The Zionist Federation of Australia withdrew its case of racial hatred against Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis, who called it a victory for free speech.
Mary Kostakidis outside federal court in Adelaide, July 2025. (Cathy Vogan/ CN)
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
After a two-year legal battle to punish a prominent Australian journalist for her public criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) withdrew its case on Thursday.
“This is a win for every Australian who values our democratic right to freedom of political expression,” Kostakidis said on X. “Zionist zealotry has had to beat a retreat from what was going to be a highly damaging trial.”
She said: “The purpose of journalism is to get to the truth – fearlessly – and to hold power to account. This is a win for press freedom, which has prevailed. “
Kostakidis, who anchored the SBS national news for nearly 20 years, was a high-profile target for the Zionist Federation in its quest to silence outrage over Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
Alon Cassuto, the ZFA chief executive who brought the case against Kostakidis, claimed on X that he withdrew it to deprive her of a platform. He wrote:
“I do not intend to spend another year taking Ms Kostakidis’ repugnant commentary from the dark corners of the internet and giving it a Federal Court platform in her pursuit of martyrdom. My job here is done.”
The majority of his statement was a continued attack on the journalist. He claimed that the action he brought against Kostakidis was satisfied by an apology she had issued. But that was two years ago and he pursued his case against her nonetheless.
What he did not mention is a recent series of court decisions in Australia by judges who upheld the right to criticize Zionism, which appears to have weakened his chances of winning. Kostakidis had also won approval for full discovery of ZFA communications.
In claiming victory, Kostakidis wrote:
“Watching a people live stream their own genocide while the international community responsible for creating this mess offers the victims sympathy and the perpetrators bombs, diplomatic cover and impunity, has been disgusting.
Thank you to the Jewish and Israeli people all over the world raging against this in recognition our common humanity trumps any form of tribalism.
Australia must stop disregarding the Orders of the International Court of Justice which were clear: we are obliged under international law to take meaningful action to prevent genocide in Palestine and to do all in our power to bring about an end to apartheid.
Hypocrisy, double standards and a lack of courage are aiding the destruction of a framework intended to protect against the worst excesses of state power.
This is a developing story.
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.
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Such is the level of Zionist infiltration of the mainstream political parties -the Greens excepted- that it is hard to not suspect that our politicians in Australian have not be compromised Epstein style. This suspicion extends to our institutions, mainstream media and Police/A.S.I.O.
Once, again, Joe Lauria & Mary Kostakidis, f/nail it, “A building of sand falls even as it is being built!!!” Concluding, Alon Cassuto, did the right thing, “F/Bailed!!!” ZFA gets their B-S handed to ‘Em. Consequently, ZFA Drops Case Against Mary Kostakidis! F/YEAH!!!
Not for nothin’; BUT, “This is a win for [Planet Earth! Itsa]: “democratic right to freedom of political expression. Zionist zealotry has had to beat a retreat from what was going to be a highly damaging trial.” Mary “Spot f/On” Kostakidis, X-traordinary, off the f/chart, state of Civic Self-respect. “
…..“Kostakidis had also won approval for full discovery of ZFA communications.” Joe Lauria.
…..“The antidote, the source of real self-regard, is to [Stand Up, Stand Tall, and Call Out] the rapacious and ravaging forces coming down on communities.” Ralph Nader, “Civic Self-respect” published 2025 @ Seven Stories press, New York, NY
Ralph Nader shares a story about “Breaking Through”. His father, asks his children (Ralph +): “What is the most powerful force in the world?” His answer: the force of apathy. Or, as a quote often misattributed to Edmund Burke, the 18th Century Anglo-Irish statesman, reads, “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.”
No doubt about it, “we” are here, @ “Breaking Through!” Riding on a higher level of consciousness b/c of Mary Kostakidis, Joe Lauria, Ralph Nader, CN, & a whole lotta good women & men. TY, Australia, w/“Flowers in your Hair!” “Stay Wild!”
…“Flowers in your hair. When we were younger, we thought, everyone was on our side; then, we, grew a little bit & realized” the ICEY Kingdom (AUKUS) vs. The People “Lives, Large!”
