Letters (September 18, 2009)

A selection of letters published in the AJN print edition of September 18, 2009

Mourning Ramon

IT is with great sadness that I express condolences on behalf of the entire Australian Jewish community to Rona Ramon and her family on the tragic death of her son Assaf z”l in a training accident.

I happened to be at the pilot’s graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim base in June with a Zionist Federation of Australia delegation, at which Assaf graduated in first place.

He was undoubtedly an outstanding soldier who dreamed of making a significant contribution to the State of Israel, first as a pilot, and then hopefully as an astronaut, as his late father Ilan had been.

Although we didn’t know Assaf personally, his loss is felt by all of us, as his self-sacrifice and commitment characterised the best of his generation.

PHILIP CHESTER
President, Zionist Federation of Australia

Recognise Israel

WITH respect, President Barack Obama, nobody has the right to stop Israel building apartments in existing settlements in established Jewish areas. This includes Americans, Palestinians or any of the United Nations countries.

Before peace can be achieved, the Palestinians and Arab states must accept the Jewish State within its historic boundaries with Jerusalem as its eternal capital, complete and indivisible.

It should be noted that there are more than 600 references to Jerusalem in the Jewish Bible and not one in the Koran. Also anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, Holocaust denial and demonising Israel and the Jewish people must cease. Without that there can be no peace.

Sadly, the purveyors of hatred towards Israel and the Jewish people continue to vent their bile unabated, calling for the de-legitimisation and destruction of Israel.

TONY AUFGANG
South Yarra, Vic

Worthless ‘debate’

THE Australian newspaper is to be congratulated for its incisive editorial “The Real History War” (04/09). No-one has all the “answers” about the Holocaust -— indeed I very much doubt if we have even managed to recognise all of the questions arising from this terrible and unique crime against the Jewish people.

But that said, the Holocaust is probably the best evidenced crime in history -— Nazi documentation and, most importantly, the testimony of survivors and perpetrators, is simply overwhelming and no reputable historian would deny that the Holocaust took place.

Every German government since the defeat of Nazism has admitted that the Holocaust occurred. It is in fact still illegal to promote Holocaust denial in Germany or to display the Nazi swastika.

Anyone who wishes to read Hitler’s tome of hate Mein Kampf must produce a written statement from an academic source stating that they are involved in bona fide academic research into the Nazi era.

Holocaust deniers have sometimes claimed that historians of the Holocaust have refused to “debate” the issue with them because they have such a strong case. Nothing could be further from the truth. Reputable historians refuse to debate with Holocaust deniers because such an engagement would give them a veneer of academic and moral respectability.

For reputable historians to debate Holocaust denial with supporters of this ridiculous and morally repugnant stance would be the equivalent of scientists engaging in debate with those who believe that the earth is flat and that the moon is made of green cheese.

Indeed, it would be worse -— at least the “flat-earthers” are harmless eccentrics; the same cannot be said of Holocaust deniers.

DR BILL ANDERSON
Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre, Elsternwick, Vic

Sandilands should fast

THERE seems to be little public disagreement that Kyle Sandilands has no understanding of the damage that his remarks can do. Perhaps it is asking too much of Sandilands to think about the ethics of the situations that he causes before putting on his “shock-jock” mask every morning.

Using a lie detector on a teenager and questioning her on her sex life and trying to be funny about Magda Szubanski’s weight loss efforts by referring to concentration camps suggest that there is no depth to which he will not sink in his chase for radio ratings.

I suggest that he reflect on the gratuitous harm that his offensive remarks and actions have caused. Many religions have special periods of reflection and penance for such transgressions. There is the Muslim Ramadan, the Christian Lent and, of course, the fast of Yom Kippur, which begins at sunset on September 27 and ends on sunset the next day.

My advice to Sandilands is to try fasting for a whole day. You could reflect on Auschwitz, on lie detectors, on vulnerable teenagers. When your stomach rumbles, think of Magda and think of everyone you have hurt. Resolve to be a better person.

