Religion is a passport to god not land - the Jewish and Palestinian land battle



The Promise. TV series on land battles in Palestine. Photo from libcom.au.



So here's the thing - since when did one's religion give one the power over land rights?

As an Internationista I own more than one passport and have the rights enter and settle down in more than one country. As an atheist I have no right to enter or settle down in any country.

So why in the world would land rights be given to a group of people based on their religion alone? Religion is a passport to god not land.

I'm new to the land battles in Palestine and Israel, but I get the sense my recent increased exposure to it, like this article in the Sydney Morning Herald, which looks at the Bedouin people being forced out of  their properties by Israeli expansion, and this recent TV serious on the issue on SBS: The Promise, suggest that the situation is reaching a new level of intensity.

In response, my first thought was that of my mother's preachings when me and my sibling fought over a new toy: if you two can't learn to share then I'll take it away from both of you.

Then I started thinking about our responses which would fall on deaf ears: "but it's mine", "but I had it first", "dad said I could have it".

The end message was always: learn to share!

And if we didn't we'd either end up breaking it or mum would confiscate it all together.

Then I learnt that before World War II the Jewish people and Palestinians, made up of Muslims and other religions had lived side by side in relative harmony for years as they do today in many other countries in the world. However, when the United Nations granted the Jewish people, many of whom had been persecuted in the war, access and rights to settle in the area, the balance was thrown.

And so it would.

Just think if all the Catholics in the world had rights to the Vatican or Italy? All the Anglicans land rights in England? All Islamic people rights to settle in Saudia Arabia?

Following this ethos, which country should atheists have rights to?

Taking it one step further, if I started a religious group tomorrow, much like King Henry the VIII in the 1500s, and stated our holy land was Bondi Beach, Australia, could me and my followers have the land rights to Bondi Beach?

Better still, I am an internationista, believing in a world without borders. Can I claim land anywhere?

I've had many dinner discussions over whether being Jewish is a religion or a race. I believe Judaism is a religion just like all the others and struggle to understand why people would consider it a race?  

According to Wikipedia Jewish people are a "nation" and "ethnoreligious group".

Though contradictorily, in Wikipedia’s description of a nation it doesn't mention religion as being a defining agent.

As for an ethnoreligious group (or ethno-religious group)? This is presumably an ethnic group of people whose members are also unified by a common religious background. Along with Jewish people Wikipedia includes the Druze of the Levant, the Copts of Egypt, the Yazidi of northern Iraq, the Zoroastrians of Iran and India and the Sikhs of India.

The term ethnoreligious is quite a modern one, with countries like Australia only adding it to its anti-discrimination laws in 1994. So what were they before then? Could I hazard a guess and say just religions?

And if the Jewish are an ethno-religious group couldn't we say Italians are also? Italians all look the same, eat the same, speak the same, come from the same place of origin and 91 per cent are Roman Catholic. 

Spending a lot of time in Australia I understand the importance of land rights. The aborigines are the original inhabitants of the land. They have rights to the land not because they believe in the Dreamtime but because they are from this land, they are of this land, dating back at least 20,000 years. I get it.

What I don't get is how someone thinks is connected to the right over their land. I know great Jewish people. They used to be South African Jews and now they are South African/Australian Jews. Not Israelis. They have never even been to Israel.

Since the United Nations are the ones who got us into this mess it's up to them to fix it up.

A two minute solution from someone who knows very little about the topic would be eradicate this new foggy window which blurs race and nationality rights with religion and transform that area so that it operates like most other countries in the world. Nationalism and land rights are based on your place of birth or ancestry. If you are born in the area or you can prove your ancestors were you are entitle to access and permanency, if you are not and cannot, you are not of that land and therefore need to apply for residency just like all other immigrants wanting to start their lives in a country that is different from their place of origin.

Religion is a state of mind not a nationality. It's a passport to god not land.

Though I could have it all wrong?

