Having hard conversations about Israel

A leadership summit run by the New Israel Fund (NIF) Australia is offering young Jewish Australians training in how to argue about Israel, both inside the community and outside it.

The NewGen Advocacy and Leadership Summit grew out of meetings with young adults who did not feel represented in communal conversations about Israel, said coordinator Elisheva Madar.

Some felt their views were unwelcome in mainstream organisations, she said, but the problem was broader.

“A lot of young people want to have an opportunity to ask a question that might be unpopular, but to actually have the debate,” she said.

She said the approach was one of “presenting the evidence to them, and trusting them to make up their own mind”.

Madar said the program aimed to prepare participants for arguments on two fronts.

“The goal is to give them the skill set to be able to have conversations about Israel, both inside non-Jewish progressive spaces and then also inside of Jewish spaces,” she said.

She said this applied equally to conversations with family and inside youth movements.

Louie Parker, who attended a previous summit, said the seminars covered the history of the conflict, the Palestinian experience in Australia and in the region, the Australian media landscape and what he described as the dynamics of the occupation.

He said the communications workshop was pitched generally, offering tools for advocating a position and disagreeing with someone while maintaining mutual respect.

Parker said it was “without question” more difficult to be on the progressive side of politics within the Jewish community since October 7, and that people had put up “guardrails or psychological walls” that he considered understandable.

“The last few years can be quite an isolating experience,” he said. “There’s a lot of comfort to be derived, particularly from the summit, of being with people who are like-minded.”

The first day of the summit covers the history of the region, the work of NIF grantees and conditions in Israel and Palestine. The second is given over to workshops in media skills, public speaking and difficult conversations, run by Jewish communal figures. On the third day participants attend Question Time at Parliament House and meet policymakers.

Enquiries: elisheva@nif.org.au