And don’t worry about the ratings — it’s how you rate yourself when you look in the mirror that really matters.

RED BINGHAM
St Kilda East, Vic

Accept embassy’s explanation

I FIND it difficult to understand the motive of The AJN (11/09) in publicly questioning the official Israeli embassy’s response to the article that appeared in the The Weekend Australian.

My understanding is that the Embassy of Israel in Canberra is the official representative of Israel in Australia and, as such, its response should be respected, especially since the matter is still before the courts.

It was entirely inappropriate of The Weekend Australian to have published its biased report. Perhaps The AJN should have demonstrated a little more restraint and waited for the Israeli justice system to bring down its decision before embarking on an unnecessary challenge to the Israeli embassy.

LINDA BERMEISTER
Dover Heights, NSW

Appease Arabs

AGAIN we see Hezbollah shooting rockets across the border into the northern Israeli town of Nahariya. This provocation is clearly in violation of UN Resolution 1701. In light of this, the White House has issued a half-hearted response.

If that had been the Bush administration, Israel’s greatest friend in the White House, the message would have been loud and clear and without any misgivings.

Ever since President Barack Obama has taken up residency in the White House, his appeasement-style policy towards firstly Iran, then other hostile Arab nations, has entrenched the anti-Israel stance of groups such as Hezbollah.

As Obama has made a speech at Cairo University, which clearly has not resulted in better relations between Israel and the Muslim world, perhaps he can make another speech at Beirut University to the Arab world to make peace with Israel.

But as British PM Neville Chamberlain discovered by appeasing Hitler in 1938, democracies only come off second best when giving in to aggressors, and an open palm is returned with a clenched fist.

URI BUTNARU
North Bondi, NSW

Danby wrong?

IT is highly regrettable that Michael Danby has chosen to read into the parliamentary record his dispute with the media including New Matilda and Crikey.com (AJN 11/09).

None of those accused have any right of reply, or defence against what he says in Parliament, because parliamentary speech is privileged speech.

Despite being a strong defender of human rights, refugees, and freedom of expression, he seems to have a real blind spot when it comes to comment about Israel’s politics.

The new media moves at lightning speed, both in terms of access and the capacity for anyone to publish. To ask online media editors to constantly monitor readers’ comments is almost an impossible task, and verges on instituting censorship.

His action will only make many people even less likely to consider less dogmatic opinions about Israel and Palestine.

LARRY STILLMAN
Elwood, Vic

Boycott disturbing

THE promotion of a total boycott of Israeli educational institutions by a University of Sydney professor and so-called peace advocate Jake Lynch is a potentially serious and disturbing development.

Notwithstanding that such a boycott is reminiscent of the German boycott of Jewish businesses and interests in the 1930s, Lynch would promote human rights more effectively if he highlighted the plight of people in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Burma, North Korea, China and Iran.

For nearly 20 years, northern Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army have abducted tens of thousands of children from their own country, as well as Sudan and the Congo, forcing the children into becoming child soldiers and sex slaves. Kony’s paramilitia has murdered thousands of civilians.

Just as fellow African leaders Robert Mugabe and Charles Taylor failed to attract any significant condemnation from the anti-Israel lobby, Kony’s actions, according to Israel’s critics, are seemingly trivial compared to the behaviour of the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

IAN KATZ
Caulfield, Vic

Pre-1948 ownership

ALTHOUGH I am a secular Jew, Yossi Aron’s articles have provided me with both information and a measure of enjoyment over many years.

However, in last week’s column (AJN 11/09), he strayed into the political, opening several cans of worms. He refered to “historical starting points” in debates on the rights of those who wish to build in East Jerusalem and other occupied areas. He said the debate begins from a premise that the properties are Arab — and should remain so, even if they were Jewish before 1948.

We should not go down this path. If one is to argue moral authority based on ownership prior to 1948, how can one turn a blind eye to the situation in so many parts of Israel?

