Mary Kostakidis, for years the face of television news in Australia as anchor of the SBS nightly broadcast, has been accused of supporting ethnic cleansing of Jews for two retweets about Israel’s war on Gaza, reports Joe Lauria.
Mary Kostakidis appearing on CN Live!, where she has been a frequent guest. (CN Live!)
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
For retweeting two tweets on X critical of Israel, famed Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis is facing charges of allegedly violating the country’s Racial Discrimination Act.
The complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission from Alon Cassuto, the CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, highlights just two Kostakidis retweets from January this year, both of which contain a video of a speech by Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in which he allegedly called for the ethnic cleansing of Israel.
One of the retweets is from independent British journalist Richie Medhurst, who was arrested at Heathrow airport and held for nearly 24 hours under the U.K. Terrorism Act this month. Medhurst is one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s war on Gaza. The other tweet is from a user named Censored Men.
Cassuto wants Kostakidis to apologize, remove the allegedly offensive materials from her X account; promise not to post similar tweets in future and pay his legal costs.
The complaint was levelled under Section 18C(1) of the Racial Discrimination Act, which says:
“it is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if:
(a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and
(b) the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group.”
Cassuto says Kostakidis should have made clear in her retweet of Nasrallah’s video that she did not agree or endorse it. He says Nasrallah was calling for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel.
In the retweeted video, the Hezbollah leader says: “Here, you don’t have future, and from the river to the sea, the land of Palestine is for the Palestinian people and for the Palestinian people only …”
Above that Nasrallah quote in the Censored Men retweet, Kostakidis wrote: “Israeli govt getting some of its own medicine. Israel has started something it can’t finish with this genocide.”
Cassuto told a press conference: “Those like Mary Kostakidis who have a status and a platform and a responsibility to lead, need to promote cohesion not division.”
Zionist Federation President Jeremy Leibler added: “Mary Kostakidis has misused her platform to spread ‘conspiracy theories’ to deny the use of sexual violence by Hamas on the 7th of October.”
However, Kostakidis cites in another retweet the conclusion of an exhaustive U.N. investigation that found no evidence of sexual violence by Hamas.
If the matter is not resolved at the Human Rights Commission the Zionist Federation could file civil charges in court. Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, however, ‘is drafting hate speech laws to include criminal rather than civil penalties,” The Australian newspaper reported in an article about the Kostakidis case.
Kostakidis Responds
Kostakidis has denied the charges, tweeting that they amount to an “attempt to frame me as a rape and Holocaust denier.” She wrote on X:
“This because I have been sharing the reports of extremely highly regarded independent journalists who have written about the absence of credible evidence of the claims of ‘systemic, widespread rape’ by Hamas on Oct 7.
“To be clear, I have never said there was No Rape. It is something I could never say – it would be a nonsense for anyone to make such a definitive statement.”
An exemption under the Racial Discrimination Act says:
“18D Exemptions
Section 18C does not render unlawful anything said or done reasonably and in good faith: … (c) in making or publishing:
(i) a fair and accurate report of any event or matter of public interest; or
(ii) a fair comment on any event or matter of public interest if the comment is an expression of a genuine belief held by the person making the comment.”
Regarding the retweet of Nasrallah’s video, Kostakidis told The Sydney Morning Herald: “What are you saying, that we shouldn’t hear what the other side has to say? The point of that tweet was to say that Israel is inviting an escalation, it’s inviting retribution because it is conducting a genocide.”
Kostakidis’ lawyers tweeted today:
“XD Law are proud to defend Mary Kostakidis from the charges brought against her by the Zionist Federation of Australia under s18c of the Racial Discrimination Act … for sharing tweets about Gaza.
We filed her defence at the Human Rights Commission this week. Her instructions are clear – she will not be intimidated, she will not be gagged, she will not stop covering international events as she has her entire career. And that includes Israel, warts and all.
