Author: AJDS

Sol Salbe.
Some time ago I circulated one of those good statements put out by the Australian Jewish community’s official leadership on the local refugees/asylum seekers issue. An Israeli friend suggested, not entirely in jest, that perhaps their efforts would be better directed at the Israeli Interior Minister and others inside Israel where the situation is much worse.
Reading Sigal Rozen’s article, maybe we should indeed lobby them to lobby the Israeli leadership.

Twenty or thirty years ago, talk about the transfer of Israeli Palestinians out of their homeland to somewhere else was beyond the pale, something only found amongst the right.
But today, even amongst the most elite of American immigrants to Israel, such talk has currency as does the abandonment of democracy and pluralism.

One of the constant and justified worries of Jews in Israel and the diaspora is the state of security in the future Palestinian state, but the ‘community’ is too often fed spin and propoganda concerning the situation in Palestine.

It’s a full-bodied report, not an easy read. So read and debate.
Report of the international fact-finding mission to investigate
violations of international law, including international
humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the
Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian
assistance

Tzipi Livni of the Kadimah party has published a statement concerning a proposed new and open relationship between Israel and the Diaspora. She is particularly concerned about the religious secular split and the growth of extremism and how it alienates Jews abroad. She is clearly positioning herself for the future.
But other than that, is she really saying anything new which challenges the Zionist status quo?

It has only happened to a very small degree in Australia, but as part of an apparently coordinated strategy to undermine criticism of Israeli politics, academic ‘conferences’ are being held at places like Yale to prove the generic evil of Islam. This is on top of the frenzy over the Mosque at Ground Zero. The list of supporters and participants of such events is a who’s who of the Jewish and non-Jewish neo-con establishment as well as representatives of the Jewish right in Israel.

The moral and symbolic stand against being associated with the occupation is gaining traction.
Jewish Voices for Peace in the US has organized a letter from people involved in the creative arts and reports the event as follows:
“When some 60 leading Israeli actors and playwrights signed a letter stating they would refuse to play in the new theatre in Ariel, one of Israel’s largest settlements, the attacks from Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sport and many others were swift and intense. Over 150 leading Israeli academics and writers-including Amos Oz and David Grossman- came to their defense. It was the first time such mainstream figures had drawn a line around normalizing settlements which are illegal according to international law, and which constitute one of the main impediments to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Inspired by their courage, and responding to a call for international support, Jewish Voice for Peace has developed a statement that has been signed by over 150 theater and film professionals representing some of the most respected and renowned artists in theater, film and television – including Four Pulitzer Prize winners, several recipients of Guggenheim Fellowships, a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Medal of Honor,and scores of recipients of the highest U.S. acting honors, including Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and the Oscar.

Arena’s newly renovated ‘reception’ area in Kerr St. Fitzroy was packed with people last night attending the launch of their newly published book ‘Being Arab’. Professor Ghassan Hage launched the book with an interesting comment on the need to open up spaces in identity politics which allow for movement between particularistic attachments (place, tradition, culture, language, religion, etc.) and adherence to universalist principles such as human rights.