Australia & NZ.

The Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA), we learn from its website, “is a South Australian not-for-profit organisation, which has as its main aim the promotion of peace and justice in Palestine based on International Law and the relevant UN resolutions. AFOPA also aims to provide Australians with information about …

Michael Leunig,described as a poet, cartoonist and cultural commentator, was in 1999  declared an Australian Living Treasure. He started out drawing whimsical teapots and ducks, then turned his focus to attacking those who want to defend civilisation against barbarity – Israel being the number one target – thus ensuring his …

          Peter Wertheim, Executive Director of the ECAJ, issued the following media statement regarding the  conference for ‘Human Rights in Palestine’, which is being held at the ANU – Australian National University in Canberra. “A conference that features fringe conspiracy theorists and ideologues and omits recognised scholars in the field …

An excellent article in the Australian, written by Prof.Gerald M. Steinberg who heads the NGO Monitor Research Institute. Steinberg is a professor of Political Science at Bar Ilan University and the founder of the Program on Conflict Management and Negotiation. Steinberg is the Founder and President of NGO Monitor. Steinberg …

…….A triumphant Mr Abbott declared Australia “under new management and open for business” in his victory speech on Saturday night, pledging to create a competent, trustworthy government. Tony Abbott was gracious in victory.  The man who was labelled  a few years ago as ‘unelectable’ was elected. I wish I could …

Tim Costello, chief executive of World Vision Australia, wrote that Australia’s Presidency of the UN Security Council made it responsible for leading the discussion on the Syrian conflict: World leaders… must not forget the very important mandate the UN Security Council has to protect civilians and build peace. We should …

ZFA Israel Advocacy Update. 04 September 2013. Submitted and written by Gabsy Debinski. Media and Advocacy Director of the Zionist Federation of Australia…………….. As always when it comes to Israel, and the Jewish world, the past year has been bitter-sweet; marked by both pain and celebration. Currently, Israel stands as …

Once again David Marlow, the leftist-leaning Executive Director of the JCCV – Jewish Community Council of Victoria – has partnered with the ICV – Islamic Council of Victoria – to issue a joint Statement by way of the JCMA – Jewish Christian Muslim Association – advocating for asylum seekers, predominately …

The Greens’ problem with Israel. Palestinian propagandists are triumphant about the Green’s policy on Israel, presumably because it is sync with their own: The Australian Greens support a two-state solution that ensures the legitimate rights and aspirations of both Palestinians and the Israeli people to live in peace and security …

Latest Opinion piece by Dr. Ron Weiser AM. Immediate Past President of the Zionist Federation of Australia, Honorary Life President of the Zionist Council of New South Wales and Committee Member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency (The Sochnut) In an unprecedented move, all of the living …

ZFA Israel Advocacy Update. 29 August 2013. Submitted and written by Gabsy Debinski. Media and Advocacy Director of the Zionist Federation of Australia…. Over the past few months, tempers have flared and debates have gotten feisty between various Zionist organizations within our own community. In the short time since I …

Community leaders abandoning ruling Labor Party in backlash against PM Rudd’s Middle East policies. Tony Abbott, Australia’s opposition leader and a friend of Israel, is attracting the Jewish vote. Jewish community leaders in Australia have virtually abandoned support for the governing Labor Party, with most privately hoping the conservative Liberal …

On Wednesday 11th September and Thursday 12th September, our National University in Canberra is hosting a conference for “Human rights in Palestine”. “This conference/hate fest is associated with a project on ‘Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories’ funded by the British Academy and the Australian National …

Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Bob Carr have gone underground since Carr announced on 8 August at the  Lakemba Mosque in Sydney that Rudd personally as well as the Labor Party had adopted as policy that Jews had no right to legally live in the …

Written by Adam Kamien.  Australian Jewish News. Aug 23rd 2013.. Michael Danby is the Federal Member of Parliament for Melbourne Ports, which has a large Jewish population.    Michael Danby has accused Bob Carr of accepting the “narrow view” of a department within his ministry on the legality of Israeli …

The author, Andrew Hamilton, is an Australian solicitor working for Shurat HaDin – The Israel Law Center in Tel Aviv. He recently brought a complaint under Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act against one of the leaders of the BDS movement in Australia, Prof. Jake Lynch of Sydney University. Link: Shurat HaDin …

Leslie Cannold’s decision to stand for Julian Assange’s Wikileaks Party was always questionable, given her feminist ideals; after all, he’s been accused of raping two women. Moreover, his link with anti-Semites and alleged anti-Semitic pronouncements were an unlikely pairing for a secular Jew like Cannold. See: http://jewsdownunder.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/does-wikileaks-have-a-problem-with-jews-2/ She vigorously defended …

By Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen The electorate of Melbourne Ports, which houses several strong traditional religious populations – Jewish, Catholic and Greek Orthodox, amongst others – is in this election year in an unprecedented situation. The candidates of both major parties have emerged explicitly supporting same sex marriage. Kevin Ekendahl, …

“All [Jews]*on “Palestinian land” are illegal under international law … that is the position, of Kevin Rudd, the position of the Federal Labor Government, and we don’t make apologies for it.” [*offensive weasel word deleted] Make no mistake he wants this argument. He seriously can not expect the Government to …

Australia has a large and diverse community that offers much choice when it comes to synagogues and Jewish education. From Orthodox to Reform and most things in between; there is something for everyone. With a significant proportion of Holocaust survivors and their progeny, a very strong Chabad presence which spurred …