Last night’s episode of ABC Australia’s Q&A was controversial for a number of reasons.
For a start, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and NSW Jewish Board of Deputies called for our ‘friend’ Nasser Mashni to be dumped from the panel over his “anti-Israel and antisemitic positions”, as well as previous support for Hamas. They also voiced concerns over the inclusion of UN special rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, given her past anti-Israel comments.
The panel went ahead but the ABC decided against having a live studio audience given the tensions in Australia surrounding the situation here in Israel and Gaza. This caused a backlash from the public.
I watched the panel last night and it was vintage Mashni. Watch as he cannot bring himself to unequivocally call for the release of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas, call Hamas a terror organization, or condemn Hamas’ October 7th atrocities.
Mashni was again evasive when confronted with the allegations his charity is sending money to a Gaza-based health organization accused of being affiliated with the PFLP terror group. On one hand, he threatened to sue those who reported it. On the other, he was not willing to unequivocally state the funds weren’t ending up in terrorist hands:
And in what proved to be a difficult evening for Mashni, he also was asked about his violent criminal record. Cue the violins as Mashni seemed to lay it on thick:
Mashni’s shameful performance did not end there. He also defended the anti-Israel rally in which feral protesters descended on the predominantly Jewish suburb of Caulfield and rallied outside a synagogue, traumatizing the Jewish community.
And if that wasn’t a case of “quitting while you are behind”, Mashni went there, trivializing the Holocaust by accusing Australian Jews of a pogrom.
Mashni has to realize the jig is up and most people can see how rotten to the core he truly is.
Update: Sky News Australia’s Sharri Markson has slammed the ABC for platforming Mashni, providing five examples of his antisemitism.
