Melbourne's daily paper, The Age, has apologized for publishing Michael Backman's commentary, Israel Living High on US Expense Account.
I couldn't find the apology online, but Caroline Overington quotes from the print edition:
A column by Michael Backman headlined "Israel living high on US expense account" was published in error.
The Age does not in any way endorse the views of the columnist, apologises for the distress the column caused to many readers, particularly in the Jewish community and regrets publication of the column.
Meanwhile, The Australian reports that the Jewish community is considering legal action against The Age.
Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff said while legitimate criticism of Israel was acceptable, the article reflected "the bigotry of rank anti-Semitism" and promoted appalling stereotypes.
UPDATE Jan. 20: I almost overlooked The Australian's staff-ed:
What is most alarming about the way this nonsense appeared in The Age is that it demonstrates the accepted wisdom among Australians who believe that in supporting Hamas they are barracking for the underdog. This is the equivalent of thinking fondly of the Confederacy because it fought the evil US army. Whatever the intellectually immature editors at The Age who published Blackman's [sic] piece think, Islamic terrorists want to kill all the Israelis, and then start on everybody else whose opinions annoy them.
