The SBS Ombudsman rejected the complaints made by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and others against The Promise.

The text of the SBS response and the lack of satisfaction it provides hard liners can be seen at Galusaustralis.

That's right. Get rid of Obama and get more pro-Israel VP or President in the driver's seat. It is all over the news, eg. in Haaretz, but also all over the US media.

But just so you can see it is not a beat up, attached is the text of the oped piece by owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Andrew Adler.

Two things 1) I've always not thought much of the South 2) given nut case politics in the US, this actually might inspire someone.

For once I hope the Secret Service have a little chat with the editor. Click Read more for the file.

An opinion by Larry Stillman of the AJDS Executive has been published on the ABC website.

Another freedom of expression issue has raised its head in the Jewish community in Australia.

This time, it involves a series which recently appeared on SBS and is now being sold as a DVD....for the rest, go to The Drum

[and I will add that I have dealt with "the Lobby" and its censoriousness on various occasions such as this one]

Please click the link for the latest issue of the AJDS Newsletter.

Happy Chanukah and a Happy New Year - Max

A very strong motion was carried overwhelmingly on the voices at the Victorian State ALP Conference (8 Oct 2011) and has been made available to AJDS by Robin Rothfield who is active in Labor for Refugees.

Sol Salbe, a former long-serving member of the AJDS executive and newsletter editor, has had an opinion piece published in the widely circulated 972+ website (972 is the Israeli International Dialling Code). Kol ha-kavod lo --all honour to him!

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After the torching of a mosque last weekend in Israel, an anti-occupation activist wrote on Facebook that alongside recent anti-minority legislation passed in Israel, a publication permitting murder on religious grounds, and the appalling role of the army, police and politicians in supporting religious-nationalistic terrorism, Israel today is reminiscent of the 1930s. Other friends of mine rejected this comparison, observing that Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had condemned the perpetrators. “What more response do you expect from politicians,” wrote one.

What more do I expect? Good question. Below is the response that I want. I would have liked for Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver the following speech on national television to the Israeli people...

[for the rest of the article, go to 972+ website].

Robin Rothfield, a member of the AJDS Executive, has long been an advocate of refugee rights, and has had two letters published recently in the press:

[The Australian, 19 Sept 2011]

THE first step for the Prime Minister to take in reforming the ALP is to abide by decisions of the ALP National Conference, the supreme policy-making body of the party, as embodied in the Natiional Platform, 2009. Chapter 7, paragraph 157 of the Platform states: "Protection claims made in Australia will be assessed by Australians on Australian territory."

Consistent with the platform the Prime Minister must therefore scrap plans for offshore processing.

[The Age, 15 September 2011]

What platform is that?

ACCORDING to your report "Abbott muddies water on boats" (The Age, 13/9), Senator John Faulkner explained to the Labor caucus that under Labor Party rules legislation could not be in breach of the ALP platform. Your report continues that Julia Gillard told a news conference that the plan was in accordance with Labor's platform.

The ALP National Platform states, chapter 7, paragraph 157: ''Protection claims made in Australia will be assessed by Australians on Australian territory'', which is a clear endorsement of onshore processing. Moreover, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Immigration and all Labor MPs would have signed a pledge as parliamentary candidates: ''To do my utmost to carry out the principles embodied in the platform.''

Denis Altman in The Age has an excellent analysis of the local politics that inhibit recognition of the Palestinian states and as well, why it is in Israel's best interests to recognise such a state.

I've come to realize that there are strong divisions within the Palestinian 'camp' over the validity of the bid for recognition of the State of Palestine by the UN.

One of the key problems is the internal struggle over 'who speaks for Palestinians' and the disputed claim that the PLO is the 'authentic voice' of the Palestinian people. Since there has been no election process for all Palestinians or descendants of Palestinians (and the complexity that such a descent claim entails) this problem appears to be irresolvable unless in fact there is an election process set in place for the new state.

Demonising parents

[This letter appeared in the Melbourne Age today. Miriam is an AJDS member. Joe Hockey, is the Shadow Treasurer]

Joe Hockey's comment that parents who sent unaccompanied minors in boats to Australia were engaged in an act of bastardry shows an unbelievable lack of empathy (''Young asylum seekers pose quandary'', The Saturday Age, 6/8). Has Hockey not heard of the Kindertransport, for example, when desperate Jewish parents in Germany sent children as young as six with strangers to the UK?