We know that terrible things happened in 1948 initiated by both Jews and Palestinians, as was also the situation in earlier years -— the Hebron massacre of 1929 is mentioned in the article. Many Arab villages were wiped out at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, and many kibbutzim and other Jewish settlements were built on the foundations of these.

One must then ask: if the provenance of a building in Jerusalem can be pursued in order to justify the replacement of Palestinian with Jewish occupancy, why should Palestinian rights across Israel not also be open to investigation?

TOM WOLKENBERG
Glen Iris, Vic

Many of Israel’s friends aren’t Jewish

YOUR suggestion (AJN11/09) that Julian Leeser’s election would mean “the Jewish community could have three sympathetic Members of Parliament” misses the point. There are plenty of MPs, not Jewish, who are not only “sympathetic”, but fully recognise the amazing success story that is Israel, the disproportionate contribution of the Australian Jewish community, and the threat of militant Islam, to Australia, Israel and modern democracies worldwide.

In other words, you don’t need to be Jewish (though it helps). We don’t need “sympathy” in parliament, but sensibility.

DANIEL LEWIS
Rushcutters Bay, NSW

Pride in teaching

PETA Jones Pellach laments the dearth of Jewish educators (AJN11/09) asking “What Jewish mother has a dream of her son becoming a principal of a day school?” I as one Jewish mother could not be prouder if my child became a principal. What a gift to be an educator; to connect with, to teach and to inspire our youth.

The recent tribute brunch for Genia Janover, former principal of Bialik College, is a testament to the indelible and inspiring effect one principal can have upon thousands of young lives.

Jones Pallach said: “Jewish students are encouraged to aim for something that will be lucrative.” Surely it is not what our children earn that defines them; surely it is the value they add and the lives they enrich that is the measure of their worth.

I sincerely hope that we “the People of the Book” encourage more of our youth to take up teaching so that the legacy of exemplary principals like Genia Janover can continue.

DEBRA KORMAN
Hawthorn East, Vic

Where are the stats?

RABBI James Kennard assumes a direct link between the strength of the Melbourne Jewish community and the numbers of children in Jewish schools.

Rabbi Kennard wrote some time ago in The AJN (22/05) that it is “not surprising that children in non-Jewish schools are statistically far more likely to assimilate than their counterparts in Jewish schools”.

“The equation is simple — more children in Jewish schools leads to more Jewish commitment,” writes Rabbi Kennard.

A 1992 editorial in The AJN made the same point in claiming that “the Jewish dayschool experience is one of the most effective bulwarks against assimilation and intermarriage”.

My question is whether Melbourne’s Jewish community has produced the necessary statistical data to support both your contention and the argument contributed by Rabbi Kennard.

MALCOLM CAPLAN
Kfar Saba, Israel

Tennis times

TENNIS Victoria is the peak representative body for the sport of tennis in Victoria and is responsible for the growth and development of the game in Victoria.

All clubs and teams that choose to enter the pennant competition play under the same rules and regulations as governed by our pennant by-laws which are given to all players before, and during the season. These by-laws provide all teams with transparency and consistency in regards to the administration of the competition.

We refer to your article (AJN 11/04) and incorrect quoting of Chris Larkin, that he said Tennis Victoria had not yet contacted East Burwood to see if another time could be arranged. We feel the comment was taken out of context.

The East Burwood team were contacted on August 26 by Tennis Victoria. Nick Hinneberg, Tennis Victoria’s operations manager, spoke with East Burwood’s Grade 9 Men’s team captain Peter Kalyvas and explained that if a mutually agreed alternative time could be found to play the final, then an arrangement could be made between the two teams, which Tennis Victoria would not oppose.

We would also like to point out that the Maccabi Grade 9 Men’s team have played at least one of their pennant finals matches on a Saturday afternoon this season.

LISA WINKLER
Marketing coordinator, Tennis Victoria

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