E-nnoyed - insight into an E-Bay customer service live chat

 

Being an Internationista, moving home is part of my life. Seven cities in the past seven years, across four different countries. This means lots of removalists, lots of packing and unpacking and most importantly lots of selling of houseware items too big or expensive to move from one city to the next.

A couple of years ago, while in one country, instead of the old fashioned garage sale I decided to go all high tec and sell my items on E-Bay. Fortunately for me I had already opened up an E-Bay account a few years back, when the whole E-Bay phenomenon hit our screens, while living in another country. Unfortunately, as my account had been set up in a different country to the one I was currently in I was unable to reorganise my account to work in my new country so after some correspondence with E-Bay and some disgruntled comments airing my disappointment over how an international online operation did not cater for international users, I started working on my garage sale placards.

Now two years later another move is on the cards in yet another country and once again I have many an item to sell. After having obvious selective amnesia over my last encounter with E-Bay I spent a few hours taking photos the measurements and descriptions of the items and went to log on to my E-Bay account. Once in I was unable to access the Sell section without another security number. 

After two days of trying to find customer support as my searches through the E-bay site kept flicking me through to the E-Bay sites in the various countries I have previously lived I found help through the live chat in the country I am currently in.

The live chat that followed was this:

Thanks for waiting and welcome to eBay Australia LiveHelp! My name is ....How can I help you today?

Hi I seem to be having trouble with my log on. I can log in but then when I go to the sell section it asks me to log in again and I don't seem to have the number they are requesting. When I click for them to resend me the number a: we are experiencing technical difficulties, comes up. I have a feeling that I am not completely registered.

I understand that you are having trouble working on your eBay account as you are constantly asked to sign back in.

No worries, let me help you out.

Aside from this, is there anything else that you want me to look into?

Well while I have you I might as well check something else. I originally set up my account when I was living in the UK and now I am living in Australia and have an Australian address in my account details but every now and then it clicks me through to the UK ebay section - eg: I think I've been trying to contact the UK customer support over past two days. Can I set my account to Australia only?

I will discuss this with you once I'm done investigating your account. May I ask for 2 minutes, please?

No problem. Thanks

Thanks. I'll be back in a moment.

Thanks for waiting.

It seems that your account has been dormant for a long time and that is why it has been closed on our end.

The best option I can offer you is to create a new eBay account. But you will have to use a new email address as well as User ID.

I don't have another email account. Is there a way of just disabling my old account and starting a new one using the only email address i have?

No, as the old account has been closed with the email address, you will have to create a new email account to be able to register with eBay again.

It's actually easy to create a new email account.

I’m sorry I'm not going to create a new email account just for ebay. This seems strange. Can you imagine if all online operators acted in the same fashion. How many different email accounts would one person need?

Chat Session Ended, Goodbye. (5009)

Aside from the absurdity of having to open up a new email account every time you are away from your E-Bay account for an extended period of time, along with the concern that despite deactivating my account E-Bay still keeps my personal email details on record and as I can't log in to the specific section, it won't allow me to remove or change my personal contact details, ow, and not to mention the appalling customer service that ended without resolving any questions and the loss of a customer for life, this does seem to be yet another example of the online world being as useless as tits on a bull.

In this case not just for an internationista but also for anyone who doesn't buy or sell items on E-Bay regularly. Time and time again I get annoyed and disappointed when accessing an online service or product in replace of the tangible. Not only do I get annoyed about not being able to obtain my desired outcome, above all I get annoyed that the experience almost always ends up being completely contrary to the promoted ethos of online living - convenience, time saving and cost saving. Instead, it’s simply useless.

Or perhaps the E-Bay method has nothing to do with being useful or useless perhaps it's just a way of penalising users when they don't buy or sell enough? Wasting our time and money to make more money.

Whatever the reason, until these online outlets are regulated by some kind of industry standards we will be forever doomed to useless consumer processes and services that are unlikely to have been experienced by any generation before the internet.

