In keeping with the Abbott government's tight hold on information, there have been no news conferences about these changes in Middle East policy.

Nor did the Abbott government consult the Palestinian community before making the changes, according to the head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, Izzat Abdulhadi.

''It is very regrettable,'' Dr Abdulhadi said. ''There was no transparency in their approach.''

Former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr described Australia's withdrawal of support for Palestine as ''a shame, in the deepest sense''.

The executive director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, Colin Rubenstein, said he ''emphatically [welcomed] the government's principled leadership in changing these votes, reverting to the Howard/Downer position''.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/tony-abbott-quietly-shifts-un-position-to-support-israeli-settlements-upsetting-palestinians-20131124-2y434.html#ixzz2lbKEjkFP

This morning the SMH tells us that Tony is the recycler in the family... With mischief from Gus:
r

Whatever else he may achieve in his term as Prime Minister, Tony Abbott has succeeded in one respect - putting Forestville on the map.
Home for the past 20 years to Mr Abbott, wife Margie and their three daughters, the northern Sydney suburb is suddenly in the spotlight. Residents love the peace and the quiet - something they say has not changed, despite their neighbours' recent elevation in status - and there has been a surge of interest from home buyers.
An affable Mr Abbott spoke to Fairfax Media as he sorted his recycling on Sunday.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/being-neighbourly-in-forestville-means-you-can-keep-up-with-the-abbotts-20131124-2y3xu.html#ixzz2lb8jHik0

 

 

Bedouins in Israel Protest Plan to Regulate Settlement

By ISABEL KERSHNER

JERUSALEM — Thousands of Bedouins and their supporters demonstrated in various locations across Israel on Saturday against a government plan to regulate Bedouin settlement in the Negev desert, and some protesters clashed with the police.

In scenes reminiscent of the Palestinian uprisings in the West Bank, protesters hurled stones at police forces, burned tires and blocked a main road for hours near the Bedouin town of Hura in the Negev. The police used water cannons, tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the demonstrators.

Smaller protests were held in the northern cities of Haifa and Taibeh and in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.

Altogether, about 15 police officers were injured by stones and at least 28 protesters were arrested, said Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman. One officer was stabbed in the leg in Haifa, Mr. Rosenfeld said.

Activists had called for the protests as part of an international “day of rage” against the plan, known as the Prawer-Begin plan for the Israeli officials who devised its main principles.

A bill that would turn the plan into law is expected to be brought to a final vote during the winter session of Parliament.

Intended to resolve a land dispute between the Bedouins and the authorities that has been simmering since the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948, the plan proposes a mechanism to deal with land ownership claims and compensation. It also calls for the evacuation of 35 Bedouin villages that are not recognized by the state and the resettlement of the residents in existing or new towns.

Human rights organizations opposing the plan say it will involve the forcible relocation of 30,000 to 40,000 Bedouins, dispossessing them of their historic land rights. They say that the plan was created without sufficient input by the Bedouins, and that it discriminates between the Bedouin and Jewish residents of the Negev.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/world/middleeast/bedouins-in-israel-protest-plan-to-regulate-settlement.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=print

 

Tony's Abbott's secret plan: to lure the Aboriginal people into assimilation then oblivion.... in a similar way as the Israelis are doing in Palestine...