From The Australian, March 09, 2007 ...
A leading group of Australian Jews, in a statement released yesterday, maintain that criticism is not censorship
WE are Jews who are strongly committed to Jewish life and culture. As with most Australian Jews today, we view the welfare and security of Israel as fundamental to that life and culture. That is why we wish to express our public disagreement with the contents of the IAJV petition.
We support a two-state solution to the Arab-Israel conflict, based on mutual compromise and concessions.
We support the peace negotiation initiatives taken by Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, and we identify with the clear political support of the Israeli mainstream public for a Palestinian state that exists alongside a state of Israel as part of a package that includes recognition of Israel as a legitimate state that has secure and defensible borders.
We support the Quartet's (US, Russia, UN and the EU) proposals that recognise Israel's existence and confirming the Palestinian Authority's past undertakings.
We support Australia's endorsement of a two-state solution to the conflict.
We also endorse free speech within the Jewish community. Australian Jewry is diverse and its communal roof bodies include a wide range of opinions. It is obvious that not all Australian Jews support or should support everything Israel does.
Many recent events in the Middle East such as the Gaza withdrawal and the war with Hezbollah have been vigorously debated in Australian Jewish public forums, and the views of signatories to the IAJV petition have been given extensive coverage in the mainstream media. But we object to, and wish publicly to dissociate ourselves from, disingenuous and misleading aspects of the IAJV petition.
The statement pretends that Israel's mainstream has not yet acknowledged Palestinian aspirations for a homeland. We object to its saying nothing about either the rejection of Israel's legitimacy by Arab parties to the conflict or the role of Islamist terror. In our opinion, an Arab-Israel peace will not be achieved by attempting to impose pariah status on Israel.
Some of the key organisers of the IAJV petition have a long record of one-sided Israel bashing. The anti-Israel bias evident in the omissions of the IAJV petition forms part of that record and it is not a constructive step towards the peaceful solution of the conflict. That will come only when moderates prevail and extremists are condemned on both sides.
Only a tiny minority of Australian Jews reject the fundamental role that Israel plays in Australian Jewish life and identity and the need to ensure the security of Israel, and we believe that this minority who condemn Israel have a right to express their views. Nevertheless, the views of the large majority of Jews who support Israel's legitimacy and security are of greater significance in any debate.
Nor should a vocal minority be given special dispensation from community debate, scrutiny and rational criticism. Australian Jews have a good understanding of what Israelis face every day. There are security guards at the gates of our children's schools and our synagogues are terrorist targets. Peace in the Middle East will only come after terrorism is renounced and the extremists accept the right of Israel to exist free from attack in safe and secure borders.
[signed by]
Michael Danby (federal Labor MP); Eric Roozendaal (NSW Labor minister); Marsha Thomson (Victorian state Labor minister); Martin Pakula (parliamentary secretary to the Victorian Minister for Transport); Michael Borowick (assistant national secretary, Australian Workers Union); associate professor Doug Kirsner; associate professor Greg Rose; Barry Cohen (former federal Labor minister); associate professor Danny Ben Moshe; professor Philip Mendes; Howard Nathan; Justice Stephen Rothman; Mark Dreyfus; George Dreyfus; professor Paul Zimmet; professor Andrew Markus; John Baker; George Newhouse (Mayor of Waverly, NSW); Rabbi John Levi; Dr Paul Gardner; Dr Henry Pinskier; Marcia Pinskier; Leora Harrison; Ron Finkel; Amanda Mendes Da Costa; Leora Harrison; Roland Lindell; Vladimir Tsivlin; Marion Lustig; Dr Carmela Levy-Stokes; Dr George Levy; Michael Marx; Sandy Gutman; Miriam Suss; Dr Philip Bliss; plus 80 others.
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