Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

Also includes: more on Iran's nuclear program and the possibility of an Israeli strike, Holocaust graves rediscovered, an anti-Israel "journalist" exposed and a man in Melbourne who flys the Swastika.

In yesterday's Age, Barney Zwartz has reported on a former editor of the Australian Jewish News questioning the amount that the community spends each year on security. Goldberg is undoubtedly correct in one regard: the community could benefit from extra funding for education. Th

The Sydney Morning Herald's Hamish McDonald (Jan. 21) came away from a recent visit to Israel with the view that the country's "old liberality" is being whittled away by the right and the ultra-orthodox. The latter, he wrote, "are 20 per cent of the population, breeding three times faster than more

Cabramatta is one of my favourite suburbs in Sydney. It is colourful without being too boisterous, assertive without being too aggressive. The substantial Vietnamese-Australian immigrant population has contributed in many ways, devoting industry and passion in efforts to ensure that their children

SBS TV showed a four-part drama, "The Promise", from Britain's Channel 4 and France's Canal+ and Arte France, which was characterised by rampant and crudely propagandistic political messages directed against Israel and Jews, selective, distorted portrayals of historical events, and the sanitising of

In a year punctuated by dramatic highs (the All Blacks finally winning the Rugby World Cup) and heartbreaking lows (the Christchurch earthquakes, the aftermath of the Pike River mining disaster), New Zealand's general election seemed to creep up and take many Kiwis by surprise. The lowest voter turn

Episode three of "The Promise" (11/12) sees British Mandate soldier Len, who has had his platoon raided and soldiers shot, has been caught in the King David Hotel bombing and has been shot on the street, kidnapped with two colleagues and held in a hole for 15 days, until he is released and his colle

SBS TV is showing a four-part drama, “The Promise”. The series, from Britain’s Channel 4 and France’s Canal+ and Arte France, has been widely criticised for its rampant bias against Jews and Israel. The first episode (27/11) introduced the main character, Erin, an 18-year-old

AIJAC welcomes the announcement by Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd that Australia will be pursuing additional sanctions against Iran, including measures that will "further restrict business with Iran's petroleum and financial sectors." Hopefully, these measures will, when enacted, bring Australia into

As we noted in a post last week, the EU lat weeked imposed new tougher sanctions on Iran, and today Australia followed suit. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd announced from Lithuania that Australian intends to impose additional sanctions in response to Iran's continuing non-compliance with United Nation

AIJAC mourns the passing of our esteemed former colleague David Greason - a brilliant writer and contributor to AIR, especially in the field of far-right politics in Australia and the UK. David came to us with a colourful background...

Between 1 October 1989 and 30 September 2011, I have logged incidents of "racist violence" against Jewish Australians and Jewish Australian institutions, including 566 of physical assaults or property damage, and 1,180 incidents of direct harassment and intimidation (mainly of families walking to or

For those of a certain a generation, they are names from the past that cause equal measure of dread and derision. They are the Australian cheer squad that relentlessly extolled Colonel Gaddafi's virtues in full view of his tyrannical excesses. Australians from both the extreme left and far right we

As part of its "Lost Worlds' series, SBS TV is showing a seven-part series from Britain's Channel 4 titled "The Bible: a History". The second instalment (13/11), "Abraham", was presented by Rageh Omaar, a former BBC journalist now with al-Jazeera. He described Israel as "land the Palestinians have o

Former DFAT head Richard Woolcott wrote a piece for the Age (11/11) critical of Australia's vote against Palestinian membership of UNESCO. Having spent more than half his article setting out the merits of Australia obtaining a seat on the UN Security Council, he then wrote, "In these circumstances,

One of the many admirable characteristics of the Australian archetype is a propensity for plain speaking. So it is to Prime Minister Julia Gillard's credit that Australia sent the Palestinian Authority a clear message by voting against admitting the non-existent state of Palestine to the United Nat

Australians should be proud of the fact that our Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have consistently and publicly supported, with bipartisan agreement, a genuine, negotiated two-state resolution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. This is why Australia wisely voted against the admission of Palest

Writing in the Australian (4/11) in support of the decision by UNESCO to grant membership to the Palestinians, Izzat Abdulhadi, head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, claimed, "Israeli occupation has not seen the protection and preservation of these riches. Israeli occupation has

Jake Lynch, Director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney, criticised his university for holding a research forum between Israelis and Australians. He told Imre Salusinszky, "The university risks sustaining reputational damage if the forum goes ahead. It risks bei

The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange prompted various editorials. The worst, an inaccuracy-riddled effort in the Age (20/10), remarkably expressed the hope that the exchange would "prompt a rethink in Israel" and "be an incentive to renew negotiations". It doubted it would be, continuing, "In part, th