Comedian’s visa sabotaged, war crimes suspects cheered through (michaelwest.com.au)

submitted 1 day ago by zero_gravitas@aussie.zone to c/australianpolitics@aussie.zone

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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.

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[-] dillekant@slrpnk.net 1 points 20 hours ago

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.

[-] zero_gravitas@aussie.zone 2 points 13 hours ago

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:

Under Part 5.5 of the Criminal Code, it is an offence to:

enter a foreign country with an intention to engage in a hostile activity, unless serving in or with the armed forces of the government of a foreign country

prepare to enter, or for another person to enter, a foreign country with an intention to engage in a hostile activity

recruit persons to join an organisation engaged in hostile activities, or to serve in or with an armed force in a foreign country.

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/