter- rorism is about getting attention through symbolic acts of Seth Frantzman is a Ginsburg-Milstein Writing Fellow at the violence, then the terror group should target the symbol of Middle East Forum and senior Middle East correspondent at the the state or thing that it is against. Jerusalem Post. © Jerusalem Post (jpost.com), all rights However, there are few examples of these “terrorists” reserved, reprinted by permission. 7

AIR – December 2020 Even in exile, Rizieq remained a controversial figure. In late 2018, Saudi authorities briefly detained him for hoist- ing a flag at his Mecca residence that resembled the black standard of the Islamic State, whose caliphate was then COLUMNS NAME OF SECTION Michael Shannon approaching collapse. Although police dropped the charges against Rizieq UNWELCOME RETURN in 2019, citing insufficient evidence, he maintained that They began to flock towards Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta the accusations against him were politically motivated. airport from around 4 am and their number steadily grew Upon his return, he declared: “To all Muslims, the moral to tens of thousands. Many of them parked their cars on revolution begins today. Those who are not devout must the roadsides, worsening the congestion. Others were now be devout. Do you agree?”, to which Rizieq’s follow- forced to leave their taxis or ride-sharing vehicles and walk ers shouted full approval. “Move from bad deeds to good to the airport. Among them were pilots and crew mem- deeds. We will destroy all injustice. We will fight corrup- bers, resulting in the cancellation of dozens of flights. tion,” he said. Waving banners and placards, the Some analysts doubt Rizieq’s abil- crowd erupted with joy when their idol ity to mobilise the same forces on emerged. Yet, it was not a pop star or Jakarta’s streets as he did as one of the sports champion, but Rizieq Shihab, leaders of the “212 Movement” which the 55-year-old leader of the Islamic brought about Ahok’s downfall. Presi- Defenders Front (FPI). Wearing a white dent Joko Widodo (often referred to as robe, turban, and face mask, he stood Jokowi) comfortably won re-election up in the sunroof of a car and waved as in 2019, warding off an Islamist- his motorcade struggled to pass through backed challenge from Prabowo, who Rizieq Shihab and pandemonium at Jakarta the throng of followers chanting “Allahu airport has since become a key minister in the Akbar!” (God is great). government he once opposed. Such was the scene for Rizieq’s return from a three- President Widodo also moved to crack down upon year exile in Saudi Arabia, which clearly shows his pres- groups espousing ideology in conflict with the pluralist state ence will be a new factor in Indonesian politics, although ideology of Pancasila, banning outright Hizb ut-Tahrir Indo- opinion is divided as to his likely impact. nesia, a smaller group that campaigned for a global caliphate. Created after the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, In an AP interview last year, Widodo said he would try to the FPI declared itself to be a Sharia-inspired “anti-vice” work with Islamist groups, but declared, “If an organisation organisation and soon gained notoriety for destroying bars endangers the nation in its ideology I won’t compromise.” and brothels through “sweeps” carried out by its white- Rizieq’s return will be a political test for Jokowi, Ujang robed members. This extended to verbal and physical Komarudin, a political analyst at Jakarta’s Al Azhar Univer- attacks against religious minorities. sity, told BenarNews. “His return has created an opportunity Rizieq has served a total of two years in jail – in 2003 for major consolidation in the non-parliamentary opposi- and again in 2008 – for inciting his followers to carry out tion camp.” violent acts. In 2011, leaked US diplomatic cables claimed South-East Asia analyst Zachary Abuza sees risks for the police had been funding the group and using it as an Jokowi. “Jokowi’s clear 2019 electoral mandate has been “attack dog” to extort businesses. quickly eroded by poor policy choices, the botched CO- Yet, while the FPI is not a political party, it has proved a VID-19 response, and a contracting economy. His legitimacy useful tool in political power plays. It has endorsed can- is waning… Sharp economic downturns are always a boon didates and retains the ability to mobilise huge numbers, to extremist groups, which seek to scapegoat and provide well in excess of its 200,000 members. needed assistance to their in-groups,” he wrote in BenarNews. Prabowo Subianto courted the group to support his Even during Rizieq’s three-year absence, there was an presidential bids, as well as the infamous campaign to bring uptick in violence toward religious minorities. Between about the downfall of popular Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” 2017 and 2019, at least 23 attacks targeted minority Tjahaja Purnama on trumped-up blasphemy charges in 2017. houses of worship, including attacks on Ahmadi and Shi’ite Rizieq left for a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, mosques as well as Christian churches. that same year amid allegations of adultery and violating “Rizieq will only seek to escalate such attacks,” Abuza the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law by exchanging sexually predicts, “forcing the government to either acquiesce or explicit text messages with a woman who was not his wife. come to the defence of non-Muslims, and setting them up He was also facing several legal issues for prior conduct, for charges of apostasy… Rizieq is set to reassert his influ- 8 including defamation and treason concerning his speeches. ence in politics and upend the political status quo.”

AIR – December 2020 who embrace radical Islam, while protecting the middle- of-the-road worshipper. Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has joined Ma- cron in declaring a common European front in a “war NAME OF SECTION Douglas Davis on Islamism” – a civilisational struggle between Western COLUMNS values and a politicised version of an extremist interpreta- EASY TARGETS tion of the Islamic faith. Kurz intends to build an alliance Last month, Vienna joined a growing list of European against Islamist ideology at the next summit of EU leaders, cities – Paris, London, Manchester, Brussels, Nice, Berlin as the Austrian security services investigate the Viennese – which have been the site of major jihadist terror attacks attacker’s suspected ties to extremists in other countries, over the past five years. A gunman took four lives on the including Switzerland. streets of Vienna. “I expect an end to the misconceived tolerance and for The attack came a few weeks after a vicious attack in all the nations of Europe to finally realise how dangerous Paris by an 18-year-old Moscow-born Chechen. A teacher, the ideology of political Islam is for our freedom and the who had chosen to illustrate a lesson on free expression European way of life,” Kurz told the German daily Die Welt. by displaying cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, was A central pillar of the European Union is likely to be beheaded outside the school gates. The attacker was shot the first victim of the Macron-Kurz approach. The two dead by police. men agreed to a hastily arranged summit last month to Two weeks later, a Tunisian man stabbed three people seek a suspension of the Schengen Agreement, which per- to death outside a Catholic cathedral in Nice. The attacker mits frictionless travel throughout Europe. had arrived in Italy by boat a few weeks previously. “We are happy to live without internal borders but we Perhaps it is the enormous challenge of coronavirus or can only do so if we protect our external borders,” said simply the bad weather, but French President Emmanuel Kurz. “If we don’t protect our external borders, [free move- Macron has abandoned any pretence of soft power or ment within EU states] will be threatened on the inside.” under-the-counter concessions in exchange for peace on The existing European Border and Coastguard Agency the streets of Paris. has 1,500 officers, which France says is woefully inad- He knows that Europe is an easy target for a killer who equate to prevent illegal migrants entering via countries wants to secure maximum exposure at minimum cost. such as Greece and Italy. France is pressing it to accelerate That is why he has been galloping into battle in defence of a plan to increase the number of officers to 10,000. what were once regarded as Western values. Meanwhile, Europe is not alone in facing threats from Macron described Islamist separatism as a “political jihadist ambitions. Islamists have now focused on southern and religious” project that advocates “deviations” from the Africa as the site of their next caliphate and dozens of vil- values of the French Republic. This often resulted, he said, lagers are said to have been massacred in northern Mo- in the constitution of a “counter-society,” in which children zambique last month in a three-day rampage by jihadists. are taken out of school, and cultural activities are used Women and children are reported to have been beheaded as a pretext to teach principles that “do not conform” to and their bodies dismembered. French law. It is an “indoctrination” that negates French The jihadists, who have pledged allegiance to Islamic principles, “equality between men and women,” as well as State, have already launched attacks on neighbouring Tan- “human dignity”. zania and threatened violence in South Africa if it attempts “We believe in the Enlightenment and in women having to support Mozambique’s beleaguered army. the same rights as men,” he said. “People who think other- More than 2,000 people have reportedly been killed wise, let them do it somewhere else, not on French soil.” since fighting erupted in Mozambique in 2017 and Macron noted that Muslim radicals have created their 712,000 more have been left in need of aid. Analysts say an own hermetically sealed eco-systems in European cit- uprising by a few dozen young locals, angry at the neglect ies, and has sought a law that would give the state greater of their region by the government in Maputo, has been scrutiny of France’s mosques. He is particularly concerned exploited by Islamic State. about the estimated 300 foreign-trained imams in France, Now, more than 4,000 Islamist fighters have joined about half of whom emanate from Turkey. forces to battle Mozambique’s military and the foreign Under Macron’s law, they would have to be strictly mercenaries brought in from Russia and South Africa by vetted, while Muslim organisations would have to promise the Mozambique regime. to respect the secular nature of the country. Homeschool- This is perhaps surprising given that only some 18% of ing would be curtailed, and state schools would be open Mozambique’s population is Muslim. for three-year-olds, ensuring that French civic values were Yet jihadist violence continues to pop up in new places and inculcated at an early age. Macron’s goal is to fight those unexpected forms – looking for any easy targets. 9

AIR – December 2020 BEHIND THE NEWS BEHIND THE ROCKET AND TERROR months. These tax revenues amount The latest IAEA report on Iran, Two rockets were fired into Israel to 70% of the PA budget. dated Nov. 11, states that Iran now pre-dawn on Nov. 15, one landing Hamas condemned the PA’s deci- has 12 times the stockpile of low- near Tel Aviv. Both fell in open areas sion, and the success of recent rec- enriched uranium permitted by the and caused no damage or injuries. onciliation talks between Hamas and 2015 nuclear deal, and has enriched Israeli forces struck Hamas military Fatah, the main faction controlling the some of it up to 4.5% purity, whereas targets in Gaza in response. Hamas PA, is now in question. the deal only allows 3.67%. Iran claimed the rocket fire was accidental, now has enough fissile material to caused by lightning. build two nuclear warheads if further On Oct. 21 and 22, three rockets PAY-FOR-SLAY-FOR-HIRE enriched, which could be achieved were fired from Gaza into Israel. The According to a US State Depart- within six months using Iran’s existing IDF also uncovered a new Hamas ment report leaked in late October, centrifuges. Teheran has also intro- attack tunnel into Israeli territory in notwithstanding current severe cash- duced advanced uranium enrichment late October. restraints on the Palestinian economy, centrifuges at the Natanz facility in On Nov. 17, IDF forces detected the Palestinian Authority (PA) con- breach of the JCPOA, the report said. and defused explosive devices laid tinues to prioritise its “pay for slay” in Israeli territory near the border scheme which financially rewards with Syria. In response, Israeli fighter convicted terrorists and their fami- IRAN’S NEW planes hit a variety of Syrian and Ira- lies, in spite of new international aid UNDERGROUND nian military targets in Syria. conditions designed to prevent these NUCLEAR SITES On Nov. 11, the IDF reported payments. Images taken on Oct. 21 show shooting down a Hezbollah drone. To circumvent these new condi- Teheran has started building a new tions, the PA decided in early Novem- underground plant at the Natanz ber that approximately 7,000 former nuclear site. These seem to confirm an PALESTINIANS RESUME prisoners would cease receiving direct earlier IAEA report that Iran would SECURITY TIES WITH payments and instead be transferred build an underground facility to as- ISRAEL to “work” in jobs across Palestinian semble advanced uranium enrichment On Nov. 17, the Palestinian Au- military, security and civilian institu- centrifuges. The new plant is a breach thority (PA) announced the immedi- tions, receiving government salaries of Iran’s 2015 JCPOA commitments ate renewal of security co-operation at least equivalent to their previous and is designed to replace a site at with Israel. It had dramatically re- payments. Natanz destroyed in a blast in July that duced co-operation with Israel in May some sources have attributed to Israel. in protest against the proposed Israeli Experts estimate that it will take two extension of sovereignty to parts of IRAN THREATENS TO years or more before the new plant is the West Bank in accordance with the LIMIT IAEA INSPECTIONS fully operational. Trump Administration’s peace plan. On Nov. 2, Iran’s Parliament Analysts say the PA’s decision was passed a resolution stating that unless likely influenced by Joe Biden’s vic- Europe restores economic relations IRAN CYBER tory in the US presidential elections, with Teheran to satisfactory levels, the SHENANIGANS as well as Israel’s pledge to suspend Government must increase uranium Waves of unsophisticated but any plans to extend sovereignty as enrichment levels to 20% from damaging ransomware attacks against part of normalisation deals reached the current 4.5% and install more Israeli companies between mid-Oc- with the UAE and Bahrain. advanced centrifuges. The resolution tober and mid-November have been The PA also agreed to accept NIS3 also warns that Iran will stop imple- traced to Iranian hackers, although billion (A$1.216 billion) in tax rev- menting the Additional Protocol to not directly to the Iranian regime. enue that Israel had collected on be- the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Separately, Facebook removed half of the PA from taxes on imports which allows for extended Interna- several Iran-based fake accounts and and exports. The PA had previously tional Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) pages encouraging protests against 10 refused all such transfers for several monitoring. Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu.

