Letters, September 10, 2010

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The truth about Hamas

FOUR people driving along a road in a car were brutally murdered last week because they were Jews.

So far, most reports simply say that “the militant Palestinian group Hamas” has claimed responsibility. But,¬†Hamas is held by many to be “the democratically elected government of the Palestinian people”.¬†Israel has consistently been criticised for not recognising “the democratically elected government of the Palestinians”. But all of a sudden, the same people who say that Hamas is the democratically elected government of the Palestinians simply say that it is a “Palestinian militant group”. Israel certainly recognised the result of the Palestinian elections. Israel knew exactly who they were dealing with.

So who claims responsibility?¬†Hamas, via two spokesmen, claimed responsibility. That’s right, Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza. They claimed it was¬†a “heroic operation”. Not only that, they boast that more of the same is on the way. This is Hamas. Not a rag tag bunch of loonies (although they might be that) but the elected leaders of the Palestinians in Gaza.

The¬†charter of Hamas, prohibits any recognition of Israel¬†let alone any¬†negotiations with Israel. The charter of Hamas calls for the destruction of Israel and the killing of¬†Jews..¬†So it makes sense to read the report of¬†Jason Koutsoukis in The Age on 2 September 2010, that 3000 people took to the streets of Gaza to celebrate. The murder of Jews is such fun,¬†it’s a¬†time to celebrate by dancing in the streets and handing out candy.

The Palestinians had an election. Hamas won. By their own admission, this is their handywork. Where is the world – when will it wake up?

Students show the way

CONGRATULATIONS to Liam Getreu and the Australian Union of Jewish Students (AJN 03/10) for showing that they understand the art of effective politics, particularly in relation to Israel.

It is not about sticking your head in the sand or just preaching to the converted. Rather, it is about engaging all those people who side with neither Israelis nor Palestinians, but who want to hear a balanced argument in favour of peace and reconciliation.

Boycott the AJDS

I AM always amused by the name of the Australian Jewish Democratic Society. It resonates with Third World dictatorships which insert the word ‘democracy’ into their names lest we recognise them for what they are.

I cannot imagine why this tiny unrepresentative group imagines that it holds any moral sway in the Australian Jewish community.  Calling for any sort of boycott of the only democracy in the Middle East, and one of the most humane states in the world today, is sick. That the AJDS should do so in the name of Jews or democracy is hypocrisy of the highest order.

The AJDS appears to speak for orthodox left wing delegitimisation of the Jewish state.  That is what boycotts of Israel are about.  And by advocating such boycotts, it deserves to be stripped of any formal connection with the Australian Jewish community.  Mainstream Jews are also capable of supporting boycotts, and the AJDS should be shunned.

Our chosen status

It MAY surprise, I actually hope shock, Johnny Baker (AJN 03/10) to learn that all his¬†enthusiastically expressed¬†desires for theological¬†changes in a religion that does not require any alterations, Judaism, have been already¬†articulated into official dogma by the Christian Church. While¬† seduced by some seemingly innocent minute syntax changes in Amichai Lau-Lavie’s spiel¬†from “min” to “im”, heralding a drastic status change of Israel’s original – and only -¬†covenant, exactly the same¬† dogmatic change is found in The Corinthians 1, 11:25, by calling together “a people made up of Jew and Gentile, making them one”. An even stronger emphasis on the change of covenant¬†is seen in both John 3:5-6 and Peter 2:9-10 where a new “chosen race…are now the people of God”.

To my mind, Johnny Baker is delving, I hope inadvertently, into serious hillul Hashem rants by grossly misinterpreting the notion of “choseness”.

It behoves to remind all concerned that the notion of the change of status of the Jewish people through the advent of Christianity has been the most fundamental percept of anti Semitism as promulgated and promoted by the Church.

Otto Waldmann
Bondi Junction, NSW

A gaping hole

I AM a Balaclava Road boy. I have walked its footpaths all my life. I have lived within earshot of its tram tracks and its resounding ‘Gut Shabbes’ greetings every week.

Recently, a huge eucalypt tree fell in Springfield Avenue close to the corner of Balaclava Road. It brought back the memory of its original planting on the street shortly after Izzy Herzog bought the house on the corner from Jack Kornhauser, which was several decades ago.

This eucalypt always amazed me. It seemed to be the only native sapling amongst a row of emaciated or misplaced European plane-trees.

Over the years, the neighbourhood gradually changed. The European plane-trees were replaced by native-born white-bearded melaleuca trees that seemed at home and to thrive even though steeped in their deep-layered coats made of finest ancient-looking parchments.

Meanwhile, Izzy’s gum tree just grew and grew and could have been at home swaying in Sherbrooke or standing tall anywhere else amongst similar giants in the Australian wild.

Then suddenly on my walk one day, I could see this giant gum tree had fallen. I stopped and asked what had happened, and the SES man told me: “We can’t understand any of this. How could this tree get so big when we’ve discovered it had no tap-root?”

I gave the following answer: “This street contains a natural spring. Springfield Avenue is a street where the water has always been close to the surface. Even when things have been tough, one has never had to search very hard for water in this place. Small trees can become giants in this street”.

Our Sages in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) wrote that a man of good deeds is compared with a tree planted by the waters, a tree that does not notice the heat’s arrival or the year of drought. The Torah is compared with the water. Izzy Herzog loved the water.

A giant has fallen and I, as a passerby, have seen a gaping hole alongside the former Herzog family home in Balaclava Road.

Joe Lederman
Caulfield, Vic