First of all, here's what we have for you this week:
- Killer Grabs: Quotes from around the traps.
- If paid criminals and Iran are behind anti-semitic arson attacks then pro-Palestine protesters deserve an apology— By Osman Faruqi and Izzy Lewis
- The Good Ones: The best journalism, opinion and entertainment for you to enjoy.
Over the weekend, anti-migrant "March for Australia" rallies are being held in almost all of Australia's capital cities. We covered the background to the marches, and how the mainstream media was boosting the rhetoric and messaging of the far-right in an earlier podcast.
Ironically, these marches are exactly what most of the media has accused the pro-Palestine movement of being: extremist, racist, and encouraging violent hate. Yet while the media has sought to demonise, and even criminalise, pro-Palestine protesters, they have chosen to boost and amplify a movement which is explicitly targeting migrants on the basis of their race.
We would love to hear any ideas or feedback at all, whether it's about the look and feel of it, what you want to read more about from us or how often you'd like to hear from us.
For two years now, news outlets like The Australian and The Age, along with senior politicians, have sought to blame those protesting Israel's genocide for a series of violent, anti-semitic attacks targeting synagogues and Jewish businesses.
In today's newsletter, Os, along with Lamesteam's researcher Izzy Lewis, expose how all but one of these attacks have now been linked directly to criminal networks perpetrating them for their own motives. With the federal government now also accusing Iran of masterminding at least two of the attacks, the case that these incidents were the result of hate-filled demonstrations and mass protests has completely collapsed.
Yet the media, and our politicians, aren't issuing a mea culpa. In fact they are doubling down – somehow blaming Iran and criminal gangs, yet continuing their unjustified attacks on the biggest social movement in Australia in decades.
PS: We're now on YouTube! We'll be releasing our episodes there every week, check out our channel:
Killer Grabs
"Are you saying that we should stop all exports?"
"Absolutely."
– Usman Khawaja
Khawaja, Australia's opening batter and the former ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, has been one of the only high profile sportspeople in Australia to consistently speak out against Israel's genocide. This week, he visited Parliament House in Canberra to deliver a message to Anthony Albanese and call for a trade boycott with Israel.
He can do all that, while preparing to demolish England in the Ashes later this year. He might be the greatest living Australian.
"It turned out that the casualties were much lower... the children were children of Hamas fighters, not children taking cover in places." – Jacob Lew, the US Ambassador to Israel under Joe Biden.
A Biden-era official defends the then President's support for Israel's slaughter. The response from his interviewer, The New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner, sums it up: "Sorry, what did you just say?"
If paid criminals and Iran are behind anti-semitic arson attacks then pro-Palestine protesters deserve an apology
By Osman Faruqi and Izzy Lewis
The sensational revelations this week that Australia’s spy agency believes Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps puppeteered at least two prominent anti-semitic arson attacks in Australia have undermined everything we’ve been told about the wave of violence over the past two years, but media organisations are still refusing to change their tune.
Most of the coverage in the mainstream media this week has focused on the “unprecedented” level of foreign interference, and the extraordinary decision to expel the Iranian ambassador – the first such expulsion in Australia in over 70 years.
