With leadership, readership and free speech comes the responsibility of minimum fact-checking; that what sets responsible journalism apart from populist platforms, and differentiates healthy expression of opinion from malicious propaganda.

That said, I consider the mere publishing of Bill Stefaniak’s piece on Holocaust (Canberra Daily, 3 February 2022, p12) as a failure of good journalism. Bill uses a noble and just cause as a pretext to launch a smear campaign not only against indigenous Palestinians but also everyone who supports their struggle to attain a very basic human right; freedom from occupation and apartheid.

To use Bill’s word; I’m ‘appalled but not surprised’ by his lack of empathy towards the indigenous peoples’ causes (Dare I say this perhaps veneers his apologism for colonisation?). Instead of his derogatory labelling of many among our young generations or the academics, the author could well learn from them or try to educate himself a bit about the decades-long illegal occupation of Palestine, or the 13+ years of the enduring inhumane siege on Gaza Strip (home to over two million people, it is widely regarded as the largest open air concentration camp in the world). How about that for a topic in ACT schools?

– O. Mohammad, Monash ACT

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