Editorial, September 10, 2010
Our brother’s keeper
TONIGHT and tomorrow, millions of Jews the world over will sit down with their families and dip apple in honey to symbolise their hopes for a sweet year ahead.
Separated by mountains and by oceans, by languages and by cultures we may be, but such shared experiences unite us as one people. Not just in moments of joy, however, but also in times of anguish and grief.
Over the past 12 months that global sense of belonging has come to the fore as we – the Jews of Australia – have felt the impact of events thousands of kilometres away: the rockets that fall on Sderot; the desecration of cemeteries in Strasbourg; the rise of the far right in Hungary; the banning of shechita in New Zealand, to name but a few such occasions.
At other times, the bonds that unite us have seemed strained. Why, we asked, were the forged passports of Australian Jews used in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh? Could the fatalities aboard the <I>Mavi Marmara<P> have been avoided? Housing in East Jerusalem, ultra-orthodox Jews rioting in Jaffa, the children of foreign workers facing deportation. Not a month has gone by, it seems ,without the actions – or at least the alleged actions – of the Israeli Government plunging the Jewish State and, by consequence, Jewish communities worldwide into the centre of yet another PR minefield. It has not, in short, been an easy year in which to be our brother’s keeper.
Of course, the global media with its disproportionate and skewed focus on Israel has much to answer for, the relentless partial press reports fueling an insidious environment in which the very legitimacy of the country is called into question.
But just as we will rise to our feet in unison in the coming days when we hear the blasts of the shofar, so too in recent months we have risen as one to defend Israel against those who wish it extinct.
Today though, as we approach Rosh Hashanah, we stand on the brink. For even though the chorus clamouring against Israel becomes more vocal, this new year there is a faint glimmer of hope, a sense that the coming weeks and months might just deliver some kind of breakthrough in the peace process.
With a year of mixed fortunes behind us, a year of great challenges lies in store. Whatever those challenges Рfor individuals, for Israel and for the global community -  we pray that 5771 brings peace, prosperity, health and happiness.
On behalf of all the staff at <I>The AJN<P>, we wish you a shanah tovah.
Peace in our time?
TWO major news stories last week Рthe restart of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and  two terrorist attacks that together caused the death of four Jews and the injury of two others Рshould, in truth, be addressed together.
US President Barack Obama, who at one point during the summit referred to the terrorist attacks reflexively and simplistically as “senseless slaughter”, also showed insight that terrorism is actually a devious tactic, often employed with considerable calculation.
In the case of Hamas, which took credit for last week’s attacks, the group sought to send messages to three parties: the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the United States.
The attacks were a show of strength for Hamas, weakening the PA’s argument they intended to bring to Washington that Palestinian forces are capable of preventing attacks emanating from their territory and challenging the PA’s hegemony inside the West Bank.
Make no mistake, the attacks were also a poke in Israel’s eye – as if Hamas were trying to create an impression among Israelis that they retain the ability to murder them but will do so at their discretion.
Finally, the attacks were a message to the US of sheer contempt: namely that America has no standing to meddle in Palestinian affairs or back one group of Palestinians over another.
Direct peace talks have begun. The framework that has been reached at this time would have Israeli and Palestinian leaders and negotiators meet fortnightly, with the intention of reaching a comprehensive final peace agreement within a year.
There’s a vast gulf between the Israeli and Palestinian positions that needs to be bridged, and not a lot of time to do it. That’s why it has been heartening to hear both Obama and PA President Mahmoud Abbas express understanding about the importance of stopping the terrorism scourge.
No longer can it be enough to say, as was once the fashion during Hamas terror waves following the Oslo Accords, that the response to terrorism is simply more peace negotiations.
The Palestinian response to terrorism must be both to physically prevent it, as well as unambiguously discourage it, by not inciting and glorifying it.
The PA has said at every opportunity that a resumption of Israeli settlement construction would end the talks. Israel has its own red lines, whether overt or not. Without a cessation of terrorism, there can be no trust that forms the basis for peace talks, but moreover, there can literally be no peace.
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