Over recent weeks I’ve focused on keeping readers apprised of relevant and interesting stories that might be a bit off the beaten path of Australian media.  And in this vein I’ll begin with the brewing revolt within British Labor over Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the 13 November terrorist atrocity in …

There are no angels in the clash of contending fanaticisms that is the Syrian civil war. On one side you have Sunni ­jihadis of Islamic State pursuing a grotesque Islamic neo-caliphate constructed on the skulls of their beheaded victims. And opposite are Shia jihadis of Hezbollah and Iran fighting on …

Written by Ted Lapkin – Director of Public Affairs for the Zionist Federation of Australia ======== Imagine a world in which Melissa Parke – the far-left, largely unknown federal Labor Member for Fremantle – defies the odds and wins the ALP leadership. And in our hypothetical scenario one of the …

These school holidays marked the very first Kangarusski holiday camp in Sydney. Kangarusski is the Zionist Federation of Australia’s Russian Speaking Jewish Community department. The idea started in Melbourne with shilchah, Sasha Klyachkina and now for the first time under RSJC coordinator Anna Maylis, there were twenty children to attend …

An invitation to an event by six-member delegation of Scientists, Agriculturalists and Educators from the Central Arava region in Israel, who are visiting Australia for the first time. ============ One of the most remarkable things about the Arava region in Israel is that in this spectacular but arid and sparsely …

FULL TEXT OF THE STATEMENT FROM ZFA PRESIDENT DR DANNY LAMM IN RESPONSE TO AUSTRALIAN GREENS CHANGE OF POSITION ON ISRAEL AS A JEWISH STATE* It is profoundly disappointing that newly minted Australian Greens Leader Senator Richard Di Natale has withdrawn his declaration of support for Israel’s right to exist …

Zionist Federation of Australia. May 21, 2015 by Hayley Hadassin SWIM FOR LIFE. Yigal Sela is the Israel Office Director at the Zionist Federation of Australia. He is also a father, grandfather and cancer survivor. Originally from the UK he made Aliyah 45 years ago and on the 26th May …

 Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. The moment I heard about the devastating earthquake in Nepal, I knew that one of the first countries to put its hand up to offer assistance would be Israel. The IDF and other Israeli rescue …

Australian’s Chani Charak aged 16, a student at Kesser Torah school in Sydney and Chaya Leah (Lele) Kaltmann aged 17, a student at Beth Rivka Ladies College in Melbourne, competed in the 52nd World Bible Quiz which was held in Israel with the theme of “Kibbutz Galuyot” (ingathering of the Diasporas). …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. For many years, the trend in reporting on world affairs seems to increasingly be that Israel is held to different standards than those which apply to its neighbours.  Earlier this week, the BBC’s Middle East …

Written by Hayley Hadassin for the Zionist Federation of Australia. The Zionist Federation of Australia’s Israel Program SHUK came to Sydney and Melbourne and was a tremendous success. As the largest Israel programs fair held in Australia it was a great opportunity for people thinking about participating on short or …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. In medieval England, a separate court was established with the purpose of providing redress for people in a fair and just manner. Over the years, this Court of Star Chamber evolved as a judicial body …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. The long awaited and much-anticipated Israeli elections took place on Tuesday with an outcome that was somewhat surprising for many. In the lead-up to the elections, practically every poll released had the Zionist Union (the …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. As we all would be aware by now, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a controversial speech to a joint session of Congress in the United States last week. The controversy actually began several weeks …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. The Israeli elections are getting close, and with only three weeks to go before polling, the entire country is in full campaign mode. There has been plenty of analysis about the different parties (of which …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. During Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge, the United Nations Human Rights Council (the one that routinely has some of the world’s worst human rights offenders on its rotating membership) announced it was to launch an …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. All four of my grandparents were Holocaust survivors.  I heard snippets of their stories my whole life but it was always difficult for me to truly imagine how it all began, how it continued, and …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. It is usually around this time of year that I write a piece summing up the year in Israel, filled with highs and lows, the difficulties and the triumphs. As I reflect on 2014, it …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. How to win a Walkley Award – Step 1: Become Middle East Correspondent. Step 2: Write incessantly against Israel. Back in 2010, Fairfax’s Paul McGeough won what used to be considered as one of Australia’s …

Israel Advocacy Update. Written by Emily Gian. Media and Advocacy Director, Zionist Federation of Australia.. 29 November 2014 These days when you consider the information you take in when looking at a newspaper article or an item on a website, everything often boils down to the headline which attracts the …