THE JEWS DOWN UNDER


A standing ovation for Natan Sharansky

By Garry Fabian

MELBOURNE -- Natan Sharansky, a global symbol for the plight of Jews from the former Soviet Union, entered and left the Glen Eira Town Hall to a standing ovation.

Sharansky – in heavily accented, but descriptive English – enthralled a full house of 520 people on Sunday. Young and old people, locals and Russian-born members of Melbourne’s Jewish community, packed the town hall to listen to Sharansky on his first visit to Australia. He later spoke in Russian at another successful function.

Five years ago, Sharansky left his ministerial position in Israel’s Knesset in a protest against Ariel Sharon’s policy of disengagement from Gaza. However, the lifelong human-rights activist remains intricately involved in politics through his work at Jerusalem’s Shalem Institute think tank. In his capacity as a scholar and politician, Sharansky told the audience in Caulfield that “we have no choice” in retaliating militarily against Hamas in Gaza.

“No government in the world can allow its citizens to be under a constant threat,” he said.

He was hopeful of peace in Israel, he said, because his experience in overcoming the totalitarian Soviet regime had turned him into an optimist.

Sharansky described his birthplace as a “merciless dictatorship” that controlled one-third of the world. He said that being a young Jew in the former Soviet Union had only negative connotations.

  “As a result of [being Jewish] we were discriminated against, and as a result [of being Jewish] we were persecuted,” he said.

“There were 150 nationalities in the Soviet Union, and any one of them was better than being a Jew.”

He recalled the Six-Day War, and said his Soviet neighbours had demonstrated a growing respect for their Jewish counterparts because Israel had stood up and defeated a much stronger coalition of armies.

Victory in the Six-Day War, he said, had shown him and other Soviet Jews that they were connected to Israel and, as a result, they were determined to discover more about the “mystical connection” between Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora.

“When Israeli soldiers opened the gates of the Old City, they opened up the Iron Curtain too,” Sharansky said.

The emotions he felt as a Jewish person after Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War sparked his desire to leave the misery and persecution of the Soviet Union for the freedom of the Jewish homeland.

As the famous story goes, that move was hampered by a nine-year incarceration in a Soviet prison after being found guilty of treason and espionage in 1978. Following a coordinated global protest movement – which was also active in Australia – Sharansky was selected for a prisoner exchange and, on the day of his release, he made aliyah to Israel.

The United Israel Appeal (UIA) sponsored Sharansky’s visit to Australia. His appearance in Melbourne was supported by UIA Victoria, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, the State Zionist Council of Victoria and the Zionist Federation of Australia.


*Jewish counterbalance in Archibald Prize contest

MELBOURNE—Following last week's item of the controversial entry of an offending self-portrait by Sam Leach as a Hitler look-alike (which did not win the prize), there were some  Jewish counter balance among the finalist entries.   

Sydney artist Jenny Sages was named a finalist for the 18th year running with her portrait of Luca and Anita Belgiorno-Nettis, while Melbourne artist Yvette Coppersmith became a first-time finalist with her entry In The Garland, an oil on linen portrait of actor Paul Capsis.

The pair was among 40 finalists vying for the Archibald, one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious portrait prizes.

Meanwhile, Melbourne artist Sam Leach, was one of the more controversial finalists with his self-portrait, Self in Uniform, which bears a striking resemblance to Adolf Hitler.

But in an newspaper interview last week, Leach was quick to point out that the piece was not gloryfing Nazism.

"The Nazis are the pinnacle of evil in modern times, but the culture that produced them is not so different from the culture that I'm part of. By doing this I'm trying to confront my own culture,” he told The Age.

“By putting myself in this painting I'm hoping to be vigilant against that [the Holocaust] ever happening again.”


*Reception for Israeli embassy official

PERTH —THE Jewish community here hosted Israel’s Deputy Chief of Mission Eli Yerushalmi recently during his wide-ranging inaugural visit to Western Australia.

Yerushalmi’s visit with local parliamentarians, church representatives and the community was organised by Dr Keith Shilkin, president of the Jewish Community Council of Western Australia.

Dr Shilkin noted that Perth was a long way from the other major Jewish communities, but was becoming increasingly important. He said the community had tended to be rather parochial, but was now more outward-looking.

“It is important that we be regarded as being on the map in terms of Australian Jews,” Dr Shilkin said. He added that Foreign Minister Stephen Smith represented Perth, and Minister for Immigration and citizenship Christopher Evans was also from Western Australia.

