by FRED PAWLE – THE people who want to celebrate the slaughter of Jews have a right to free speech, just as we have a right to debate whether Australia needs more Muslims and mosques.
You’ve got to give credit to Josh Lees, of the Palestinian Action Group, for proposing to pursue the legal right for him and his Mohammedan friends to gather and yell hackneyed anti-Jewish slogans on the streets this Sunday, the day before the anniversary of the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
- If you want to defend free speech, you need to defend the speech you hate.
- We will then be able to see who these people are.
- They reveal the depth of their hatred for Israel, a hatred they likely share for Australia itself.
His was followed by a “candlelight vigil” the next day to mourn the death of Palestinians killed in the ensuing war.
As an Australian citizen, he has every right to challenge the State government’s ban on these rallies, which is supported by both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Opposition counterpart Peter Dutton.
PERMISSION
And here’s something you won’t hear from any other conservative commentator in the country: the courts should grant Lees permission to hold these protests, albeit with a caveat that is as old as our legal system: that they do not hinder other citizens from going about their own lawful business.
For the courts to do anything else would be to impose tyrannical restraints on the protesters’ free speech, which is (or was) considered a fundamental right in Australia.
If Mr Lees wants a conservative commentator to appear in court supporting his case, I’d be more than happy to oblige, on one condition: that on the day of the protest, he supports my right to stand among him and his friends and burn a Koran.
Do we have a deal, old son? If not, then maybe you and your mates should find a place where your one-sided attitude to free speech is more appreciated. I hear Gaza is nice this time of year.
Censorship is as fundamental to the Leftist world view as child labour is to the batteries that power their cars and bicycles. Rational hypocrisy troubles not the mind that runs on raw emotion.
It’s disappointing, then, to witness conservatives also reaching for the censorship lever, even if it is of the most vile morons in our country.
Peter Dutton has said the proposed Palestinian marches are “utterly sickening” and should be banned.
On the contrary, that’s exactly why they should go ahead. If you want to defend free speech, then you need to defend the speech you hate.
I’ve heard that Dutton is planning to attend a Jewish memorial service on October 7, which is what you would expect a decent politician to do. Jews are a productive and harmonious group who have contributed much to our country, and almost all Australian Jews have friends or relatives who were killed on October 7.
(If Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also attends a Jewish commemoration service, he will surprise us all, but will also infuriate his natural constituency, which he can’t afford to do at a time when his popularity is sinking like a stone.)
But here’s the nub of the problem: none of the Jewish organisations can freely advertise where these services will be held, for fear of attacks. Neither will Dutton’s office confirm if he is attending one, or where.
Let that sink in, as the cool kids say when they discover that the iPhone lenses they use to take crystal-clear selfies at Palestinian protest marches were developed in Israel.
The leader of the Australian federal Opposition can’t announce where he will commemorate the rape, torture and murder of innocent Israelis for fear that some other Australian citizens will take offence and express their disapproval in a manner that is more customary and satisfying to them than polite debate.
I say let the pro-Palestinians march on October 6 and 7. Let them screech abuse at the friends and relatives of those raped and murdered on that horrific day last year.
MILITANTS
Let them pretend that the deaths of Hamas and Hezbollah militants are as tragic as the babies and young women tortured and killed in their Israel homes.
There are two advantages to allowing them to express their feelings: We will be able to clearly see who these people are, and they will reveal the depth of their hatred for the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, a hatred they likely share for Australia itself.
And once both of those become clear, we can then exercise our own freedom of speech even further, by debating and even holding a referendum about whether we want any more mosques, or Muslims, in Australia.
Forgive me if I missed it, but I don’t recall us being asked if we even wanted this new demographic to colonise parts of our cities. My guess is that a referendum would return a resounding “no” to its continuation.
This is not, as some might misconstrue, my own attempt at censoring Islam in Australia. Nor is it antipathy towards individual Muslims. I’ve met some fine Muslims, including one at Bondi recently who happily participated in my random survey asking young blokes if they would fight to defend this lovely nation.
