Australian Jewish Democratic Society
A PROGRESSIVE VOICE AMONG JEWS, A JEWISH VOICE AMONG PROGRESSIVES
By Jemima Light Jordan Valley Solidarity (JVS) is a Palestinian-led, grassroots community group. Palestinians and international volunteers work together to protect both Palestinian existence and the unique environment of the Jordan Valley. This is done…
In October, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS) hosted an informal evening event with Prof. Jeff Halper, Co-ordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a peace and human rights organisation that resists the…
Interview with Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian occupied territories. Originally published in Arena Magazine, Issue No 126, October/November 2013.
Public Lecture with Prof. Jeff Halper. Lecture Topic – Imagining the Future: Towards a Multi-Cultural Middle East Confederation.
THERE is a scene in The West Wing where the US president’s advisers caution him about launching another bid for Middle East peace. Toby Ziegler says to President Jed Bartlet: “The road to the Nobel Prize is the road to noble failure.”
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.
There have always been claims that the leadership of the Jewish community tries to silence critics – whether they are critics of Israel or the Jewish community. But I disagree.
The Jewish Community Council’s condemnation of the AJDS for alleged sins and crimes brings forth the big question—so just what is BDS? What the bulls, bullies and others in the Lobby present is something far different from the reality.
At a recent plenum meeting of the JCCV the policy of the AJDS calling for a boycott of goods manufactured in the West Bank was strongly condemned. Some of the opinions expressed about the AJDS at the plenum meeting were quite robust and emotional.
Recently, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS) was condemned by the JCCV in a motion moved by the State Zionist Council of Victoria. The motion ‘deplores and condemns the [Don’t Buy from the Settlements Campaign] policy on the basis that it is repugnant.