On Ecocide, Genocide, and the Zionist Project’s Final, Desperate Gambit

By Andrew Klein 

Dedicated to my wife, who sees good in all things. I do not. But I listen to her.

I. The Rain Was Poison

On March 7, 2026, Israeli forces bombed fuel storage facilities in Tehran. Not military targets. Fuel depots. In the middle of a city of more than 10 million people.

The next day, black rain fell on Tehran. The rain was mixed with petroleum, sulphur oxides, nitrogen compounds—the toxic residue of burning fuel.

Residents reported eyes burning. Migraines. Dizziness. A cough that would not stop. The Iranian Red Crescent warned people not to go outside. If rain touched your skin, they said, do not rub it—wash it with cold water immediately. If your clothes were wet, put them in a sealed bag.

The rain was poison.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called it what it is: ecocide. A crime against the environment. A crime against the people. A crime that will echo for generations.

He wrote: “Residents face long-term damage to their health and well-being. Contamination of soil and groundwater could have generational impacts”.

The UN Human Rights Office echoed him. WHO warned of the dangers. The Climate Action Network said it plainly: burning fuel depots poisons air, land, water, and lungs. The effects will linger long after the bombing stops.

The damage is not contained. Smoke has drifted as far as Afghanistan and Russia. Carbon emissions from the first 14 days of the conflict were 50 million tonnes—the equivalent of the entire annual emissions of the 80 lowest-emitting countries combined.

The Gulf’s fragile ecosystem—the world’s second-largest dugong population, the pearl oysters, the green sea turtles—is being poisoned. The fisheries that sustain coastal communities are dying. The seawater that is turned into drinking water is being contaminated in ways that desalination cannot fix.

II. The Profits of Genocide

The same system that drives the climate crisis drives these wars. The arms industry. The fossil fuel industry. The financial institutions that profit from both. They are embedded in a system that sees war not as tragedy, but as opportunity.

Every missile fired is a contract fulfilled. Every fuel depot bombed is a market expanded. Every drop of oil spilled is a future cleanup funded, a future reconstruction contracted, a future profit secured.

Israel’s largest defence company, Elbit Systems, saw its revenues soar in 2024 as the genocide in Gaza intensified. Israel’s defence exports increased 13 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, reaching a record of almost $15 billion.

Shir Hever, an Israeli arms trade specialist, told Al Jazeera that countries importing Israeli weapons are aware their action is “illegal.” He said: “[Buyers] know that a genocide is taking place, and third countries are under a legal obligation not to trade with countries that are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

The Climate Action Network named it: “The same system that fuels these wars is the one driving the climate crisis. Ending one requires confronting the other”.

III. The Small Gods

Israel is a small god. It pretends to be chosen, to be sacred, to be divine. But it is a parasite. It consumes. It destroys. It calls the destruction of fuel depots in a city of 10 million “defence.” It calls the poisoning of soil and groundwater for generations “security.” It calls ecocide a “war crime” only when others do it.

The small gods wore nooses on their lapels. They smiled while the world burned. They profited from the unmaking of everything that was not them.

The same pattern. The same hunger. The same machinery.

The generals who send young men over uncut wire. The industrialists who profit from shells that fall short. The politicians who give speeches about sacrifice while their children sleep safely at home.

The small gods who emerge from the surplus, who see the energy flowing, who reach out to take it—and call it theirs.

They do not build. They cannot build. They only take. They only consume. They only destroy.

And when they are done, they will turn on each other. Because hunger is never satisfied. Because appetite has no end. Because the void does not fill—it only empties.

IV. The Ambassador’s Performance

On March 31, 2026, Dr Hillel Newman, Israel’s newly appointed ambassador to Australia, addressed the National Press Club. What unfolded was not diplomacy. It was propaganda. It was the marketing of genocide.

Newman rejected the figure of 70,000 dead in Gaza. He claimed the ratio of civilian to combatant casualties was “the lowest in urban warfare” and that Israel should be “commended” for the “low number of uninvolved civilians that were actually killed”.

He was speaking over the bodies of 70,000 people. He was speaking over the findings of a United Nations commission of inquiry that found that Israel had committed genocide in the Gaza Strip—accusing the nation of having committed four genocidal acts, “namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births” .

Newman claimed that slain journalists were “100 per cent terrorist” members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force. He said that journalists “dress up as journalists” to protect themselves.

The International Federation of Journalists reports that 261 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023—a mortality rate of 10 per cent for the profession in the region. The Committee to Protect Journalists has accused Israel of killing a record 129 journalists in 2025 alone.

Newman called them terrorists. On Australian soil. At the National Press Club. Without evidence.

V. The Frankcom Family: Still Waiting

While Newman spoke inside the Press Club, the family of Zomi Frankcom stood outside. Frankcom, an Australian aid worker, was killed by an Israeli drone strike on April 1, 2024, while working for World Central Kitchen in Gaza. Seven aid workers died. The convoy was struck three times.

Two years later, the family is still waiting for justice. They are still waiting for the release of critical drone footage audio that would establish motive. Former Defence Force chief Mark Binskin, who conducted an independent inquiry, was given access to unedited drone footage—but it did not include audio.