In the good old days bad customer service and ineffective processes would mean companies would be out of business. Today, the bad new days, it just means living online.

Right, best get back to creating some new garage sale placards!

  

New Sky Sports Advertisement offends vatican - Part 3 translation

Sky Sports Commercial. Framed by Antonia Scott.

The third part of the new Sky Sport commercial that has offended the Vatican, the full story of which can be found here, features Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué of Barcellona. 


In this commercial, Gerard is seen to be handing an elderly woman a drink from a fountain which perhaps has healing or youth enhancing properties. While we don't see the elderly woman's ailments we are reminded of the parables which tell of Jesus healing those with debilitating conditions with water from pools or fountains.


The full commercial can be seen here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsokKamehJo


For a translation of the first part of the commercial visit this blog.


For a translation of the second part of the commercial visit this blog.

New Sky Sport commercial in Italy offends Vatican - Part 2 translation

Sky Sport Commericial. Framed by Antonia Scott.

The second part of the new Sky Sport commercial that has offended the Vatican, the full story of which can be found here, features Italian greats in basketball, football and rugby.


The first sports star in this advertisement is Danilo Gallinari, an Italian basketball player who currently plays for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA in America. In this scene a man yells to Danilo "our baskets are empty". Danilo responds with shooting the basketball into the baskets. This scene represents Jesus when he multiplied the fish and the bread known as the miracle of the feeding of the multitudes.

The second sports star is Andrea Pirlo, is an Italian World Cup champion footballer who plays for Juventus. In this scene the young boy yells out "we want the parable of the belltower". In this advertisement, the scene does not draw on a parable but plays with the concept of a bell curve, a curve in mathematics that is also a way of kicking the ball in football (also known as a curve kick).

The last scene of the advertisement involves Martin Castrogiovanni, one of rugby world cups most recognisable players, due to his barbaric-esque hair style, and Italy's top try scorer in the 2008 Six Nations Rugby Championship. In this scene Castrogiovanni is seen to the miracle of sight to the blind. As he lifts up the spectator he calls out "Ow, I see them. It's a miracle!"

The full commercial can be seen here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsokKamehJo

For a translation of the first part of the commercial visit this blog.

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First destination wedding company solely dedicated to the Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre Wedding. Framed by Antonia Scott

In response to the growing number of people from around the world falling in love with, and in, the Cinque Terre, two Australian sisters, Melina and Justina Nicholson, have launched Cinque Terre Wedding – the only destination wedding company solely dedicated to the region on the Italian Riviera in Italy.

As a UNESCO Heritage Site, the Cinque Terre (meaning five lands) is one of the most breathtaking and well preserved collections of medieval fishing villages in the world. Protected and unspoilt, the five lands of the Cinque Terre: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore defy time and maintain the charm and character of old world village life right on the Mediterranean Sea.

Historically, the Cinque Terre was frequented by the great romantics Byron and Shelley along with noble prize winning poet Eugenio Montale. Today, travel writer Rick Steves places it in his top five locations in Italy to visit, while its beaches are amongst the top 25 sexiest beaches in the world.¹

With the number of visitors up by 50 per cent since 2009², Melina Nicholson, further explains the enchantment and allure of the Cinque Terre,

“It is truly one of the most beautiful and romantic places in the world. Whether a stroll down an ancient alleyway with town gossip whispering at every corner or a meander along the cliff path “Via dell’ Amore” (Road of Love) over the Mediterranean Sea, your first step will feel like a step back in time. A time when Lord Rufus ruled the castle, pirates ruled the sea and villagers ruled the vines to produce wine that adorned the dining halls of kings.

“Amidst this colourful wonderland there is a stunning selection of wedding backdrops: medieval castles, gothic churches, flower gardens, wishing wells, pristine beaches and a coastline you'll see once and dream about forever.”