‘The Australian Zionist Federation is weaponising Australian law in an attempt to curb criticism of Israel for its acts of genocide. I won’t be intimidated by them in the face of the slaughter of tens of thousands of children, hundreds of doctors, nurses, journalists and other civilians.’” — MK
The statement goes on to say:
“Since the conflict in Gaza began Mary has been a force on Social Media giving live updates, sharing reports on the devastation there and accounts of ordinary people trying to survive it. And she is still at it.
Over the past 40 years Mary, the face of SBS news for 20 of them, has been a central figure in building a tolerant multicultural Australia. It is that reputation that her opponents are seeking to tear down because she has dared criticise Israel.
‘Imagine a situation where we can criticise our own government’s policies and actions but not those of another state, depending on how powerful and cashed up their lobby groups are. They will continue to defame me in the press but please remember this is happening to journalists, academics and others all over the western world. We are on the right side of history and international law. I have no trouble standing up to bullies.’ — MK
Mary first heard that the complaint had been filed through an astonishing press conference conducted by the CEO of the Zionist Federation and a partner at the law firm bringing the action. Side by side they attacked her, her reputation and her life’s work without restraint.
Clearly her opponents have an eye to score public hits upon Mary irrespective of the commission proceedings. We have her covered in the courts.
There is no fundraiser yet but if you want to help defend Mary now do it in the public spaces where she is under attack. Defend free speech for all Australians. Defend social media. Defend Mary Kostakidis.”
Sawsan Madina, a former Head of SBS Television, wrote:
“The attempt to silence Mary Kostakidis has alarming implications for all of us. If a complaint can be lodged against a high profile journalist like Kostakidis, for publishing newsworthy information, what will this do to freedom of the press? How many journalists will self-censor? Will we be treated as children who are only allowed to read material deemed acceptable to the government or powerful vested interests?”
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette, the London Daily Mail and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He is the author of two books, A Political Odyssey, with Sen. Mike Gravel, foreword by Daniel Ellsberg; and How I Lost By Hillary Clinton, foreword by Julian Assange.
Yet again, we hear that criticism of another nations’s genocidal actions is ‘offending’ some citizens of our own nation and therefore should be made illegal. It’s beyond credulity that such criticism is defined as ‘antisemitism.’ Nobody in Australia is making Australian Jews responsible for what the State of Israel is doing (although, I’d probably make an exception for Australian Jews who volunteer to fight in the IDF), so it’s hard to figure out why such criticism would be regarded as ‘divisive’ and ‘hate speech’ any more than Russian Orthodox Christians in Australia would regard our country’s (unfortunate) vocal support of Ukraine as ‘hate speech’ against them.
no truth permitted in this matrix society
In July this year, the Albanese (Labor) government appointed a “Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism”.
This was announced fresh from driving Fatima Payman out of the Labor Party for criticising the Labor position on Palestine and voting against this position in the senate.
Albanese appointed Jillian Segal, former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), a rabid pro-Israel lobby group, as “special envoy to combat antisemitism”.
The role has nothing to do with combating antisemitism and everything to do with silencing opponents of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Her appointment isn’t about challenging racism; it’s about stoking it.
Especially considering that Segal and ECAJ have campaigned against a ceasefire in Gaza, justified bombing hospitals, repeated false claims about babies being beheaded on 7 October, and lobbied for student protesters to be persecuted. In her own words, speaking at a pro-Israel rally in May, Segal said she wants to “drive anti-Zionism and antisemitism back into the darkest and most disreputable corners of our society”.
Mary Kostakidis ain’t got nothing on Segal when it comes to anti-semitism; yet the latter has been anointed by PM Albanese, and even more importantly gets off scott-free for her racism.
hxxps://redflag.org.au/article/labors-special-envoy-to-promote-racism-and-genocide
and
hxxps://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/07/10/rmon-j10.html
Standard Zionist propaganda and/or media manipulation and pressure. The problem is that I, as an average Joe Blogs, am so inoculated and jaded about this, it is not even surprising or outrageous any more. Australia is jut another vassal state of USA and, corollary, Israel.
Palestine for Palestine’s is not different than America for Americans. That does not exclude Jews in either case.
