Zionists v Keane, Riemer, Kostakidis. Australia’s massive test cases for free speech

The Zionist case against University of Sydney academics John Keane and Nick Riemer, like the case against Mary Kostakidis, is a powerful test case for free expression in Australia. Michael West reports.

Criticizing Zionism and the state of Israel is not antisemitic. That is the courage of the defense in the trial against two University of Sydney academics that begins tomorrow in the Federal Court.

This is an important example of freedom of expression in Australia. Even critical. The cases filed against academics Professor John Keane and Nick Riemer under the Australian Racial Discrimination Act are as follows:According to this observer, legal fees; As with the complex action against journalist Mary Kostakidis, it is an attempt to silence criticism of Israel and its oppression of Palestinians.

A mountain of costs

The interim ruling in the Kostakidis case heralds a long and difficult trial that could turn into a fight for money rather than justice, simply because of its cost. More on this later.

The allegation against Keane and Riemer is a similar story. It aims to litigate the events and myths surrounding Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. And if the Judge decides that reviewing the events of October 7 is acceptable, the case will have global impact.

Article 26 is unlikely to be true to begin with.

Israel never conducted an investigation into October 7, and apparently for good reason. Israeli claims of “beheadings of 40 babies” and “gang rape” have been debunked – there is no forensic evidence of Israeli rape victims – and it is unknown how many of the “1,200 Israelis” named in the claim were killed by the IDF.

Will this be tested in court? If so, we face a long and expensive lawsuit.

That day, it was revealed in the Israeli media and elsewhere that the Hannibal Directive had been invoked. Under the Hannibal Directive, the IDF was ordered to prevent “at all costs” the kidnapping of Israeli civilians or soldiers, which would likely lead to the deaths of large numbers of Israeli civilians and IDF personnel in the area at the time.

Damage caused by Hamas small arms fire on October 7 unlikely

Photos of the massacre from that day prove that small arms fire from Hamas operatives could not have caused such great destruction. Instead with Apache helicopter gunships.

This is just one of the disputed clauses in the statement of claim and it would be costly for an Australian court to hear it.

The “affected or aggrieved persons” who made Keane’s claim (it is not known who funded it) – Zionist academics from the University of Sydney – claim they have been harmed by pro-Palestinian posts on social media; “Offended, insulted, humiliated, or intimidated by the post.”

MWM He has no doubt that his feelings are hurt. Feelings are hurt daily on both sides since the events of October 7 and the subsequent American/Israeli genocide in Gaza. But the question must be asked: is expensive litigation testing the infamous section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act in the public interest?

If the victims win their case, this will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression in Australia. It can be argued that the risk is higher in the Kostakidis case.

Meryem Kostakidis

this week Judge MacDonald deleted portions of the statement of claim against Kostakidis while granting the applicants another opportunity to amend the amended SOC.

Turning to X, Mary Kostakidis wrote a “18c”Against bad law, anyone who claims that you are racially motivated and responsible for their own feelings can bring a long and costly lawsuit against you. Fair commentary on a matter of public interest and journalism may be defensible exceptions, but this must be proven at trial. “Anyone who engages in public discourse, including any journalist, must prove that they are not motivated by racism.”

Proving that you are not a racist, proving your intent is a difficult task. ““It is not logically impossible for a particular news reporter, even while acting as a news reporter, to take certain actions because of people’s race or ethnic or national origin,” the Judge said. “Whether there is a basis for reaching that conclusion in a particular case will depend on the assessment of the evidence in that case.”

Attempt to silence genocide critics

Kostakidis said:The attempt to silence criticism of the genocide is morally reprehensible and dangerous. Those who seek to control the narrative will not prevail.’ His case is more thorny than those engulfing Keane and Riemer, as the Zionist Federation of Australia cherry-picked much of his social media activity for its own claim, including tweets about the Mossad and dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

This is also a test case for social media; because the allegation against him includes retweets, posts by other people that may or may not be considered to support a particular view. as he said MWM“If I retweet Smotrich (Israel’s extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich), does that constitute an endorsement?”

The opening round of the Keane and Riemer trials will be held before Judge Kennett at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney on Monday and Tuesday.

Many Jewish colleagues defended Statements by Keane and Riemer. They demanded that the complaint be dropped, which they described as vexatious, saying the complainants ‘did not speak on behalf of us as Jewish people’.

The University of Sydney is also in the crosshairs; The plaintiffs are also being sued for claiming that Uni had ‘vicarious liability’ for the statements of the defendants Keane and Riemer, who claimed that criticism of Israel would be prohibited by law if Palestinian supporters could not say what they said.

Freedom of expression and journalism suffer from weak legislation. What is fraud with 18C?

Michael West was founded Michael West Media Focusing on public interest journalism in 2016, particularly the increasing power of corporations over democracy. West was previously a journalist and editor for Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and was even once a stockbroker.