Jael the Wife of Heber
Readers of the XYZ may recall the rally on 13th December, organised by Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and Palestinian Community Association of Victoria, and supported by the Islamic Council of Victoria, at which a large crowd demonstrated their opposition to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Attenders at the much smaller counter-rally were disturbed at the sight of the Hezbollah flag, listed as a terrorist organisation, in the crowd.
They also noticed the chant of Allahu Akbar (audible on the livestream from 37:30). One might ask if the demonstrators considered the issue to be a religious one.
#LIVE from the streets of Melbourne to stand with Israel and against Islamic terror.
Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal capital. 🇦🇺🇮🇱
Posted by Avi Yemini on Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Nevertheless, it was the presence of the Hezbollah flag that most interested the XYZ, while failing to make an impression on other media outlets. The Herald Sun mentioned it in a report on the rally, referring to Hezbollah as a “Lebanese militant group”.
According to the Australian government, the word they’re looking for is “terrorist”. The External Security Operations department of the Hezbollah government carries out terrorism, and one may read more on the fact sheet available here, from National Security. To call it nothing more than a ‘militant group’ is a grave sin of omission.
Further on the same subject, the Australian published an article in 2013, citing an influential Lebanese cleric who claimed that Hezbollah has three sleeper cells operating in Australia. If this is the case, then we should rightly be concerned about young people being attracted to its ideology, especially when we see the Hezbollah flag flaunted in our streets. It is disappointing that the organisers seem to have overlooked the presence of the flag at their event, firstly by their failure to address the issue when it arose, and secondly by their continued lack of response to the XYZ’s request for clarification, leaving the public in uncertainty over their true position.
All Australians must pull together to combat terror wherever it appears – these are the patriotic duties of a citizen. It is disappointing that, in this case, the CAIA, PACV, and the ICV seem to have neglected this responsibility.
