Reference:- Israeli Prime Minister , Isaac Herzog has completed his visit to Australia .

 Reference :-   Did Mr Herzog achieve what he hoped to achieve during his visit to Australia ?

Dear Mr Herzog , 

                              In your closing remarks , at the end of a busy schedule  , you mentioned that you hoped to have created closer ties between Australia and Israel .  I must say that you have succeeded . Scenes from the streets of our capital cities are so similar to the scenes we see on the streets of Tel Aviv that at times we could barely recognise our own country.   What with all the protests and police violence and hospitalisations and arrests you must have felt very much at home.   And as you leave it seems that in your wake new laws criminalising  freedom of expression are sprouting like mushrooms in a compost heap .  

You must be very pleased .  Here in Queensland , Ken junior attended a pro-Palestine rally . He tells me it was completely peaceful , which obviously explains why it didn't feature in the news media . It certainly was a disappointing failure .  He also tells me that most of the folk he met there were Jewish , including three mature aged Jewish women carrying a banner that read " Jews for Palestine "  .   I guess they were three of those " self -hating " Jews we read about in " The Times of Israel " . 

Our state government has just passed legislation  making it a criminal offense to chant " From the river to the sea "  .  I reckon they should have also banned chanting "  Jews for Palestine " .  Here at the Sky Reply we have noted the explanation that " from the river to the sea " is actually newspeak for " destroy Israel" , and we can see how that makes complete sense .  By extrapolation it is apparent that " Jews for Palestine " is actually newspeak for " Jews who want to destroy Israel  " , and must also be condemned . 

That had us all thinking about the true meaning of other subversive slogans .  Ken junior came up with a  list of other undeniable , but mostly harmless , examples of newspeak that  illustrate the logic behind the framing of the new laws .  It is such a long list that it is not practical to reproduce it here .  But here is my favourite. 

                        SLOGAN                                        ACTUAL MEANING 

       "  SAVE THE KOALA "                              " CARROTS CAN TALK " 

You can see how the same logic applies . 

Thank you for your visit and all the goodwill you have spread . 

Your comrade , Ken .  

 

                             

 

 

                               

                          

Reference:- President of Israel , Mr Isaac Herzog , is expected to vist Australia in the coming days.

Reference:-  Nationwide protests are planned , opposing Mr Herzog's visit to Australia . 

Dear  Isaac , 

                      I hope you don't mind being addressed by your first name .  As an old man , it feels natural , and friendlier , to address a younger man this way .  Only a few days remain before your planned visit to the Antipodes , so let me get straight to the point of this letter . 

Many folk  ... and let's not mince words ..... are disgusted to hear of your visit . As an Aussie citizen who has keenly observed our culture since before you were born ,  I feel well able to read the mood of the man or woman in the street .  For millions of folk , your visit will be extremely unwelcome .  There will be protests across the nation , costly for our police who have better things to do , and our politicians will be preoccupied balancing popular outrage against their re-election prospects .  ( They also have better things to do . ) 

The great unwashed are easily manipulated , and the leftist media has successfully convinced many folk that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza , and that you personally are involved . This may be unfair , but you must admit that images in the media do look a tad genocidey . When you claim that nobody in Gaza is innocent and write messages on bombs that will be dropped on children ,  propagandized minds might rush to the conclusion that you are a war criminal .  Accusations of genocide might be ridiculous and unfair , but should not be ignored. 

As you well know , the Australian Government  has introduced , following  advice from the Israeli lobby , broad new hate speech laws which are retrospective in scope .  These new hate speech laws have the potential to backfire .  Obviously it was only antisemitic hate speech that the laws were intended to criminalize , but they were ineptly rushed through , which means all hate speech is now illegal .  Sadly , you could find yourself within their purview . Thousands have called for your arrest when you arrive in Australia .  

You seem like a reasonable young chap to me . As far as I am concerned folk should be able to write whatever they like , even if they write it on bombs . Personally , although I avoid generalisations which condemn entire populations , I support  the principal of freedom of speech . In my opinion , one should not fall foul of the law for saying what one believes . If you believe all Palestinians should bear the blame for the actions of a few , surely you should have the right to express this belief .  

Unfortunately , however , you may run afoul of Australia's new retrospective hate speech laws .  

Isaac , I think you should consider cancelling your visit . That will keep thousands of protestors off our streets and let us get on with the business of running our country .   Why not offer free trips to Israel for those who were traumatised by the horrific Bondi terrorist attack ?   Politicians from around the world regularly travel to Israel at your expense via your  " junket " program,  designed  to showcase the wonderful democracy of Israel which boasts the most moral army in the world .  A few shekels more to help the families of the Bondi victims would not be missed . 

Anyway , if you do come to Australia and wish to avoid the limelight , you are most welcome to stay here in Kooralya . We can provide accommodation gratis , although with the water restrictions we cannot offer the free laundry service that Mr Netanyahu demands on his state visits , so bring plenty of fresh clobber since it is hot here at this time of the year .  Ken junior says he can whip up some Kosher victuals for you out of our vege patch . He reckons that as a dedicated adherent of Judaism you would be unwilling to eat our local beef . 

