Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday 22 March 2015

Big Malevolence: Fraser The Anti-Israel Fantasist

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who led the Liberal Party to three election wins, finally succumbing to defeat at the polls by the ALP's Bob Hawke, has died at the age of 84, and inevitably people on both sides of politics are falling over themselves to pay tribute to his memory, no matter what they thought of the manner of his taking office and of his policies while in office.

"In retirement he became a statesman" is a widespread and indeed, an almost consensual view.

It's not the done thing to speak ill of the dead (at least, not immediately after their demise), and so even his those who have the most reason to feel aggrieved by him accentuate the positive, as in this excellent overview of his relations, once upon a time, with Australian Jewry .

Virtually his last political tweet
But make no mistake: hagiography towards Malcolm Fraser is strangely misplaced.

In his "retirement" the haughty and pompous Fraser became a proverbial pain in the tuches, loftily berating the policies of  John Howard and his other successors in the party, from which, having become an holier-than-thou advocate of "human rights" in Australia and around the world, he ultimately resigned.

From "Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs"
Whatever may or may not have been Fraser's achievements and good qualities [update: see Isi Leibler's brief reflection here), his reputation must always be tarnished by the extreme hostility towards Israel that he (of part-Jewish descent himself, by the way) developed, and which include, most inexplicably and dementedly, the acceptance and advancement of a bizarre conspiracy theory regarding Israel's tragic (mistaken) attack on the USS Liberty during the Six Day War.

In an interview last May with ABC Radio Melbourne's Jon Faine (pictured above with Fraser), to plug his anti-American book Dangerous AlliesFraser declared that former foreign minister Bob Carr was “absolutely correct” in his view that the pro-Israel lobby wielded too much power and maintained that
“Israel years ago, during one of the wars, killed 30 or 40 Americans on a spy ship in the Western Mediterranean.
The Americans tried to cover it up. It wasn’t a mistake. It was deliberate.”
When Faine inquired what he based the claim upon, Fraser replied in characteristically supercilious fashion:
“Information I have. I am not going to tell you the source.”
Little wonder that Australian Jewish leaders condemned his remarks.

Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council  (AIJAC) chairman Mark Leibler commented, inter alia:
"This is a guy who says we’re too powerful as a Jewish lobby. There never has been another case that I can remember that a prime minister or the Australian government has issued a press release calling on us to support a view that they had in relation to Israeli policy....
This is not the same Malcolm Fraser … It seems he’s developed an antagonism towards the Jewish community and Israel for reasons which are certainly not apparent to me or to anyone else.”To make these allegations about Israel deliberately targeting Americans when there’s no evidence to support it, when successive inquiries by both the Americans and the Israelis have demonstrated that this was an accident, I just think it is appalling beyond description ...."
As Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) president Robert Goot said:
“Fraser’s assertion, that Israel’s missile hit on an American ship in the Mediterranean was not mistaken but deliberate, was disgraceful given the number of international inquiries that found to the contrary. The statement by Fraser that the Jewish community ‘seek to get Australia to adopt policies as defined by Israel’, suggesting dual loyalties, is equally wrong and particularly ­unfortunate.”
And in the words of Zionist Federation of Australia president Danny Lamm :
“The [USS Liberty] incident was subject to no less than 10 American investigations and an additional three Israeli investigations, all of which found that it was indeed an accident.
If Mr Fraser has a credible source to back up his outlandish claims, then he is duty-bound to reveal it.”
But "Big Mal" Fraser proved incorrigible.  Despite his part-Jewish origins he seems to have become a confirmed antisemite, even granting an interview to Melbourne "Troofer" Dalia Mae Lachlan in which he augmented his nutjob views:

3 comments:

  1. Don't forget Fraser's role in putting Mugabe in power
    You got him in, so help kick him out
    "Fraser's 1987 biographer Philip Ayres wrote: "The centrality of Fraser's part in the process leading to Zimbabwe's independence is indisputable. All the major African figures involved affirm it."
    Mugabe is quoted by Ayres: "I got enchanted by (Fraser), we became friends, personal friends ... He's really motivated by a liberal philosophy."
    Fraser's role also attracted tributes from Australian diplomats. Duncan Campbell, a former deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has claimed that Fraser was a "principal architect" of the agreement that installed Mugabe and that "he was largely responsible for pressing Margaret Thatcher to accept it".

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    1. Oh yes, of course, Ian! Funnily enough, the person who told me it had just been announced that Fraser had died commented to me that putting Mugabe in power is his lasting legacy. I said to myself Got to mention that in a post". But forgot :(

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  2. Isi Leibler on Fraser in the good old days: http://www.jwire.com.au/the-malcolm-fraser-i-knew/

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