AIR – December 2020 In late October, the US seized Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al more than 100 websites used by Iran’s Zayani and Minister of Industry, Com- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps merce and Tourism Zayed Bin Rashid and its proxies in Iraq. Iran had been Al Zayani travelled to Israel on Nov. actively trying to interfere in the 18 to meet with Israeli PM Binyamin NEWS BEHIND THE recent US Presidential elections, in- Netanyahu and US Secretary of State cluding sending threatening emails to Etihad Airways plane in Israel Mike Pompeo and sign a memo- Democrats pretending to be from the randum of understanding on direct far-right group The Proud Boys. flight from Abu Dhabi to Israel landed flights between Tel Aviv and Manama. in Tel Aviv, returning later that day • The Fresh Market in Dubai’s Ras with an Israeli travel trade mission on Al Khor area opened the first-ever US TO REWARD ISRAEL board. display of Israeli produce in the UAE FOR NOT OPPOSING F-35 • On Oct. 28, the UAE signed a on Nov. 14. SALES TO UAE deal to sell Israeli wine from the Go- Israel announced on Oct. 23 that lan Heights in Dubai hotels, restau- it would not oppose the US sale of rants and wine stores. LATEST ISRAELI AND “certain weapon systems” to the UAE, • On Nov. 8. the first flight car- PALESTINIAN COVID-19 seemingly referring to the advanced rying tourists flew from Tel Aviv to NUMBERS F-35 stealth fighter jets. The an- Dubai. It was a charter flight with the As of Nov. 16, according to data nouncement followed a meeting be- Dubai-based carrier flydubai. from Johns Hopkins University, tween Israel’s Defence Minister Benny • Two Israeli delegations were Israel had 324,755 total corona- Gantz and then-US Secretary of scheduled to visit Sudan in Novem- virus cases, of which 8,377 were Defence Mark Esper at the Pentagon, ber and December for discussions on still active and had resulted in at where they signed a joint declaration defence, agriculture, trade, aviation least 2,745 deaths. In the West Bank confirming the US commitment to and migration. and Gaza there had been a total of maintaining Israel’s qualitative mili- • In the first official visit by 63,867 cases and 572 deaths. There tary edge (QME) in the region. Bahraini ministers to Israel, Foreign were 8,263 active cases. According to the Breaking Defence website, as part of these assurances sensibly required their citizens to work the US is likely to grant Israel “direct or study from home if possible, to limit access to highly classified satellites the spread of the virus. Similarly, Iranian such as the missile detection birds students have now been urged to trample known as SBIRS and ensure Israel gets HATE FROM HOME and set fire to Israeli, US and French flags critical defence platforms in a very In the early days of the coronavirus from home. short time by using production slots pandemic, Iran was one of the worst Nov. 3 is the date of Iran’s annual planned for the US armed forces.” affected countries. In a show of solidar- Student Day, marking the 1979 seizure The report also claimed that the ity with its ally China, it refused to close of hostages from the US Embassy in US will allow Israel to purchase some its borders to that country, in contrast Teheran. Traditionally, this auspicious oc- “very special” weapon systems that are to many other states. There were also casion features students marching while not manufactured by Israel, and Israel reports of pilgrims continuing the cus- trampling on and then setting fire to US may also obtain “deeper access to the tom of kissing shrines, convinced that the and Israeli flags. core avionic systems of the F-35” – holiness of the sites would protect them However, this year, Motjaba Bastan, considered crucial to retaining Israel’s from the virus. the acting head of the Student Basij advantage as more Arab states pur- Subsequently, hundreds of Iranians Organisation, part of a voluntary para- chase F-35s. tragically died after drinking industrial military organisation affiliated with the alcohol, or methanol, in the mistaken country’s hardline Islamic Revolutionary belief that this would protect them from Guard Corps, urged students to carry out UAE/BAHRAIN/SUDAN the virus. these activities from the safety of their FIRSTS Now, however, it appears the steps own homes at exactly 9:00 am on Nov. 3. The recent agreements of the UAE, being taken against the pandemic by It is unclear whether at around 9:05 Bahrain and Sudan to normalise rela- Iranian authorities have become more am that day there was an increase in the tions with Israel continue to give rise orthodox, albeit with a twist typical of number of calls to Iranian fire brigades, to numerous firsts. For example: Iran’s extremist regime. who, of course, would not have been able • On Oct. 19, the first commercial Authorities in many countries have to work from home. 11

AIR – December 2020 COVER STORY NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES BIDEN: HIS TIME

MID-EAST POLICY CHALLENGES

by BICOM

S policy in the Middle Bahrain and helped usher in UEast underwent drastic new relations between Israel changes during the Trump and Sudan. It cut off funds to Administration. President- the UN agency for Palestin- elect Joe Biden will thus ian refugees, UNRWA. And confront a much-changed it released its plan for Israeli- region from the one left Palestinian peace that greatly during his days as Vice Presi- aligned with the positions of dent under President Barack the Government of Israeli Obama. Biden will likely Prime Minister Binyamin seek to transition away from Netanyahu. current US policies left by President Donald Trump THE US PRESENCE President-elect Joe Biden confronts a Middle East region much- toward new ones without changed since the Obama administration IN THE MIDDLE alienating allies or causing EAST greater uncertainty in the Middle East. The extent to which Biden’s regional policy will Trump’s most impactful regional policies came in two constitute a break from Trump or the continuation of at areas: Iran and Israel. least some of his policies remains to be seen. In general, Regarding Iran, the Trump Administration removed the the Biden administration will have to evaluate two major US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) driving forces behind US foreign policy in the Middle East nuclear agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions – as over the last decade: the retrenchment of US power (under part of its “maximum pressure campaign” – to force the both Obama and Trump) and the ensuing power vacuums Islamic Republic to renegotiate a more comprehensive this created; and the presumption, primarily held by the agreement over nuclear, regional and ballistic missile Obama administration – of facilitating “power competi- issues. Trump also oversaw the assassination of Qassem So- tion” between the major players in the region. leimani, leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Anthony Blinken, tipped to be a senior foreign policy (IRGC) Quds Force, who controlled the plethora of Shi’ite advisor (even potentially Secretary of State) in the Biden militias that are active in most of the conflicts across the administration, recently told the Jewish Insider how the region. Iran has managed to withstand American pressure, President-elect views American involvement in the region. although it remains to be seen for how much longer. “Whether we like it or not, the world doesn’t organise In an Israeli-Palestinian context, the Trump Administra- itself. Until this [Trump] administration, the US played tion was perceived to be one of the most “pro-Israel” ad- a lead role, doing a lot of that organising – in helping to ministrations in history. It recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s write the rules, shape the norms, and animate the institu- capital and subsequently moved its embassy there. It recog- tions that govern the way countries relate to each other. nised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. It bro- And the challenge now is that President Trump has largely 12 kered the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE and abdicated that role and responsibility… putting us in many

AIR – December 2020 places in full retreat from our close allies. And the problem This would include “targeted sanctions against Iranian is that when we are not engaged, when we don’t lead, then support for terrorism and Iran’s ballistic missile program; one of two things happen: Either some other country tries ironclad support for Israel; robust intelligence and security to take our place, but probably not in a way that advances cooperation with regional partners; support for strength- our interests or values; or maybe just a bad one does and ening the capacity of countries like Iraq to resist Iranian NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES then you tend to get chaos or a vacuum that is filled by bad influence; and a renewed commitment to diplomacy aimed things before it’s filled by good things.” at ending wars in Yemen and Syria that provide Iran with opportunities to expand.” THE CHALLENGE FROM IRAN The future of the JCPOA nuclear deal: Biden has empha- THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN POLITICAL sised that the JCPOA remains the best tool for preventing PROCESS a nuclear-armed Iran but, like Trump, he recognises that Biden is a strong advocate of Israel and the importance the deal has its flaws which need renegotiating. However, of the US-Israel relationship. At the 67th annual Israeli Biden has called for a vastly different approach to Trump’s Independence Day celebration in Jerusalem in April 2015, sanction-based policy in order to secure a better agree- Biden began his speech: “My name is Joe Biden, and every- ment with Iran. body knows I love Israel.” Biden described the Trump Administration’s decision Biden told the annual Saban Forum at the Brookings In- to pull out of the agreement as “a self-inflicted disaster”. stitution in December 2014 that “if there weren’t an Israel, Speaking to CNN in September, Biden said: “I will offer we would have to invent one.” Biden added, “We always Teheran a credible path back to diplomacy. If Iran returns talk about Israel from this perspective as if we’re doing (it) to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the US would some favour. We are meeting a moral obligation. But it is re-join the agreement as a starting point for follow-on ne- so much more than a moral obligation. It is overwhelm- gotiations. With our allies, we will work to strengthen and ingly in the self-interest of the United States of America extend the nuclear deal’s provisions, while also addressing to have a secure and democratic friend, a strategic partner other issues of concern.” like Israel. It is no favour. It is an obligation, but also a The US is thus likely to return to a US-led multilateral strategic necessity.” approach toward Iran. Blinken told the Jew- According to the Biden campaign web- ish Insider that “A much stronger way … is site, “Joe Biden believes in the worth and making sure that you’re working in concert value of every Palestinian and every Israeli. with allies and partners to stop and push He will work to ensure that Palestinians and back against Iranian misbehaviour, and the Israelis enjoy equal measures of freedom, se- problem with the [Trump] Administration’s curity, prosperity, and democracy.” However, having torn up the nuclear deal is that it a Biden presidency is likely to change its alienated us from the allies that we need to style, if not substance, from the Trump era hold a hard line against Iran.” in its approach toward Israel. Whilst Biden Such a policy carries with it several Anthony Blinken: Biden’s key has said he will not undo Trump’s decision uncertainties. Biden has not stated what foreign policy adviser to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, his he would do were Iran to refuse to return administration could include policymak- to compliance with the JCPOA; nor is it clear whether ers from the Obama era who still begrudge Netanyahu’s he would accept Iranian demands of compensation for incursions into US domestic politics over Iran. damages it suffered following Trump’s restoration of Biden has rejected the policies of more left-wing/pro- nuclear-related sanctions, or what commitments he may gressive voices in the party, such as Bernie Sanders’ call for give to ensure that such violations are not repeated. Iran’s conditioning US military aid to Israel. In an interview with presidential elections – which anti-US security hawks are the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 31 2019, Biden said: “The expected to win – take place in mid-2021, and Iranian of- idea that we would draw military assistance from Israel, ficials say any substantive talks will have to wait until then. on the condition that they change a specific policy, I find Iran’s ballistic missiles and regional activities: One of the to be absolutely outrageous. No, I would not condition it, gaps in the JCPOA is considered to be the fact it did not and I think it’s a gigantic mistake. And I hope some of my address Iran’s aggressive regional policy. Biden told the candidates who are running with me for the nomination – New York Times that his administration would “leverage I hope they misspoke or they were taken out of context.” renewed international consensus around America’s Iran The two-state solution: The Biden administration will policy – and a redoubled commitment to diplomacy – to likely bring a more balanced approach to US policy regard- more effectively push back against Teheran’s other malign ing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its policies “will be behaviour in the region.” grounded in a commitment to a two-state solution, where 13

AIR – December 2020 Israel and the future viable state of Palestine will live to- institutions … [and] work to provide more relief to the gether in peace, security, and mutual recognition,” accord- people of Gaza while working to weaken, and ultimately ing to the Biden campaign’s manifesto. Biden told the New replace, Hamas.” York Times in 2019: “I believe a two-state solution remains Settlements and annexation: Biden, and virtually every

NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES the only way to ensure Israel’s long-term security while Democrat in Congress, has been vocal in opposition to Ne- sustaining its Jewish and democratic identity. It is also the tanyahu’s now-suspended plans to apply Israeli sovereignty only way to ensure Palestinian dignity and their legitimate to parts of the West Bank. Biden has vowed to not ap- interest in national self-determination. And it is a neces- prove the annexation of West Bank settlements if he were sary condition to take full advantage of the opening that president, and that his administration would not give Israel exists for greater cooperation between a “green light” or recognise the move, Israel and its Arab neighbours. For all “Biden termed the UAE’s saying “Israel needs to stop the threats of these reasons, encouraging a two-state decision to recognise Israel annexation and stop settlement activ- solution remains in the critical interest as ‘a welcome, brave, ity because it will choke off any hope of of the US.” and badly-needed act of peace.” Relations with the Palestinian Author- Responding to US Secretary of State statesmanship’” ity (PA) and Hamas: Biden will restore Mike Pompeo’s announcement that the Washington’s ties with the Palestinian Trump Administration does not con- Liberation Organisation (PLO) that Trump downgraded. sider settlements illegal, Biden’s campaign team said: “This This likely includes the reopening of the PLO’s mission decision harms the cause of diplomacy, takes us further to the US and the US Consulate in east Jerusalem, and away from the hope of a two-state solution, and will only resume funding Palestinian programs that aid the prospects further inflame tensions in the region. It’s not about peace of peace, such as people-to-people programs, economic or security. It is not about being pro-Israel. It is about development, and humanitarian aid and health care for undercutting Israel’s future in service of Trump’s personal the Palestinian people, all of which were fully cut by the politics.” Trump Administration. This may come with a caveat to incentivise them to NORMALISATION BETWEEN ISRAEL AND renew security cooperation with Israel. ARAB STATES However, Biden has been critical of Palestinian incite- Biden has been supportive of the peace agreements ment and said Palestinian leaders “must begin to level with between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain. Speaking after their people about the legitimacy and permanence of Israel the signing of the Abraham Accords, Biden termed the as a Jewish state in the historic homeland of the Jewish UAE’s decision to recognise Israel as “a welcome, brave, people.” At a virtual event sponsored by J Street in Sep- and badly-needed act of statesmanship”, adding, “it is a tember, Biden promised to “reengage the Palestinians,” but critical recognition that Israel is a vibrant, integral part of criticised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for not the Middle East that is here to stay. Israel can and will be a stepping up “when given opportunities.” valued strategic and economic partner to all who welcome Speaking at a fundraiser, Biden said he would “fully it.” support the Taylor Force Act,” which withholds US aid to Despite warnings from the Trump team that a Biden the PA based on payments it makes to terrorists in Israeli presidency would be harmful to future negotiations jails. Biden has also called for Arab states – who reportedly between Israel and Arab states, Blinken pledged in his cut funding to the PA by 85% in 2020 – to “increase their Jewish Insider interview that a Biden administration “would financial and diplomatic support for building Palestinian certainly try and continue to pursue and advocate for nor- malisation with any Arab state that is prepared to do that.” Where a Biden administration might differ from its predecessor is in its willingness to provide carrots to tempt Arab states to normalise relations with Israel. Blinken has suggested that a Biden administration “would have to take a hard look at it to understand exactly what’s involved” in potential deals. Furthermore, the Biden administration’s warmer approach towards the Palestinians may increase the political capital required of other Arab states looking to make peace with Israel, as new peace deals will be unable to ignore the Palestinian issue like under Trump. Blinken recently said, “The more countries normalise 14 their relationship with Israel, the greater I think Israel’s