In addition to the endless sunshine and warm weather, the area is also known for its fresh seafood and, as one of Europe’s oldest wine-growing regions, its vineyards. One of Cinque Terre Wedding’s featured wedding venues, Buranco, is amongst Italy’s top 100 vineyards.

While arguably one of the most majestic locations to hold a wedding, restrictions on development, infrastructure and transport, make planning a wedding difficult without an in-depth knowledge of the area, its people and the language.  

With family living in the region for generations, award winning event and wedding planner, Justina, and local resident and communications professional, Melina, aim to extend their local knowledge, expertise and contacts to destination wedding couples.

After travelling extensively Justina is now based in Australia while Melina is a resident of the Cinque Terre. Juggling work, home and family with lots of toing and froing between countries, they understand the time constraints of the modern bride and groom and how tricky it is to plan a destination wedding; so many countries, cities and venues to choose from. And that’s just the location!

As Justina Nicholson explains, at Cinque Terre Wedding all is simplified,

“We are aware that our modern bride and groom are already pressed for time before they even start planning a wedding. Combine this with all the decision making and unknown elements of a foreign location and organising, a wedding can be similar to taking on another full-time job.

“At Cinque Terre Wedding not only do we eliminate all the unknowns and look after the planning elements, we also streamline the decision making process. Simply choose one of the five villages and follow our five step plan to your ultimate destination wedding in Italy.”

To find out more about the five step process and enquire about your Cinque Terre Wedding visit the new website: www.cinqueterrewedding.com

George Clooney's new commercial in Italy

George Clooney in Fastweb advertisement. Framed by Antonia Scott.

Despite George Clooney ending his love affair with Italian beauty Elisabetta Canalis Italy is yet to end its love affair with George.

George Clooney is once again the face for Italian internet provider Fastweb. And his ease with the Italian way of life, including shooting commercials, is showing as in his latest commercial he perhaps delivers the most Italian lines in an advertisement in Italya to date. His three lines: "Hi", "Wow, finished already?" and "Magnificent" are well... magnificent.magnificent. 

The concept behind the commercial is that the cabinet builders are fast just like Fastweb.

Simple concept, simple italian, simply classic. When you've got George fronting your product, what else do you need?

View full add here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF-VtcFWdyI

Check out other Italian advertisements with George Clooney or another one of your favourite stars here.http://theinternationista.blogspot.com/2011/03/top-international-celebrities-in.html

Or you may be interested in:

 Snapshots Italy Advertising 2009
Advertising Expenditure in Italy

Milan shuts down for a month of summer holidays despite economic turmoil

Milan shuts down for August despite economic turmoil. Photo by Antonia Scott

Despite news reports and market speculation that Italy's economy is at risk and a six per cent market plumet, its main commercial hub, the fashion capital of the world, Milan, has shut down for the summer.

For the entire month of August businesses of all types, services, retail, construction and manufacturing, to name just a few, shut up shop and head off on holidays.

While there are, no doubt, businesses one can do without for a month, the first Monday of August caused a mini panic when my fridge was empty and I found my fresh food markets, my butcher, baker and fishmonger and my local supermarket were all closed.

After a quick lap or two of my neighbourhood I managed to find a supermarket open 15 minutes away. Presumably, this particular supermarket is the only one open in my zone for the month of August. While my five minute shopping trip has now turned into a half hour outing at least we have food.

An Austrian friend has said that August is better now than three years ago. He tells of his first year in August when he exited the Metro into a normally crowded piazza on his way to work to experience a Will Smith in I am Legend experience - he was the only single sole in sight. In a thick Austrian accent, which no doubt made him sound more Arnie than Will, he had yelled "Fuck'n'hell it's the end of the world and I'm the last man left."

While the Duomo and main tourist areas are still open, if you want to get a real feel for the Milan lifestyle and culture I'd avoid travelling here in August. On the other hand if you don't like crowds Milan is all yours.

England should call 9pm curfew to stop senseless riots

Photo from BBC. Framed by Antonia Scott.