To butcher Martin Luther King, I’ll judge people by the content of their character, not the colour of their keffiyeh.
But all societies require a basic level of cohesion to survive. The decline of our own cohesion correlates with the growing cohort of Muslims in our midst.
We either debate it now or let the best of our culture – our mateship, freedom and secular values – to continue disappearing, to be replaced by the misery and fragmentation of “multiculturalism”.
Future generations will rightly think us pathetic for not addressing this when we should.
If we feel uncomfortable raising this question, then that is even more reason to do so.
FUTURE
There is no law – yet – against debating what sort of society we want in the future.
When the British subjects living in the 13 American colonies in the 1770s had a similar debate, they came up with the defining declaration of our times: that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
From that, they built what was (and might still be) the most powerful and freest nation in the world.
Australians rarely acknowledge how much their peace and prosperity have relied on this revolutionary concept. Nor have we been inclined to debate the philosophy behind our own pursuit of happiness.
Being founded by emancipated convicts and free settlers, it probably didn’t seem necessary.
But it’s time we did. And when we do, we will quickly realise how indispensable is free speech, and how Judeo-Christian values are the bedrock of our liberal democracy.
Whether our Palestine-loving friends agree with this, we will soon find out.PC
Fred Pawle is now posting twice a week on Substack. For more of his witty observations and conservative commentary, click here. It’s free!
MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: Josh Lees. (courtesy Sydney Criminal Lawyers)
RE-PUBLISHED: This article was originally published on Fred Pawle’s Substack page. Re-used with permission.
No deal for you Fred.
Two Muslim women followed us into David Jones. Had cameras out but bolted when my feisty wife turned on them. We had been watching the Archibald Fountain gathering and march led by an Anglo with a megaphone. I wonder do these robotic haters understand they are being used for the self interest of disruptors, Greens and Labor MP toadies wanting to hold onto their seats at any price. Yes what’s going on in Gaza is regrettable. Best not to start a fight you will not win and your opponent is 5000 yrs old with tenacity in its DNA.
No, Australia will not survive the Labor supported Muslim presence. It is already anecdotally demonstrated that birth rates, multiple wives deriving social security benefits greatly enhance Muslim presence. (ABS doesn’t report ethnic/religion based birth stats. ) The next Federal election will be informative as to the emerging Muslim voting bloc. Stan Grant featuring in SBS documentary is seeking to legitimise historical Muslim presence in Australia. No doubt exemplified by Afghan camel riders (?) used for transport prerailways etc in the NT.
I care little for individual religious perspectives but Islam represents an existential threat, its embedded in the Koran. It’s also fostered by ‘useful idiots’ who feel they are able to benefit politically as fellow travellers. It’s evident in the relative silence from Labor and Greens who actively supported the 50+ weeks in Hyde Park Sydney and other protests on behalf of Hamas and Hebzollah.
This government was elected by citizens of Australia! And those who did vote Labor, Green or Teals should collectively be charged with treason! Including some of those LNP Members! Who in Australia has the strength of will to remove a race that will destroy this country for their Goal of Islamic control by any means? Anyone Fred Paule 🙂 Can a devout Muslim be an Australian/New Zealander USA or any other non Muslim country and become a loyal citizen?
That question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years.
The following is his forwarded reply:
Theologically, no. Because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of Arabia .
Religiously, no. Because no other religion is accepted by his Allah except Islam (Koran, 2:256)
Scripturally, no. Because his allegiance is to the five pillars of Islam and the Koran.
Geographically, no. Because his allegiance is to Mecca , to which he turns in prayer five times a day.
Socially, no. Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.
Politically, no. Because he must submit to the mullahs (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America , the great Satan.
Domestically, no. Because he is instructed to marry four women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Koran 4:34)..
Intellectually, no. Because he cannot accept the Australian freedoms and Oath of Allegience!