AIR – December 2020 confidence is in being able to make peace across the board community. “The Trump Administration must press Turkey … and also hopefully to resolve the Palestinian issue to to refrain from any further provocative actions in the the extent that it makes Israelis feel generally more secure. region against Greece, including threats of force, to create That may be helpful in creating greater confidence to move the space for diplomacy to succeed,” Biden said in a state- forward with the Palestinians, and it may also be that it ment. “I also call on Turkish President Erdogan to reverse NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES does send a message to the Palestinians that they have to his recent decision to convert the Hagia Sophia into a actually engage, negotiate in a meaningful way.” mosque and to return this treasure to its former status Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States: America has been a stra- as a museum, ensuring equal access for all, including the tegic partner and an essential pillar of Gulf security for the Orthodox faithful,” he added. past 50 years. Moreover, despite the conventional wisdom In a video that surfaced in August, Biden expressed his that consecutive administrations have been in retreat from willingness to work with “opposition leadership” in the the Gulf and the Middle East more broadly, the US will country to topple Erdogan in Turkey’s 2023 elections. remain a key global power that will shape Gulf security for But the strategic challenges posed by Ankara remain years to come. the same, and it remains to be seen whether Biden can President Trump took a firm interest in strengthening re-establish American leverage over Turkey after the Trump the US-Saudi relationship, as demonstrated with his first years. foreign visit as President to Saudi Arabia and the signing of a new major arms deal with the Kingdom. However, © Britain-Israel Communication and Research Centre (BICOM), the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and Crown reprinted by permission, all rights reserved. Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ill-fated war in Yemen, led the Trump team to embrace the UAE as the regional power most able to protect US interests – through the building of a new alliance with Israel and other moderate Arab states. Whilst Trump was mainly silent on Saudi Arabia, Biden ARE ISRAELI WORRIES has committed to reassess US ties with Riyadh. He told the Council on Foreign Relations that he would “end ABOUT BIDEN US support for the disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen JUSTIFIED? and order a reassessment of our relationship with Saudi Arabia. I would want to hear how Saudi Arabia intends to change its approach to work with a more responsible US by Amotz Asa-El administration.” The US Navy continues to participate in the blockade was elected President of the US with the help of of the Yemeni coast. A Biden administration could suspend “I your people; what can I do in return?” asked the this activity as a signal to Riyadh, but such a move would recently elected John F. Kennedy at the end of his meet- aid the proliferation of Iranian weapons and missiles to the ing with then Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in Houthis. New York in 1961. Biden is likely to press much harder on Saudi Ara- Irritated by the insinuation that he controlled the bia and the UAE to end the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Jewish Diaspora, Ben-Gurion replied: “Try to be a great (GCC) blockade on Qatar. In a New York Times op-ed president of the United States.” Blinken criticised Trump for siding with the Saudis after Kennedy eventually began selling missiles to the Israel they spearheaded the Qatar blockade. Defence Forces (IDF), thus ending Republican Dwight US-Turkey reconciliation: Turkey has grown more aggres- sive in the region over the last four years and its actions are increasingly inconsistent with American or transatlantic interests. Turkey’s new adventurism has been aided partly by the ambivalent position adopted by the Trump Adminis- tration over US-Turkish ties, explained in part by Trump’s desire to maintain a good rapport with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During the Biden administration, the rhetorical tenor of US-Turkey relations will likely be different. The former vice president has made several strong statements along the campaign trail on drawing red lines with Turkey, and has fostered warm relations with the American Hellenic 15

AIR – December 2020 Eisenhower’s de facto embargo on arms sales to the Jewish state. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship be- tween Israel and the Democratic Party in the US, later bol- stered by Lyndon Johnson, who sold Israel Patton tanks and COVER STORIES NAME OF SECTION Skyhawk fighter jets and thus laid the foundations for the US to eventually supplant France as Israel’s main arms supplier. That was last century. This century the picture has appeared inverted. The last Democratic administration, Barack Obama’s, is recalled in Israel as less friendly and more inclined to confrontation with Jerusalem than either its Republican predecessor or successor. Now, with President-elect Joe Biden preparing to succeed Donald Trump, some suspect a retreat from a presidency that was exceptionally beneficial for Israel on Biden and Netanyahu have a relationship that goes back more than a number of fronts, into a version of the tensions of the 30 years Obama years. The fears are likely unfounded. sage to the Syrian regime that the war it has waged on its people deprived it of any chance to reclaim the area Syria ontroversial though the Trump years were in so many lost by waging war on Israel. Cother ways, in the Middle East they brought long- Understandably then, many now wonder how much term impacts that most Israelis consider both beneficial of this will be left intact, or how much reversed, by Joe and in fact historic. Biden. The most important of these are the normalisation Yet in all likelihood, nothing of what Trump did will be agreements that the United Arab Emirates and the King- reversed. dom of Bahrain signed with Israel in September in Wash- Speaking during an online fundraiser in April, Biden ington, and the subsequent announcement by the White said he would not move the American Embassy back to House of a similar deal between Israel and Sudan. Tel Aviv. While Biden said nothing similar about the Golan Though these relations were evolving for years before Heights, there is no logic for him taking any initiative on Trump’s arrival, their maturation during his term signals this issue at a time when the Syrian regime is up to its neck a new legitimisation of Israel in the broader Arab world. in the rubble left from the civil war, and also kept at arm’s Moreover, the emerging trade relations with the Gulf length by most of the Arab world. states seem set to become diverse and warm. By contrast, Concerning Israel’s warming relations with the Gulf relations with Israel’s previous peace partners, Egypt and states, Biden will surely pick up where Trump left off, Jordan, have been cold, formal, and economically limited. helping cultivate what has already been accomplished, and Before these developments, Trump’s transfer of the encouraging its expansion elsewhere. American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was wel- The big question in this regard is what will happen with comed by most Israelis as a long-overdue correction of an Saudi Arabia. injustice to the Jewish people and its heritage. Riyadh was reportedly ready to sign a normalisation Trump’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the agreement with Israel, after having publicly backed – and Golan Heights was appreciated by most Israelis as a mes- before that green-lighted – its two Gulf neighbours in their

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AIR – December 2020 deals with Jerusalem. Now the assessment in Jerusalem personally got along very well, and in this regard, the past is that the desert kingdom will wait for Biden to settle in four years were the inversion of the Obama years. before making any move. Back then, Netanyahu was in deep disagreement with Riyadh’s major concern is what will happen between the American president concerning the Middle East in

Washington and Teheran. general and Iran in particular. Netanyahu’s address to the NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES As vice president, Biden was there when Obama mas- US Congress in 2015, in which he challenged the Ameri- terminded the controversial 2015 Joint Comprehensive can president’s policy in his own capital in front of his own Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal that slowed Iran’s nuclear legislature, was seen by some in Obama’s administration as program in turn for partially-lifted sanctions. Riyadh’s fear particularly brazen. of Teheran has only grown since then, especially after the But then again, Biden and Netanyahu have known each Iranian drone and missile attack in September 2019 on oil other since the latter’s days as ambassador to the UN. Their installations east of the Saudi capital. acquaintance is as warm as it is long-standing. While campaigning, Biden would not disown the nu- Biden is also not close to his party’s left wing, where clear deal that Obama created and Trump undid. However, some are virulently anti-Israel. Biden is also not known to while claiming Trump’s militancy made Iran accelerate its have been consulted before Obama’s famous Cairo Speech nuclear activity, Biden added he would resume talks with in June 2009, which Israelis from right to left found Iran only after Teheran restores its compliance with the dangerously naïve, not only for Israel, but for the entire original deal’s provisions. region. Riyadh, along with the rest of the Gulf states as well as In any case, whatever Biden thought of Obama’s speech Israel, will demand that, if talks with Iran indeed resume, at the time, subsequent events in the Middle East have ren- Washington add other items to the agenda alongside dered the vision Obama articulated obsolete. The popular nuclear enrichment – including Teheran’s ballistic missile uprisings, Islamist violence, and multiple civil wars that program and its meddling in multiple conflicts throughout have unsettled the Middle East since 2011 have made every the Middle East. sensible American, including Biden, recognise that the In Israel, pundits doubt Biden will actually get around Middle East’s transformation is less imminent and more to focusing on these issues anytime soon. complex than Obama presumed. Maj-Gen (res) Amos Yadlin, who now heads the Tel Aviv Beyond the past decade’s events and their lessons, Biden University Institute for National Security Studies and was will enter the White House more experienced than any previously head of IDF Military Intelligence, told Israeli ra- president before him. dio that Biden will initially be bogged down with the pan- With eight years as vice president and 36 as a senator, demic and the economic crisis it has spawned. When Biden including eight years as chair of the Senate Judicial Com- does turn to foreign affairs, China and North Korea will be mittee and two as chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Com- much higher on his agenda than Israel, Yadlin added. mittee, Biden has been around, and he knows how things This of course does not mean the new administration work, both at home and abroad. This is a notable contrast will not be involved, sooner or later, in issues relating to with both his recent predecessors. Israel, nor that its attitude might not pose a challenge to As such, he knows all too well, and recalls all too viv- Israel, especially as long as Binyamin Netanyahu is prime idly, the evolution of Israel’s alliance with the US, and also minister, given his past rocky relations with the Obama with the Democratic Party. In all likelihood, he will uphold administration. both.

iden represents the Democratic establishment that Bwas committed to the Oslo Accords, and there is no indication that he has lost faith in the two-state solution. WILL BIDEN FOLLOW Chances are, therefore, that he will expect the restora- OBAMA ON IRAN? tion of talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which the latter suspended in 2014. Then again, the two-state principle was also espoused by Israel Kasnett by Trump, and in fact was part of his “Vision for Peace”plan released in early 2020, which advocated territorial trade- ne of the top foreign-policy issues President-elect Joe offs between Israel and a prospective Palestinian state, even OBiden will be forced to address upon taking office in while offering that state less territory than proposed in January will be the Iranian threat. previous plans. On the campaign trail, in what was seen as a dig at US Moreover, gaps on the personal side are also not as President Donald Trump’s efforts to apply maximum pres- deep as some might assume. Yes, Netanyahu and Trump sure on Iran through sanctions, Biden said he would handle 17

AIR – December 2020 Iran “the smart way” and would give Iran “a credible path well as Teheran’s eagerness to reach an agreement due in back to diplomacy.” Biden has also said that the United part to its poor economic situation. States could re-join the deal “as a starting point for follow- “The question is what sort of agreement Biden has in on negotiations” if Iran commits to full compliance. mind,” said Rabi. “Will it have modifications with regard

COVER STORIES But Israel’s security establishment is worried that to Iran’s ballistic-missile program, Iran’s aggression in the another Obama-esque approach to Iran will fail a second region and bringing in more monitoring? That would be time and will once again result in a triumphant Iran flush great.” with billions of dollars in cash. The JCPOA ignored or mismanaged all three of these Asaf Romirowsky, Executive Director of Scholars for issues. Peace in the Middle East and a senior non-resident fellow Rabi said he hopes that the Americans have “learned a at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Centre, said that Biden lesson from what happened before” regarding Iran’s disin- will “have a hard time disregarding the renewed sanctions genuous approach to negotiating. He also said the Ameri- on Teheran and their effects.” cans “cannot get to the negotiating table and play it by ear. “As a veteran politician, Biden has a greater apprecia- They must have a clear end game.” tion of the US-Israeli alli- He explained that the ance and will not compro- “If Biden performs in a successful way important elements that were mise Israeli security,” said when it comes to the Iran file, that will left out of the deal, such as Romirowsky. “Moreover, make life easier for everyone in the Middle Iran’s ballistic missile pro- his history with Israel will East, including the United States...” gram, its hostile behaviour in contribute to his attitude that the Middle East, and im- would presumably be less proved inspections, should be acrimonious [than] during the Obama years.” included in any new agreement. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, quoted by the state- “One should hope that Biden and his team [are] coming run IRNA news agency, said the next US administration up with a fresh approach about how to deal with Iran,” he must “compensate for past mistakes” and “return to the said. path of complying with international agreements through Rabi said that behind the scenes, Gulf state leaders fear respect of international norms.” that Biden will follow Obama’s appeasement approach and According to the latest report by UN inspectors, Iran will want to lift sanctions and reduce pressure on Iran. has 2,440 kilograms of enriched uranium stockpiles, which This mistaken approach could have a negative “snowball far exceeds the 300 kilograms allowed under the 2015 nu- effect,” he warned. “Biden should bear this in mind and clear deal known as the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan internalise what has happened in the Middle East.” of Action). Experts say that is enough material to make at Ultimately, said Rabi, this is Biden’s “litmus test”. least two nuclear weapons. The report said that Iran is also “If Biden performs in a successful way when it comes to enriching uranium to as much as 4.5% purity, which is also the Iran file, that will make life easier for everyone in the higher than the limits in the deal (3.67%). Additionally, Middle East, including the United States. If the opposite Iran has completed the transfer of a cascade of advanced happens, you can definitely expect a negative snowball ef- centrifuges from a plant above ground to an underground fect,” he stated. site, which can protect the plant from aerial attacks. Rabi suggested that Israel needs a joint agreement What has Israeli experts worried is Iran’s blatant non- with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates by compliance with the deal and clear interest in pursuing which they can influence some changes to any new Iran nuclear weapons. It continues to install advanced centri- deal if and when it happens. fuges and is developing its intercontinental ballistic missile Romirowsky added that “Iran and its proxies are still program. the largest destabilising factors to the region.” Iran’s lies and deceptions with regard to its intent for As such, he said, “a Biden administration will contend its nuclear program, which it says is for peaceful purposes with a more unified Middle East – a Sunni Crescent that only, have been handily proven by Israel in a number of includes Israel. This will require an understanding of Israeli instances. But each time Israel requested that the inter- deterrence bolstered by an Israeli Qualitative Military national community investigate, it was met with a slow Edge.” response. According to Romirowsky, moving forward, Biden will Uzi Rabi, director of the Moshe Dayan Centre for need to “convince Israelis that he will have their best inter- Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University, said he is ests in mind when it comes to Iran.” concerned that Israel will soon find itself “at the eleventh hour” with regard to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. © Jewish News Syndicate (JNS.org), reprinted by permission, 18 He noted Biden’s intentions to negotiate with Iran, as all rights reserved.

