Once again, our community 'elders' have banned a dissident opinion from speaking on a community platform. There is all sorts of denial going on, but its clear that Danny Lamm, representing the local right-wing Zionist Federation has used or got others to use muscle and other forms of influence to prevent the Union of Progressive Judaism from hosting Naomi Chazan, now President of the New Israel Fund. The excuse has been to use the completely scurrilous campaign being run by young neo-facists and their elder supporters in Israel and the US against the NIF.

Nathan Cherny is a Melbourne-born oncologist who lives in Jerusalem. He has responded to Danny Lamm, President of the Zionist Council of Victoria on Jwire, in this eloquent response in defense of progressive values.