I’m disappointed that Peter Dutton thinks the people for Palestine marches are “utterly sickening”. Does he think its ok to turn out 1-2 million people out of their homes, bulldose them, and make them live in tents for 12 months now, bomb their hospitals, deny medical care, food and water, and here and there bomb their tent cities? What civilised mind thinks this is ok? And what about the ICJ determination that Israel is committing war crimes, in fact evidence of genocide? Is that ok with Peter Dutton? Yikes, time for a rethink on the leader of the LNP.
What is sickening about these marches is that most of the people who are marching represent a threat to our way of life. They go round bashing people and threatening others. Jewish kids are too frightened to take the bus to school, and jewish students are threatened at university. One bloke was bashed by about 5 of them at Arncliffe and almost killed, they pull people out of cars, threaten Australian girls, are an ongoing menace, and should not be here. Dutton is 100% right to say that they are sickening.
Of course what is happening to defenceless Palestinian people is appalling, but if the Palestinians didn’t terrorise Israel all the time then they’d have their own homeland and money in their pockets, their choice. Dutton made a terrific speech in parliament today, and he is likely to become the first PM with real gravitas we’ve had since Bob Hawke and John Howard. Neither of the latter would have tolerated any of this nonsense, and they’d have stood as one against it.
Sadly you exemplify a very misguided moral equivalence. Terrorist attacks have demanded that Israel exterminate them in self defence. This is a war. There has never been a war in history where one side has done as much as Israel to target its attacks. The terrorists are responsible for all these civilian casualties, not Israel. Furthermore, you seem to be clueless about Islam and Islamic terror. Islam is the only worldview that has zero tolerance for other worldviews. For a true Muslim, they need to submit up and subjugate or convert or eliminate down. The hate preachers you see excerpts of are being true to the Quran. There is no concept of assimilation in the real Islam, only subjugation. Israel is doing what must be done and the pathetic left wing leaders in western countries are cowards and a disgrace. Now is the time to crush the head of the snake, the Iranian regime. This must be done as they are ideologically committed to the destruction of Israel and are likely the only country reckless enough to use nuclear weapons these days….they are not driven by power, but their vision for Armageddon.
And this describes them exactly and why we need to move them from Australia! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiLAx7kp4Rc
Why all the negative feedback? Is Israel really god’s chosen people … I think not. I don’t think God’s chosen people would behave like Israel does. I used to go to church in my youth. I know the way they flog Israel as god’s chosen people. You’ve got to call it like you see it and I think we’ve been conned about Israel.
The media seems to only ever cover one side of the story. –
“Israel is innocent, they are god’s chosen people – how could they do anything wrong, all the bombs they are dropping on Gaza are self-defence. They are not accountable to anybody including the ICJ and world opinion.”
You never hear how the palestinians have been evicted from their homes, Israel is taking over Palestine land with illegal settlements. Israel is holding over 9000 palestine prisoners, many without charge. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/world/middleeast/palestinians-detained-in-israel.html March 28, 2024
There is controversy where the current Israel jews came from. After many studies it seems that most Jews are Ashkenazi originating from Europe who converted to Judaism over a period of 1000 years.
You never hear how the jews have been ejected from so many countries over the centuries.
Any country or organisation that goes against Israel is called a terrorist organisation and Israel always justifies their behaviour as self defence. Look up Israel war crimes – see Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_war_crimes article and who the real war criminals are. The International Court of Justice has declared Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. Most of the world agrees. What we hear in the news and commentary is propaganda designed to mislead.
It seems that most people don’t do their own research and instead rely on “experts and reliable sources”. A good article to get people thinking is – The Hidden History Of The Incredibly Evil Khazarian Mafia https://archive.org/details/the-hidden-history-of-the-incredibly-evil-khazarian-mafia_202301
Some premises put are true, but are also totally disingenuous.