AIR – December 2020 Virginia. The article also discussed two congressional gains BIPARTISAN SUPPORT in New York from the 2018 midterms they had hoped to FOR ISRAEL A WINNER keep. In these 15 races, the Democrats have definitely lost 13, and look very likely to lose another, NY-22 – the

Democrat candidate was behind by 6,823 votes as of Nov. NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES by Ahron Shapiro 17. Meanwhile, in the final race, CA-25 – where the Re- publican is currently leading by just 422 votes with thou- ith the last of US mail-in votes in the process of sands left to tally as counting continues at a snail’s pace Wbeing counted at press time and – despite unprec- – the progressive-backed edented counting delays spanning weeks in some districts Democrat candidate op- – results determined in all but a handful of US House of poses placing conditions Representatives and two US Senate races, a clear winner on US support for Israel. has already emerged in this month’s US election: biparti- Democratic cen- san support for Israel. trists, including Virgin- Halie Soifer, Executive Director of the Jewish Demo- ian lawmaker Abigail cratic Council of America, told the Jewish-angled US Spanberger, blamed the Virginia Congresswoman Abigail political news website Jewish Insider that, even with some Spanberger: Progressives to blame progressive faction for for disappointing Democratic results setbacks, Israel was in a strong position in the Democratic the party’s disappoint- caucus. “There’s overwhelming support of Israel,” she said, ing results in races for the House of Representatives in a “starting with our leadership on down, including many conference call following the election. This followed an in- freshman members who were just re-elected.” cident earlier in the year, when Spanberger and a number Meanwhile, in the same article, Joel Rubin, Executive of Democratic lawmakers from her conservative-leaning Director of the American Jewish Congress and former state criticised Sanders for urging Democrats to boycott director of Jewish outreach for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs presidential campaign, said bipartisanship – implicitly Committee (AIPAC), America’s largest pro-Israel lobby including support for Israel – resonated in districts where group. At that time, the Virginia Democrats warned party moderate Democrats held on. “Clearly it worked for a leaders that any erosion of the Democratic support for number of them and they actually did well in the num- Israel would lead to a loss of support for the party in cen- bers,” he said. In the days before the election, when most polls indi- cated that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden With Compliments would beat Republican incumbent Donald Trump by a wide margin, members of the far-left or progressive fac- tion of the Democratic Party had high hopes of expanding their influence significantly by beating Republicans. In the end, despite Biden’s win, the Democrats lost seats overall in the House, with far left “progressives” faring particularly poorly. This faction, spearheaded by Sanders and a group of four core congresswomen known as the “Squad” – Alex- andria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Min- nesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan – are broadly the most vocal critics of the Jewish state in Congress (though Pressley is something of an exception on Israel). Most, though not all, politicians Ivany identified with the Democratic left either believe in mak- ing US support for Israel conditional on concessions to the Investment Group Palestinians or oppose US support of Israel outright. A few even support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Level 6, Terrace Tower movement against Israel. 80 William Street On Nov. 3, an article in the left-wing commentary and Sydney NSW 2010 news website The Intercept identified 13 different races Tel: (02) 9358 6366 where progressive Democrats hoped to unseat Republi- ivanyinvest.com.au cans in California, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Texas and 19

AIR – December 2020 trist districts across America. They can now make a good to be non-friendly to Israel. It’s just not true." case that they were right. Notably, neither Torres’ nor Jones’ campaigns sought backing from the Justice Democrats, and it’s just as well, ‘THE SQUAD’ GROWS SLIGHTLY given the bitter experience of San Diego progressive can- NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES Not all of the election news for progressives was bad. didate Georgette Gómez (CA-53), who saw the PAC pull At least five progressive candidates achieved success in its funding from her campaign after she published an op-ed primaries to secure spots in safe Democratic seats, some at and interview condemning BDS and expressing her desire the expense of moderate Democrats. Their biggest victory to visit Israel, according to Jewish Insider. She ended up los- saw Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), who endorses placing condi- ing in the general election to a better-funded Democrat. tions on US support for Israel, beat Eliot Engel, Chairman In any event, the modest gains by anti-Israel progres- of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and one of the sives in this election cycle must be seen in the context of Democratic Party’s strongest supporters of Israel. a Democratic party that elected 235 members to the last However, as far as continued overall Congressional Congress, and will seat up to ten fewer in the new one, in support for the Jewish state is concerned, the impact of a chamber with 435 voting members. Engel’s departure will probably be minimal. Committee chairs are traditionally chosen based on seniority, which A BIPARTISAN PLEDGE FROM THE WHITE would make Engel’s fellow pro-Israel Democratic stalwart HOUSE Brad Sherman (CA-30) his probable replacement, though Israel’s bedrock of bipartisan support in the House and the decision will ultimately be made by the House Demo- Senate stands to further benefit from the election of Joe crats’ Steering and Policy Committee, controlled by House Biden as president – a Democratic centrist who distin- Speaker Nancy Pelosi. guished himself as one of the Senate’s greatest champions Other progressive critics of Israel set to enter Congress of pro-Israel bipartisanship over the course of his 47-year for the first time are Cori Bush (MO-1), a veteran activist career. for Black Lives Matter and supporter of BDS (although she “We can’t let Israel become another issue that divides quietly removed any reference to this from her campaign Republicans and Democrats in the major parties,” Biden website) and Marie Newman (IL-3), who used to support implored AIPAC in a taped message from the campaign trail BDS, but later softened that position to merely supporting played at its annual conference in March 2020. “We can’t the right of others to boycott Israel. let anything undermine the partnership that has grown and Like members of the flourished from the moment of Israel’s founding.” Squad elected before them, According to the Biden’s campaign website, among Bowman, Bush and New- his campaign promises are to “ensure that support for the man’s campaigns were sup- US-Israel alliance remains bipartisan,” while also to “reject ported by the progressive the BDS movement – which singles out Israel and too PAC (Political Action Com- often veers into anti-Semitism – and fight other efforts to mittee) Justice Democrats, delegitimise Israel on the global stage” and support imple- Ritchie Torres: A pro-Israel pro- which pushes anti-Israel mentation of the Taylor Force Act, which conditions US aid gressive freshman from New York positions. for the Palestinian Authority on its ending its practice of On the other hand, two rewarding terrorists or their families. other progressive winners – Ritchie Torres (NY-15) and In other words, Biden committed to do his part to Mondaire Jones (NY-17), were at pains to distance them- protect bipartisan support for Israel by standing up to the selves from criticism of Israel during their campaigns. far-left elements within his own party who would jettison “I am from the Bronx, I’m Afro-Latino, I’m Puerto the US-Israel alliance. Rican, I’m a millennial – but I’m also pro-Israel,” Torres Former Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller, told Jewish Insider in a December 2019 interview. “The no- who served under both Democratic and Republican presi- tion that you cannot be both progressive and pro-Israel is dents, wrote in the Washington Post on Nov. 12 that Biden’s a vicious lie, because I am the embodiment of a pro-Israel record shows he is likely to plot a course for US policy with progressive.” Israel that will aim for support from both sides of the aisle. “One thing I want Jewish people to know is that I will “The strength of the US-Israel alliance depends on a po- be a friend to Israel,” Jones told the JTA in July. "We know litical consensus, between America’s two main parties, that that progressives disagree on any number of issues… the broadest conception of the American national interest there’s great diversity within the progressive movement means robust support for Israel,” Miller wrote. and the topic of Israel tends to be something that divides “[Biden’s] penchant for bipartisanship, in general, will progressives... it does disappoint me when I see some likely return the US-Israel relationship to the normal bal- 20 people suggest without evidence that somehow I’m going ance that has characterised it for decades.”

AIR – December 2020 NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES

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AIR – December 2020 For some commentators, these challenges are too sig- Australian nificant to overcome. Some have charged that Victoria, in particular, is crumbling under “toxic multiculturalism” and Multiculturalism in that this has somehow caused the spread of coronavirus. COVERNAME OF SECTION STORIES This can lead to charges that Australia should be trying 2020 harder to assimilate migrants. But the idea of assimila- tion, where, as Tudge said in 2018, “we must abandon our cultural and religious heritage and all become the same,” is Challenges to a key policy in an illiberal and impinges on people’s freedom to express their extraordinary year identity. Australian multiculturalism has always favoured an approach based on integration – whereby Australians are encouraged to maintain cultural and religious traditions as- by Naomi Levin sociated with their heritage, if they wish, but also expected to adapt to and seek to be a part of mainstream Australian here are few government policies that have survived, economic, social and occupational life. Tdespite numerous challenges, for 40 years. Australian Other critics argue multiculturalism has not gone far multiculturalism is, fortunately, one of them. enough. Despite being official policy for so many decades, A speech delivered in August by Acting Minister for multicultural Australia is not yet reflected in the media Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultur- and leadership positions, they argue. For example, all of alism Alan Tudge, was a solid restatement of Australia’s long- Australia’s prime ministers have been of Western Euro- term commitment to multiculturalism. pean, Christian background. These critics This commitment promotes the same sometimes advocate affirmative action or values that have held multiculturalism similar policies. strong under both Coalition and Labor While there are certainly challenges, governments, including the insistence Australian multiculturalism has absorbed that all Australians uphold responsibilities the impacts of significant global challenges. to the state and society, such as respect It has previously dealt with foreign interfer- for the rule of law and mutual tolerance. Multiculturalism Minister Alan Tudge: ence, albeit on a smaller scale, while the These commitments are coupled with Four new challenges to Australian challenges of migrants learning English and the rights of individuals to maintain ties Multiculturalism participating in the economy are long term to their faith, language or national group. ones. Technology is a modern minefield, Australian multiculturalism also focuses on spreading core but can provide solutions as well as challenges. values of democratic participation, free speech and free association, and gender equality, as well as a commitment CORONAVIRUS to learning the English language. This combination has seen As a result of coronavirus, lockdown measures have Australia described by many as “the most successful multi- restricted participation in important community rituals – cultural country in the world.” such as collective religious worship or meetings of volun- “Our social cohesion is particularly remarkable given teer groups. The economic hit caused by coronavirus and the size and diversity of our migrant intake. There are its effect on employment have also affected Australia’s so- people from every single country on earth living here,” cial fabric. As Tudge said, “we know that when unemploy- Tudge emphasised during his National Press Club address. ment rises, sentiment towards migrants can deteriorate.” Nonetheless, as Tudge acknowledged, it is also true But this is not the first global event to impact Australia’s that Australia’s multiculturalism has been facing significant robust multiculturalism. Take the 9/11 terror attacks and challenges. Some of those challenges have been overcome, the world they created once many populations realised others are being addressed, still others are emerging. they were a target of fanatical Islamists. What has been common to all these challenges so far In the 2000s and into the 2010s, Australians worried is a willingness by government, not-for-profit groups, about the likelihood of a large-scale terrorist attack in academics and community leaders to recommit to multi- Australia. This was felt acutely by many groups, including culturalism, while working towards its improvement. This Australian Muslims. willingness must continue. Research conducted by Anne Aly (then an academic and Tudge outlined four significant contemporary chal- now a Member of Parliament) and Mark Balnaves in 2007 lenges to Australian multiculturalism: coronavirus, foreign showed Muslim Australians had even higher levels of anxi- interference, lower levels of English language adoption by ety than other Australians about the impact of terrorism. 22 some migrants, and technology. The researchers wrote “Muslim participants expressed that

AIR – December 2020 they felt they were being The idea that foreign targeted by the media and interference is a potential by politicians and that the threat to Australian multi- media frequently identi- culturalism is, however, fied them as terrorists.” a contemporary develop- COVER STORIES NAME OF SECTION Fast forward to 2020, ment, as is the source of and the origins of CO- interference. Informed VID-19 in the Chinese commentators accuse city of Wuhan led to China of significant reports of racism and interference, with Russia threats against people of and Iran also reported to Chinese origin in Aus- have infiltrated Australian tralia and elsewhere. A institutions, public and report by Human Rights private. Australian multiculturalism’s success is built on integrating, not assimilating, Watch in May noted that Australia’s diverse population Once again drawing there was a rise in both on the post-September racist rhetoric and racist attacks against Asian people. 11 comparison, Lowy Institute non-resident fellow In the months and years following the September 11 Anthony Bubalo wrote, “In the same way that al-Qaeda attacks, in Australia at least, the Government focussed on wants Muslims to doubt they will ever be accepted by non- protecting the entire community from terrorism, Austra- Muslims, the CCP [Chinese Community Party] wants the lian Muslims included. Civil society responded with many Chinese diaspora to owe its first loyalty to Beijing.” attempts at interfaith outreach in Australia. Bubalo reported that some Australians of Chinese During 2020, the Government has responded promptly origin believed that the Government’s focus on Chinese to challenges to multiculturalism brought on by corona- foreign interference felt menacing. In response, he sug- virus. Tudge publicly condemned anti-Chinese racism, gested the Government might focus on taking lessons from saying “racist attacks have no place in Australia. It is not the the post-September 11 experience in managing social Australian way.” cohesion; using “precise language” to differentiate between His opposition counterpart Andrew Giles called for an Chinese people and the CCP; and for leaders to attempt to anti-racism campaign and Tudge and Giles then co-spon- “define the boundaries of acceptable debate.” sored a motion in the House of Representatives condemn- The Government’s approach to dealing with this chal- ing attacks on Chinese Australians. lenge has been a practical one. Under previous prime “Racism threatens this and it undermines our social co- minister Malcolm Turnbull, foreign interference legislation hesion,” Giles told Parliament. “It was the Chinese-Austra- was passed and a foreign influence register introduced. lian community that first felt the waves of this coronavirus While expressing sympathy to those in diaspora com- crisis. They felt it affecting their communities before it af- munities who have been exploited, threatened or in- fected the wider community. The leadership that they have timidated by the government or loyalists of their former shown is something that I am deeply appreciative of, and homeland, Tudge linked more free English language tuition I’m sure all members who represent Chinese-Australian to the challenge of foreign interference. communities would share that sentiment.” “Malign information or propaganda can be spread The Government also responded with an advertising through multicultural media, including foreign language campaign, in Tudge’s words, “to call out racism, to rein- media controlled or funded by state players. This can be force the Government’s support to the Chinese and indeed the Asian Australian community.” While none of these measures address the potential With Compliments from weakening of community cohesion that has taken place due to the necessary closure of places of worship, communal institutions and meeting rooms, there have been serious attempts by Australian leaders to address challenges to NETTEX AUSTRALIA multiculturalism during the coronavirus pandemic. Pty Limited

FOREIGN INTERFERENCE 69 Bourke Road, Alexandria 2015 Foreign interference is not a new phenomenon in Aus- Sydney, Australia Tel: (02) 9693 8888 Fax: (02) 9693 8899 tralia – in fact Australia’s intelligence agency, ASIO, was founded in 1949 in response to Soviet espionage activities. 23

AIR – December 2020 particularly influential if local residents’ English is poor announcing that people applying to stay in Australia on a and hence they are more reliant on foreign language partner visa will be required to either have a functional sources,” Tudge said. level of English, or have attended up to 500 hours of Eng- Whether this dual approach, of more English tuition lish classes.

