On opposite ends of the political spectrum, this week, there have been signs of Jews behaving sensibly – together.
The AJN (page 6) reported on the AIJAC sponsored Inter-religious Coordinating Council of Israel’s members’, Rula Shubeita, Issa Jaber, and Dr Debbie Weissman, visit to Australia.
After overcoming the cognitive dissonance, there are many elements of this initiative [...]
Aug
21
2009
21
2009
In the AJN 2 – Congratulations and Caveats: AIJAC
Aug
20
2009
20
2009
In The AJN 1: The Stark Contrast between Albert Dadon and the JCCV
A number of items in this week’s Australian Jewish News deserve a mention.
This post will contrast the highly problematic style of the JCCV with the sophistication and achievement of Albert Dadon.
What is so striking about Dadon’s opinion piece (AJN page 25), is the way it manages to be both humble and without vitriol, while still [...]
Aug
14
2009
14
2009
In The AJN – The Holocaust: No Laughing!
I remember the story of two Jewish girls in their early 20s.
They were a bit tipsy on a weeknight when they arrived at one of the girls’ family home. The young ladies didn’t want to scandalise the parents, so they tried to compose themselves before entering.
“Stop laughing,” the girl whose house it was – let’s [...]
Aug
12
2009
12
2009
Tread Carefully, Dear Leaders: John Pilger Has Won The Sydney Peace Prize
Tread carefully, dear leaders.
Remember that you are unelected representatives of Australian Jewry.
Remember that according to an AJN poll, 95% of respondents felt you are not representative of us or our interests.
Remember that your lack of mandate does not diminish the damage you can cause us.
Remember the Hanan Ashrawi Peace Prize affair. It gave birth to [...]
Jul
15
2009
15
2009
Jul
7
2009
7
2009
Defence of the Wertheim Appointment – Just Not Good Enough
About two weeks ago we began following the story of Peter Wertheim’s appointment to the position of Executive Director at ECAJ. The utterly opaque process by which this appointment had been made smacked of the very failings in accountability of leadership about which we have been writing from the outset.
In response to “letter writers to [...]
Jun
25
2009
25
2009
Questions for Robert Goot
The AJN reported today on the appointment of Peter Wertheim as Executive Director of ECAJ. The position is paid professional, as opposed to the voluntary position of President, currently occupied by Robert Goot.
Below are some questions I’ll be emailing to Mr Goot.
Jun
25
2009
25
2009
Australian Jews, a New Format, and Later Today
This blog began as a forum for for discussion of Australian Jewish issues. Because it began in Melbourne, its has tended to focus on Victorian governance and media shenanigans.
We hope, however, to commission posts soon from writers outside this city. Each community shares a number of challenges and some of these are national in scope.
Jun
11
2009
11
2009
John Searle's Speech at the June 9 Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration
At a function attended by Jewish leaders and non-Jewish luminaries, such as Premier John Brumby, to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, JCCV president, John Searle delivered a speech.
We will post the transcript in full (which can also be found at the AJN), with Mr. Searle’s words in italics, and put the key elements in bold face. We [...]
Jun
3
2009
3
2009
The Sensible Jew Salutes Antony Loewenstein.
Sometimes, we all need a bit of light relief. The Sensible Jew therefore salutes Antony Loewenstein for providing us with a very silly blog piece about Israel.
Mr. Loewenstein begins with a horrifying description of some bad amateur theatrics in which Israeli leaders at a Birthright programme play the part of Palestinians and then try to [...]
SJ Signs off – temporarily
Dear Readers,
As you will have noticed, over the past couple of weeks, all posts have been written by contributing writers (Yoram, Malki, Frochel, The Hasid, Malki, and Paroggan).
The same reasons that initially forced me to conceal my identity have forced me to cease writing completely and suddenly. Fortunately, a wonderful group of people enabled the [...]