The AJDS often hosts unique events and gatherings, attended by a diverse crowd that gathers to talk in ways otherwise unavailable. We cherish these moments and always try to keep a record of each as best we can – notes, pictures, and recordings. For this reason, we call upon our members and supporters to dig deep […]
In April 1999 the Australian Jewish News pressured editor David Bernstein to resign, following remarks about the Balkans and Israel/Palestine, which were considered intolerable by the newspaper and powerful agents in the Jewish community. The AJDS condemned the censorship. Our official statement read: The Australian Jewish Democratic Society deplores the circumstances that led to the resignation of […]
Below are links to the filmed footage from the July 25, 2015, ALP Fringe conference panel, featuring and organised by members of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) and the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS). The topic for discussion was the demise of the process cemented by the Oslo Accords, and Australia’s possible role in […]
This is a shout-out to our members and supporters: Do you know of a permanent space that can house no more than 15 archive boxes? This is the entirety of the AJDS archive, a precious collection of materials that needs a new home. It is currently temporarily situated at Joan Nestle’s home but not for […]
Recently our executive member Danya Jacobs has located the original document outlining the Australian Jewish Democratic Society’s Statement of Purposes, dated August 30, 1989, and signed by Philip Mendes. To a great extent, the wording originally adopted by the AJDS to describe the purpose of the association has withstood the last thirty-four years quite well: […]
By Joan Nestle One afternoon in March of this year, Sivan Barak, Larry Stillman, Max Kaiser and Mark Jarvinen struggled through my front gate at 4 Fitzgibbon in West Brunswick, their arms straining with overflowing boxes of AJDS ‘stuff.’ Some of you may remember I volunteered to be the starting point of a formal AJDS […]
By Max Kaiser “It would get bogged down by others saying ‘but you haven’t mentioned this’ or ‘that’s not a good idea to mention that’ or ‘why did you put a comma there?’” – Tom Wolkenberg discussing the difficulties of collectively drafting letters to the editor, AJDS Oral History Project interview, 27 May 2014. […]
As you read this newsletter, we find ourselves days away from a Federal election. For those of us that care deeply about asylum seekers and refugees, this is a very difficult ballot. With both the ALP and the Coalition demonising asylum seekers and refugees through harsh rhetoric and proposed policy changes.
The debate at the plenum of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria held on 3 June 2013, concerning the activity of the Australian Jewish Democratic Society relating to the settlements, suggests that there may be a lack of information about the very real harm which the settlements and the occupation do to the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the Israel Palestine conflict.
Open discussion is an important aspect of any community. When the AJDS launched its ‘Don’t Buy from the Settlements’ Campaign at Pesach this year, we did so with the aim of being part of an ongoing, world-wide discussion about Israel/Palestine.