During his visit to Western Australia local state politicians Bob Kucera and Ray Halligan hosted a lunch for Yerushalmi at Parliament House. The Israeli Embassy official also met with the Lord Mayor of Perth and a number of Christian and Muslim representatives.

Yerushalmi said it was “embassy policy not only to concentrate on the major communities of Sydney and Melbourne, but other communities too. That’s why it was very important for us to come to Perth.”

He said the community’s institutions exceeded his expectations, including the schools, old-age homes and synagogues, which were all “very developed and impressive”.

Yerushalmi said his five-day visit demonstrated the unbelievable warmth of the community. “It is very important for Jews in Israel and outside to be united together, especially in this time despite the distance,” he said

Dr Shilkin said it was important that “high-level dignitaries” visit WA to “cement the relationship between our community and Israel”. He said the Perth community was strongly pro-Zionist.

Yerushalmi said Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem was likely to visit Australia’s largest state in the “near future”. Former Israeli Ambassador Naftali Tamir visited Perth on an official visit about 18 months ago.

*Jews silenced at Canberra talk-fest

CANBERRA—Jewish delegates selected to attend Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Australia 2020 Summit will have the opportunity to submit written papers to the meeting of 1000 minds, but their contributions will be discussed in their absence.

According to a spokesperson for the prime minister, if a Jewish person is chosen to participate in the summit – which is scheduled for April 19 and 20 and clashes with the first night of Passover – but is unable to attend, that individual can submit a paper to be read.

Members of the 10 key topic groups will then discuss the paper along with submissions from other summit participants, without the Jewish contributor being present.

Robert Goot, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said that he is yet to receive an official response from the Prime Minister’s Office about the details of how Jewish people can participate. He said, though, that he hoped there would be an additional opportunity after Passover for Jewish summit invitees to contribute.

“It might be helpful if there could be some further input after opinions have been formed,” he said.

But he added: “If Jewish people are invited to attend [the summit] and submit a paper or comments on a topic they’ve been invited to represent, it goes a long way to covering their absence on the 20th [of April].”

Despite initial misgivings about the timing of the summit, Goot called the date clash an “obstacle to taking part” and said he was confident Jewish people would be adequately represented.

He added that he hoped the steering committee would not discriminate against Jewish nominees because their faith prevented them from travelling to Canberra on the required dates.

“I don’t think that the selection committee will necessarily know if the [nominees] are Jewish,” he said, acknowledging that it seemed likely that the steering committee would choose people based on qualification not religion.


*School buildings declared safe

ADELAIDE--THE board of Adelaide’s Massada College has moved to calm nerves after rumours that the Adelaide Hebrew College (AHC) buildings used by the college were structurally unsafe.

A source close to Massada  stated that a school parent had reported movement of floorboards under a carpet, triggering rumours that the building was unsound.

But the source said the 20 centimetre sinkages were due to extensive drought conditions, which caused movement of the building on the clay table. It is reportedly a phenomenon that is quite normal in extremely dry weather conditions.

Massada board chair Shaun Lee devoted half the front page of Massada Musings, the college’s bulletin, to assure the school community it was safe to use the building.

He said Massada staff contacted the AHC board as soon as it was alerted about the sinkage, and was assured that there was no danger.

“We were informed that, to their knowledge, there was movement on an expansion joint, and this was within the design of the building itself,” Lee stated in the bulletin.

He said he was disappointed that there had been “an overwhelming reaction, which caused rumours to circulate that the AHC buildings were on the verge of collapse and that we were but a day from Armageddon”.

Meanwhile, Massada has postponed its AGM because only two nominations for the board had been received by the February 22 deadline.

 
*CBD Minyan ends after decade

MELBOURNE—Worshippers at a central city minyan will be looking for a new place to pray, now that the company that hosted the minyan is on the move.

Eliezer Kornhauser, head of inner city consultancy CMA, has informed worshippers the company is relocating to South Yarr, a near city suburb.

For almost a decade, the minyan drew 15-20 people to the CMA offices at level 20, 500 Collins Street, each weekday at 1.25 pm.