It seems four nights of senseless destruction throughout England, the violent loss of businesses and homes and the deaths of four people, have seized the public with fear but done little to shock the authorities into proper action.

Once again we watch footage of kids running rampage throughout cities with police powerless to do more than cattle drive them from one street to another.

While we've missed the three strikes zero tolerance stance perhaps we can stretch it to four strikes and put an end to all the raids?

The police should be strengthened by the military and a severe 9pm curfew is needed for children aged 16 and under. 

Those under the age of 16 caught out should be taken into custody. Their parents then questioned about why their sons or daughters were hanging around late into the evening and then the parents should be charged appropriately.

A similar scheme was brought up in 2008 following a bought of teenage stabbings as part of a Youth Crime Action Plan. It was rejected by critics at the time but perhaps it can be actioned now as an emergency response approach.

 

Unlike the youth unrest that broke out at the end of 2010, brought on by students protesting the rise in university admission fees, the hooliganism we have witnessed over the past four nights has no ideological or political purpose. The vandals are simple criminals: thieves, arsonists, and now even murderers and deserve a no tolerancy approach.

Though no doubt, these activities bring to light the unhealthy underbelly of English youth culture.  No longer hidden behind school gates in some of English most deprived areas, English youth gang activity has now hit the international stage. Following this rioting serious action needs to be undertaken to identify and treat the source of this youth gang culture and eradicate it from the nation once and for all.

Please note I've noted English not UK as I'm not aware of the same behaviour being rife in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland where so far these riots have not occurred.

  

New Sky Sport commercial in Italy offends Vatican - Part 1 translation

Sky Sports commercial in Italy on Youtube. Framed by Antonia Scott

With about 95 per cent of Italy's population Roman Catholic and with arguably about just as many football fans, coupling parables with footballs to promote Sky sports to the Italian masses probably seemed like a good idea at the time.

However, the Vatican has expressed outrage at the latest series of commercials released by Sky Sport with its slogan: “Solo su Sky lo sport fa miracoli. Beato chi si abbona”, "Miracles only happen on Sky Sport. Blessed are those who subscribe". View here.

The first commercial of the series, seen above, features footballer Ambrosini, from Milan and footballer Zarate from Lazio catching footballs with nets from a small fishing boat. The scene refers to the well known Parables of Jesus, found in the gospels, which are a key part of the teachings of Jesus. The particular parable acted out refers to the Parable of Drawing in the Net, which is apparently about the final judgment. In the parable the fishermen separate the edible from inedible fish caught in the net in a similar way to how the angels will separate the wicked from the righteous according to the gospel of Matthew.

Following this parable is the miracle of “live pause”. Acted out by young football fans and footballer Eto'o from Inter Milan, this "miracle" is not to be found in the bible but instead refers to the Sky function of being able to pause in real time while watching a game live.   

The final part of the first advertisement features footballer great Totti, from Roma. Today Totti, does arguably have an almost godlike status in Italy as he captained the Italian Football team to victory in the 2006 World Cup. In this advertisement Totti has been “saintified” into a statue that sweats. While sightings of statues that weep tears, blood, or oils have been reported all over the world and often associated with miraculous healing in most cases upper levels of the Roman Catholic church have dismissed these claims.

While dismissing weeping statues, the Vatican is not dismissing the new Sky commercial without comment. According to a site called progress online Cardinal Ersilio Tonini has said "È una gravissima mancanza di rispetto. Associare la religione al concetto di vendita e acquisto insito in una pubblicità è contro la dignità. E se perdiamo questo rispetto, come facciamo a insegnare i giusti valori ai più giovani?"

"It is a grave act of disrespect. Associating religion with the concept of sales and insistance to purchase is not dignified. If we lose this respect how can we teach our children the right values?"

In response, Sky, which is owned by the Murdochs, said it wasn't their intension to offend with this advertisement, but only to, 

"fare riferimenti al patrimonio religioso che, insieme al calcio, si divide le domeniche degli italiani".

