Open letter to the Navy adviser on Muslim Affairs, Captain Mona Shindy

The following open letter to Captain Mona Shindy, a Muslim lady who has been promoted to the rank of captain in the Royal Australian Navy, and who is apparently adviser to the Chief of the Navy on Muslim affairs, was published in the March 2016 edition of Quadrant magazine.

Dear Captain Shindy,

I would, as a taxpayer and citizen, be much obliged if you would answer the following questions. All except Questions 14a and 15 may be answered by a simple “Yes” or “No”.

1) Do you believe the Koran is the complete and unalterable word of Allah as revealed to his messenger Mohammad?

2) Do you believe in sharia law, including punishments such as amputation for theft?

3) Do you believe women taken prisoners of war by Muslims may be used as sex-slaves, or other slaves?

4) Do you believe a woman’s evidence in court is worth half as much as a man’s?

5) Do you believe apostates from Islam should be put to death?

6) Do you believe homosexuals should be put to death?

7) Do you believe it is permissible for a Muslim to lie to unbelievers?

8) Do you believe a Muslim man can validly divorce his wife by saying “I divorce thee” three times?

9) Do you believe Jews and Christians should pay the dhimmi tax and other disabilities?

10) Do you agree with those Muslim states which make it a capital offence to sell land to a Jew?

11) Do you support Israel’s right to exist behind secure boundaries?

12) Do you believe it should be permissible for Jews and Christians to build places of worship in Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia?

13) Do you believe Jews should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem?

14) Do you believe the location of the Australian embassy to Israel should be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?

14a) If not, why not?

15) In your address to the Royal United Services Institute of New South Wales on March 31, 2015, you stated inter alia: “Another example of double standards is the world’s reluctance or inability to enforce the 1948 United Nations resolution regarding the Israeli-occupied territories of Palestine, but its willingness to take prompt and decisive action against other nations such as Iraq, even in the absence of a United Nations mandate.” What exactly do you mean by this and which 1948 resolution do you refer to?

15a) Is this statement consistent with the rule that serving officers should not comment on political subjects?

16) Do you agree that Israel was the victim of aggressive war by Arab states in 1948, 1967 and 1973?

17) Do you agree that Israel has been the victim of innumerable rocket attacks and other acts of terrorism?

18) Is your paramount loyalty to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen of Australia, and her lawful representatives?

I await your reply with interest.

Hal G.P. Colebatch
Nedlands, WA

How about land for a state in Sinai?

Perhaps it's time to revive this plan of Sisi's?? ...from JPost, 8 Sept 2014:

Israeli politicians praise Sisi plan to give Palestinians land for a state in Sinai

Abbas reportedly rejected plan that would expand Gaza to five times its current size and give PA autonomy in West Bank cities; Yesh Atid's Peri, Bayit Yehudi's Shaked say proposal worth exploring.

                                

Sisi and Abu-Mazen:REUTERS

 

Israeli politicians responded enthusiastically ...to reports that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was willing to give Palestinians land in Sinai adjacent to Gaza for a state.

Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri, a former Shin Bet chief, said he's surprised by Sisi's generosity, calling the proposal "worth discussing seriously."

On Monday, Army Radio reported that Sisi had offered Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas 1,600 square kilometers in Sinai to expand the Gaza Strip to five times its current size. According to the plan, the territory would serve as a Palestinian state under the complete control of the PA.

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The new territory, composed of Gaza together with the extra land in Sinai, would be a demilitarized state that would serve as a home to which Palestinian refugees could return.

In addition to the "Greater Gaza State," the cities currently in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank would be under the autonomous rule of the PA. In exchange, Abbas would give up claims to a state within the pre-1967 lines.

The proposal, which was reported previously in the Arab media last week as having been offered by a senior Egyptian official, but not specifically Sisi, was rejected outright by Abbas.

Peri asked several questions arising from the Egyptian proposal in an interview with Army Radio: "What will happen to Judea and Samaria? What will be with Jerusalem? The idea that major cities in Judea and Samaria will have autonomy is vague; everyone can understand it in a different way."

Still, the Yesh Atid minister said, "there are elements that are worth discussing despite Abbas's refusal."

"This could solve problems that weren't given a response in talks between Israel and the Palestinians so far," he added.

Peri also pointed out that Sisi's initiative suits Egyptian interests, since there are problems with terrorism in the Sinai.

Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked said the Egyptian president "discerned what the Israeli Left refuses to understand for decades."

"The solution to the Palestinian problem," she added, "must be regional and cannot fall on Israel's shoulders alone."

Shaked called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to meet with Sisi and examine whether the initiative is possible.

According to Monday's Army Radio report, Netanyahu has already been updated on the details of the Egyptian proposal, as have US government sources who have expressed support for the idea.