We created this mess, taking an innocent country and giving to assuage our conscious. Sounds of the American experience.
Germany should have been the country to yield land for victims of their Holocaust.
But no, take from the weak, not the perpetrator.
As we fight on and on.
Thank you, Mary and thank you to Consortium for publishing this story. I fully support your journalism. Especially having just read the critique of Johnathon Freedland, Guardian columnist, for his half the truth is a lie story entitled, ‘The Escape Artist’. I recommend to anyone who reads this comment.
In ANY real democracy anyone should be able to say whatever they want about ANY foreign government anywhere! Even if it was inaccurate (in this case it is not). Why is Israel treated differently than every other country on the planet? High profile people say nasty inaccurate things about… oh, Mexico, Cuba, etc all the time. No problem. If a journalist was making harsh criticism of the actions/policies (accurately or not) of say… the Canadian, Scottish, Pakistani, or ANY other country’s government would they be hit with “hate crime” charges? We all know the answer to that. This really STINKS!
I would agree with you, but I am too scared to do it publicly.
When I studied in Israel in the ’80s. Israelis criticized each other, Israel, Zionism, etc., all the time. It was striking, liberating even. Now, a near hysterical response to any such critique is also striking. The hysteria is mostly from non-Jews outside Israel. In the USA, it’s mostly in the service of apocalyptic fantasies about the Rapture, the End of the World, etc., on the part of Christian Fundamentalist voters, what Chris Hedges call Christo-fascists. But in Australia? I thought Aus was free of Puritanism and it’s descendants.
This won’t help the world’s Jews, and certainly not those other Semites, the Palestinians.
I am agast that we are seeing this insanity. These monsters will never stop.
Thanks to Joe and Consortium News.
Do you regard “these monsters” as of a separate, lesser, biological class than yourself?
It would be a challenge for anybody to identify what is not corrupted today, especially in anything involving politics or media. So far I don’t see evidence of that for Consortium News.
Section 18C(1) of the Racial Discrimination Act, says:
“it is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if:
(a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and
(b) the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group.”
Wow. According to this law, anything you say or do that offends someone else is now illegal. All you have to do is call someone an asshole, say FU to him/her or give them the finger, and this crazy law can have you put in prison simply because it offends them. I have seen stupid laws in my life, but this one beats them all.
For the moment it is only a civil law, but Australian AG is working on making it a criminal offense.
That’s liberalism for you
I am appalled as an Australian how the Zionist lobby group has influenced Australian policy, and has now corrupted the Attorney
General. However Mary Kostakidis is greatly respected by many Australians, including its peace organizations, who will no
doubt help her. There are also Jewish organizations highly critical of Israel. One asked the Government to sanction it.
Me too, we’ve been infiltrated and taken over by a minority cause that has corrupted our political system and the mainstream media.
The vast majority of Australians haven’t yet realised what has happened, and don’t support this cause either.
Beverley, the Attorney General is Jewish and a Zionist. So sick of the way they influence our politics. Hopefully more and more people will be a awake to them.
This is fundamentally not about Zionism, Judaism…or other ism. it is about economic and political domination and positioning as the human social/economic systems (population and technology driven!) are unraveling and coming into greater and greater conflict with biophysical, life sustaining systems. These handy political, religious and ‘ethnic’ designations are being exploited at multiple levels, from using strongly held beliefs to the most cynical distortions as propaganda. The conflict in Palestine is trial run; it is the most parsimonious explanation for the outlandish hypocrisy of western governments.
There is an international ongoing attempt to conflate antisemitism with efforts to call the nation of Israel to account for its horrible actions against the Palestinian people, and misusing existing laws against antisemitism as a heifer to plow their fields. In country vernacular from the Southern U.S., that dog won’t hunt. We must not allow Netanyahu and the Zionists to convince anyone otherwise.
The system…posing as democracy , with freedom of thought and expression…grows more and more unbelievable.
This is absolutely outrageous.
