ZFA lodging a complaint against Mary Kostakidis
Alon Cassuto, CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, is to lodge a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission against Mary Kostakidis, former top SBS newsreader for more than 20 years.
Mary Kostakidis Pic: Facebook
The complaint relates to Mary Kostakidis sharing a call by Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of the proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah, for the ethnic cleansing of Jews “from the river to the sea”.
In a statement, ZFA commented: “In a televised speech in Beirut earlier this year, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah celebrated Hamas’s massacre of 1200 Israelis on 7 October 2023, delivering a message to Jewish Israelis:
“Here, it’s going to be very difficult for you. If you want to be secure, if you want to feel secure, you have an American passport, go back to the United States. You have a British passport, go back to the UK. Here you don’t have a future, from the river to the sea the land of Palestine is for the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian people only.”
Mary Kostakidis republished this speech twice on social media, including with her own commentary.”
Alon Cassuto commented: “For the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, this rally cry is not a call for peace or equality – he means the ethnic cleansing of the seven million Jews who live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
“It is irresponsible and dangerous for a person with Mary Kostakidis’ influence and authority to repeat calls by a terrorist for Jews to be ethnically cleansed ‘from the river to the sea’. This conduct reproduces an overseas conflict in Australia and is unacceptable.”
Mr Cassuto’s lawyers asked Mary Kostakidis for an acknowledgement that what she has done is unlawful, along with an apology to the Australian Jewish community. They received no response.
Alon Cassuto
ince the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Mary Kostakidis has shared extreme propaganda with her 30,000 X followers, including a Hamas pamphlet that sought to justify its sadistic massacre. She has also shared conspiracy theories that the investigation by The Guardian into the systematic use of rape and sexual violence by Hamas on 7 October “doesn’t pass the sniff test”.
“For the sake of the precious multicultural nation that we have, we must stand up against racial hatred, no matter who is being targeted, and no matter who is spreading it,” Mr Cassuto said.
Mr Cassuto is represented by Arnold Bloch Leibler (Leon Zwier and Raphael Leibler), and barristers Michael Borsky KC and Colette Mintz.
The speech by the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and as it was shared by Mary Kostakidis, is available here. A broadcast-quality video of the media conference is available here.
In a “real” democracy like Australia all views should be heard and judged.
My folks and so many other Jewish migrants who came to Australia around 1890- 1930 were Palestinians – look at their papers – and so was the pre-War (II) visiting Palestinian soccer team. Mary… check the facts