Yazidis and Palestinians

The Yazidis are a religious and ethnic minority indigenous to northern Iraq who were systematically targeted by the Islamic State (ISIS) from August 2014 onwards. Thousands of Yazidi men and young adolescents were killed, while women and girls were abducted, enslaved and subjected to widespread sexual violence. Yazidi boys were also abducted, forcibly recruited and indoctrinated. Multiple international bodies, including the United Nations, have recognised the atrocities against the Yazidis as constituting genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes¹.

Upon return to Australia from northeastern Syria, two women, both Australian citizens, were arrested at Melbourne airport on charges of crimes against humanity against the persecuted Yazidi community. The two had been detained for several years in Syria following the collapse of the territorial control of ISIS. It is the first time that any person has been charged with crimes against humanity offences under Australian law¹. The prosecutions are under the provisions of Division 268 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. This division deals with “genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes against the administration of the justice of the International Criminal Court”².

Parts of the international community, including the UN Investigative Team and several national parliaments, have recognised that ISIS committed genocide against the Yazidis, because there were mass killings of Yazidi men and adolescent boys, forced religious conversion, systematic sexual enslavement of Yazidi women and girls, and abduction of younger children³.

The two women arrested on their return from Syria are alleged to have committed the crime against humanity of enslavement of women and girls. This is the first use of this international crimes legislation to prosecute alleged atrocities committed overseas. Only a small number of countries, including Germany, Sweden, France and the Netherlands have used domestic courts to prosecute people for ISIS related crimes against the Yazidis⁴.

During this genocide against the Yazidis, it has been estimated that between 2,100 and 4,400 Yazidis were killed, with nearly half of them executed by being shot, beheaded or burned alive, and the rest of them dying by starvation. In addition, 6,800 were estimated to have been kidnapped, and forced into religious conversion or sexual slavery⁵.

As I have said here previously, there is another group of Australian passport holders who have been shown to have actively participated in the killing of many people, yet you never hear anything about them having the door shut in their faces when they attempt to return to Australia. These evil murderous bastards are holders of Australian passports who have served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF)⁶.

While the Australian government and the Coalition opposition knew exactly how many women were going to be repatriated from Syria, the exact number of Australian nationals serving in the IDF is not tracked by the Australian government, it has been estimated that about 100 people with Australian passports serve with the IDF at any given time. Indeed, it is impossible to find out how many Australians have served in the IDF, as the government stonewalls Freedom of Information requests. Despite this, it has been estimated that up to 1,000 Australians may have served in the IDF during the Gaza genocide⁶.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) calls what happened to the Yazidis for what it is; a genocide^7-9. However the gutless bastards at the ABC will not call the Gaza genocide for what it is¹⁰. Some people state that impartiality is important for the ABC¹¹, However, with regard to Gaza, this ‘impartiality’ only ever seems to favour Israel and not the people they are murdering in their many thousands. Anyone can see that what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. It has been stated by members of the Israeli government that they want to get rid of all Palestinians¹².

Yet, as many as 40 members and former member of the IDF were allowed to run in the Sydney Marathon. Some of these people had been deployed in Gaza during the genocide, one of whom was a deputy company commander on the Golani Brigade’s 13^th battalion¹³. Why are these genocidaires allowed to visit Australia?

Why will our Foreign Affairs Minister, Penny Wong, refuse to use the word genocide in reference to Gaza, when large numbers of organisations including the UN, as well as Human Rights organisations in Israel¹⁴, have admitted that what is taking place in Gaza is a genocide?^15,16 She gives a lame excuse that she respects the independence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This is just more political bullshit, as the final judgement in the case is not expected until late 2027 at the earliest. In the interim, Israel can murder thousands more Palestinians with impunity¹⁷. Why won’t Wong do anything except send a strongly worded e-mail? Is she afraid of the Zionist lobby in Australia? Is she afraid of Mossad? Is she afraid of losing funding for election campaigns from the Zionist lobby?

The ICJ ordered immediate an effective measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the ‘risk of genocide’ by ensuring sufficient humanitarian assistance and allowing basic services. However, Israel has done nothing in the two and a half years since that order (January 2004), except continuing to kill Palestinians, and it has now extended the killing into Lebanon¹⁷.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, former Israeli Minister of Defence. Will Australia arrest them if they enter Australia, as we are obliged to do under as we are a member state of the ICC? Wong has used the vacuous phrasing for which she seems to want to be remembered, in stating that Australia would “comply with international law” but did not name Netanyahu or Gallant¹⁸.

Numerous nations have said specifically they will arrest Netanyahu or Gallant if they set foot in their country? These include Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, South Africa, New Zealand, Spain, Ireland, among others¹⁹. Why cannot Australia state it clearly? After all it is simply complying with international law.

I used to have a significant amount of respect for Penny Wong in that she never seemed to get rattled, she seemed to be able, and was apparently on top of her portfolio. Not any more. The gutlessness of this government has disgusted me.

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