Andy Meddick ABUSES parliamentary privilege to call Avi Yemini a 'Neo-Nazi'
While some politicians were busy being outraged that a small minority of people among the hundreds of thousands of freedom protesters displayed signs comparing Victorian Premier Dan Andrews to Hitler, another politician, MP Andy Meddick, was busy calling me and my security guard 'known Neo-Nazis'.
Yes, that's right... A Jewish journalist, a clear minority among the reporting ranks in Victoria is somehow a 'Nazi' for doing the work that the mainstream media refuses to do and report from the front lines of scenes from these historic protests in Melbourne.
So where are all of the outrage-fuelled tweets coming out in support of me? The silence is deafening.
I caught up with MP Catherine Cumming, who was standing with protesters on the steps of Parliament last week.
"I was taken aback a bit, Avi, because obviously I've met you a few times and we've had these conversations and I know that you're not a Neo-Nazi," she said.
Another protester warned that people should think twice before throwing labels around and that the scars of war still linger for many to this day.
"I've just had a girl over here, she's was really upset because she said 'someone called me a Nazi today' and I said "well don't worry about it you're not a Nazi!' and she said 'no it really hurt me because I'm Serbian and do you know what the Nazis did to us?!'", she said.
"These people need to stop and think a little bit about people's histories."
The Andy Meddick's of society have thrown that term around so much that it has lost all of its meaning.
So is it any wonder that less than a week after being labelled a Neo-Nazi reporter in Parliament I was attacked by a violent mob of counter-protesters?
Is it fair for a MP to use parliamentary privilege to paint me as something I clearly am not, so a mob feels empowered to act out violently?
More than anything, perhaps it shows a disconnect between our politicians and the people they serve. As on protester said of Meddick:
"If he was a really nice person he'd actually come down and just talk to us wouldn't he?"
Avi Yemini
Chief Australian Correspondent
Avi Yemini is the Australia Bureau Chief for Rebel News. He's a former Israeli Defence Force marksman turned citizen journalist. Avi's most known for getting amongst the action and asking the tough questions in a way that brings a smile to your face.
https://followavi.com/