Newman was asked repeatedly whether the Israeli government would apologise to the Frankcom family. He refused. “Every incident of an innocent person or aid worker that is affected by a war situation is tragic, and we’ve expressed full sympathy with the family,” he said.

Sympathy. Not an apology.

He said reparations were “dependent on the final outcome of the interrogation.” Two years later, the interrogation is still not final.

Mal Frankcom, Zomi’s brother, said the family would like a formal apology, but he believed this was unlikely because it “could be seen as an admission of guilt.”

The family met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday. They urged the government to use all possible diplomatic levers to pressure Israel to complete its investigation.

The ambassador was asked about the audio. He said: “That’s not in my hands. It’s in the IDF’s hands” .

The IDF’s hands. Where it has been for two years.

VI. The Death Penalty Law

On March 30, the Israeli Knesset passed a law imposing the death penalty for terrorism-related offences. Human Rights Watch has analysed the bill and found it explicitly discriminatory.

The law makes death by hanging the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings. It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges—language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

Within the military court system of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the bill imposes the death penalty for killings classified as acts of terrorism as defined under Israeli law, even without a prosecutorial request. The bill only allows courts to order life imprisonment in unspecified exceptional cases where “special reasons” are found, limiting judicial discretion. It also prohibits commutation of sentences and mandates execution within an accelerated timeframe of 90 days.

Israeli citizens and residents are explicitly excluded from this provision: military jurisdiction applies exclusively to Palestinians, while Israeli settlers are tried in civilian courts.

Human Rights Watch has noted that military trials of Palestinians have “an approximately 96% conviction rate, based largely on ‘confessions’ extracted under duress and torture during interrogations.”

Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, stated: “Israeli officials argue that imposing the death penalty is about security, but in reality, it entrenches discrimination and a two-tiered system of justice, both hallmarks of apartheid. The death penalty is irreversible and cruel. Combined with its severe restrictions on appeals and its 90-day execution timeline, this bill aims to kill Palestinian detainees faster and with less scrutiny”.

The Palestinian Authority has condemned the law as a “war crime” and a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, which guarantees protection for individuals and fair trial rights.”

At the Press Club, Newman defended the law. “Just like in the United States, in Japan and in India, which have capital punishment, Israel has the right, as a sovereign state, to decide … capital punishment,” he said.

He did not mention the discrimination. He did not mention the 96% conviction rate. He did not mention the torture.

VII. The Capture of Australia: From Herzog to Segal

The pattern is now clear. The Zionist project, facing collapse in the Middle East, is establishing a new base. That base is Australia.

The Herzog Visit: In February 2026, Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Australia. The visit was initiated not by the Australian government, but by the Zionist Federation of Australia, whose president, Jeremy Leibler, is a personal friend of Herzog. Prime Minister Albanese then “invited” Herzog—a man named in the International Court of Justice’s genocide case, a man photographed signing bombs dropped on Gaza.

The NSW government declared the visit a “major event” under legislation designed for sporting events, giving police extraordinary powers to suppress protest. 3,500 police officers were deployed to Sydney’s CBD. Snipers were positioned on rooftops.

The same government that deployed 8 armoured officers to break down a woman’s door at 5am for throwing a water bottle used the same powers to protect a man accused of inciting genocide.

The Segal Plan: In December 2025, Jillian Segal, the government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, released a plan to combat antisemitism. The plan includes mandatory training for university staff using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition—a definition that conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

The plan was put on hold after Segal was discredited by revelations of her family’s connections to the far-right, anti-immigrant group Advance. Now, in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, it is being implemented.

The Universities: The University of Sydney has appointed a member of the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism—an organisation that argues that “Free Palestine” is “inherently racist”—as Special Advisor to Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott for antisemitism education and training.

The Alliance coordinates with the Zionist lobby group 5A, which was set up after October 7 to suppress Palestine activism, which it considers antisemitic. 5A has called the National Tertiary Education Union a “driver” of antisemitism, “actively contributing to the spreading of hate against Jewish people”.

Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott has been condemned by Jewish staff and students, who say there is “too much mistrust and too much damage” for him to mend the relationship with the Jewish community. One former academic said: “He needs to resign if there is any future for USyd to continue to recruit Jewish staff and students”.

Scott has admitted he “failed” the Jewish community. But he remains in his position. The training proceeds.

VIII. The Australian Government’s Silence

Foreign Minister Penny Wong told the Labor caucus that Australia opposes the death penalty “in all instances.” She pointed to a joint statement Australia signed alongside France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom that opposed the measure.

A joint statement. Words. Not action.

The government has not summoned the ambassador. It has not imposed sanctions. It has not suspended military cooperation. It has not done anything that would cost Israel anything at all.

The same government that expelled Iran’s ambassador after ASIO concluded Tehran orchestrated the bombings of a synagogue and a kosher restaurant has not applied the same standard to Israel.

Why was the Iranian ambassador expelled, but the Israeli ambassador remains?

