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A public forum in Sydney’s Inner West on August 30 heard four panelists discuss the Zionist-organised and funded Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) conference held in early September on the Gold Coast.

Palestine Justice Movement hosted the event, which drew about 100 people due to the that CAM is trying to get local governments to clamp down on free speech with new codes of conduct that say any criticism of the state of Israel, or any attempt by councils to introduce an ethical procurement policy, are “antisemitic”.

The discussion focused on the aims and purpose of the CAM conference, what residents could expect following the Inner West Council mayor’s unilateral decision to attend and increasing attempts by Zionists to label criticism of Israel as antisemitic, thereby minimising real instances of antisemitism and making all Jews less safe.

Cardiologist Peter Macdonald attended the forum and  what they thought about the  that Iran’s revolutionary guard was behind the fire-bombings of a Jewish synagogue in Naarm/Melbourne on December 6 and a Jewish delicatessen in Gadigal Country/Sydney last October.

Up until Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had announced that Iran was behind the attacks, Macdonald said he had concluded that Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad was responsible. He then asked the panel for their thoughts. Several expressed their doubts about Iran’s culpability, but added it was hard to say anything definitive without being shown evidence.

Given the fiasco surrounding other alleged antisemitic attacks in NSW — which the state Labor government used to rush through new anti-protest laws — getting to the bottom of who is carrying out antisemitic attacks is a legitimate concern.

However, the Against Antisemitism in Healthcare group sees it differently. Following the forum, the group launched a campaign to have Macdonald sacked from his job.

Macdonald is a cardiac specialist who, until recently, was working at St Vincent’s Hospital. by management and is under investigation. 

Many have sent  to St Vincent’s Hospital management urging it to stand up against the Zionist lobby’s campaign against Macdonald and to defend free speech. To conflate scepticism about ASIO and criticism of foreign government interference in politics here with hostility toward Jewish Australians is “illogical and irresponsible”, said the letter.

“St Vincent’s Hospital must recognise the inevitable risks of succumbing to the pro-Israel lobby’s pressure: Across Australia, cultural and public institutions that have done so have faced swift and damaging backlash,” the letter said.

“The ABC is facing heavy fines over its unfair dismissal of journalist Antoinette Lattouf; Khaled Sabsabi was reinstated to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale after a national outcry over his treatment by Creative Australia; the Bendigo Writers Festival was effectively gutted when authors withdrew en masse over censorship concerns all caused by attempts to influence the decision-making process by the pro-Israel Lobby.”

Timothy Roberts, president of the NSW Council of Civil Liberties, said on September 17 that it is in the public’s interest for questions to be asked about “the trustworthiness of information from the government, including from intelligence agencies”.

“This is an absurd situation where someone, in their private capacity, asked a question about an intelligence agency [Mossad] and has subsequently been targeted, censored and publicly condemned by their employer.”

Roberts said that while the Dural Caravan incident was known to be a criminal hoax from early on, the NSW premier “used this to inflame fear in the public and push through anti-protest laws”.

In a democracy, Roberts said, “we are entitled to question and scrutinise decisions … Even more so, we are entitled to question and scrutinise the decisions of intelligence agencies.”

It is a matter of public interest also because it relates to a live discussion about adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which deems that any criticism of Israel is racist.

“In the circumstance of Peter Macdonald,” Roberts said, “this is taken even further to equate criticism of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, with antisemitism.”

Right-wing conservative outlets, including Spectator Australia and the Australian, not known for their abhorrence of racism, are also campaigning to get Macdonald sacked. He is being targeted because he has standing in the community, the result of a lifelong commitment to saving lives.

[Sign the Palestine Justice Movement letter to St Vincent’s Hospital management .]