Bob Ellis doesn’t want anyone to read his commentary in Australia’s Byron Shire Echo, lest you think he’s encouraging terrorism by criticizing Australian anti-terror laws (and Israel) as well.
Iran, an unruly state, is wrong to seek nuclear weapons and Israel, an unruly state, is right to have hoarded them unlawfully and secretly for thirty years; discuss. Syria is wrong to assassinate a former Prime Minister of Lebanon and Israel right to assassinate, each month, such Arab leaders it chooses to target including, by poison, Yasr Arafat, a Nobel Peace Prize winner; discuss….
Or rather don’t discuss – lest you go to gaol for ‘encouraging terrorism’ under our new laws.
Ellis is entitled to his opinions, but free speech comes with a responsibility to be accurate. Ellis’ unproven claims about Israeli nukes and Arafat’s death have nothing to do with a legitimate debate on anti-terror legislation Down Under. Dragging Israel into a domestic debate only suggests that he’s playing to a certain type of audience. So what contribution to the public discourse is he making?
