Tony Burke and Tanya Plibersek are laying down the ‘welcome’ mat for Islamist terrorists to take over the West Bank, enslave the Palestinian people, and threaten a bloodbath with Israel. Indeed, ‘rolling out the red carpet’ would be the more appropriate term, for the only thing that is certain to result from the pro-Palestinian resolution these two hard left activists are busily preparing for Labor’s July conference, should the party be foolish enough to adopt it, will be more Palestinian and Jewish blood spilled unnecessarily.

The role of any Australian, or indeed western government, is to facilitate a peaceful, secure relationship between the Jewish state of Israel and the Palestinian peoples of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Ideally, this should take the form of a democratic and free Palestinian state co-existing alongside a democratic and secure Israel, with trade and neighbourly relationships allowing both parties to prosper and flourish peacefully, building a secure future, together or apart.

The role of any Australian, or indeed western government, is NOT to facilitate measures likely to encourage hostilities, tyranny, destruction and more death.

Successive Israeli governments, of both left and right, have in the last two decades repeatedly offered the Palestinians their state; pretty much lock, stock and barrel. In every case, from the Camp David efforts under Bill Clinton to John Kerry’s more recent attempts, the Palestinian leadership has abruptly turned down the offer despite months of negotiations. Nonetheless, under the conservative Ariel Sharon Israel unilaterally withdrew its people, its government and its soldiers from Gaza (despite much internal opposition and anguish), handing the entire strip over to the Palestinians as a template for the future Palestinian state. Following elections – which have never been and are unlikely in the foreseeable future to be repeated – Hamas, an Islamist terrorist organization beholden to the Iranians and ideological bedfellows of Isis, took power and have refused to relinquish it. Daily life in Gaza is hell for the Palestinians, with poverty, enslavement, capital punishment and terror being the order of the day. The billions in western aid, rather than being spent on infrastructure and building a functioning economy, are spent on building tunnels and rockets. Horrifically, the best way to ‘get on’ in Gaza is to offer up your own children to Hamas as suicide bombers or human shields. (There is a luxury suburb especially reserved by Hamas as a gift for such doting parents.) The UN now admits Hamas exploit schools and children for military purposes.

Gaza is indeed the template for what awaits Palestinians under a Fatah/Hamas-led state. This is what Burke, Plibersek and the hypocritical Bob Carr (who should and does know better) are condemning the Palestinian people to should the West recognise an unnegotiated state. If the July resolution succeeds, the Labor party will have helped pave the pathway to hell.

Lord of the Lens

News that Andrew Lesnie, one of the few Aussies to return from LA with an Oscar in their backpack, died on April 28 of a heart attack was greeted with dismay by many in the arts and media world. Mr Lesnie, who was only 59, was a giant in the land of dwarves – quite literally; for his was the cinematic talent that made possible Peter Jackson’s epic vision for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

Yet Mr Lesnie possessed much more than just a great ‘eye’, he embodied a genuine Australian spirit of larrikinism combined with sheer professionalism, of gritty determination to succeed against the elements with genuine care for those who relied upon him.

Following his success with the ground-breaking but low-budget ‘Babe’ in 1995, Mr Lesnie was wooed by a famous American director to bring his talents to bear on a Sydney-based blockbuster. His future looked assured. But unbeknowns to Mr Lesnie, the behind-the-scenes plottings and schemings were as sinister as the script he was filming, resulting in a junior member of Mr Lesnie’s camera crew being humiliated and scapegoated by a world-famous superstar – and sacked. Mr Lesnie, despite the risk of forever turning his back on Hollywood fame, instantly sided with his junior, packed his lenses, walked off the set, and returned to shooting adverts.

When Peter Jackson, some months later, heard of this unprecedented loyalty to the crew, he insisted there was only one man he wanted for his upcoming ambitious project to be shot in the freezing wildernesses of New Zealand. The rest, as they say…