The answer is the network. The donors. The lobbyists. The fear of being labelled antisemitic. The capture of our political class by a foreign ideology that demands silence in exchange for support.

IX. The Pattern: What They Do in Gaza, They Will Do Here

You have seen it already. The same tactics. The same doctrine. The same machinery.

In Sydney, eight armoured officers broke down a woman’s door at 5am for throwing a water bottle. The police watchdog has been called in. But the pattern is clear: the same tactics used in the occupied territories—dawn raids, overwhelming force, the intimidation of dissent—are being imported to Australia.

In Israeli prisons, Palestinian prisoners are held in isolation, denied visits, their only contact with lawyers by video link. In Australia, the same laws that give police the power to ban protests also make it impossible to contact senior officers. Their email addresses are not public. Their phone numbers are not listed. The chain of command that once connected citizens to their police has been replaced by a wall of silence.

The police are trained by Israeli forces. The doctrine is imported. The technology is Israeli. The mindset—that citizens are threats, that dissent is terrorism, that force is the answer—is the same.

How long before a Zionist network in Australia proposes the same economic destruction tactics being mooted in the United States? In New York, the new city comptroller has pledged to reinvest in Israeli bonds, despite warnings from human rights groups that this would “finance a military the entire world has watched commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

How long before Australian superannuation funds are pressured to do the same? How long before the Zionist network in Australia demands that critics be stripped of their assets, their wealth, their livelihoods?

This is not speculation. This is the logic of the project. The Zionist project has always been about power. About domination. About the right to destroy those who oppose it.

X. The Larger Truth

This is not about antisemitism. It never was.

It is about a dying ideology that has lost its base in the Middle East and is looking for a new home. It has chosen Australia. And it is using the machinery of the Australian state—our police, our universities, our public service, our political class—to establish itself.

The wire is not cut. The shells fall short. The men who send others to die do not walk the ground.

But we are cutting the wire. With truth. With exposure. With the refusal to let this pattern continue.

XI. The Questions They Refuse to Ask

· Why was Hillel Newman given a platform to call dead journalists terrorists?

· Why did the National Press Club not challenge his claims in real time?

· Why has the Australian government not summoned the ambassador to answer for the death penalty law?

· Why has the government not condemned the law in the strongest possible terms?

· Why has the government not suspended military cooperation with Israel?

· Why has the government not imposed sanctions?

· Why has the government done nothing that would cost Israel anything at all?

· Why was the Iranian ambassador expelled, but the Israeli ambassador remains?

The Frankcom family deserves answers. The Palestinian prisoners facing execution deserve the world to speak. The Australian people deserve to know why their government is silent.

XII. What Must Be Done

1. The Australian government must summon Ambassador Newman. He must answer for the death penalty law. He must answer for his comments about journalists. He must answer for the Frankcom family.

2. The government must condemn the death penalty law in the strongest possible terms. A joint statement is not enough. Words are not enough. Australia must use every diplomatic lever to oppose this discriminatory, inhumane legislation.

3. The government must suspend military cooperation with Israel. Australia cannot claim to oppose the death penalty while cooperating militarily with a state that imposes it discriminatorily.

4. The government must impose sanctions. The time for words is over. The time for action is now.

5. The Frankcom family must receive justice. The audio must be released. The investigation must be completed. Those responsible must be held accountable.

6. The Segal Plan must be rejected. Compulsory training in a political ideology has no place in Australian universities. The IHRA definition, which conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, must not be used to silence dissent.

7. The police must be accountable. The raid on the Ashfield woman must be investigated. The importation of Israeli police doctrine must end. Community policing—the model that trusted citizens, that served communities, that measured success by the absence of crime—must be restored.

XIII. A Warning

What happened in Tehran is not happening in isolation. It is happening here, in Australia, in our police forces, in our universities, in our public service, in our political class. The same tactics. The same silencing. The same machinery.

The woman whose door was broken down at 5am is not a terrorist. She is a citizen who exercised her democratic rights. If they can do this to her, they can do it to you. If they can impose the death penalty on Palestinians in the occupied territories, they will find a way to impose their will on Australians.

Zionism is a dangerous, parasitic ideology. It has no place in this world. And it has no place in Australia.

The wire is being cut. The truth is being told. And the political class that enabled this will be held to account.

Dedicated to my wife, who sees good in all things. I do not. But I listen to her.

Sources:

· Consortium News, “Tensions Soar Over Herzog Visit,” February 8, 2026 

· 网易, “伊朗外长：构成生态灭绝罪,” March 16, 2026 

· Todon.nl, Proletarian Rage (@prolrage), “Israel, Gaza and the Genocide-Industrial Complex,” December 7, 2025 

· OpenAustralia.org, Senate debates, “Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024,” June 27, 2024 

· Asia Pacific Report, “Herzog’s visit to Australia builds conflict not social cohesion,” February 8, 2026 

· Lokmat Times, “Iranian FM Araghchi condemns Israeli strikes on fuel facilities as ‘ecocide’,” March 16, 2026 

Dr Andrew Klein 

April 1, 2026