News – Page 2

We Wont Stop Until They Are Back

As Progressive Zionists, we know that supporting a pluralist and egalitarian Israel is more important than ever post-October 7, and also because of the continued attempts to undermine Israeli democracy in the name of “judicial reforms”.

ARZA needs your membership to make sure we can effectively represent the Progressive values of democracy, social justice, human rights, equality for all, and religious pluralism at the World Zionist Congress in the face of growing opposition.

ARZA Australia will represent Australian Progressive Judaism and Progressive values at the World Zionist Congress to be held in 2025. Our delegates will team with Progressive delegates from around the world. The total number of Australian members of ARZA determines the number of votes we have at the Congress, where policies are debated and passed which effect the over $1 billion allocated to programs in Israel and in the Diaspora.

Other streams are competing for promoting their values, many of which have a negative impact on what we believe in! Currently, religious-based parties supporting the growth of settlements in the West Bank and even in Gaza are recruiting members to their cause in the US and other Diaspora countries. They are building their voting blocks.

Many of you think you are members of ARZA but in fact are not, because your membership was not renewed either personally or through your synagogue!

Please join us to have our voice heard and make a real difference. We urge you to join now by clicking below. ARZA membership is only $1 until 30 December.

To join, please CLICK HERE.

Michael Penny2024-12-10T20:09:50+11:00December 10th, 2024|News|

If Not Now When

On Friday, December 6, 2024, arsonists attacked the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne.

Over the past 14 months we have seen continuous acts of incitement to violence, hate speech, intimidation, boycotting and cancellation targeted at Jewish community members.

It seems that apart from rhetorical condemnation, law enforcement was minimal to non-existent.

At ARZA we have been alerting to the risk of escalation and that lack of enforcement of legislation regarding hate speech and incitement to violence sends the wrong signal of tolerance to such activities.

This in turn, leads to further escalation and physical violence. Therefore, we continue to call on all governments and law enforcement agencies to go beyond rhetoric and ensure enforcement of the law for the protection of the community and to avoid deterioration to violence which would be the inevitable outcome should the policy of appeasement continue.

This is coming on the back of repetitive alerts from the Jewish community and organisations – alerts that have not been taken seriously.

The Prime Minister recognised that this recent attack is an act of antisemitism, yet it is not clear what is actually being done to deter current and future perpetrators from conducting such acts of violence and intimidation.

ARZA stands strong with the Jewish community and indeed with the Australian community at large. We call to move from rhetoric to action to protect our social cohesion which is evidently at risk.
Ayal Marek
President ARZA
Co VP UPJ

Michael Penny2024-12-10T20:00:53+11:00December 10th, 2024|News|

Albanese Government Supports Unconscionable UN Resolutions

SHAME YET AGAIN AS THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS UNCONSCIONABLE UN RESOLUTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE

As Alexander Downer when Foreign Minister of Australia in 2005 said in reference to United Nations resolutions “too many of these resolutions are aimed at condemning Israel. You would think by looking at these resolutions that this small country – with a population roughly equivalent to NSW and a land mass one fortieth its size – is responsible for the worst human rights violations and much of the world’s ills.

And this is an era when many of the most egregious human rights violators are elevated to positions of responsibility in the UN. A truly farcical situation!”

So, the question is, what has changed?

What has changed is that under the current Australian Federal Government Australia has for the first time supported resolutions of the UN Second Committee relating to two matters.

The first calls for Israeli compensation for an oil slick on Lebanese shores. This event apparently occurred some nearly 20 years ago in 2006 and according to Israel happened as a result of Lebanon’s own security failings with terrorists infiltrating the Israeli border leading to the Israel – Lebanon war and damage to a Lebanese power station with a resulting oil spill. It has been reported that the oil spill was cleaned up with a final report published in August of 2009.

Australia has voted NO on this resolution since 2006.

The second UN resolution now supported by the Australian Federal Government recognises “ permanent Palestinian sovereignty” for the first time in 20 years. A resolution Australia has not supported in all that time, and now ridiculously being supported by Australia at a time of war? This resolution, which has serious consequences for the rights of Israel as a sovereign state, has caused great alarm among Australian Jewish roof body organisations and the Jewish community at large.

Australian Jews now feel a great sense of abandonment by our Federal
Government because of the abrupt change in Australia’s position toward Israel at the UN and the destruction of bipartisanship across the Australian political divide. The new position also now puts Australia at odds with its allies including Israel, the United States and Canada .

ARZA, as the Australian Progressive Zionist roof body strongly supports the views expressed by Australia’s Jewish roof bodies, the ECAJ and the ZFA and calls upon the Albanese Government to rethink its position in the name of racial and religious harmony in our country and in support of a peaceful resolution to the current Middle East conflict, started and continued for over a year by Iran and its proxies.

Helen Shardey OAM

Michael Penny2024-11-19T11:13:18+11:00November 19th, 2024|Events, News|