But Orthodox Jews working in the CBD may be able to continue the city minyan at the office of Rabbi Chaim Herzog, if arrangements can be made. They will also be able to attend shiurim run by Rabbi Binyomin Serebryanski in an office in Swanston Street, in the heart of the CBD

"The minyan attracted people who could not make it home to davven Mincha during the non-daylight saving times of the year" Kornhauser said.

He thanked worshippers for supporting the minyan and hoped to start a minyan at his new offices in South Yarra.

"We're hoping to bring in people who are frum and need to pray three times a day, but also people who are not Orthodox", he said.


*Netzer gets kids to eat their greens

MELBOURNE—Netzer  recently became the first Zionist youth movement in Australia to turn vegetarian. Netzer participants will be strongly encouraged to avoid eating meat and fish at Netzer functions, in line with the movement's commitment to tikun olam (repairing the world).
A document explained the decision was "entirely ideologically based.”

Netzer has said that vegetarism is linked with morality and uses a passage from the Torah to demonstrate that G-d originally planned for humans to subsist on a vegetarian diet. It goes on to explain that this was only after the time of Noah that G-d permitted people to eat meat.

"In the spirit of the utopian vision outlined in Bereshit. Netzer has decided to become vegetarian" the document said.

The document also said modern practices in the meat industry meant that the kosher method of killing animals was no longer humane, and that it is environmentally responsible to not eat meat.
"Vegetarianism is a significant step in making a positive impact in the area of water, climate change and world hunger".


*Pro-Palestinian groups target Parliamentary motion

CANBERRA--Groups hostile to Israel are launching a media blitz to coincide with next Wednesday’s parliamentary motion in support of Israel's 60th anniversary.

It has been learned that the groups, which include the Australian Friends of Palestine, the Palestinian Community Association of Victoria, Australians for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Independent Australian Jewish Voices are planning a letter to the editor to be published in The Australian on 12 March, the day of the motion.

The groups are also considering placing a display advertisement in the newspaper on the same day to further promote their message.

In the letter, the groups call the parliamentary motion “unprecedented” because it “honours a foreign country's independence while it is violating the rights of the indigenous people, occupying their land and breaching international law.”

“For sixty years, the Palestinians have been denied their rights, their freedom and their nationality while Israel continues to expropriate their lands on which to build illegal Jewish-only settlements in defiance of international law and all human rights conventions.

“Not only is it an affront to our nation's dignity and self- respect, it is most offensive to the Palestinian community in Australia,” the letter continues.

Wednesday’s motion will be read in Federal Parliament by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and will be seconded by Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson

About 140  Israeli dignitaries and Jewish communal leaders will converge on Canberra to hear the motion. A reception will follow in the Great Hall of Parliament House.


*Staunch advocate for Jewish schools retires 

SYDNEY—Jewish schools need to prepare for a new set of funding challenges according to the outgoing executive director of the Australian Coordinating Committee of Jewish Day Schools.

Ivan Port is stepping down from the directorship after 23 years. During that time – together with committee joint-chairmen Justice Stephen Rothman and Ian Rockman – he has been responsible for ensuring Australia’s Jewish schools receive the best possible funding deals from State and Federal governments.

Both Justice Rothman and Rockman paid tribute to Port this week and thanked him for his service to Australian Jewish schools.

“He has dedicated himself day and night to maximising the funds available to every Jewish day school in Australia, providing invaluable support, direction and advice in the day-to-day management of schools, as well as long-term strategic direction,” Rockman said.

“Every school and every fee-paying parent owes Ivan Port a debt of gratitude.”

Justice Rothman added that he would miss Port’s contribution and friendly assistance.

“There are few people in this country who understand the intricacies of Commonwealth and State Government funding of schools in the detail that Ivan Port does,” Justice Rothman said.

“His retirement will leave a gaping hole in our communal resources, which will be extremely hard to fill even over the longer term.”

Port’s departure comes at a time when the committee continues to encounter challenges.

Port said the funding models at both state and federal levels were currently up for discussion, with funding changes at state level expected in 2009 or 2010, and at a Commonwealth level in 2012.

“Commonwealth [funding] will change, I am confident about that,” Port said.

“We have had a good run for many years and I cannot be sure we will get the same benefits as we have had in the past.”

One of the greatest challenges that Port overcame during his time with the committee was in the mid-1980s when almost overnight the Hawke government reduced Jewish school funding to the lowest possible level.

In the subsequent months, Port sifted through reams of school financial statements and petitioned the government. Due to his work, funding was restored within 18 months and retrospective funding was paid to reimburse Jewish schools.