* Flowers In Your Hair” by The Lumineers (Denver, Colorado) @ hxxps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rcEFMZwcsww&list=RDrcEFMZwcsww&start_radio=1
yet another bonafide documentary revealing the methods used in the ongoing genocide in Gaza by the zionist israelis:
xxxx://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAZA_(film)
There’s now a line in the sand.
Mary, and a handful of others on one side.
The gutless and the exploiters on the other side.
Thank You JOE
Persona non grata.
Why pursue a case that could not be won when the damage can be inflicted by other means.
Online purchases will carry a greater risk. Refunds for non-delivery will be slow or not at all. The name Kostakidis will be added to a secret list of “suspicious actors” in the Australian tax department. Calling the police will be a slow and complex affair even in emergencies. Employers and CEO’s will be given a warning notice. That is “freedom”.
Good News
Looking forward to her story being told on ABC’s 4 Corners… Any chance of an interview on 7:30? Australian Story maybe? National Press Club address?
Tell me I’m not dream’n, Darryl.
Yeah, I probably am.
Mark, I’ve been tracking Australian legacy media since the announcement of Mary’s win – getting onto 24 hours now.
I have been unable to find a single mention in 9 Entertainment outlets (yes, news as entertainment), the Guardian (the home of independent journalism which ignores an independent journalist), the ABC, or Mary’s former employer (SBS).
As for the NPC: the ones who cancelled Chris Hedges and are partially funded by arms manufacturers?
best wishes
Gotta say, your sarcasm there is not misplaced.
Whatever Cassuto’s rationalisations for their withdrawal , the Australian Zionist cause is bound to suffer big reputational damage over this. I am sure Joe Lauria is right that they ended the case because after the recent decision by NSW Supreme Judge Fagan , they were going to find it a hard case to sustain. Especially as Zionist Israel keeps on humiliating and exploiting Australian governments and elites . Mary was looking more and more like Joan of Arc. And the Zionists more and more like Torquemada of the Spanish Inquisition.
The Ultra Nationalist, Zionist Israeli Theocracy has obstinately been sustaining the case against the UN partition plan for Palestine; for an ‘equitable’ two state solution, for more than 110 years now!
Suffer big reputational damage? In a country of mass narcissists”?
For these ‘genocidaire’s’; surely no one still believes that the Kostakidis case, for them, is anything more than swatting a fly.
They do it every day, in front of the 193 member countries of the UN and literally get away with mass murder, in each case brought against them.
Optimism and hope are not equivalent; optimism is a passive expectation, while hope is an active commitment; an infamous Apartheid era born and bred, South African, British-Israeli affiliated, ‘esteemed’ Rabbis hypercritical counsel appears to be:
‘Do unto others, before they do it to you’.
Whereas Rabbi Hillel the Elder of the Talmud says: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.”
Obviously this is not the religion of Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and their ilk.
Mary stood where no Australian legacy MSM dared stand.
Sycophants one and all, so ready to bend.
She showed courage and a dedication to telling the truth about a genocide when Australian legacy outlets banned journalists from using that word, even after the ICC unequivocally declared that a ‘plausible genocide’ was being perpetrated.
Mary stood where most MPs feared to stand.
As Hunter S. Thompson – another fearless journalist – wrote “anyone who goes to caught takes a wolf by the ears.”
Mary did this, and is one of the few to ‘win’ at probably a heavy personal cost.
Re: Graeme D
“He who goes to law takes a wolf by the ears.” — HST aka Raoul Duke
The case against Mary Kostakidis along with the alleged epidemic of antisemitic incidents in Australia all mysteriously vaporized once the Zionist lobby achieved their goal of settling up a Royal Commission into antisemitism that will recommend draconian new laws to suppress free speech, support for Palestinians and and criticism of Israel.
Israeli leaders have justified the state of Israel and Palestinian genocide on Old Testament scriptures. That’s a religious belief system. Commission envoy Jillian Segal has demanded that the Royal Commission mandate full endorsement of the IHRA definition of antisemitism in our colleges and schools. That’s a mandate of compulsory religious values compliance for the general population. There is no way this abuse should be allowed to stand. Whether for university or for kindergarten, this compulsory (and fraudulent) religious tripe should be banned in its entirety.
You are quite right Stefan, and the compliant, spineless Australian government now in office is ideally placed to enact draconian pro-Zionist laws, to the eternal shame of right thinking Australians.