COVERNAME OF SECTION STORIES on one side and enhanced law enforcement on the other, is Again, Tudge emphasised the importance of speaking sufficient to tackle the CCP’s reach into diaspora commu- English to properly participate in Australian society – he nities in Sydney and Melbourne, or to prevent intervention also noted that those who did not speak English were from other state-based actors, very much remains to be vulnerable to family violence and other exploitation and seen. struggled to report abuses to law enforcement authorities. Critics, including Human Rights Watch, opposed the new ENGLISH LANGUAGE announcement because it would “disproportionately affect The centrality of the English language in ensuring the families from certain nationalities – predominantly non- success of Australian multiculturalism has been stressed Western, non-English speaking countries – and those who from the beginning. find learning a new language difficult”. There have been no recent attempts by any official body or “The origins of COVID-19 in the Chi- TECHNOLOGY major opinion-leader to discour- nese city of Wuhan led to reports of In his speech to the National age Australians using their mother racism and threats against people Press Club, Tudge quoted former tongue – a stroll through any one of Chinese origin in Australia and chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth of Australia’s multicultural sub- Lord Jonathan Sacks – who passed elsewhere” urbs will indicate that. In fact, the away in November – on the influ- bilingualism of so many Australians ence of technology in spreading is a key economic advantage and according to Australia’s what would have previously been local tensions far beyond most recent multicultural statement, “our multilingual local shores. workforce is broadening business horizons and boosting The challenge to multiculturalism posed by Australians Australia’s competitive edge in an increasingly globalised playing out historic enmities in their new home is not economy.” However, the primacy of learning the Eng- new – consider the ethnic-based fan violence at Australian lish language has always been emphasised in Australian soccer matches in past decades. However, technology – multiculturalism. including, but not confined to, social media – has super- Knowledge of the English language helps new Austra- charged this effect. lians navigate education, employment and essential ser- The most extreme example of this is the role technol- vices. All Australians should be able to respond to a local ogy is playing in the recruitment of terrorist sympathis- job advertisement, report a crime to police, or respond ers, and even terrorists themselves. These terrorists and to public health messages. Without knowledge of English, their supporters – whether they are Islamist or from the these simple tasks can become insurmountable challenges. far-right – are a threat not just to national security, but to The extension of more English language classes to mi- multiculturalism. grants who need additional help is a positive move by the Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said that since the Morrison Government and one which should strengthen Christchurch attack, when an Australian man apparently multiculturalism. But in a move that attracted some criti- radicalised online committed and broadcast a massacre at cism, the Morrison Government went one step further, two mosques in New Zealand, “the Australian Government has taken a number of steps to limit Australians’ and our exposure to terrorist and extreme violent material online.” At the less violent, but still dangerous, end of the Kindly sponsored by spectrum, technology is fragmenting media audiences. Where once the broadcast news on the radio or TV was the main source of mass communication, now a University of Canberra report indicates that one in five Australians prefer news that confirms their own worldview. This type Alexander Friedman Pty. Ltd. of content is readily found on social media, the preferred source of news for 52% of Australians, according to the Digital News Report: 2020. Why is this a problem? There is no gatekeeper for the publication of news on the internet: no editorial guide- 24 lines, no Press Council guidelines, no Australian Com-

AIR – December 2020 munication and Media Authority oversight. People can – and do – publish what they want online and those with REGIONAL PEACE – VIEW low levels of media literacy may not be able to distinguish FROM THE UAE between real and fake news. In addition, social media algo- rithms tend to reward scandalous or controversial content NAME OF SECTION by Hend Al Otaiba – often allowing it to reach more people, than fact-based, considered reporting. Viewing only news that is consistent with one’s own he Sept. 15 signing of the Abraham Accords between worldview and being effectively led by social media Tthe United Arab Emirates and Israel is a huge step platforms to consume salacious news content ahead of forward, not only for the two countries, but the entire fact-based reporting create an ongoing threat to multicul- region. Israel and the UAE had been moving toward turalism. These phenomena deny us the chance to learn greater, low-profile cooperation in various fields over the about those different from ourselves in a positive way. They past few years, but the dramatic nature and timing of the prioritise dominant stories over the marginalised, and Accords has introduced can create enmity toward disfavoured groups by present- much-needed optimism ing news about them in a distorted and unbalanced way. into a region in turmoil. And they may relegate fact-based reporting to the history The Abraham Accords books. owe much to the chang- There is no easy fix. However, there are important ing attitudes of younger things everyone can do. First, pressure social media or- people, and their legacy ganisations to review their algorithms to promote cred- will flow from their Israel and the UAE: Better together ible sources over “fake news”. Second, lobby these same success in advancing the companies to remove content that incites hate or violence. needs and aspirations of the region’s youth. Finally, choose reporting by organisations that are bound Last year, Zogby Research Services, a respected poll- by an editorial code of conduct or oversight authorities, ing firm in Washington DC known for its work tracking such as the Press Council or Australian Communications regional public opinion on a variety of political and social and Media Authority in Australia. issues, started to see some marked shifts in Arab and Israeli attitudes – things that had not appeared in any of their CONCLUSION previous polls. These four fundamental challenges to multicultural- This was particularly notable in the context of the Pal- ism are currently being addressed in Australia. It will be estinian-Israeli conflict, which for decades has dominated some years before we can judge the success of the relevant the Arab political landscape. Arabs – and many Palestinians strategies. – seemed, for the first time, to be signalling that they were There are certainly signs of stress on Australian mul- favourable to Arab normalisation with Israel, if it resulted ticulturalism. The 2019 Scanlon Foundation Mapping in tangible improvements to the lives of Palestinians. Social Cohesion study found that there has been a decline Reflecting the demographic changes in the region, by about 10% in the number of Australians who feel a respondents said they were less concerned about politi- “sense of belonging” over the past 10 years. That same cal orthodoxies, and wanted to see real, practical change study reported that more than one in four Muslim and in the lives of Palestinians and a change in the stagnant Hindu Australians reported they had been discriminated regional status quo. against because of their skin colour over the previous 12 The other notable finding was on the Israeli side: The months. On the whole though, the Scanlon Foundation conventional wisdom in the Arab world is that Israelis are research found evidence of stability in Australia’s social not concerned with Arab opinion, and thus what Arabs cohesion. think about the annexation of the Jordan Valley is more or With a Government and Opposition committed to the less irrelevant. But when our Ambassador to the United value and integrity of Australian multiculturalism, and with States, Yousef Al Otaiba, addressed the Israeli public di- support from the community, the multicultural values that rectly for the first time in an op-ed in an Israeli newspaper have set Australians on a largely successful path over the last June, warning that annexation would have dire con- past 40 years can continue. sequences for Israel’s relations with its neighbours, Israeli The size and scope of these challenges should not be public opinion shifted 12 points against annexation. This underestimated. Work will need to continue at all levels – strongly suggested that Israelis do indeed care about their from the suburban multicultural food festival that helps us relations with the Arab world and are unwilling to risk get to know our neighbours, to stronger nationwide cyber- damaging the prospects of future relations by proceeding security defences. with annexation. 25

AIR – December 2020 All these developments were in play as the Abraham Ac- are dynamic populations with world-class skills who care cords were coming together. We were certain that Israeli about the future of the region, and have influence in their annexation would kill the two-state solution once and own countries. for all, so we acted fast, offering normalisation of ties, in

NAME OF SECTION BIBLIO FILE exchange for a stop to annexation. Hend Al Otaiba is Director of Strategic Communications in the People under the age of 35 make up more than 65% of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE. This article is reprinted from the population of the Middle East. They are the ones whose Tablet Magazine, at tabletmag.com, the online magazine of futures are directly impacted by the actions and choices Jewish news, ideas, and culture. © Tablet Magazine, reprinted by the region’s leaders take now. And they realise this. It is permission, all rights reserved. the youth who are signalling to older generations that their views and attitudes need to change; that they need to adapt to new realities if younger generations are to have a chance at prosperous, fulfilling lives. For the UAE and Israel, the benefits of the Accords TURKEY AND PAKISTAN are straightforward. The two countries have never been in ARE FANNING THE a state of active hostility, so there is none of the baggage that attends other Arab-Israeli interactions. We expect to ISLAMIST FLAMES see substantial mutual gains quickly, in a number of areas, from health care to AgriTech and tourism. Once the Accords were signed, we started working by Jonathan Spyer with our Israeli counterparts to meet the enthusiastic de- mand by young people to see what life is like “on the other rench President Emmanuel Macron’s expressions of side.” Fcondemnation of political Islam following the decapi- There has been a lot of interest on the part of Israeli tation of teacher Samuel Paty on Oct. 16 have led to furi- and Emirati students and academics in studying and teach- ous demonstrations in parts of the Islamic world. A num- ing in the other country. One initiative that is coming ber of violent incidents of Islamist terror have followed, together now is a UAE-Israel Youth Circle, bringing young including the murder of three people in a church in Nice professionals together in the arts, literature, diplomacy and by a recent Tunisian immigrant to France. It seems likely, science, to share ideas and make connections. though it cannot yet be confirmed, that the terror attack Israel and the UAE have so many complementary in Vienna on Nov. 2, in which four people died, was also interests and strengths, that the possibilities for action and related to the mood of fury among sections of European innovation really are endless, and exciting. We expect these and global Islamic opinion related to the depiction of im- connections to grow and evolve quickly, in step with the ages of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. number of people traveling to the other country for busi- Outbursts of murderous fury of this kind, often not ness and tourism. This will be made infinitely easier by 28 directed or organised by Islamist terror networks, form weekly direct flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai and Abu a tragic by-product of the arrival in recent years in the Dhabi. European heartland of significant numbers of people with We are looking into other ideas, including the con- Islamist sympathies. This outlook brings with it a desire struction of platforms for collaborative action, where to ensure – by whatever means deemed necessary – an Arabs and Jews (and others) can meet and share ideas, and elevated level of respect for Muslim religious sensitivi- start new initiatives and businesses. We want the youth of ties, over and above those of any other religion or creed. the entire region to imagine how this widening diplomatic This latter situation is a state of affairs which exists in space can open doors for them. most Islamic countries. Some European commentators It is essential that the Palestinians see the concrete have concluded that such acts are intended to bring about benefits from the Accords. While the task of peacemaking the enforcement of Islamic blasphemy laws in non-Islamic is up to the Israelis and Palestinians, we in the United Arab countries. Emirates will continue to do what we can to support the So far, so familiar. But the current moment differs from process. We have seen proposals already from various groups previous episodes of Islamist political violence in Western and individuals with ideas about how to bring Israelis and countries in two significant ways. Palestinians closer together through creative logistics solu- Firstly, these latest attacks come at a time when the tions, virtual education, and collaborative opportunities for actual organised networks of Salafi jihadi terror are weaker Palestinian and Israeli women in tech, and more. than at any time over the last two decades. The al-Qaeda Last but certainly not least, we believe there is a place network is ageing, and closely observed by Western 26 for the Jewish and Arab diasporas in this process. These security services. The Islamic State, meanwhile, has yet

AIR – December 2020 to recover from the loss of its last territorial holdings in Iraq and Syria in March 2019 and the killing of its former akistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, meanwhile, said leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, by the US in October 2019. Pthat the French President had “attacked Islam,” and The murders of Paty and the three other French citi- accused Macron of “deliberately provoking Muslims.” He zens in Nice were not, it appears, the result of a direct summoned the French Ambassador to Islamabad for a NAME OF SECTION BIBLIO FILE decision by an Islamist terror network. It is too soon to reprimand. draw any conclusions on this subject regarding the Vienna A statement from the Pakistani Foreign Office followed, attack. ISIS has now claimed responsibility for it. But it is asserting that “Pakistan condemns the systematic Islamopho- possible that ISIS sympathisers chose to act with no specific bic campaign under the garb of freedom of expression.” order from a chain of command. These statements were made against the background Secondly, and most significantly, the atmosphere of of furious demonstrations in Turkey, Pakistan and further fury and desire for retribution is no longer being stirred afield – including in the Gaza Strip and Iraq. up only by Islamist preachers and jihadi organisations. The efforts by powerful leaders of Muslim countries to Rather, the incitement, the steady drum beat of accusa- inflame the sentiments of Muslims in Europe and beyond tions and the threats are coming now from the leaders it are a relatively new phenomenon. At the height of al- and the official mouthpieces of a Qaeda’s insurgency a decade or so number of Muslim states. This is a ago, political Islam was a powerful new situation. It is one of profound but oppositional presence in ma- importance. The states in question jority Muslim countries (with the are: most importantly, Turkey, and exception of Iran, whose Shi’ite also Pakistan. identity makes it less relevant in The Turkish and Pakistani ef- this regard). forts in this regard appear de- Today, it is Erdogan, above signed to generate a sort of “soft all, with Khan as his understudy, power” for the governments of who is leading the way with the Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Imran incitement. Khan among Muslim populations Turkish President Erdogan with Pakistani PM Imran It should go without saying that in Western countries. They thus Khan at a meeting in early February Erdogan and Khan’s calls for reli- include within them a dismissal of gious tolerance have no reflection the notion of legitimate sovereignty, according to which in their own policies at home. Erdogan recently converted the internal affairs of other states are those states’ business the ancient Hagia Sophia Church into a mosque and is set alone. to do the same with the Church of St. Saviour in Chora, Erdogan, following Macron’s comments, declared that Istanbul. Khan rules over a country where Ahmadi and the French President needed “mental treatment”, urged Shi’ite Muslims and Christians are regularly convicted on the boycott of French goods, and asserted that Muslims blasphemy charges, and where Hindus have been forcibly in Europe faced a “lynch campaign similar to that against converted to Islam. Jews before World War II.” France subsequently recalled its This, however, is precisely the point. These leaders, as is ambassador from Ankara. crystal clear to their supporters, are asserting a notion of The Turkish President has form in this regard. In 2017, elevated honour to be afforded the symbols of Islam, not following a ban by Germany on Turkish officials campaign- arguing for parity. ing in Germany in favour of support for Erdogan in a When the atmosphere of incitement erupts into vio- referendum to increase his powers, the Turkish President warned that “If you go on behaving like that, tomorrow nowhere in the world, none of the Europeans, Westerners will be able to walk in the streets in peace, safely.” With Compliments He also threatened at that time to send a new wave of migrants from Turkish shores across the Mediterranean to Europe. Subsequently, the Turkish President added to his exhor- Mount Silver P/L. tations against the French Government, saying, “If there is persecution in France, let’s protect Muslims together.” He claimed in a speech to the AKP parliamentary group that Consultants & Advisers “disrespect for the Prophet is spreading like cancer, espe- cially among leaders in Europe.” 27

AIR – December 2020 lence, as it inevitably must, Erdogan and co. will be on Similarly, El-Telegraph chose to republish an article by hand to express regret. Erdogan, after all, only supplied the Wajih Rafi, a retired Brigadier General of the Lebanese matches and the kindling. Someone else entirely lit the fire. Army, and a former military attaché at the Lebanese Em- This approach makes policy sense for the Turkish bassy in Washington. In “The harbour explosion. And the

