Statement about the United Israel Appeal's guest speakers

by AJDS on

full-page-JN_5-feb_FA_sold-out1Members of the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS) are dismayed that the United Israel Appeal (UIA) has brought a series of ill-considered speakers to Australia to support their 2015 fundraising campaign. Amongst these speakers are people who consistently voice Islamophobic and racist sentiments; who oppose the end of the Occupation; and who actively call for military solutions to political problems, which could result in more bloodshed.
We are concerned that such speakers add nothing productive to conversations in our community and in our society more generally. On the contrary, the hate speech that some of them offer actively works against creating an Israel/Palestine which is just and peaceful. There are many speakers – Israeli and Palestinian – who could speak to us and inspire us with ideas for a vastly different future for Israel/Palestine. It is disappointing that the UIA was unable to provide these much needed voices for Australian Jews to listen to.
The Jewish communities in Australia should be united at this point in time in condemning Islamophobia and any speakers who would support it. Just as we call on other communities to condemn antisemitism, so too should we condemn racism, wherever it may appear.
 
This official AJDS statement was issued 3/3/15

6 Replies to “Statement about the United Israel Appeal's guest speakers”

  1. Richard Flantz says:

    Maybe it’s a good thing that the UIA is bringing these speakers here. Maybe it’s more important to show the truth: that Jews in Australia, and in the world, are NOT united: that there are among us, as among non-Jews, racists, Fascists & Islamophobes who support the brutal, oppressive, & racist occupation regime of the State of Israel, as well as humanists & humanitarians who oppose them & the occupation & all the other crimes against humanity & civil rights committed by the state that mendaciously & arrogantly calls itself “the nation-state of the Jewish people”.

  2. Richard Flantz says:

    Maybe it’s a good thing that the UIA is bringing these speakers here. Maybe it’s more important to show the truth: that Jews in Australia, and in the world, are NOT united: that there are among us, as among non-Jews, racists, Fascists & Islamophobes who support the brutal, oppressive, & racist occupation regime of the State of Israel, as well as humanists & humanitarians who oppose them & the occupation & all the other crimes against humanity & civil rights committed by the state that mendaciously & arrogantly calls itself “the nation-state of the Jewish people”.

    1. Admin says:

      Brigitte Gabriel’s anti-Muslim views have been monitored by right wing watch group in America:
      http://www.rightwingwatch.org/cat…/people/brigitte-gabriel
      She is quoted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the New York times as saying to the Australian Jewish News that “Every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim.” and according to CAIR also that “Islamo-fascism is a politically-correct word … it’s the vehicle for Islam … Islam is the problem.” https://www.cair.com/…/11824-cair-islamophobia…
      You can hear a snippet here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaocTdWOtJ4

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