Media Release: AFOPA Condemns National Press Club for Double Standards in Hosting Israeli Ambassador

The Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) unequivocally condemns the decision by the National Press Club to host the Ambassador for the apartheid Israeli regime on Tuesday.

The decision to platform the representative of a regime accused of genocide against the Palestinian people, raises grave concerns about the National Press Club’s commitment to journalistic integrity and ethical responsibility.

Late last year the National Press Club cancelled a confirmed booking for Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, organised by AFOPA, citing a need to ‘balance out our program’ Mr Hedges’ scheduled address was to focus on the killing of Palestinian journalists and biased reporting on Gaza

At the time, Hedges publicly speculated that the cancellation may have coincided with plans to invite the Israeli Ambassador to speak, a claim denied by the National Press Club. That speculation now appears prescient, with confirmation that the Ambassador is being hosted by the Club.

Quotes Attributable to Christa Christaki, Chairperson of the Australian Friends of Palestine Association:

The National Press Club cannot claim “balance” while silencing a globally respected journalist on one hand, and platforming a representative of an apartheid, genocidal government on the other.

Given the National Press Club is sponsored by some of the world’s worst war profiteers, such as BAE Systems, it is not surprising that an invitation has been extended to the mouthpiece of a genocidal regime. The Australian public sees through this hypocrisy.

This is a disgraceful, shameful and unconscionable decision that once again highlights the broader and ongoing pattern in which Palestinian perspectives, and those who seek to report on the reality of what is happening in Gaza, are marginalized in Australian public discourse, while those who are carrying out an illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide are celebrated.