BIBLIO FILE NAME OF SECTION leader and his allies. Through it, Ankara seeks to acquire painful truth” (originally posted on a Lebanese website), a ready-made instrument to impose pressure on Western Rafi stated that “Some intelligence circles are still insisting countries. France is an emerging strategic rival to Turkey, on accusing Israel of the operation [the Beirut explosion], above all in the eastern Mediterranean. Having an ability to by using smart, qualitative and modern weapons, which foment public disorder within it is a useful weapon. are not visible to the naked eye, [as Israel] is the world The Syrian Salafi strategist Abu Musab Al Suri famously leader in weapons and missile technology.” came up with the idea of an ‘individualised’ jihad, in which Israel perpetrated the attack, wrote Rafi, because the organisations would issue only general directives, leaving Beirut port, “is a major economic artery on the eastern individual jihadis to take violent action at their own initia- Mediterranean basin, constituting a serious competitor to tive. This formed the backdrop to the so-called “stabbing Haifa port, as Israel is trying to convert it [the Haifa Port] intifada” in Israel in 2015. It is strange to see that another to the main port in the region.” version of it appears to be now an element of the policy of a powerful, still officially Western-aligned, state. Farah News Farah News is an Arabic-language Australian news and com- Dr. Jonathan Spyer is a research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute mentary portal, operating from Sydney, for Strategic Studies (JISS), a fellow at the Middle East Forum that also has a documented record of and a freelance security analyst and correspondent at IHS Janes. spreading antisemitism and conspiracies. © Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com), reprinted by permission, all In September, Farah News ran “The rights reserved. United Nations Abrahamic scheme in the Middle East” by Zuhair Al-Sebaei, a regular contributor to the website. In this article, Al-Sebaei contended that Zuhair Al-Sebaei CONSPIRACY THEORIES the Abraham Accords were part of the “Abrahamic United Nations” grand scheme originating IN AUSTRALIA – AN from Washington to control the Middle East by setting up UPDATE an Israeli imperial state over large tracts of the region. The Abraham Accords are but one stage of the plan, he preposterously claimed, that incorporates areas “from Iraq, by Ran Porat through Turkey and Syria, to Jerusalem”, while “Israel an- nounced that its promised state would be within this path, everal leading voices in the Muslim and Arabic-speak- meaning from the Euphrates to the Nile, and [that] we Sing communities in Australia have been continuing to [Israel] will throw the Arabs into the sea.” publish antisemitic tropes, anti-Israel fake news and con- Another Al-Sebaei article, published by Farah News a spiracy theories. What follows is a brief review of some few days later, “Will normalisation with Israel save the Syr- of these extreme voices over the past few months. ian regime?”, again claimed that Israel is a puppet used by Western powers to take over the Middle East: “[T]he Jews El-Telegraph were planted and settled in Palestine in order to tear and The Sydney based El-Telegraph Arabic-language news- fragment the Arab world and to secure the interests of the paper, an outlet with a problematic history of disseminat- Western countries that colonised the region and are still ing antisemitic conspiracy theories, has been publishing colonising it through their proxies,” he wrote. articles insisting Israel must have been responsible for the “Whatever the Arab rulers do,” concluded Al-Sebaei, blast at the Beirut port on Aug 4. “the Arab peoples will not accept the existence of the In his column on Oct. 26, El-Telegraph editor Antoine Israeli cancer that gnaws and eats their flesh.” Kazzi OAM tied the Beirut blast to the Abraham Accords peace deals between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain. Inspired Australian Muslim Times (AMUST) by reports that Dubai’s state-owned company DP World Editors of the established Australian Muslim Times is considering purchasing the Haifa port jointly with an (AMUST) published an opinion piece by Dr Aslam Abdul- Israeli firm, Kazzi mused that “Perhaps the destruction of lah titled “Macron played makar (deception) and God has the Beirut port was required to enable a smooth and legiti- his plans” commenting critically on the tension between 28 mate Gulf recovery of the port of Haifa.” French President Emmanuel Macron and many Muslims,

AIR – December 2020 both in France and abroad, prompted by Macron’s reaction He also unsurprisingly claimed that Israel caused the to terrorist killings in response to a teacher showing his Beirut blast by attacking the port with a sea-to-land Ga- students cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. briel missile and a Delilah “nuclear missile” fired from an The article contained baseless slander against Jews, F-16 jet.

Israel and Zionism, even though these have nothing to do Portraying Israel in satanic terms as a country seek- NAME OF SECTION ESSAY with the current tension over the policies of the French ing to expand as part of an evil global scheme to control Government. Abdullah claimed that “In Australia and the the Middle East is one of Khalifa’s main themes. In May, USA, the tri alliance of Christian evangelists, Zionists, and Khalifa warned Muslims Hindutva has joined hands to attack Islam and Muslims and about the coming of a project them as unfit to be part of Western civilisation.” supposed “Big Israel”, in Similarly, he argues that “The roots of Islamophobia are in which Israel will control the literature found in Christian, Jewish, secular and Hindu Lebanon, Syria, parts of literature” and “Christians and Jews use their scriptures to Egypt and the Arabian capture Palestine and persecute Palestinians.” Peninsula, and that most Khalifa’s YouTube video – Israel Covering Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential Arabs who live there will is behind 9/11 and COVID-19 (screenshot) elections for AMUST, Zia Ahmad chose to quote exten- be killed. sively from an article by American antisemite and Ho- In “Al-Quds [belongs] to us” Khalifa cursed the “crimi- locaust denier Philip Giraldi. Among the excerpts from nal Zionists”, the “lying conqueror oppressor” Israeli PM Giraldi’s article, titled ‘Israel wins US Elections’, quoted Binyamin Netanyahu, and called US President, Donald by Ahmed is this: Trump and Netanyahu “wild friends from the monkeys and “The United States has become Israel’s bitch and there pigs”, and “murderers”. is hardly a politician or journalist who has the courage to “I will not forget you Palestine”, another of his online say so. Congress and the media have been so corrupted by videos, contains a warning by Khalifa that “Palestine is not money emanating from the Israeli lobby that they cannot for sale” because it belongs to “her sons, and to the families do enough to satisfy America’s rulers in Jerusalem. And of Muslims, Christians and other denominations” displaced for those who do not succumb to the money there is al- from it by “the Zionist occupiers”. He then calls on Arabs ways intimidation, career-ending weaponised accusations to teach their children the highly controversial Sahih of holocaust-denial and anti-Semitism. It is all designed to Muslim Islamic Hadith (a story or saying attributed to the produce one result: whoever wins in American elections Prophet Muhammed and/or his companions) – which doesn’t matter as long as Israel gets what it wants.” prophesises that Muslims will kill all the Jews on Judge- ment Day. Sufyaan Khalifa On his social media, Khalifa also promotes antisemitic Algerian-born Perth-based Sunni preacher Sufyaan and conspiratorial materials. In October, he shared The Khalifa is one of Australia’s most active Fall of the Cabal fake ‘documentary’, conspiracy theory fans and promoters, since removed by YouTube, promoting his efforts including the inevitable use the QAnon conspiracy theory, known of antisemitic tropes. Posting dozens of to incorporate antisemitic tropes. This videos online, he aggressively pushes video touts slurs about evil Ashkenazi wild coronavirus conspiracies to a loyal “Khazar” Jews taking over the world. base of followers among opponents of It is easy to underestimate these the COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne. Sunni preacher and internet conspiracy people and dismiss the toxic lies they Many of his coronavirus fables include theory promoter Sufyaan Khalifa (YouTube spread as marginal. But that would an antisemitic component, for example, screenshot) be a mistake. History teaches us the labelling as “Zionist” policy makers in Victoria, such as Pre- painful lesson that such words find their way to others mier Daniel Andrews and Victoria Police, that promulgate who then act on them with hate and violence. For that and enforce lockdown rules he does not approve of. reason, Australian society should be made aware of, and In mid-September, Khalifa blamed “global Zionism” and be vigilant to reject, confront and further marginalise, Israel for creating coronavirus, the 9/11 terror attacks and such voices. other calamities: “The 9/11 events, COVID-19, ISIS, Boko Haram [African Jihadist terror organisation] and other bad Dr. Ran Porat is a research associate at the Australian Centre for events ravaging in the world – they are the results of the Jewish Civilisation at Monash University, a research fellow at the leaders of one element – global Zionism that controls the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplin- world and their many friends, that are igniting conflicts in ary Centre in Herzliya, Israel, and a research associate at the Fu- several areas across the world,” he said. ture Directions International Research Institute, Western Australia. 29

AIR – December 2020 Klein doubts that he was “the master- mind of evil orchestrating” it. As for Abbas, Klein declares that he “maintains a sharp distinction

NAME OF SECTION BIBLIO FILE between his home and office,” ignor- ing how grotesquely Abbas’ family has prospered during his years at the top. Klein also asserts that “Abbas cannot A Failure of Leadership be charged with doubletalk” though he talks peace but bankrolls convicted terrorists. Klein even clears Abbas of antisemitism, despite a PhD disser- Arafat and Abbas: Portraits of Leadership in a tation charging Jews with collusion State Postponed with Nazis. by Menachem Klein, Oxford University Press, 2019. 225 pp. Further, Klein calls the Israeli US$39.95. government an “ethnic regime” and a “colonialist power.” These and other characterisations of Israel are wildly off the mark. by Jonathan Schanzer The author redeems himself in the second half of this book, delving more ar-Ilan University professor Men- deeply into the expansion of authori- Bachem Klein had a front row seat tarianism and corruption under Abbas for the collapse of the Oslo process, and his obstinate refusal to prepare having advised the Israeli Govern- for his own succession after extending ment when talks with the Palestine his four-year term to 15 years. But Liberation Organisation (PLO) im- other accounts of Abbas’ sins are far ploded in 2000 and taking part in the more compelling. failed 2003 Geneva Initiative. Accordingly, Klein should have Abbas and Arafat have left a legacy of Dr. Jonathan Schanzer is Senior Vice keen insights about Palestinian authoritarianism and corruption President for Research at Foundation for leaders Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Defence of Democracies. He is author of Abbas. He does acknowledge that resign” despite losing public support State of Failure: Yasser Arafat, Mah- Arafat subjected his people to a and “stubbornly refuses to appoint a moud Abbas, and the Unmaking of “dysfunctional, chaotic and informal” successor.” the Palestinian State (Palgrave Macmil- style of “one-man rule” that lacked Yet, Klein’s portrayals of the two lan 2013) and Hamas vs. Fatah: The “strategic planning” and ultimately are strangely forgiving. Arafat was a Struggle for Palestine (Palgrave Macmil- yielded little. Klein writes that “humble leader who listened to and lan 2008). Reprinted from Middle East under Abbas, “authoritarianism has took care of his people’s troubles.” Quarterly. © Middle East Forum (www. increased,” noting that the current Despite clear evidence that Arafat ini- meforum.org), reprinted by permission, all Palestinian leader “has refused to tiated the disastrous Second Intifada, rights reserved.

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AIR – December 2020 was a place to manufacture a mobilis- ing mythology. Upon gaining admission to the ESSAY tribe of Western journalists in Jeru-

salem in 2006, I found that it wasn’t ESSAYNAME OF SECTION enough – or necessary, or sometimes even desirable – to be knowledge- able about the region or to speak its You’re all Israel now languages. The important thing was adopting a creed, one which seemed strange to me then but is widely familiar now. The Jewish state and “Cancel Culture” This outlook included a dim view of America; sympathy for all inter- national organisations; an aversion by Matti Friedman to fervent Christianity and a healthy respect for fervent Islam; a consider- ate attitude toward despotic regimes his year many people have discov- activism, the subjugation of objec- from China to Iran, which are not “the Tered that liberal life and institu- tive description to higher ideological problem”; the idea that the moral high tions in the West are in the grip of truth, and the manufacture of politi- ground has something to do with skin something resembling a new reli- cally driven morality plays in the guise colour; the belief that while groups gion. Anyone following the goings on of news. I took this to be a problem like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Mus- of the past few months won’t need related to, and perhaps limited to, lim Brotherhood might sometimes go a recap of the attempted “cancella- perceptions of Jewish people and of too far, they do have a point; and the tions” of scholars and scientists for Israel. idea that the world would probably heresies, the purge of editors for running the wrong op-ed, or the excommunication of J.K. Rowling. Adherents of the thought system vaguely described as “woke” believe themselves to be fighting evil in the name of justice. They share a hier- archy of good, a lingo, purity tests, and a stark division of the world into friend and foe, all of which bor- row heavily from religious modes of thought. But one of the most obvi- ous signs that religion is in play, and not merely empirical observation or political criticism, is the way this ide- The international media know how to construct a predetermined narrative when reporting on ology has focused and amplified the Israel condemnation of Jews. From the vantage point of 2020, be improved if Jewish sovereignty All of this has made me think that understanding was far too could somehow be reduced to zero differently about my experience as a narrow. percent from the current high of 0.01 reporter in Israel a decade ago, and To pull a metaphor from this percent. particularly about an essay I wrote strange moment: I thought I’d seen The key credo, however, was that in 2014 for Tablet, which was one of the outbreak, when I was really just recognising complexity was desirable the first publications to pick up on hanging out in the wet market. The only within the tenets of the belief these trends. That essay, “An Insider’s Israel story was just a formative stage system. Outside of those tenets, com- Guide to the Most Important Story in the evolution of a more ambitious plexity was not just unwelcome but on Earth,” and a second one that ap- set of ideas. Israel was an early target wrong. That is, you could discuss how peared in The Atlantic, described the for adherents of the movement for evil the Israelis are, or Republicans, replacement of journalism here by social justice, but it wasn’t just that. It or “nationalists” from India or France, 31

AIR – December 2020 or oil companies, or anyone on the the actions of Israel’s opponents so that has actually become a staple of approved list of wrongdoers – but Israel’s own actions and fears seem politics on the left, and is now aired not suggest they might be right, or irrational or duplicitous; and suggest- in the press as if it were completely their opponents mistaken. The rigours ing the Jewish instinct for self-pres- rational.

