Category: The Dish

The Gibsons and Australia’s Neo-Nazis

More evidence about the hero of the American Christianist movement:

Mel Gibson once had close links to the Australian League of Rights, a Far Right group notorious for its anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.
The league claims the world is run by a secret society of Jews.
The Hollywood star’s foray into Far Right activist politics in Australia occurred in 1987 when he campaigned for a friend, Rob Taylor, who stood unsuccessfully for the northern Victorian federal seat of Indi.
Charles Pinwill, a former Queensland state director of the League of Rights, said he knew Gibson’s father, Hutton, and said Gibson was interested in the league’s ideas.
"They were never members of the league, no. But we never really recruited members, just support. (Mel and Hutton) were interested in some of our ideas," Mr Pinwill said.
"His dad had politically similar ideas to me. His dad had a well-considered philosophy, he thought things through.
"I knew (Mr Taylor) was a friend of Mel’s. Mel’s not really a political animal, he’s interested in spiritual things."

The Deal on the Table

This leaked version of the Security Council resolution makes a great deal of sense to me, which is why Lebanon and Hezbollah will reject it. Fine. Diplomatic foot-dragging from Hezbollah will only enable Israel to continue its task of degrading their military infrastructure. Money quote:

    Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution based on the following principles and elements:

        * strict respect by all parties for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon;
        * full respect for the Blue Line by both parties;
        * delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including in the Shebaa farms area;
        * security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Lebanese armed and security forces and of UN mandated international forces deployed in this area;
        * full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006) that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state;
        * deployment of an international force in Lebanon, consistent with paragraph 10 below;
        * establishment of an international embargo on the sale or supply of arms and related material to Lebanon except as authorized by its government;
        * elimination of foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its government;
        * provision to the United Nations of remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israel’s possession.

A sane response, and it’s very encouraging the French signed off.

Europe and Israel

The current war is not only bringing out the Jew-haters in America, like Mel Gibson, but also in Europe. Yesterday, one of Norway’s leading writers, Jostein Gaarder, author of best-seller "Sophie’s World," with 26 million copies in print, wrote an astonishing op-ed in Aftenposten, Norway’s leading paper. It’s called "God’s Chosen People." My friend Bruce Bawer has translated parts of it:

ISRAEL IS HISTORY. We no longer recognize the State of Israel. There is no way back. The State of Israel has raped the world‚Äôs recognition and will not receive peace before it lays down its weapons …

NO WAY BACK … We don’t believe in the concept of God’s chosen people. We laugh at this people’s fancies and weep over their misdeeds. To present themselves as God’s chosen people is not just stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity.  We call it racism …

There are limits to our patience, and there are limits to our tolerance …The State of Israel has raped the world‚Äôs recognition …

We do not believe that Israel mourns forty killed Lebanese children more than they have lamented for over three thousand years the forty years in the desert.  We note that many Israelis celebrate such triumphs just as they once exulted over the Lord‚Äôs scourges as ‘appropriate punishment’ for the Egyptian people … We ask ourselves whether most Israelis think that one Israeli life is worth more than forty Palestinian or Lebanese lives.

Get the gist? Very few Arabs believe Israel deserves to exist in any form. And far more Europeans hold this view than will publicly say so. I think we are in the beginnings of an existential war to destroy the Jewish state. And this much I fear: it will not end, sooner or later, in a ceasefire.