You are hereLatest news & opinion
Latest news & opinion
Labor's 'East Timor Solution'
This letter was sent by AJDS to the mainstream print media on 7 July 2010.
In a world without recognition of human rights, or humanitarian concerns, or human dignity, or sense of justice, it would be logical, acceptable and valid to treat asylum seekers as badly as possible as a way of discouraging others.
Some in our community think that these sorts of attitudes should underpin the way our federal government deals with the issue of asylum seekers. Some in our parliament think that good public policy necessitates relegating humanitarian considerations to the fringe. After all, how can you discourage asylum seekers if you start by treating them as people in need?
AJDS Statement on Israeli action against the Gaza Convoy
1 June 2010
The terrible and deplorable deaths and injuries that occurred on board the Turkish flagged ship, the Mavi Marmara, one of a convoy of ships attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, are not only heartbreaking for the immediate families of the nine people killed and the many injured, but a tragedy for all people who yearn for a resolution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
Israel's Kent State?
Israel’s Kent State
By Moshe Yaroni
Having worked on the issue of Israel and its myriad conflicts for many years, one gets used to tragedy and even to stunningly abhorrent behavior. And indeed, I have seen more than enough of both from all sides in this conflict.
But every once in a while, things take a turn, and that turn is punctuated by a singular, stunning event. The murderous raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla this day was one such event
Gaza Flotilla Killings Updates
A number of AJDS members regularly blog their views and/or links to other sites on Facebook. See facebook posts.
Hagit Back: Machsom Watch
Hagit Back has been active in Machsom Watch in the Hebron area for many years. This video interview makes it clear that the work is a great challenge in the face of human rights abuses. She is currently in Melbourne.
Stop those settlements! AJDS Editorial
Many people within the Jewish community, whose support for Israel is not in question, have watched and noted the way in which the occupation of Palestinian land has had a corrupting influence on Israel's soul. Many Jewish Israelis are blind to the indignity and abuse on a daily basis accorded to ordinary Palestinians passing through Israeli checkpoints. They are insulated from feeling the deprivation, frustration and powerlessness in the lives of people under occupation behind a wall and out of view.
Flotilla Fallout: An Early Assessment
Moshe Yaroni has written an excellent analysis and of the fallout for different parties, Israeli, the Free Gaza Movement, IHH, Hamas, Turkey, the US. In particular, he looks at the difficulties that Free Gaza Movement has by being associated with IHH and by implication with violence, in contrast to its charter. We need to overcome naivete.
Asylum seekers are not political footballs: support Amnesty International
From Amnesty International:
The Australian Government has announced a blanket suspension on the processing of new asylum claims by Afghan and Sri Lankan nationals. This as an appalling act of political point scoring and fundamentally inconsistent with our obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. Support their online campaign by sending an email to government though their website.
Daniel Sokatch: In Defense of the New Israel Fund
Daniel Sokatch is CEO of the New Israel Fund. Fortuitously, he has been in Australia at a time when a series of attacks on the integrity of the fund (and Naomi Chazan) have been circulating.
He spoke at the Shirah Hadashah synagogue on 24 February before a packed audience, and his talk is available for listening to directly or downloaded (mp3, right mouse click and save). The file is about 10mg in size and 47 minutes long). It stands to the credit of an inclusive Orthodox congregation that he was invited to speak. Kol ha-kavod!
Thanks to Daniel for permission to record.
It makes for fascinating listening.
[Photo source: http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a16779/News/New_York.html, but it seems to appear elsewhere as well...]
Martin Indyk : The Truth About the New Israel Fund
Martin Indyk is a UK-born, former US Ambassador to Israel who grew up in Australia. His defense of the NIF is significant, particularly because he has been a strong defender of Israeli and obviously American foreign policy interests.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Indyk
This is what he has said about the New Israel Fund in an important counter to the current misinformation campaign in Australia and other countries:
The Truth About the New Israel Fund
Martin Indyk
22nd February 2010
When I served as U.S. Ambassador in Israel in the 1990s, and as an American Jew committed to Israel's survival and well- being, I became deeply concerned about the failure to adequately address the problems of inequality in Israel. I could see that Israeli governments were so preoccupied with war and peace decisions that they had little time to attend to the needs of Israel's Arab and Bedouin minorities. Although growing into a robust Jewish state, Israel was falling short of Ben-Gurion's standard that Israel should also be a state for all its citizens with equal rights for all, as called for in Israel's Declaration of Independence. I feared the effect on the basic health of Israel's democracy.