"refer to the heritage of religion that, together with football, makes up Sundays for Italians.”

That's two strikes for the Murdoch group in the last month.

First the British government, celebrities and general public over the phone hacking scandal and now the Vatican and religious Italians. While being cross examined by the British Parliamentary Committee seems tough enough, if there's one group of people I'd least like to be judged by it'd be those guys in cloaks at the Vatican, those who are the closest to the one 95 per cent of Italians believe will make the final judgment in the end.

For a translation of the second part of this commercial visit this blog.

For a translation of the third part of this commercial visit this blog.

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Drying clothes verses watering plants - a domestic battle in downtown Milan

Washing hanging in laudry friendly city Rome. Photo by Antonia Scott.

So here's the thing. In Italy the majority of people live in apartments - one on top of the other.

Growing up in Australia I'm used to living in houses with backyards and washing lines so my apartment requirements in Italy have always included a balcony for a slice of open air and most importantly, somewhere to sundry my washing.

There are picturesque zones in Italy where washing hangs freely from long lines that extend from one end of your apartment to the other. Often accessed via a window with fresh green shutters and a pulley system that circulates the line around allowing for all your colourful garments to blow in the breeze drying under the sun's care.

However, in cities like Milan this rainbow of laundry neck lacing your building is less frequent. In fact, I am the only apartment on my side of the block where you can find a load of washing drying from  a mobile line attached to the outside of my balcony. My neighbours have similar structures but tend to use them about once a week for their bigger items like sheets and tablecloths. Instead of laundry their balconies are full of cascading vines and beautiful bright flowers.

While perplexed over where everyone else is drying their washing, surely not inside or worst still in a dryer in such wonderful weather, I carried on drying freely outdoors, my only fears: random bird droppings and the shaking of floor rugs from the apartment above (both of which have only occurred a few times in the last six months - thankfully).

That was until this morning. After carefully putting out a load of fresh bright whites I was horrified to see water cascading down from the balcony above soiling my laundry.

I ran out calling to the neighbour above "Excuse me! Excuse me!" I called up while grappling with the heavy line of laundry trying to lift it and pull it away from the dirty sludge falling from the pot plants above.

An older woman's face popped up over the balcony above, annoyed at me!

"It's just water!" she called out as the water from her pot plants that hang over the balcony spilled over dribbling soil down as it went.

"It's not just water!" I called up, at that moment more in shock that she wasn't apologising than at her ridiculous self serving rational.

"You need to look down before you water your plants!" I called up, irritation returning but all the time trying to remind myself that courtesy is different in Italy to what it's like in Australia, America and the UK. Jumping the queue in Italy or parking your bike in the middle of a supermarket entrace obstructing entry for everyone else, is not done to be intensionally rude, it's just done as in this country courtesy rules don't apply to these two activities. So jump the queues and park your bike whereever you like and noone will be offended.

Anyway, back to my encounter with my nemice neighbour.

So, when I suggested she look down before watering her plants she responded with a pearler: "You always have your washing out!",

Uh! A cardinal sin: neighbour always drys washing.

I almost laughed before I realised she was deadly serious. Apparently, I had offended her and perhaps other neighbours by often drying my washing outside.

Irritation now reached anger. A few expletives ran freely from my mouth (swearing in Italian iss so much easier than speaking) and moved my washing inside.

So while the sun streams through my balconiesdwindows my washing is indoors. Instead of a few hours it will take at least a day to dry. The additional load which I washed this morning will now have to sit for a day in my machine before there is space to put it out to dry, or rather put it "in" to dry.

But the good news is my neighbours plants have been watered without being moved onto her balcony as a courtesy for her neighbours who may want to use their balconies without getting covered in wet dirt.

Either my neighbour is exactly what my earlier expletives suggested and my first nemice in Milan or I've missed some hidden laundry law here. If the law is anything like the Sky antennae law - we can't access Sky as a Sky antenna on the roof is thought to be aesthetically displeasing - then I'll be sure to let you know.