ESSAY of reporting, in other words, were ervation in the Middle East is “right It’s the same thinking behind abandoned for the simple pleasures of wing” while the Islamist war against the idea that an op-ed by a right- the sermon. Jews or the Iranian drive for regional wing senator is too dangerous to be I’m lucky enough to have grown hegemony are somehow about “hu- published in a newspaper of record, up with traditional religion, and I’ve man rights.” or that it’s necessary to pulp books experienced religious behav- in which a human being of one iour from moderate to ex- “The key credo, however, was that rec- ethnic background imagines treme. What I was seeing in the ognising complexity was desirable only how the world might appear to mainstream press was a move within the tenets of the belief system. a human being from another. from rational observation into Outside of those tenets, complexity was The creation of the malevolent a kind of moral judgment that “Israel” of the news, and the not just unwelcome but wrong” I knew from other parts of my subsequent push to render life. The guiding idea was no an entire country beyond the longer to understand what was going The ideology not only puts for- pale, created a pattern that has been on; there was nothing to understand. ward its own explanation for things replicated against targets ranging We knew who was right and who but rules out any other explanation. If from nonconforming biologists to was wrong, and it remained only to you point out that none of this is true, the author of books about teenage anathematise the bad guys so far into you’re whitewashing oppression and wizards. Of course the list of her- disrepute that even the act of trying will be tarred as a racist, as I eventu- etics is growing, as such lists always to understand them would be a kind ally was, joining a list that was less do. of sin. illustrious at the time than it is now. Western ideologies generally To achieve this effect, the news include a parable about villainous narrative in Israel was constructed, oday all of this seems almost Jews. Because this is a set of ideas that without undue difficulty, with tricks Twearily familiar from “cancel cul- sees itself as a political critique, the of storytelling and framing: pretend- ture.” But it wasn’t widely familiar parable doesn’t come, as past versions ing the conflict is one between Israelis a decade ago, because in many ways have, from Scripture (in the case of and Palestinians and not a much Israel was patient zero. The success- Christianity), or from economic the- broader Middle Eastern war; pretend- ful creation and promotion of the ory (as it did in Marxism), or pseudo- ing the Palestinian national movement Israel story transformed a real coun- scientific racial doctrines (National merely wants a state beside Israel; try into something so dangerous and Socialism). It comes from the news dismissing Israeli attempts to solve the disruptive to the desired order that – specifically, from the mythology that conflict on reasonable terms; erasing it had to be cancelled – an aspiration I saw being constructed as a reporter a decade ago. A strange antagonism to some- thing called “Israel” came up if you went to a Women’s March against Donald Trump in New York, or protested violence against African Americans in Ferguson, Missouri, or joined the Dyke March in Chicago, or presented an academic paper at the American Studies Association. It appears in the platform of Black Lives Matter from 2016, in left-wing politics in Britain and France, and in gender studies courses at California colleges. www.noahsjuice.com.au These diverse applications are www.facebook.com/NoahsCreativeJuices unique, if not entirely unprecedented, 32 for a news story. But they make sense

AIR – December 2020 religious mindset, the question isn’t whether a story happened. The ques- tion is whether a story can mobilise believers to achieve good. If the

answer is yes, the story is “true”. ESSAY This kind of thinking has now bled into newsrooms and university departments, precisely the bodies that are supposed to be engaged in observation and reasoned debate. If important parts of the press and the academy are beginning to sound like ministries, it’s happening at a time when religion and quasi-religion are on the rise everywhere – not just on the progressive left but also on the right, and not only in the West. Some of these trends are evident in Israel, too. As if to symbolise the moment, Dyke March organisers object to the display of Jewish Pride flags, Washington DC, 2019 the Hagia Sophia is being changed from a public museum back into a if we understand the Israel story as a good illustration of this merger mosque – though in Istanbul, at least, kind of sacred template that can be A came in the form of a speech the conversion is being done in the used to explain many different situa- given to a convention of the Episco- open. tions. A good example became visible pal church in 2018 by a Massachu- this spring in the wake of the protests setts bishop who described atroci- Matti Friedman is the author of three that followed the killing of George ties she claimed to have personally books including, most recently, Spies of Floyd by police in Minneapolis: the witnessed in Israel. She described No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth myth that Israel trains American the murder of an innocent 15-year- of Israel, and is a New York Times police officers in the same methods of old Palestinian by Jewish soldiers op-ed contributor. Between 2006 and the brutality that killed Floyd, and which – “they shot him in the back four end of 2011, Friedman was a reporter are deployed more generally against times, he fell on the ground and and editor in the Jerusalem bureau of the people of colour. This conspiracy they shot him another six” – and the Associated Press (AP) news agency. theory has been promoted as factual aggressive handcuffing by soldiers He also worked as a reporter in Egypt, by (among many others) senior jour- of a three-year-old Palestinian boy Morocco, Lebanon, Moscow and Washing- nalists, members of the British Labour whose ball rolled off the Temple ton, D.C. This article is reprinted from Party, and, in early July, by the biggest Mount. Tablet Magazine, at tabletmag.com, the Lutheran denomination in America. It later turned out that the bishop online magazine of Jewish news, ideas, and That last detail supports the idea hadn’t seen any such thing, and culture. © Tablet Magazine, reprinted by that new religions are never com- she apologised profusely. But in a permission, all rights reserved. pletely removed from the old ones. Indeed, the unique power of the Israel story is the way it takes the central With Compliments preoccupation of the new thought sys- tem – the inequality of white Western Danny & Danielle Taibel power versus non-white Third World innocence – and projects it onto a set- ting already loaded with religious res- CHARLESTON’S onance. If you’re looking for a parable FINE ART AUCTIONS about human inequality, places called P O Box 2117 Jerusalem or Bethlehem are potent in Rose Bay North, NSW 2030 ways that can’t be rivalled by Xinjiang or Laayoune, or Minneapolis. Tel: (02) 9318 2680 [email protected] 33

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AIR – December 2020 THE MONTH IN MEDIA QUOTEDNOTEDNAME OF SECTION AND

IN TENTS MISREPORTING committed his government to the The ABC website (Nov. 5) fea- two-state formula for peace. He also tured a one-sided, unprofessional and BURYING THE TRUTH made a goodwill gesture to President propagandistic Reuters story on Is- Although it is customary to not Abbas to return to unconditional rael’s removal of a group of Bedouin, speak ill of the dead, that doesn’t peace talks by implementing a build- who had essentially been illegally entitle the media to abandon profes- ing freeze in settlements for ten squatting in tents and shanties for the sional objectivity as happened with months. past few years on public West Bank some coverage of the death of veteran In 2013, in another effort to land that has been a restricted Israeli senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb restart talks, Netanyahu agreed to military live-fire training ground Erekat from coronavirus. release 104 Palestinian terrorists since 1972. An AP/Reuters story on the ABC imprisoned in Israel, which led to The so-called “village” of Khirbet website correctly said Erekat was US-mediated indirect talks. These Humsah – which aerial photos from “well known in foreign ministries faltered in 2014 after Abbas refused as recently as 2016 show was almost across the world and regularly fea- to engage with substantive issues non-existent at that time – lies within tured in the media, he was on the and entered into a unity agreement Area C of the West Bank. second tier of Palestinian politics and with the rejectionists of Hamas that The encampment had received EU diplomacy.” ultimately was never implemented. funding in a decidedly political act. But it was on shaky ground in American mediators have made it According to the Oslo Accords, Israel claiming that “He tirelessly argued clear that Netanyahu offered substan- has full jurisdictional control in Area for a negotiated two-state solution tial concessions to the Palestinians as C, the Bedouins in question never to the decades-old conflict, defended part of those talks. sought planning permits for their the Palestinian leadership and blamed Since 2014, Abbas has refused to structures, and Israeli courts con- Israel – particularly hard-line leader return to peace talks. firmed the Bedouins had no property Benjamin Netanyahu – for the failure rights to the land in question or right to reach an agreement… Israel and to build there and ordered them re- the Palestinians have not held sub- BOY OH BOY moved. The EU was aware of all this, stantive talks since Mr Netanyahu – a An AFP report in the Australian yet funded the construction anyway. hard-liner who opposes concessions (Nov. 11) said Erekat “dedicated The report omitted these key facts. to the Palestinians – took office in much of his life to seeking a resolu- The report said Israel had de- 2009.” tion to the crisis…He took part in stroyed the Bedouins’ tents which This is unfair to Netanyahu and the failed Camp David summit in July resulted in the “displacing” of “73 inflates Erekat’s reputation as a man 2000, and the September 2010 talks Palestinians”. of peace. in Washington, which stopped in a Yet, a couple of paragraphs later it Erekat may have argued in the row over Israel’s settlement building.” stated that “the residents had already media for a “negotiated two-state The report said of the “Palestine moved back to the site, using tents solution” but thanks to Palestinian Papers” scandal in 2011 – when a donated by Palestinian aid groups.” Authority President Mahmoud Abbas trove of Palestinian transcripts and In other words, they were not actu- he had little opportunity to actually documents purporting to cover peace ally displaced, and the claims are pursue one. talks with Israel over the years was exaggerated. Abbas put the peace process into leaked to Al Jazeera and the Guardian – The report included Israeli claims deep freeze before Netanyahu was that they “showed Palestinian nego- that it only removed 15 structures elected prime minister when he ef- tiators prepared to offer significant — seven tents and eight animal pens fectively rejected Israeli PM Ehud concessions without securing Israeli – and UN spokesperson Yvonne Helle Olmert’s offer in 2008 to create a guarantees on key issues such as east claiming 76 demolished structures, Palestinian state by refusing to re- Jerusalem and the fate of refugees.” which she said was “more than in any spond to or meet with him again. Except that, as a leak from the other single demolition in the past Soon after returning to the prime Palestinian negotiating team, the decade.” ministership in 2009, Netanyahu “Palestine Papers” could not possibly 35

AIR – December 2020 speak about the extent of concessions On ABC TV’s “The World” (Nov. Palestinians allegedly had to contend being prepared on the Israeli side. 10), Tlozek said Erekat had told him with during the Trump Administra- In September 2008, then-Israeli PM and other journalists how “very dif- tion, which included, “mov[ing] the Ehud Olmert offered to create a Pal- ficult” the past “four years under the US Embassy to Jerusalem, he closed

NOTED AND QUOTEDNOTED AND estinian state, which included most Trump Administration” have been for the Palestinian mission in Washington of east Jerusalem, and to resolve the Palestinians and that “he never felt it DC. He cut aid to the Palestinian refugee issue too. But Palestinian more difficult to appear before Pal- refugees around the region.” President Mahmoud Abbas rejected estinian people and tell them to trust On ABC Radio “PM” (Nov. 11), the offer “out of hand”, in his own the peace process than he did during a follow up on Erekat’s death from words. the Trump Administration.” Tlozek included one Israeli perspec- Given the Palestinian Author- tive, that of commentator Menachem ity put the peace process into deep Klein (whose main claim to fame is PASSING JUDGEMENTS freeze in March 2014, with years his minor role as one of many Israeli ABC Middle East correspondent remaining of the Obama administra- advisers involved in peace nego- Eric Tlozek used Erekat’s passing to tion, this stretches credulity. What tiations more than 20 years ago). frame Palestinians as helpless victims peace process was Erekat referring Klein was quoted praising Erekat for with limited options to improve their to? “heroically” standing up to Israel and situation. Tlozek listed the challenges the the US.

9 – “I am proud that support for the State of Israel as a vibrant and democratic nation and for Rabin’s vision of a just and endur- ing peace with the Palestinians remain areas of bipartisanship in Australia’s often bitterly divided parliament.” Senator Janet Rice (Greens, Vic.) in the Foreign Affairs, Dave Sharma (Lib., Wentworth) – Nov. 9 – “I move: That this Defence and Trade Legislation Committee estimates hearings House: (1) notes that: (a) 4 November 2020 marks 25 years – Oct. 28 – “Can you also confirm then that it’s the Australian since Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated … government’s view that the Israeli government’s settlement (2) affirms Australia’s ongoing commitment to Mr Rabin’s vision building is in breach of international law?” (On being answered, of a peaceful two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian “The government would not prejudge the outcomes of those conflict, mutually negotiated and agreed by the Israelis and the negotiations, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to provide a legal Palestinians. view to the committee on that issue.”) “I think that’s also very “Rabin’s career was a remarkable and continuous career of disappointing…” public service and sacrifice dedicated to building the state of In the same hearing, Rice also asked, “Does the Australian Israel. And the Israel of today - modern, successful, secure and government have any training agreements or memoranda of vibrant - is built upon the foundations that Rabin and others like understanding with any Israeli military or police bodies?” him put in place.” Foreign Minister Senator Marise Payne (Lib., NSW) in the Josh Burns (ALP, Macnamara) – Nov. 9 – “Sadly, Rabbi Jona- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee than Sacks passed away on Saturday morning. I want to take this estimates hearings – Oct. 28 – having been asked by Senator opportunity to acknowledge a giant not just of the rabbinical Eric Abetz (Lib. Tas.) about Agenda Item 7 of the UN Human world but of Britain, the UK and the wider world... In this place Rights Council, which focusses solely on Israel: “It is the only I mark Australia’s thanks for all of his work and his dedication to country-specific item, and we have made significant strides in a better and more peaceful world.” drawing the attention of the international community to that Burns went on to also say, “Rabin was a giant. He fought and singling out of Israel over the time that we have been a member stood against not just those who opposed him but those who I think it’s fair to say – I’m happy to be corrected by officials were on his side. May his memory be a blessing.” – considerable strides in raising that issue and pointing out its Julian Leeser (Lib., Berowra) – Nov. 9 – “‘Yitzhak Rabin’s unreasonableness.” story is the story of Israel.’ That was a comment made to me by Senator Eric Abetz (Lib., Tas.) in the Environment and Com- Ron Weiser, the former President of the Zionist Federation of munications Legislation Committee estimates hearings – Oct. Australia, recently, and the truth of that statement is absolute. 21 – “Why weren’t some of these [antisemitic] comments [on Rabin’s life had been about making peace for Israel, first as a the ABC Facebook page] deleted more quickly? Some were general and then as a statesman… He showed courage in seek- retained there for days. Does this meet your expectation on ing to find peace no matter how unsavoury the partner or how content moderation… does the ABC currently use or have plans great the challenge.” to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance work- 36 Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus (ALP, Isaacs) – Nov. ing definition of anti-Semitism to assist in content moderation?”

