Australia prepared for antisemitic behaviour in Iran
Australia’s Ambassador to the U.N. and a Prime Ministerial envoy have received orders to quit the Non-Aligned Movement Summit bring held in Tehran next week if Iranian officials express antisemitic sentiments.
Ambassador Gary Quinlan and envoy Joanna Hewitt will attend the conference bringing together delegates from over 120 countries which consider themselves non-aligned to major powers. Australia is not a member and is attending as a guest.
Shadow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has strongly objected to Australia’s presence in Teheran but Foreign Minister Bob Carr has emphasised that Australia continues to have diplomatic ties with Iran at the same time stating that it is regrettable that the conference will take place in Teheran.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad has a long history of spouting anti-Israel rhetoric when addressing international forums.
The Australian delegation is under instructions from the Foreign Minister to walk out of next week’s conference should any Iranian official do so again.
A spokesman for Senator Carr told J-Wire: “He said he had personally instructed that the Australians be the first to walk out.”
Dr Danny Lamm, President of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told J-Wire: “”Foreign Minister Carr is correct to take into account that President Ahmadinejad of Iran has a disgraceful record of indulging in antisemitic tirades in many of his public statements. So it is reassuring that Australia’s representatives have been instructed to walk out on any speech of Ahmadinejad in which he repeats any such statements.
Yet the entire Iranian regime rests on a political ideology that is corrupted to the core with antisemitism. It would therefore have been preferable for Australia to have no representation at all at the forthcoming Summit meeting of the Non Aligned Movement in Tehran. Whilst Australia has diplomatic relations with many distasteful regimes out of necessity, attendance at the Tehran Summit is not a necessity for Australia. Australia is not even a member of the Non Aligned Movement. The Iranian regime does not deserve the kind of legitimacy it will derive from Australia’s presence.”
Philip Chester, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia added: “In publicly and openly walking out in the event that Ahmedinijad launches into one of his usual anti-semitic tirades against Israel, the Australian representatives at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran next week will make a strong statement, for which the Australian government should be congratulated. Unfortunately, however, it is inevitable that the presence of Australia’s representatives at the summit will be exploited as lending legitimacy to Ahmedinijad and Iran.
“The Federal Government’s announcement of a new round of tough Australian sanctions designed to assist international efforts to pressure Teheran to come clean over its dangerous and illegal nuclear program are more than welcome. It is, however, disappointing that Australia has chosen to undermine the important message it has been communicating consistently to Iran by sending senior officials as observers to the Non Aligned Movement conference in Teheran. Iran is clearly exploiting this conference to gain unwarranted legitimacy and even less deserved prestige, and every foreign representative sent to the gathering assists Teheran towards this end, ” Dr Colin Rubenstein, the Executive Director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, said today.
“The Australian Government’s decision to send both its Ambassador to the United Nations, Gary Quinlan, and the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy, Joanna Hewitt, to participate as ‘guests’ in the NAM conference in Iran from August 26 to August 31, may be used by the Iranian regime as part of its efforts to claim it is a member of the international community in good standing, despite its announced genocidal intentions towards Israel. While it was reassuring to hear Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s assurances that the Australian envoys will walk out if, as seems likely, Iran’s leaders start using the conference to further their campaign for Israel’s destruction, sending these senior diplomats is a mistake .Any Australian involvement in the NAM conference,if needed at all, should have been confined to officials from Australia’s Teheran Embassy”, Dr Rubenstein added.
“An Iran with nuclear weapons is not only a threat to Israel but to global peace and security as it would destroy the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime and likely cause a nuclear arms race in the world’s most volatile region and is thus completely contrary to both Australian interests and fundamental foreign policy principles.”, Dr Rubenstein concluded.
Why the hell is Australia sending anyone to Tehran, it is bad enough the head of the UN is going to pay his respects and grovel .
How desperate is Carr to get a seat on the UN security council Carr has already gone to Israel to bring up the Palestinian youth prisoner issue so he could embarrass the Israelis before his trip to the Palestinian terror-tories to show them he is on their side The fact that he didn’t make any highly controversial public criticisms of the Palestinians will no doubt impress the Islamic / Arab world who control the UN . When our current government stopped voting on Israels side at the UN our Jewish community spin-masters came up with a postie spin What the positive spin our Jewish community representatives will put on this new disaster and they certainly will by sending Australian officials to Tehran only means to these arseholes in Iran that we along with the UN respect them!
Pathetic !
“Shadow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has strongly objected to Australia’s presence in Teheran but Foreign Minister Bob Carr has emphasised that Australia continues to have diplomatic ties with Iran at the same time stating that it is regrettable that the conference will take place in Teheran.”
Julie Bishop is right, absolutely right. AS IF no Iranian officials would express anti-Semitic sentiments, ever – it’s a prerequisite for their survival, as much as Jew Hatred is the raison d’etre of the Iranian Regime.
Two-Bob-each-way-Carr will not even have the excuse a Chamberlein might have claimed for his Munich visit – the Iranian regime not only does not hide its intent of genocide of the Jewish People, it actually BOASTS with it, explicitely.
Carr seems to walk in the shoes of Kevin Rudd, who – after making the promise during his 2007 election campaign to take Iran to an international Court – instead of keeping that promise, followed Ahmandinejad meakly to the Podium at the UN after his election. Does Two-Bob-Carr also covet a post at the discredited UN?