Board muscles in on Marrickville
JUST a few weeks after Marrickville Council was pressured into dumping its Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) plan against Israel, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) is moving onto the council’s turf, temporarily.
JUST a few weeks after Marrickville Council was pressured into dumping its Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) plan against Israel, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) is moving onto the council’s turf, temporarily.
For only the second time in its 66-year history, the JBD is holding its monthly plenum at Newtown Synagogue, which is within the Marrickville municipality.
The Greens-dominated council voted recently to dump the BDS plan after intense pressure from the federal and state governments, and after a realisation the boycott would cost the council more than $3 million.
JBD chief executive Vic Alhadeff urged members of the community to attend the plenum in large numbers.
“It is important to support the many distinctive components of our community,” he said.
“In this particular case, Jewish residents of the area stood up proudly in the way they responded to the Marrickville issue, and this will be an apposite way of acknowledging their commitment and their efforts.”
Under discussion at the plenum will be Australia’s treatment of refugees.
Refugee Council of Australia’s Sophie Peer and Degeufe Hailu, a representative of the Horn of Africa communities, will hold the floor to discuss the subject to mark Refugee Week.
Peer said Australians need to draw on lessons learned while responding to post-World War II refugees to inform our response today.
She said refugees had helped make Australia a better place and the political point-scoring over refugees avoided talking about the real issues.
“This is an issue about Australia’s population, our humane approach and the reality of the region [which] will eventually force Australia to make some decision but at the moment it’s just a race to the bottom for the two major political parties,” she said.
Peer said it was her understanding that post-Holocaust Jewish refugees were treated well upon their arrival on these shores.
“Most Australians seem to forget what it is to be a refugee and fleeing from another country, but there was less fear and the welcome was far greater for Jewish refugees,” she said.
She added that in her experience Australian Jewry was sensitive toward the needs and feelings of newer arrivals.
“Over the years we have received a lot of support from the Jewish community in terms of being able to emphasise with refugees.”
The JBD plenum will be held at Newtown Synagogue, 20 Georgina Street, Newtown, on June 21, 7.30pm.
JOSHUA LEVI
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