There are many Arabs living in Israel who are Israeli citizens, members of parliament, and with complete access to all Israeli social security services, but then they’re not trying to monster anyone. The Palestinian leadership has always rejected a 2 state solution, despite so many best efforts made. It would be much easier for the Israelis to give them much so as to not have to fight them all the time, but that really wouldn’t suit the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, who seek to destroy Israel at all costs. Basically the muslims are coming for the jews on saturday and then the rest of us on sunday. Of course it’s terrible what has happened to all the innocents but the jews do have a right to survive. They did have just about everyone’s mobile phone numbers in Gaza, so when rockets were fired at them, they’d ring everyone from whichever building to tell them that they had about 20 minutes to get out before they destroyed the building and its rocket launchers. The ones who died were those left behind chained up to die as martyrs. The late General Jim Molan had been to Gaza, seen it all, and explained how it all worked.
Of course everyone loathes the bloodshed, including the jews, but the Palestinians kept putting Hamas back into power. Trump had Iran on its knees with sanctions, which meant no money for Hamas and Hezbollah, but then Biden lifted the sanctions, which was crazy. Iranians are Persians not Arabs, and most young people simply want to wear western clothes and go to university. When they become desperate enough they’ll rise up and see off the mullahs, albeit with more bloodshed. We don’t see the other Arab countries taking in Palestinian refugees, or supporting Iran. Hamas were not going to release the hostages, and trying to negotiate with them would have made it all a lot worse, if that’s possible. The deaths of 40,000 people have been quite enough already, but what choice do the jews have. I went to Israel once when serving with the UN. They turned the desert into an oasis whereas the Arabs simply lived in poverty. The jews who had survived the holocaust were very tough, and they saw off all Arab attempts to exterminate them. Australia made a terrible mistake when not carefully screening its muslim immigrants. There are many fine muslims such as the Kurds, but by letting in the garbage and allowing it to multiply on our social security system, we are probably following France and the UK down the path of losing our country, unless like the jews we start defending ourselves. It’s time for everyone to wake up. The Arabs trade on victimhood by forcing the jews to make war on them. Palestine could have been a prosperous state, but they chose poverty over prosperity because most of them don’t know better.
I recommend two books;
Among The Barbarians author journalist Paul Sheehan
Confessions Of A Failed Finance Mimuster author Peter Walsh
Both books published late 1990s here
In my opinion and from experiences working in Sydney Bankstown District for 25 years Australia already has too many people who seek a safe haven here but also follow their religious objectives that are not compatible with the Christian values including democracy that Commonwealth of Australia is built on.
Immigration must be much more selective and questioning of applicants intentions and agendas
Hate speeches criticising Israel and Jewish Australians is not acceptable for example
Great article, and hope to read more of his work in the future.
More from this writer, please. Perhaps Mr Pawle could examine the robotic and gross overuse of the word “proud/pride”. So many cite pride in their background as fundamental to their identity. Yet this draws attention to differences, not commonalities, even when a dispassionate examination of that source of pride might find nothing much to commend it at all. Let’s think and speak less of where we’ve been, and instead think and speak more of where we are. We are in Australia. We are Australian.
When Peter Dutton wins government, our Immigration Guidelines should be discreetly changed.
I met my first Muslim in 1985 at Dulwich Hill Railway Station ( Staff member ) . He had a huge machete with him in case anyone gave him shit . I said then we will have trouble with this scum in the future and I was lambasted and laughed at . Not laughing now are we ??? Seems we would rather lose the war than admit to the mistake .
I experienced one wearing a robe who tried to push into a line of traffic from the parking lane and when a driver refused to give way he got out and banged the handle end of a dagger on the driver’s car window.
Near Bankstown Square Shopping Centre and railway station
We don’t need or want any more Muslims in Australia, all we are doing is importing a problem for the future
They cause trouble wherever they go
The UN directive .
We elect our politicians not UN appointees.
Often it’s difficult to not believe UN comes first and foremost for too many MPs