Editorial, August 20, 2010

Will boycotters face sanctions?

WRITING in last week’s AJN, chairman of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students Liam Getreu claimed, “Publicly supporting every Israeli action and policy isn’t good for Israel; it’s not good for our community; and most of all, it can be devastating to our own overarching moral principles.”

Combined with a claim that we shouldn’t expect our political parties to back Israel at every turn — and that when they do automatically leap to the country’s defence it can be “detrimental” and “leave a bad taste in the mouth of the public” — inevitably caused something of a stir, to say the least.

Hardly sentiments one would expect to be voiced so openly by someone at the forefront of the community and at the centre of the campaign against anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism on campus.

In the face of overwhelming, widely unjustified and ill-informed condemnation of Israel, Getreu’s comments seem to question the united front we require from our leadership to defend the country against the weight of criticism stacked against it, to bring balance to the debate and to turn the tide against the global attempts to demonise the Jewish State.

That said, within our small community, we know full well that there are divergent views on the best ways to achieve peace, and that while we may back Israel to the hilt in its right to exist and to defend itself, specific policies or actions of the Israeli Government may trouble us.

Step forward the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS), a body that prides itself on its communal affiliation while epitomising the fact that our attitudes are not homogenous, rejecting the automatic public support highlighted by Getreu. It is one thing, though, to criticise and question, quite another to take action. Yet this is precisely what the AJDS has now done, resolving to support consumer and academic boycotts, as well as military divestment.

Though it maintains such sanctions will be selective, “designed to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation, blockade and settlement on Palestinian lands lying outside of the June 1967 Israeli borders”, and not “aimed at the breadth of Israeli economic, cultural or intellectual activity”, the resolution will nonetheless be seen as lending credence to the wider Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign and those within it who seek to delegitimise Israel and portray it as an apartheid and pariah state.

While the Establishment may be able to accommodate a broad spectrum of views, whether it can now accommodate those actions that are so anathema to its principles and so damaging to the Jewish State, at a time when it desperately needs our support, must surely be in doubt.

Don’t waste your chance

THIS week, former Labor leader Mark Latham used the platform given to him by one of the TV networks to urge voters to submit an empty ballot paper as the “ultimate protest vote”.

With all due respect, we at The AJN believe Mr Latham’s idea shows he has a sincere lack of appreciation for the freedoms and rights this country offers its citizens.

While not wanting to emphasise any notions of victimhood, Jewish people know what it is like to be marginalised. In the various mother countries from which we herald, we all know that Jewish people were prevented from holding high office, were disenfranchised and not given full access to civil society.

We must recognise that in Australia, this is not, and has never been,
the case. From day one, Jewish people have been part of the political process, holding both prominent elected positions and the highest appointment in the land: that of governor-general.

Jewish people — men and women since federation — have always been allowed to vote for the representative they think will best serve their needs in their respective state parliaments and in Canberra.

Latham’s suggestion should be ignored.

We all recognise that this election campaign has been lacklustre, characterised by pointed vote grabs and rehearsed sound bites, rather than inspiring discussion. But as another former political leader, Natasha Stott-Despoja, wrote this week, to make politics more interesting and more meaningful we need more, not less, engagement.

Particularly as part of a minority community, as we Jewish Australians are, we need to make our voices heard, not gag ourselves by casting a blank ballot.

Ask questions, tell the candidates what you think of their current policies and what changes you would like to see made, get involved more in the political process. Don’t waste your opportunity, your responsibility, to have your say for the future direction of this country.