Labor pains

By the time I arrived in Canberra in 1969 as the MP for Robertson I felt at home in the company of those led by Gough Whitlam, who forced the Labor Party to change. However, I can still recall the wry amusement my opposition to apartheid caused colleagues. One had difficulty spelling either Aborigine or apartheid - and he became the Prime Minister.

I was accused of being obsessive on the question of racism and to that charge I plead guilty. I became deeply involved in the fight for Aboriginal rights and to this day one of the proudest moments of my life was to be one of a small group of “yesterday’s heroes looking frail and aged”, who were brought on stage at the Reconciliation Conference in Melbourne in 1997 to be honoured for our work in the 1967 referendum.

I have often been asked if my being Jewish was ever an issue during my 20 years in parliament. Not to the best of my knowledge. I cannot recall a single anti-Semitic remark from either side of the House.

That did not mean that everyone agreed with my views on Israel. Nor did I expect them to. However, while my views remain the same, the Labor Party’s these days are very different.

The Labor Party has always had Palestinian supporters but they had little influence on the party’s policy. They were more than counter-balanced by the influence of the then ACTU president Bob Hawke. In the immediate aftermath of the Yom Kippur War and prior to my first visit to Israel I attended a meeting he addressed in Sydney. I have not heard a more passionate, nor better-informed, defence of Israel or more scathing indictment of her opponents.

Convinced MPs could understand Israel’s problems better if they went there, I organised a series of delegations. By the time I retired in 1990 more than half the ALP caucus had visited Israel.

Gradually, Labor’s left and more extremist elements, such as the Greens and Democrats, became increasingly shrill in their denunciation of Israel.

I found out what Israel was up against when representing Australia at Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conferences from 1973 until 1981. Created to foster peace and democracy, it was dominated by communist dictatorships, Third World “democracies” and the 22 Arab countries. It ensured that they could pass any resolution they wanted. Every IPU conference devoted a major part of its sessions to denouncing Israel.

It was a mirror image of the UN, whose obsession with Israel was aptly illustrated by Israeli ambassador Abba Eban when he said: “If a resolution was put before the United Nations that the earth was flat and that Israel caused it, 145 would vote for it, 5 against with 45 abstentions”.

That trend has infected the ALP. The handful of pro-Palestinian supporters has grown steadily as the party has become dominated by the education mafia, ex-public servants and party union apparatchiks.

Plenty will say, “Why shouldn’t the Labor Party support the Palestinians?” No reason, providing the case they put is not based on the lies spouted by the Palestinian propaganda machine.

Nowhere is Israel subjected to more criticism than in Israel. Demonstrations in excess of 100,000 are regularly held in Rabin Square. Supporters of the Peace Now movement have protested in support of Palestinians. In contrast, when terrorists have massacred Jews there have been wild celebrations in the Arab streets.