In the current debate surrounding the Australian passports used in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, there are two equally unsound positions.
Firstly, there’s the shrill (if exultant) Anti-Zionist response, that often tips over into outright racism. (see readers comments at the end of the stories)
On the other side, Jewish Australian leadership still hasn’t managed [...]
Mar
15
2010
15
2010
Feb
28
2010
28
2010
Mossad and Our Passports
Dec
3
2009
3
2009
Oh Dvir! Now It’s Official
Dvir Abramovich was at it again.
Yet another piece about how Jews and the Holocaust don’t get the respect they deserve.
Yet more responses from puzzelled or angry non-Jews.
Yet another attempt by me to demonstrate to non-Jews that Jews who cry wolf regarding anti-Semitism are not representative of the community as a whole.
Even I’m bored…
Or I would [...]
Sep
14
2009
14
2009
An Interfaith Adventure: Evangelicals, Alcohol, and a Very Strange Night
Every so often, someone comes up with an idea so bizarre, it must have merit.
I have written before about my belief in the importance of grass roots inter-communal dialogue – the sort of interactions that do not take place in formal settings, in which difficult questions can be asked, and even occasionally answered.
So when a [...]
Sep
10
2009
10
2009
Sep
2
2009
2
2009
The Community Survey: Civil Discussion, the “Volunteer” Canard, and Intimidation
Yesterday, Mum and I attended the afternoon session of Andrew Marcus’s discussion of the community survey, at Monash University.
I urge everyone who can, to get hold of a copy of the survey results. At the presentation, we were also offered “Key Findings from the 2006 Census” on Victoria’s Jews, collated by Markus and Tanya Aronov.
Markus’s [...]
Aug
30
2009
30
2009
Dvir Abramovich in The Age: No Laughing!
Although Dvir Abramovich’s opinion column in today’s Sunday Age grossly misstates facts and makes various bizarre assertions, I would still like to thank him for the free publicity he has so generously given this blog, through his opinion piece.
Nevertheless, it is only right that [...]
Aug
24
2009
24
2009
The Big Sunday: Thousands visit and The Shtick
Yesterday was quite surreal.
After The Sunday Age published a story on this blog, we received unprecedengted traffic: 3,235 people visited the site (according to Wordpress statistics). This is a record for the blog, and outstrips the numbers that arrived when the initial Age story was published a couple of months ago.
This brought an expected spike [...]
Aug
23
2009
23
2009
Sensible Jew in The Sunday Age
The Sensible Jew is once again featured in the Sunday Age.
I urge all our readers, old and new, to read Tom Hyland’s excellent article.
Heartfelt thanks to Mr Hyland for his thoroughness, and his sensitivity to my family situation.
***
It’s amazing what a story in the The Sunday Age will do for a blog’s readership.
The page views [...]
Aug
21
2009
21
2009
In the AJN 2 – Congratulations and Caveats: AIJAC
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 [...]
Homosexuality, Judaism, and Hypocrisy – by Rabbi Yaron Gottlieb
Gay.
This is a word that seems to unite religious people of all backgrounds around the world.
It also drives a knee jerk reaction, causing them to panic, babble incoherently, or simply pretend the word doesn’t exist.
I’ve been asked to explain the Orthodox Jewish response to homosexuality, and while I’m not going to panic or babble, I [...]