Hope this has been helpful .

Your comrade , Ken . 

PS.     Ken junior says it might be unwise to invite the families of the Bondi victims to Israel .   He reckons some of them might not support Israel , and refuse the invitation , which would look bad .    Do you think there could have been many of those non - Zionist ( I think you call them self-hating ) Jews at Bondi who feel that they were placed in harm's way by Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank ?

 It might not be worth the risk . 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:- It has been a challenging couple of weeks for The Sky Reply .

 Reference : -   The new hate speech laws temporarily silenced the Sky Reply Team . 

It behoves one to stay abreast of changes in the law. One hardly relishes the thought of being imprisoned due to an oversight .  The recently introduced hate speech laws required 500 pages to be read with due diligence , following which we felt it advisable to seek the advice of a suitably qualified attorney .  Suitably qualified attorneys expect to be well remunerated , which did slice a sizeable chunk out of our monthly budget . This meant waiting for my pension cheque to arrive so we could buy a fresh ribbon for the trusty Remington .   Anyone can see that the new laws are a hasty response to the appalling antisemitic terror attack at Bondi ,  and it is with antisemitism in mind that we should view them . 

We expected that Ms Michelle Rowland , in the role of Attorney General that she has assumed since her unfortunate ....ahem .... travel expenses misunderstanding...would unambiguously explain the new laws .  Sadly we were disappointed . ABC interviewer , young David Speers , made a great effort to coax an explanation from Michelle , but without success . 

Before dipping into our life savings , we also watched Senator David Shoebridge  explain why , after reading the 500 pages , he refused to vote for the new laws.  David clearly explained why the laws are  unclear , and difficult to explain .  Subsequently we have seen a chap thrown in jail for writing something on the interweb said to violate these new laws.   It is fair to say that we are a tad twitchy here at the Sky Reply . 

As senior editor , I would like to explain from the outset that we do not hate either Michelle Rowland or the ABC  , nor David Speers or David Shoebridge .  Here at The Sky Reply we hate nobody , and only risk tactfully admonishing those whom the government has granted tacit permission for us to criticise.   That , after all , defines freedom of speech .   

The new hate laws are very general and vague at best ,  so as a service to our millions of faithful readers ,  we have listed a few specific examples that demonstrate how the laws appear to apply . 

                STATEMENT                                        HOW IT MIGHT BE DEEMED UNDER HATE LAWS

 Ayatolla Ali Khamenei is evil .                                                                Free speech 

 Benjamin Netanyahu evil.                                                                        Hate speech . 

Palestinians are raised to be terrorists.                                                      Free speech  

Israeli children are taught to support genocide .                                       Hate speech . 

Jews who oppose Zionism are self -hating .                                             Free speech

Millions of Jews oppose the State of Israel .                                            Hate speech . 

The slaughter in Iran is being exaggerated by the media  .                      Hate speech

The slaughter in Gaza is being exaggerated by the media.                      Free speech . 

The Palestinians have brought destruction upon themselves .                 Free speech . 

Israel has brought destruction upon itself .                                              Hate speech . 

Putin is a war criminal .                                                                           Free speech 

Netanyahu is a war criminal                                                                    Hate speech  

Radical Islam is a major problem for the world                                     Free speech 

Zionism is a major problem for the world .                                            Hate speech . 

Wearing Burkas shows a reluctance to integrate .                                   Free speech

Wearing  Kippahs shows a reluctance to integrate .                               Hate speech . 

Greater Israel is a promise from God.                                                    Free speech . 

From the river to the sea Palestine will be free .                                    Hate speech . 

" Give them (Palestinians ) hell !  " .  Jordan Peterson .                        Free speech . 

"Palestinians have the right to resist . " . Christopher Hitchens            Hate speech . 

All the Palestinians must leave their homes or die .                              Free speech . 

The Israelis should end their illegal occupation  .                                 Hate speech .

Hamas is a terrorist organisation that bombs innocent civilians .         Free speech .

Mossad is a terrorist organisation that bombs innocent civilians .        Hate speech. 

The Palestinian Authority  manipulates  the United Nations .               Free speech   

The Likud Party of Israel  manipulates  the United Nations.                 Hate speech . 

The Koran threatens violence to non -believers .                                   Free speech . 

The Torah threatens violence to non-believers .                                    Hate speech  

 

This list is far from compendious , but usefully illustrative . 

We welcome any amendments by readers whose opinions differ , as long as the do not in any way denigrate persons living or dead ... or legally qualified. 

Yours in freedom of speech , 

Ken 

PS.   Ken junior has asked me to confirm that it is Ken Senior who wrote this , and that he had nothing to do with it .  When asked what he thought of the new hate speech laws he replied ...

" Never heard of them " .