My following article appears in today’s edition of Crikey:
Jews are expected to blindly support Israel. From a young age, I was always told that complete allegiance to the Jewish state was non-negotiable. If I didn’t agree with any its policies, said family and friends, best keep them to myself.
But the tide is turning around the world and a growing number of Jews are speaking out and challenging the Zionist status quo. This unthinking mob has had decades to resolve the conflict and achieved little more than encouraging the ever-expanding, illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
A group of British Jews recently launched Independent Jewish Voices – including comedian Stephen Fry, Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter and filmmaker Mike Leigh – and demanded “that individuals and groups within all communities should feel free to express their views on any issue of public concern without incurring accusations of disloyalty.” They feared that Israel’s militaristic path was endangering its future.
This week Independent Australian Jewish Voices launched, and I am one of its founding members. Our aims are similar to the British group, and we have attracted over 210 signatories (rising very fast), including Professor Peter Singer, Robert Richter QC, publisher Louise Adler, Ian Cohen MLC, Eva Cox, Professor Dennis Altman, former Whitlam minister Moss Cass, Professor Ivor Indyk, publisher Henry Rosenbloom, Dean of Monash Law School Professor Arie Freiberg, UNSW academics Dr Peter Slezak and Dr Jim Levy and the Socialist Zionist Youth Movement Hashomer Hatzair.
Our group does not hold any particular position on the Israel/Palestine conflict and nor do we claim to speak for all Jews. We came together at this time to argue that alternative Jewish opinions should be heard and respected. Moreover, a just peace for both Israelis and Palestinians will not be achieved through Israel’s colonial mindset. Israel has never been more internationally isolated.
One of the group’s co-founders, Peter Slezak, received a death threat last week after an article appeared about IAJV in the Australian Jewish News. Islamophobe Melanie Philips accused the British group of “paving the way for a second genocide” and labelled them “Jews for genocide.” Local Zionist mouthpiece Colin Rubenstein was equally disingenuous by falsely claiming we were against Israel’s right to exist, when in fact our statement clearly states “that Israel’s right to exist must be recognised and that Palestinians’ right to a homeland must also be acknowledged.” In such a toxic environment, it’s unsurprising that some Jews express their frustration through intimidation.
I’ve lost count of Jews and non-Jews who have contacted me in the last years and suffered accusations of anti-Semitism and disloyalty and received hatemail and slander for daring to articulate the need for a just solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. My publisher, Louise Adler, tells similar tales simply for publishing books that favour debate over conformity.
True friends of Israel and Palestine are those who encourage free and frank discussion, rather than those who simply mouth the latest press release from the Israeli foreign ministry.
It’s quite remarkable to see the poor Zionist extremists reaching so desperately to accuse your group of denying Israel’s existence, even when this motto is made so blatantly obvious.
The next thing they’ll be doing is labelling you as self hating Jews and Holocaust denial.
These poor souls are out at sea once you take away these cliche’d attacks.
Particularly revealing though is how Zionist often criticize Muslim countries for issuing death threats against those who criticize them, yet here we have Peter Slezak, receiving one from a Zionist.
Challenging people to go out of thier comfort zone is not the easiest task. i think people in both sides of this tragic conflict need to listen to what you are saying. and it is long overdue for politians and opinion makers here and in midd east to show leadership.
Given the logic of those who have described your new association in less than complimentary terms I assume they would also have to conclude that the Prophet Jeremiah is to be labelled a self hating Jew as well.
I can understand someone who being called anti-semite if he/she is hate Jews. But I cannot understand why one would be called anti-semite just because some jews hate him/her ??
You hit the nail on the head Art,
Anti-Semitism was a term used to describe those who had a hatred of Jews. Today it is used by some Zionists to describe those that they themselves hate.
God work all round, Anthony. There’s so much big-brotherishness in the country at the moment (I blame the TV show… and the Daily Telegraph) with people being called un-Australian or muslims being called extremists. Everyone is watching what they say in case its not in-step with the crowd, or they are nailed to the media crucifix quick-smart. Its good to see your group getting coverage. I believe every group should have its own internal critics as part of its organisational system – i.e. We should have un-Australians working for Australia, etc. Criticism sucks and everything, but it is also very constructive as a way of improving mistakes or faults in something. Something like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would go a lot further if either side could admit that they had made mistakes and sought to ammend those mistakes.
Keep up the good work, you have the support of this Anglo-Celtic, Catholic Un-Australian!
(Oh no, I’ve just supported criticism of Israel and I’m goyim! Am I a wanna-be self hating Jew under all this?!)