Along these same lines, I read something on Twitter yesterday that NYU (my grad school alma mater) recently came out with a new policy that student activists, even if they’re off campus, are prohibited from protesting against “Zionism” specifically. Any mention of Zionism in a negative light by an NYU student activist is now potentially a punishable offense.
With the arrest of Medhurst, the Telegram CEO, the raid on Ritter’s pad, and some other ugly heavy handed police-state conduct, these infringements on free speech must end, it’s crucial that this blatant suppression stop.
Someday the question could arise: where were you when all this was going down?
Good luck. Thanks for your work and please keep it up.
It used to be that arresting journalists, was a once a decade thing, but notice now, how many have been arrested, detained, or otherwise attempted to shutdown, or silence, in the so-called freedom loving West, injust the past few weeks or so. The assembly line of oppression is speeding up, it will only get faster, if we don’t take steps to stop it. Thank you, Consortium News for reporting on these egregious moves by TPTP!
First they arrested a billionaire for not censoring free speech and now they’ve charged a former news broadcaster for exercising free speech. They have started eating their own.
Further indication of how desperate the Empire has become. The propaganda machinery of the Five Eyes (US/CA/UK/AU/NZ) is allowing too much truth leakage. It’s genrally okay to have a little leakage, just to demonstrate that you support Free Speech (read Chomsky on this). But when the truth begins to gain traction and undercut the propaganda line (Zionists Good / Palestinians Evil) then it’s time to lower the boom against unapproved journalism.
Sadly, I expect to see more of this repression as the structure of the Empire grows more shaky. We are in for a rough ride before we come out into a multi-polar world.
Gag orders everywhere!
Big Money wants free speech to be over. Big Money is getting what it wants.
Fanatically religious, incorrigible madmen willing to stoop to the lowest depths to cling onto stolen land(there’s a plethora of old documentaries that happily describe a pre-1940’s Palestine…you know, that country that apparently never existed. Those seeking to change history for their own gain simply can’t find and erase all of them(but save them to your harddrive just in case)).
That’s the message they’re sending to every average person watching them. Especially by trying to gaslight people online like this for merely stating facts and opinions. Or making criticism of their goals or actions illegal. I mean, ffs.
Only the guilty go to such extremes.
It’s like they’ve given up pretending to be anything other than feudal, sadistic, blood-crazed animals, eager to commit what the majority of this world’s population considers to be, without question, THE most despicable acts against other innocent human beings and, are apparently also more than happy to be seen outdoing the worst of the worst our planets history books have to offer.
Well said Platopus!
And, as Michael
G mentioned following your comments, the intentional false equivalence of antisemitism and Zionism is one of the principal misunderstandings promoted by Zionist propagandists in their quest to curry favor with uninformed potential supporters. Thus, anyone daring to expose or challenge such unhinged and dogmatic BS becomes the target of equally fallacious assaults and accusations of antisemitic bigotry.
As Usual,
EA
Well that’s just antizionism, not antisemitism.
What living thing is not antizionist?
Rats? Cockroaches? Blowfly larva? Viruses? Bacteria? Dingoes? Whats his fritz, Leibler there?
Big Brother working to silence all of us and to control the narrative!
Liebler and his Zionists. Skillful manipulators of mashing the self identified ever- victim’s self-pity with the arrogant’s sense of innate racial purportedly Biblically based superiority, entitlement and power into a poisonous soup cooked up by a white supremacist group to eternally get away with murder of genocidal proportions of actual people and of righteous truth witnessing – by controlling others via projection’s famous “hook”. So any kind of unconscious floating guilt others carry for any cause gets hooked by those who cry victim! Oh, poor you, poor you, it is all our fault for the Nazi Holocaust! We will make you “special” – different from the rest of us. To do penance. We non-Jews will no longer judge you for the evil that you do. We will take your portion of evil on ourselves and carry it along with our own portion of evil. Interestingly, in the Ishtar myth, Erhiskiegel frees Ishtar from the underworld under the proviso her brother in law be sacrificed to replace her. The mythic origin of the scapegoat. Aren’t we non-Jews being scapegoated by the Zionists? “Sufficient unto the day the evil thereof.”