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Remember that you can get your kosher foods at Coles Sandy Bay in Hobart
Page 16
Response to Mercury Article by Josh Landis
The following is an article written by Josh Landis, Executive Officer of the ECAJ…in response
to the 3 May 2004 article by Greg Barns “No Need to Fear Gay Marriages” in The Mercury.
Not only did Greg Barns’ piece show an incredible misunderstanding of Zionism, bordering on
the willfully neglectful, but his references to Zionist practices in Israel had nothing whatsoever to
do with his purported subject: Christian attitudes towards homosexual marriage.
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On 3 May 2004, an opinion piece was published in The Mercury by Greg Barns entitled “No need to fear
gay marriages”. Mr Barns was one of the national leaders of the Australian Republican Movement.
However the article displayed none of the political sensitivities one associates with our national leaders.
Ostensibly Barns’ article is a critique of the position of conservative Christians (especially Tasmanian
Liberal Senator, Guy Barnett) in undermining homosexual marriage, which Barns describes as a breach of
human rights. Yet Barns gave equal space to a damning description of Zionists, whose so-called
‘trampling on the rights of Palestinians’ is treated as being equally injurious to human rights.
According to Barns, Zionists are undermining the progress of mankind. They are religious zealots who
prevent justice, lasting peace and the spread of democracy in the Middle East. Zionists are therefore
“enemies of the open, tolerant, liberal society”.
Clearly such accusations are not only demonstrably false, according to Zionist principles and practice, but
are also incredibly hurtful. One does not expect such potentially wilful, or certainly negligently,
inaccurate editorialising. In the interest of rectifying any misunderstandings of Zionism, I felt Greg Barns’
article required a response that stated the truth about Israel and its founding movement.
I sent a response to the editor of the Mercury in mid May, on behalf of the Australian Jewish community,
backed by the Hobart Hebrew Congregation. I have received no reply. My article has not been published.
I do not contend that this is prima facie evidence of discrimination. However I do hold that a responsible
media should seek to correct articles proportionally to their mistakes, to ensure their audience is well
informed and not misled. Is that too much to ask?
Zionism is an aspirational movement, the central premise of which is that Jews have the same right to a
homeland as any other people. Zionism is a broad movement, encompassing religious, social and political
manifestations. Greg Barns (“No need to fear gay marriages” May 3) displayed no understanding or
appreciation of Zionism, something that could have been rectified had he done even basic research before
launching into his polemic.
It is well known that there are 22 Arab countries, many more Muslim countries, that Vatican city is
wholly Catholic and that the preponderance of Western societies are majority Christian countries. Why is
it that the movement for Jewish self-determination, Zionism, is so vilified by Greg Barns? Israel is one-
third the size of Tasmania, one one-hundredth the size of the Arab world, and has roughly six million
citizens.
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