Port, who came to Australia from Zimbabwe in the 1970s, began his involvement with Masada College in Sydney and assisted in the establishment of its high school. He joined the Australian Coordinating Committee of Jewish Day Schools in 1985, two years after its formation by the late Arnold Bloch.

Fabian is Australia bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World and B'nai B'rith governor for Victoria

SAN DIEGO—Lloyd Levy's article in the March 11 edition of San Diego Jewish World, was of great interest - it is a subject with which I have been deeply concerned.  Jewish history in the Diaspora has been one of oscillating between the Christian world and the Moslem world - when we were at risk in one, we flowed to the other.  This is no longer possible.  Our future, whether in the Diaspora or in Israel is tied to the Christian world. 

I felt way back when Britain declared open immigration from the Commonwealth Nations that it had signed its death warrant as a distinct people and culture.  Though England has had great influence it is actually small in numbers.  This unchecked immigration from other cultures is overwhelming the indigenous culture of the island.  Even if the alien culture is benign - it is still alien to Britain.

As wonderful as representative government is - especially in this case where the Moslem immigrants refuse to assimilate but rather demand accommodation, it works against the host country as the immigrants gain voting rights.  They will vote to overlay their foreign culture on the fabric of the nation and change it.  This is exacerbated by false concepts of political correctness which the foreign culture exploits.  It robs the indigenous population of the ability to defend its own concept of itself.  Added to this is the much larger rate of procreation of the Moslem family.   Native Europeans are not replacing themselves - they are at zero or negative growth.  Thus, they need these immigrants - alien as they are - to prop up the socialist welfare state that Europe has become.

As Jews when we immigrated to America we wanted to keep our distinct way of life - but we didn’t seek to alter the country around us.  If we wanted to observe the Sabbath - we did so by choosing where we worked and lived - not by demanding the larger community change for us.

The Moslem immigrants have other advantages - they are fueled by religious fervor which usually trumps all other reasons to prevail.  People are willing to die for religion.  But while eastern fervor has grown - western religious affiliation has receded.  They are also fueled by enormous wealth which enables them to transfer their home grown culture to the host country without the need to assimilate. 

As for this coming to the United States - it’s already here.  Only because we are larger than Europe does it seem more muted - but the future will change that. Saudi Arabia has built over 17,000 "cultural centers" in the United States.  In Hamtramck, Michigan the Moslem call to prayer is broadcast on loudspeakers in the city.  There are demands for foot baths for Moslem prayer.  Little girls in public schools are veiled.  Prayer rooms are being supplied.

If nothing else, they will win by attrition.  A few thousand dollars brought down the World Trade Center - while we spend billions - even just in Afghanistan - in retaliation.  The price differential between training a US soldier and a terrorist in a camp in Pakistan or a bomb belt versus a cruise missile, must be huge. 

Should we prevail in Afghanistan - it will only be a superfluous win.  No one has ever “won” in Afghanistan.  In order to do so, we would have to overwhelm it and stay there far into the future with martial law.  As soon as we leave, it will revert to its natural culture.  We tend to think in years, Islam sees a much larger picture. 

Islam has threatened Europe’s borders for millennia - this is not a new phenomena.  In the past the Christian nations have defended themselves to one degree or another.  At that time, a battle such as the Battle of Lepanto which kept Islam at bay - could be affected by a single episode.  Now the onslaught is global.   If one looks back historically the outlook is dim.  At one time Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Turkey, the Balkans, and more, all had significant Christian populations.  Today, these countries are Moslem.  In Africa Christians are being killed.  The Christian population of the West Bank and Gaza is likewise being killed and harassed.  South and Central America are being infiltrated. History is flowing against the West.

If only one percent of the Moslem population is radical - out of a population of one billion - that leaves ten million radicals.  They have labeled us their enemy - while we on the other hand are unable to label our enemy - our political correctness forbids it.  We are afraid to lose our soul - our carefully built system of human rights - to fight this enemy.  We are right to fear losing this - we spent a thousand years building it.  But this war is not about rights - it’s about survival.  And those among us who cry this warning are denigrated as hate mongers, racists and warmongers.  Churchill, too, was labeled. 

As Jews we are so small in numbers we will have little impact on the outcome.  But this time if Christianity will not defend itself - we have no where to go.

Orysiek is a freelance writer based in San Diego







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