On Sunday morning, before the sun is over Sydney Heads, up to 40 current and former soldiers of the Israel Defence Forces will jog across the Sydney Harbour Bridge with numbers pinned to their chests and a cheer squad waiting at the Opera House.
On Thursday night in Perth, a stage will be empty. Bassem Youssef will not be on it. Home Affairs wanted an FBI clearance and a criminal record from Egypt, whose generals forced him into exile in 2014. His passport had lapsed. Cairo took its time. The tour is gone.
Who the fuck thought letting child murdering IDF inhumans into our country was a good idea? And if they’re citizens, then fuck them off to Israel anyway, since the IDF’s undisputable zeal for mass murder is incompatible with modern Australian values! Or, at least, it fucking should be!
It sucks because apparently we do not extend this to people fighting in Ukraine. It’s technically illegal for an Australian citizen to fight for another country IIUC.
No, it’s not illegal to fight in the armed forces of another country, it’s illegal to fight under any other circumstances:
From this page: https://www.ag.gov.au/national-security/australias-counter-terrorism-laws/foreign-incursions-and-recruitment-offences
There may be organisations violating the law against recruitment with regards to the IDF, though: https://michaelwest.com.au/lone-soldiers-new-australian-idf-recruits-due-to-arrive-in-israel-in-january/
Thanks for the clarification. That’s a strange carve out.