Dave Nadel is a longtime activist, and has made this comment about the media release:
This is particularly relevant this week. Nicola Roxon, granddaughter of Jewish refugees from Nazism, is allowing ASIO to get away with rejecting Tamil refugees who have already been cleared as genuine refugees. If the ASIO reports were made public they would undoubtedly reveal that ASIO is accepting advice from the Sri Lankan security forces who regard most Tamils as terrorists. This harkens back to 1939 when some German and Austrian Jews were barred as refugees from Australia and the US because of their “criminal records” They had criminal records because the Nazis considered all Jews as criminals and the local immigration officers were accepting information from the German police. Nicola Roxon should know better
Jews For Refugees Media Release: 16 May 2012
*Please forward on to your networks*
You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.
(The most often repeated injunction in the Torah – appearing 36 times)
The World Refugee Day Rally, endorsed by 50 organisations, will be held on Sunday 17 June and we invite people to join us under the Jews For Refugees banner. The rally starts at 12 midday on the steps of Parliament House in Spring Street and will march to join the Emerge Festival at the Fitzroy Town Hall. More details of our meeting point will be publicised well before the rally.
Ten years ago 700 people in the Jewish community publicly protested the plight of asylum seekers; people who had fled from war and persecution; people who literally arrived on our shores in boats seeking protection; people who were then locked up under an Australian government policy of mandatory, indefinite detention. That protest was co-ordinated by Jews For Refugees.
Mandatory detention is now 20 years old. Things have not changed. Asylum seekers arriving by boat are still locked up by the Australian government, and issues relating to who they are and how they arrive, are debated in a climate of fear, resentment and anger, largely directed at the very people who deserve a humane response from us – in a country blessed with the resources to assist those in need.
A new group of people in the Jewish community have restarted Jews For Refugees because many people in our community are aware, from their own family histories, of what it means to have been strangers; what it means to have a well founded fear of persecution; what it means to seek a safe haven; to seek asylum.
Spokesperson for the group, Max Kaiser said, “Actively working to help people in need is both an expression of contemporary Jewish attitudes and is strongly connected to Jewish values and ethics stretching back millennia”
For more details about Jews For Refugees contact Max Kaiser on 0423 234 069 or email ([email protected]). We can also be found on Facebook (search for ‘Jews For Refugees’ or go to https://www.facebook.com/JewsForRefugees).
Contact details: Max Kaiser Mob: 0423 234 069
Linda Briskman Mob: 0417 500 274
Author: AJDS
The following message has been communicated to Bob Carr as Minister for Foreign Affairs and other MPs.
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society urges the Australian government to express its deep concern to the Israeli government over the use of administrative detention with Palestinian prisoners, the result of which is the widespread hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners.
Administrative detention regulations which allow Israel to hold prisoners without charge in arbitrary detention for what amounts to an indeterminate period are arcane and contrary to principles of human rights and particularly, the right to a fair trial for alleged crimes, and legal assistance.
Sarit Michael, from the Israeli human rights organisation B´Tselem states that “Our analysis of the use of administrative detention by Israel leads us to conclude that it is used in a way that far exceeds the provisions in international law,” , and concludes that that Israel is using administrative detention to hold onto people who are a thorn in their side, even when there has been no criminal activity.
This is not appropriate activity for a country which promotes itself as a democracy ruled by law.
Yours sincerely
Larry Stillman
Harold Zwier
11 May 2012
More information, see B’Tstelem.
Please click the link below to download the new AJDS April newsletter.
Enjoy!
In 2002 the ‘Jews for refugees’ group held a successful Pesach gathering/rally outside the Maribynong Detention Centre. It attracted over 600 Jews to protest against the mandatory detention of asylum seekers.
Check out this article on the protest for inspiration http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/25603
In 2012 there are over 4,500 asylum seekers still in detention. 500 of these are children and 250 people have been in detention for over 2 years.
We invite you to participate in a discussion about what we, as Jews, can do to oppose the horrendous treatment of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia.
Please come to a meeting on Sunday the 22nd of April at 2 pm at the Melbourne Multicultural Hub- White room, 506 Elizabeth St (Opposite the Queen Victoria Market).
Peter Beinhart has become a heavy hitter in the American Jewish scene.
Below is his recent NYTimes op-ed piece of March 19th.