Australia swaps people like cars - international disgrace



Julia Gillard (bottom right) with family around the time she immigrated to Australia in the 60s. Photo from Eight Women Around the World. Framed by Antonia Scott.



Asylum seekers in Australia today. Photo from the Telegraph. Framed by Antonia Scott.

As far as I know there are only two types of situations where the "swap" of innocent human beings is permitted in today's civilised society.

One involves uber rich footballers who voluntarily partake in swapping from one club to the other regardless of geographic boundaries and the other involves criminals trafficking human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation or forced labour. The latter, where the participants are not volunteers, is illegal.

So how is it that a few people in government in Australia and Malaysia can legally engage in human being swapping? According to this new arrangement that is inhumanly referred to as the "swap deal" Prime Minister Julia Gillard will send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia and accept 4,000 verified refugees in return. Could they have simply confused a human being swap with a car swap? Surely, there's been some kind of mistake? 

According to PM Gillard, the swapping has been designed to send a message to asylum seekers that they should not risk their lives in the hope of having their claims processed in Australia.

Surely, she has missed the point? Human beings don't risk their lives and the lives of their children fleeing countries on small boats because they hope to have their claims processed. Surely she must know that many are fleeing war torn countries, famines, human torture, rape and critical poverty stricken conditions and have no other choice but to flee. For many there lives are already at risk, which is why they risk their lives in the hope of saving themselves. 

Ironically, PM Gillard is herself an immigrant from Wales. I find it interesting that an immigrant can take such a strong stand against immigrants. If Julia Gillard hadn't been allowed to immigrate to Australia she obviously would not be its current PM. So ironically it is the immigrant who in the end expels the immigrant.

A classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Sure, there is a difference between legal and illegal immigrants, the criteria for which seems to change over time depending on the economic needs of a country. But in times like these it does make you wonder why someone like Julia Gillard was allowed to immigrate into the country, to be educated and prosper, while someone of a different origin is not. 

Apparently, one of the reasons Julia Gillard's parents decided to immigrate to Australia was that when Julia was younger she suffered from bronchopneumonia and the doctor advised that a warmer climate would help Julia recover from this treatable condition.

In this case there are unaccompanied children, children whose parents have sent them off on boats, with a high risk of never seeing them again, in the hope that they will make it to Australia and a better future. Arguably those fleeing deadly conditions for themselves or their children should be priortised over those who are fleeing bad weather in the UK?

Undeniably, immigration is a complex issue but isn't that what we have PMs for? To tackle and solve complex systems and processes like immigration. How is "swapping" 800 innocent adults and children, some unaccompanied, with Malaysia, playing with their whole lives, going to deliver an improved immigration system in Australia? Why should people, who have already suffered horrendous trials that most of us will thankfully never have to experience in our lives, suffer more because Australian and Malaysian politics can't do their jobs properly?
 

Malaysia, Australia's human swapping buddy, has not even signed the international conventions on refugees. Additionally, the new policy does not concur with the United Nation's practice of allowing asylum seekers to be processed in the country in which they arrive.

According to PM Gillard it's suppose to "stop people smugglers". But according to the dictionary "to smuggle" is to bring in or take out illicitly (not sanctioned by custom or law). So isn't that exactly what Australia and Malaysia are doing in the eyes of the United Nations - people smuggling?

Shame Julia, that you do govern Australia with the insight from your personal experience. Australia saved your health and provided you with opportunity to become Australia's first female PM. Yet, you impose laws which stop Australia from providing the same sanctuary and opportunities that you and most Australians (as we are all immigrants except for the Aboriginies) have benefitted from, to others in desperate need.

Who knows one of the children you swap back to Malaysia could have one day become PM of Australia and introduced the comprehensive immigration system that you have failed to deliver. One which we could all be proud of instead of hanging our heads in international disgrace.