The 4 Corners saga; An update on where we are at…
By Gabsy Debinski
The last 48 hours have been jam-packed for us here at the ZFA and ZCV. Unfortunately, the 4 Corners expose aired on ABC 1 on Monday evening failed to surprise us. It was an emotive one-sided investigation into the Israeli justice system and its treatment of Palestinian youth. The treatment of minors is an important issue; however it is the profound lack of balance that is cause for great concern. For those of you who missed the program you can watch it here.
Understandably, we have received much correspondence from concerned community members and therefore we’d like to update you on the progress we have made in responding to this coverage.
First, ZFA President, Philip Chester, had an op-ed published on Online Opinion today. This online forum has vast readership and is fantastic exposure for us in getting our view out there. Find the link here and please send the article around.
A taste of Philip’s piece;
“Dealing with Palestinian minors who take up rocks as weapons against Israeli citizens and soldiers in the West Bank is a very complex and multi-faceted problem. The Four Corners’ program ‘Stone Cold Justice’ (10/02/14) aired on ABC was highly emotive and one sided and failed the test of unbiased independent reporting on which the ABC prides itself.
Putting to one side the question of why it is that children as young as five are permitted if not encouraged to be out on the streets in deliberate, violent confrontations with the authorities, the underlying premise of John Lyon’s piece – equality of treatment before the law for Palestinians and Israelis- is as he well knows impossible given the disputed status of the territories in which the Palestinians live. If Israel attempted to apply its civil law in those territories no doubt Lyons and most of the world’s media and political leadership would scream about the defacto annexation of the territories and the elimination of any prospect of peace based on the establishment of a Palestinian state in those territories.”
We also released an official statement sent to several media outlets that can be viewed here.
You’ve gotta be in it to win it…Get involved and connect to our social media:
At the same time our social media has been running wild. While this might be daunting for some the time is ripe to catch up with the times and get acquainted with our social media. It is here that we are constantly updating the community on the issue as it evolves as well as facilitating important debate and discussion.
Our Facebook page has grown exponentially in the last few days and now has over 1,200 ‘likes.’ Our FB page can be found here. Please like ‘us’ and share our updates and briefs.
The ZFA Twitter feed has been running rampant with updates and we have engaged in debate with 4 corners and other followers. If you want to be in the know then follow us at @ZionistFedAus. There is no time like the present.
On another note, some of you may have seen an article that appeared on the front page of today’s Australian newspaper (12/02/14) titled ‘Hezbollah site has local links.’ Indeed, it is a shocking revelation of an English Hezbollah website in Australia attempting to radicalize young Arab-Australians. We recommend you read the article that can be found on our FB page here.
In response to the revelation about Hezbollah and the broader issue of the recruitment of youths for terrorist activities Philip Chester will be interviewed tonight on SBS at 6.30pm. This is a great opportunity for the community to have our collective voice heard. Please tune in and publicize far and wide.
We hope this update has been helpful in outlining what’s been going on here at the ZFA. If you want to be up to date then social media is where it’s at. For all others we will keep you posted via our weekly advocacy updates and on the ZFA website.
Thanks for all our feedback and support.