TO believe in a democratic Jewish state today is to be caught between the jaws of a pincer.
On the one hand, the Israeli government is erasing the “green line” that separates Israel proper from the West Bank. In 1980, roughly 12,000 Jews lived in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem). Today, government subsidies have helped swell that number to more than 300,000. Indeed, many Israeli maps and textbooks no longer show the green line at all.
In 2010, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called the settlement of Ariel, which stretches deep into the West Bank, “the heart of our country”. Through its pro-settler policies, Israel is forging one political entity between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea -an entity of dubious democratic legitimacy, given that millions of West Bank Palestinians are barred from citizenship and the right to vote in the state that controls their lives.
For uncritical or one-eyed supporters of Israel, this report will be rejected out of hand as biased and exaggerated.
In fact, this is a very sobering document about the situation in Israel proper and the Occupied Territories from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of the UNHCR.
The report has two key findings–
— “The Committee recognizes the issues related to security and stability in the region. The State party [Israel] should, however, ensure that, in conformity with the principles of the Convention, measures taken are proportionate, do not discriminate in purpose or in effect against Palestinian citizens of Israel, or Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, or any other minorities whether in Israel proper or in territories under the State party’s effective control; and that they are implemented with full respect for human rights as well as relevant principles of international humanitarian law.
— “The Committee reiterates its view that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are not only illegal under international law but are an obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights by the whole population, without distinction as to national or ethnic origin. Actions that change the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Occupied Syrian Golan are also of concern as violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Within the 1967 borders, The Committee is also highly critical of Bedouin relocation laws, saying that they “would legalize the ongoing policy of demolitions and forced displacement of the indigenous Bedouin communities” and that “The Committee is concerned about the current situation of Bedouin communities, particularly with regard to the policy of demolitions, notably of homes and other structures, and the increasing difficulties faced by members of these communities in gaining access on a basis of equality with Jewish inhabitants to land, housing, education, employment and public health. ”
The report also comments on the need for stronger anti-discrimination laws, and “to make every effort to eradicate all forms of segregation between Jewish and non-Jewish communities”.
Unfortnately, Israel appears to have spat the dummy. I cannot locate any official response to this report, and Israel “will bar a U.N. team from entering Israel or the West Bank for a planned investigation of Jewish settlements”. The team comes from an associated UNHCR body. Source.
For supporters of Israel, this report will be rejected out of hand as biased and exaggerated.
In fact, this is a very sober document. For those who admit that there is human rights abuse, in the Occupied Territories, the report is very much what we already know, that institutionalised separation that is par for the course, particularly in the Occupied Territories and that the Bedouin are subjected to a forced removal.
The report has two key findings–
— “The Committee recognizes the issues related to security and stability in the region. The State party [Israel] should, however, ensure that, in conformity with the principles of the Convention, measures taken are proportionate, do not discriminate in purpose or in effect against Palestinian citizens of Israel, or Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, or any other minorities whether in Israel proper or in territories under the State party’s effective control; and that they are implemented with full respect for human rights as well as relevant principles of international humanitarian law.
— “The Committee reiterates its view that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are not only illegal under international law but are an obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights by the whole population, without distinction as to national or ethnic origin. Actions that change the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Occupied Syrian Golan are also of concern as violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Within the 1967 borders, The Committee is also highly critical of Bedouin relocation laws, saying that they “would legalize the ongoing policy of demolitions and forced displacement of the indigenous Bedouin communities” and that “The Committee is concerned about the current situation of Bedouin communities, particularly with regard to the policy of demolitions, notably of homes and other structures, and the increasing difficulties faced by members of these communities in gaining access on a basis of equality with Jewish inhabitants to land, housing, education, employment and public health. ”
The report also comments on the need for stronger anti-discrimination laws, and “to make every effort to eradicate all forms of segregation between Jewish and non-Jewish communities”.
Richard Silverstein in his blog has made this brilliant cartoon by Iranian Mana Neyestani available .
Richard Silverstein in his blog has made this brilliant cartoon by Iranian Mana Neyestani available .
The partisan approach to civil law and order in Israel comes out in the reluctance of Jerusalem police to take action against fans of the right-wing club Beitar who threatened Palestinians workers and chanted slogans after a soccer game. Now, what would have happened if Palestinian youth had done this?
You can watch the video and read about this event at the 972mag website.