Advocacy still vital

IN three decades of advocating for Israel, David Olesker said not much has changed and he is still addressing the same issues.

“I sometimes wish more would change on the advocacy front,” he said, ahead of his visit to Australia next week. “There has been a remorseless and unceasing campaign against Israel’s legitimacy since before the state existed and that continues unabated today.”

Olesker is the founder and director of the Jerusalem Centre for Communication and Advocacy Training. He is travelling to Australia to train the community to better promote Israel.

As someone who has worked with Jewish communities around the world, Olesker called Australia “as close to a paradigm of positive attitudes towards Israel that exists in the western world”.

He credits this to both the nation’s political culture and also to the Jewish community, which he described as self-confident, motivated and possessing a strong Jewish identity.

Nonetheless, he urged the community to continue advocating for Israel because “it’s the right thing to do”.

“I think one of the things we have abandoned is the language of justice,” he said.

“The ‘delegitimisers’ use it — with zero justification — all the time.”

Asked for three tips on effective Israel advocacy, Olesker said first, “don’t be afraid to initiate”.

“If we initiate, then Israel’s enemies have to respond to us,” he said.

Number two, he said, Israel advocates should use new media, such as blogs and social networking sites, to spread good news about Israel.

Finally, he encouraged people to put pen to paper and write to newspapers, rather than just complain among themselves about coverage of Israel.

David Olesker will be speaking in Sydney on October 11, at 7.30pm,  enquiries: sydney@hagshama.org. He will be speaking in Melbourne at Beth Weizmann on October 13, at 8pm, enquiries: (03) 9272 5544.

NAOMI LEVIN