Mary Kostakidis, for years the face of television news in Australia as anchor of the SBS nightly broadcast, has been accused of supporting ethnic cleansing of Jews for two retweets about Israel’s war on Gaza, reports Joe Lauria.
Mary Kostakidis appearing on CN Live!, where she has been a frequent guest. (CN Live!)
For retweeting two tweets on X critical of Israel, famed Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis is facing charges of allegedly violating the country’s Racial Discrimination Act.
The complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission from Alon Cassuto, the CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, highlights just two Kostakidis retweets from January this year, both of which contain a video of a speech by Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in which he allegedly called for the ethnic cleansing of Israel.
One of the retweets is from independent British journalist Richie Medhurst, who was arrested at Heathrow airport and held for nearly 24 hours under the U.K. Terrorism Act this month. Medhurst is one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s war on Gaza. The other tweet is from a user named Censored Men.
Cassuto wants Kostakidis to apologize, remove the allegedly offensive materials from her X account; promise not to post similar tweets in future and pay his legal costs.
The complaint was levelled under Section 18C(1) of the Racial Discrimination Act, which says:
“it is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if:
(a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and
(b) the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group.”
Cassuto says Kostakidis should have made clear in her retweet of Nasrallah’s video that she did not agree or endorse it. He says Nasrallah was calling for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel.
In the retweeted video, the Hezbollah leader says: “Here, you don’t have future, and from the river to the sea, the land of Palestine is for the Palestinian people and for the Palestinian people only …”
Above that Nasrallah quote in the Censored Men retweet, Kostakidis wrote: “Israeli govt getting some of its own medicine. Israel has started something it can’t finish with this genocide.”
Cassuto told a press conference: “Those like Mary Kostakidis who have a status and a platform and a responsibility to lead, need to promote cohesion not division.”
Zionist Federation President Jeremy Leibler added: “Mary Kostakidis has misused her platform to spread ‘conspiracy theories’ to deny the use of sexual violence by Hamas on the 7th of October.”
However, Kostakidis cites in another retweet the conclusion of an exhaustive U.N. investigation that found no evidence of sexual violence by Hamas.
If the matter is not resolved at the Human Rights Commission the Zionist Federation could file civil charges in court. Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, however, ‘is drafting hate speech laws to include criminal rather than civil penalties,” The Australian newspaper reported in an article about the Kostakidis case.
Kostakidis Responds
Kostakidis has denied the charges, tweeting that they amount to an “attempt to frame me as a rape and Holocaust denier.” She wrote on X:
“This because I have been sharing the reports of extremely highly regarded independent journalists who have written about the absence of credible evidence of the claims of ‘systemic, widespread rape’ by Hamas on Oct 7.
“To be clear, I have never said there was No Rape. It is something I could never say – it would be a nonsense for anyone to make such a definitive statement.”
An exemption under the Racial Discrimination Act says:
“18D Exemptions
Section 18C does not render unlawful anything said or done reasonably and in good faith: … (c) in making or publishing:
(i) a fair and accurate report of any event or matter of public interest; or
(ii) a fair comment on any event or matter of public interest if the comment is an expression of a genuine belief held by the person making the comment.”
Regarding the retweet of Nasrallah’s video, Kostakidis told The Sydney Morning Herald: “What are you saying, that we shouldn’t hear what the other side has to say? The point of that tweet was to say that Israel is inviting an escalation, it’s inviting retribution because it is conducting a genocide.”
Kostakidis’ lawyers tweeted today:
“XD Law are proud to defend Mary Kostakidis from the charges brought against her by the Zionist Federation of Australia under s18c of the Racial Discrimination Act … for sharing tweets about Gaza.
We filed her defence at the Human Rights Commission this week. Her instructions are clear – she will not be intimidated, she will not be gagged, she will not stop covering international events as she has her entire career. And that includes Israel, warts and all.
‘The Australian Zionist Federation is weaponising Australian law in an attempt to curb criticism of Israel for its acts of genocide. I won’t be intimidated by them in the face of the slaughter of tens of thousands of children, hundreds of doctors, nurses, journalists and other civilians.’” — MK
The statement goes on to say:
“Since the conflict in Gaza began Mary has been a force on Social Media giving live updates, sharing reports on the devastation there and accounts of ordinary people trying to survive it. And she is still at it.
Over the past 40 years Mary, the face of SBS news for 20 of them, has been a central figure in building a tolerant multicultural Australia. It is that reputation that her opponents are seeking to tear down because she has dared criticise Israel.
‘Imagine a situation where we can criticise our own government’s policies and actions but not those of another state, depending on how powerful and cashed up their lobby groups are. They will continue to defame me in the press but please remember this is happening to journalists, academics and others all over the western world. We are on the right side of history and international law. I have no trouble standing up to bullies.’ — MK
Mary first heard that the complaint had been filed through an astonishing press conference conducted by the CEO of the Zionist Federation and a partner at the law firm bringing the action. Side by side they attacked her, her reputation and her life’s work without restraint.
Clearly her opponents have an eye to score public hits upon Mary irrespective of the commission proceedings. We have her covered in the courts.
There is no fundraiser yet but if you want to help defend Mary now do it in the public spaces where she is under attack. Defend free speech for all Australians. Defend social media. Defend Mary Kostakidis.”
Sawsan Madina, a former Head of SBS Television, wrote:
“The attempt to silence Mary Kostakidis has alarming implications for all of us. If a complaint can be lodged against a high profile journalist like Kostakidis, for publishing newsworthy information, what will this do to freedom of the press? How many journalists will self-censor? Will we be treated as children who are only allowed to read material deemed acceptable to the government or powerful vested interests?”
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette, the London Daily Mail and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He is the author of two books, A Political Odyssey, with Sen. Mike Gravel, foreword by Daniel Ellsberg; and How I Lost By Hillary Clinton, foreword by Julian Assange.