AIR – December 2020 according to the media report. describe the magnitude of the The report said she subsequently experience of entering the gates of FLAGGING ATTENTION accepted the cardiologist’s apology, this infamous place and visiting its The Daily Telegraph (Oct. 25) in which he said he had “misused a museum… the piles of shoes that be- reported on the startling fact that no term to a family member that has longed to the victims, valued higher QUOTEDNOTED AND less than 31 instances of Nazi flags been conceived as racism, which was than the lives of the people wearing being flown on residential properties in absolutely no way my intention. I them… the hair, piled in mounds were reported in NSW over the past am truly sorry ... There is not a single taller than a person – remnants of the two years, yet not a single charge was fibre of my being that is racist.” mass murder of at least 1.1 million laid. The doctor and the tenants have people here…[the] photo [of] – two Although it is not directly illegal since met to discuss the incident, children, waiting outside a building to fly Nazi flags in NSW, police can with the doctor issuing an apology in for their parents who would never prosecute under “Section 93Z of the person. come back... Visiting Poland and Crimes Act, which was introduced those Holocaust museums taught me in August 2018, [making] it… an more than history books ever could – offence to publicly threaten or incite HATEFUL YOUTH about the horrors of genocide.” violence towards a person or group On Nov. 14, the Herald Sun Across October and November, on the basis of race, religion… with reported on the findings of a long- the Adelaide Advertiser ran stories on a maximum penalty of three years’ awaited Victorian Department of the opening of a dedicated Holocaust jail.” Education probe into antisemitic bul- museum and testimonies from Holo- NSW Labor MP Walt Secord was lying at Brighton Secondary College. caust survivors Andrew Steiner and quoted accusing the NSW Govern- According to the Department, Eva Temple. ment of inaction, saying, “It is ex- alleged incidents included Jewish stu- Meanwhile, in the Daily Telegraph traordinary and damning that there dents being called names like “Jew- (Oct. 19), AIJAC’s Naomi Levin has not been a single person charged boy” and told to “get in my oven”, warned of the need to take seri- under the laws introduced in 2018. swastikas graffitied on campus and ously the “nonsensical ramblings” of The Nazi flag is an emblem of geno- students shouting out “Heil Hitler” the QAnon movement, which has cide and racism. The decision to fly a and giving Nazi salutes in class. attracted followers from across the Nazi flag is an expression of hatred.” The Herald Sun said the report, political spectrum and “has a strong NSW Attorney General Mark which has not been publicly released, vein of antisemitism”. Speakman defended the Govern- exonerates the school staff, some of ment’s inaction, saying it was whom were accused of insensitivity “awaiting recommendations from and protecting the offenders, includ- PEACE APACE Victoria[’s]… inquiry into anti-vilifi- ing the principal who made a “con- Another month and the announce- cation protections.” troversial speech” to the student body ment of another historic peace deal, that was interpreted as potentially this time between Sudan and Israel, antisemitic. was still novel enough to receive HEARTLESS The report made 18 recom- fairly comprehensive media coverage. The Herald Sun (Nov 7) reported mendations for Brighton Secondary Television news bulletins covering on an email sent by a “leading Mel- College, all of which were accepted, the breakthrough included SBS, Sky bourne cardiologist” who replied to and the Department will develop a News, and Channels 10, 9 and 7. his sister’s request for advice on what plan to better understand and address On SBS TV “World News” (Oct. she should do about a tenant ask- antisemitism. 24) RMIT University Professor ing for a rent reduction during the Joseph Siracusa said the Sudan deal coronavirus pandemic, saying that she was more significant than the UAE/ should tell him to “pack his Jew bags MUSEUM PIECE Bahrain accords because “prior to this and f--- off.” A Holocaust museum to be built normalisation” the “Sudanese [were] Unfortunately for the cardiolo- in Brisbane with Queensland and technically at war” with Israel. gist, he accidentally sent his email Federal Government funding, saw the On Oct. 26, the Australian edito- response to the tenant’s representa- Courier-Mail’s Jessica Marszalek write rialised that the Sudan deal “is a mas- tive – Susannah Swiatlo. (Oct. 11) about visiting the Aus- sive strategic blow to the misguided Ms. Swiatlo, whose “father lost chwitz death camp with her grandfa- presumption that there could never family during the Holocaust… burst ther, who was a Holocaust survivor. be any normalisation of relations with into tears when she read” the email, Marszalek said, “it’s hard to Israel before the establishment of an 37

AIR – December 2020 independent Palestinian state.” Gladstone looking at past winners of rate and his rival Binyamin Netanyahu In the same edition, the newspa- the Nobel Peace Prize “whose actions become prime minister. per’s foreign editor Greg Sheridan and behaviour – either before or after As for Arafat, from the moment echoed Prof Siracusa, writing, “But in the honour was given – have been he signed the Oslo Accords, he repu-

NOTED AND QUOTEDNOTED AND some ways the agreement with Sudan viewed as unworthy or in some cases diated them. is even more important. Unlike Bah- even absurd.” When speaking in Arabic to his rain and UAE, Sudan is a big nation, Gladstone’s list of reprobates own people he talked about liberat- with a population of 41 million and a included Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres ing Jerusalem through blood and fire long history of military conflict with and Yitzhak Rabin who were awarded and, alluding to Koranic references, Israel. It sent troops to the 1948 war the gong in 1994 for signing the Oslo he told Palestinians the Accords were when the Arab world tried to kill the Accords which heralded the possibil- temporary. Arafat also made a big fledgling Jewish state at birth. It also ity of a two-state resolution to the show of arresting suspected Palestin- sent troops to the 1967 Arab-Israeli Israeli-Palestinian conflict and created ian terrorists, only to have them re- war. Khartoum hosted the 1967 Arab the Palestinian Authority which now leased from prison shortly thereafter. League summit, which issued its governs most Palestinians in the West In September 1996, Arafat cyni- famous ‘three Nos’— no peace, rec- Bank. cally fomented violence that led to ognition or negotiations with Israel. According to Gladstone, “Rabin, scores of dead on both sides by accus- After Sudan took an Islamist turn in then prime minister, was assassinated ing Israel of threatening the Muslim the late 1980s it became a regular ally in 1995 by an Israeli fanatic who op- holy sites on the Temple Mount, after of Iran and helped smuggle weapons posed a peace agreement. And efforts Israel opened an exit in an archaeo- into Gaza. As a result, Israel repeat- since then to resolve the conflict have logical tunnel near the mount. edly struck military targets in Sudan.” repeatedly faltered, punctuated by Four years later, almost to the On ABC TV “Q&A” (Nov. 2), Lowy bouts of violence and bitter recrimi- day, Arafat repeated the tactic, when Institute analyst Lydia Khalil said nations. Doubts about a proposed then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel the recent accords signed with Israel two-state solution have only intensi- Sharon visited the Temple Mount. “weren’t peace treaties. They weren’t fied in recent years, amid threats Arafat’s credibility was at a low point, in conflict,” prompting Sheridan, who by Israel to annex territory in the after foolishly rejecting then Israeli was also on the program, to reply that occupied West Bank.” PM Ehud Barak’s historic offer of the “they had had conflict with Sudan.” Questioning Rabin and Peres’ creation of a Palestinian state on 95% Despite US President Donald right to their Nobel Peace Prizes is of the West Bank and all of Gaza, with Trump announcing the Sudan deal preposterous. control over most of Jerusalem’s Old from the Oval Office in a live tele- Rabin was murdered, as Glad- City. phone hook up with Israeli PM Binya- stone said, by “an Israeli fanatic who Unlike in 1996, the Second min Netanyahu primed for maximum opposed a peace agreement”, which Intifada resulted, which lasted years election publicity, it appears to have is the very definition of someone who and led to the violent deaths of been unreported on any of the ABC’s gives their life in the cause of peace. 1050 Israelis and thousands more radio or TV flagship programs. It also Peres succeeded Rabin and shortly Palestinians. didn’t make the hard copy editions of thereafter called elections, campaign- Yet, according to Gladstone, the Age or Sydney Morning Herald. ing on a promise to keep implement- Arafat, Rabin and Peres should all ing the Oslo Accords. be stripped of their Nobel Peace But a series of deadly Hamas sui- Prizes. IGNOBLE cide bombings that killed Israelis over Elsewhere, the Australian (Nov. 5) SBS online (Nov. 15) ran a silly the course of the election campaign reported on a new exhibition or- piece from the New York Times’ Rick saw Peres’ double-digit lead evapo- ganised for Sydney’s B’nai B’rith in conjunction with Rabin’s family to celebrate his life on the 25th anniver- With Compliments sary of his murder. It quoted curator Alexandra Hillman saying, “He made history by achieving peace agree- ments with Jordan and Egypt, and he made official visits to tradition- ally Muslim countries like Indonesia [which does not officially recognise 38 Israel].”

AIR – December 2020 Allon Lee MEDIA MICROSCOPE A CUPPA JOE tinians seek statehood” may see a return to the “acrimoni- It was inevitable that Donald Trump’s failure to win a ous” relationship of the Obama years. second term would see the commentariat hypothesising On ABC TV “The World” (Nov. 10), ABC Middle East about what a Biden presidency might mean for the Middle correspondent Eric Tlozek predicted “things are not sud- East. denly expected to reverse under the new administration, In the Sydney Morning Herald (Oct. 29), academic Timo- but around the diplomatic mission, things are expected to thy Lynch opined that “Trump has not given priority to the change. No one expects President Biden would suddenly Palestinian cause. But Obama move the US Embassy back to did that and achieved zilch. “The ABC’s international affairs analyst Tel Aviv…the hope…within Trump’s Abraham accords, on Stan Grant recalled that Biden was vice the Palestinian leadership is the other hand, have left Israel president during the Obama administra- that this may lead to greater more secure with more of its tion whose foreign policies ‘exacerbated cooperation with the US… possibly a new peace process neighbours than since 1948. an already dangerous world’” Even Sudan, one of the world’s and the rejection of the Trump most anti-Semitic regimes, so-called deal of the century… has now recognised Israel as per Trump’s latest deal. that would have seen Israel take around a third of the terri- Remarkable.” tory in the West Bank.” On the ABC website (Nov. 5), the ABC’s international Trump’s plan was a reflection of the lack of input from affairs analyst Stan Grant recalled that Biden was vice Palestinian leaders who boycotted the process. Moreover, president during the Obama administration whose for- the Trump Administration made it clear that the Palestin- eign policies “exacerbated an already dangerous world… ians would be invited to negotiate about the details on Obama underestimated the rise of Islamic State and failed territory and other issues if they returned to the negotiat- to enforce his own red lines in Syria after Bashar al-Assad ing table. used chemical weapons against his own people.” A brief in News Corp papers (Nov. 14) said Biden is On ABC TV “The World” (Nov. 5), Riyadh-based aca- “a past critic of settlements who has pledged to put more demic Joseph Kechichian said the prospect of a revived diplomatic effort into creating a Palestinian state.” Iran nuclear deal is creating “a lot of tension in the region More “effort”? Since 1991 every US Administration, especially…the Gulf countries, led by Saudi Arabia, the including Trump’s, has invested considerable time and en- United Arab Emirates and others [who] are very much ergy in trying to create a Palestinian state. Nor is this a fair concerned about what Iran might be doing in the region… reflection of anything Biden has said. in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Yemen and elsewhere.” In Nine Newspapers (Nov. 15), Age features editor Kechichian also said, with considerable exaggeration, Maher Mughrabi said reviving the Iran nuclear deal “risks that vice president-elect Kamala Harris’ “insiste[nce] that alienating Saudi Arabia and Israel” and Biden will need to the Palestinians will be given their due” breaks with “every” reassure all sides that “their interests will be protected”. He previous administration which have “been very pro-Israel noted VP-elect Harris’ commitment to “resume economic and has seldom wavered from this kind of line.” assistance to the Palestinians” but added “whether Biden is Agreeing with host Beverley O’Connor’s suggestion that really willing to advance the cause of Palestinian freedom Harris’ stance could “potentially…bring the region closer in the face of Israeli and domestic opposition remains to be to peace than necessarily the Trump approach”, Kechich- seen.” ian said, “there is a real hunger” in the region to make peace The only factor impeding “Palestinian freedom” is the with Israel because “people are tired after almost 100 years refusal of Palestinian leaders to accept repeated offers to of warfare” but “we will have to wait and see whether or not create two states for two peoples, or even return to nego- the maturity process in the West, especially in the United tiations toward this end. States, will translate into effective results on the ground.” The Guardian (Nov. 17) editorialised its concern that A Reuters report on the ABC website (Nov. 8) specu- Trump may use his remaining time as President to “pursue lated that “Biden’s pledge to restore US involvement in a scorched-earth policy – perhaps upping the pressure on the Iran nuclear deal and a likely opposition by the White Tehran so that it hits back, making it far harder to salvage House to Israeli settlement of occupied land where Pales- the nuclear deal.” 39

AIR – December 2020 NAME OF SECTION Jeremy Jones

JUSTIFYING ANTISEMITISM transferred to stereotypes of Israelis, you crossed the line. When the foreign minister of an Arab state told the A group of international experts, from the field of UN that Jews murdered non-Jewish children to use their anti-racism and human rights, spent years working on and blood for religious purposes, the pretext was a discussion finessing the definition eventually adopted by the Interna- of contemporary Israel. tional Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA): “Anti- When Iranian leaders deny that the Nazis waged a semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be genocidal war against Jews, their motivation is to explain expressed as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical how bad they think modern Israel is. manifestations of antisemitism are directed When an Australian newspaper told toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals readers that the key to understanding and/or their property, toward Jewish com- the politics of the eastern Mediterranean munity institutions and religious facilities.” was to accept as fact the Protocols of the This Working Definition would not Learned Elders of Zion, it came from a seem to be particularly contentious, al- perception of Israel steeped in ancient Why is this widely used definition of though of course those who wish to be an- antisemitism, developed by interna- anti-Jewish stereotypes. tional anti-racism experts, becoming tisemitic may object to being called such. When a Sydney radio station was facing contentious? Attached to the Definition was a list of an investigation into racism committed examples of where and when antisemitism by some of its presenters, the station management was may occur, which again should not be contentious. shocked and outraged when confronted with records of The Definition states unambiguously that “Criticism of broadcasts claiming that the Jews who survived the at- Israel similar to that levelled against any other country can- tempted murder of them by Nazis had now become worse not be regarded as antisemitic.” than Nazis. The management, as most fair-minded people For anyone to claim that the IHRA Definition “equates would, saw this as antisemitism. criticism of Israel with antisemitism” is to grossly misrep- A serial distributor of anti-Jewish material in Tasmania resent the Definition. was found to be in breach of Australia’s federal anti-racism To claim that it is an attempt to silence legitimate legislation due to the distribution of material which lo- voices in debate is both untrue and slanders those who cated Jews or Judaism as the source of any social ill. have drafted and subsequently adopted the Definition. Whether it was a matter of Australian social policy or Yet when a prominent Australian political commentator Middle East geopolitics, the template was the same – the tweeted this dishonest claim, he received backing from a Jews are to blame. cackling chorus of individuals seemingly shameless enough When various governmental institutions, including law to align themselves with the principle that it is legitimate enforcement agencies, came to recognise the importance to promote racism, bigotry and hatred if it furthers your of dealing with antisemitism the way other forms of racism efforts to bring Israel into disrepute. were being addressed, they sought guidance for under- The most intellectually dishonest amongst them went standing what was or was not antisemitic, including in so far as to suggest that attempts by Australians from a discussions of the Middle East. number of different backgrounds to provide resource In the 25 years in which I compiled and published material to assist the ABC in combatting racism were an data about antisemitism in Australia, a strict principle was example of criminal “foreign interference”. adopted – you could say that Israel was terribly wrong There is, of course, a legitimate and healthy discussion and even that you thought it was the worst country on the to be had as to when, how and where it is appropriate to planet, but if you said this was use the Definition and additional resource material. But it is because of the Jewish nature of neither legitimate nor excusable to spread dishonest misrep- that country or because your resentations of the Definition, or to not just rationalise but caricatures of Jews were being justify the infusion of antisemitism into public discourse.

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