SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: Popular revulsion at the evidence put before the ICJ naturally creates antipathy to the State of Israel and its supporters.

This extraordinary statement by Colin Rubenstein, Director of AIJAC, should be put before the Royal Commission as EVIDENCE of the knowledge of AIJAC that the rise in antisemitism in Australia is at least in part due to "the claims" of the ICJ/ICC opinions/findings in international law based on evidence. Popular revulsion at the evidence put before the ICJ naturally creates antipathy to the State of Israel and its supporters. The CRITICAL thing IS TO DISTINGUISH legitimate protest against the State of Israel - and its barbaric and illegal behaviour - from threats or anger directed at Jewish people because of their religion. The views of Rubenstein and his organisation cannot claim to legitimately represent those of all Jews as a religious group. If the Australian government followed his characterisation it would ban public recitation or broadcast of the opinion/findings of the International Court of Justice as hate speech under our current legislation. Unfortunately, Rubenstein's factual assertions went unchallenged on the national broadcaster. At a factual level Rubenstein's claims are preposterous to the point of being absurd. One need only look at the plethora of evidence South Africa put before the ICJ in the genocide proceedings, at the reports of fact finding exercises by innumerable human rights agencies and most tellingly at the videos that constantly have been streamed to our devices and into the common psyche of the entire world for more than two years. And his comment about the claims of genocide and apartheid and settler colonial violence being made on 8 October point not to a conspiracy to defame Israel but to acknowledgement of the fact that Israel has been engaging in this conduct throughout the 20th century and particularly during and after 1948. That is indeed what Antonio Guterres was implying when, much to the chagrin of the US Israeli lobby, he reminded us of "context" immediately after the October 7 attack. [Rubenstein's comment at 44:54, link below: "....Warrants against the Israeli Prime Minister, former Defense Minister, are also based on false, falsehoods that are extreme and nonsense claims that Israel denied food and aid. You know, we saw the claims of genocide and apartheid and settler colonial violence, they occurred or October 8, straight away, they're nonsense, and they've [the ICJ/ICC] created a climate, of course, and hostility, the delegitimisation, not only of Israel, but the defamation and abuse and hatred towards Jews worldwide, including to Australia. They're partly responsible for the climate that led to the horrific Bondi massacre, and explosion of antisemitism that we've seen in Australia, over the past two years...."] iview.abc.net.au/show/abc-news- via

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From iview.abc.net.au

Last edited9:58 AM · Feb 6, 2026