Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday 4 March 2012

In Oz, Aid & Comfort For The Enemy At Balaclava: Jewish Fringe Groups Attack The JNF

Balaclava Railway Station lies in the heart of Jewish Melbourne, in Carlisle Street.

Like a number of thoroughfares in the district, Balaclava is a neighbourhood named after battles in the Crimean War, which was a very recent memory when the district, some miles beyond central Melbourne (founded in  1835) was being developed and settled.

The other day, a vicious flyer was handed out during a rally at the station, held jointly by the Melbourne cell of a fringe group known as Jews Against The Occupation (of which Sydney flotilla/flytilla activist and occasional PressTV interviewee Vivienne Porzsolt is undoubtedly the best-known (some would say "notorious" representative) in conjunction with an apparently new group called Jews Against The JNF (pictured here with the BDS crowd last September).

The flyers, choc-a-bloc with the usual tropes against Israel, call for "the charity status of the JNF to be revoked in Australia" and "for Australians to break ties with the JNF".

Although at first glance some people might find the platform of Jews Against The Occupation laudable, its platform demands the Right of Return to the so-called Palestinian Refugees, which if enacted would of course spell the end of the State of Israel.  Needless to say, there is nothing in the platform about a reciprocal right, or compensation, for the Jews who fled from or were forced out of Arab countries, the "Jewish Nakba"  which, thanks to people such as the talented person behind the Point of No Return Blog, is beginning to receive the publicity it deserves.

Jews Against The JNF are equally blinkered, indeed mischievous.  "The JNF-KKL [Keren Kayemet LeIsrael] continues to serve as a global fundraiser for for Israeli ethnic cleansing. occupation and apartheid," they inveigh, thus echoing some of the most treacherous canards made against the Jewish State.

Let's hope Jewish youngsters in Australia manage to withstand the propaganda of such groups, unlike some Jewish youngsters in Britain (even pupils of Jewish day schools), on whom a constant drip drip of anti-Israel demonisation in the media is having a deleterious effect, and are being led astray by pernicious but plausible slurs and falsehoods.

For, as its Chief Executive Officer argues here, the campaign against the JNF(and of course the UK Greens are part of it) is misplaced.

3 comments:

  1. Well, you have to hand it to them, the racist Australian Palestinian groups are very innovative in finding new ways to demonise Israel and Jews, and are fortunate to have a handful of very vocal useful idiot Jews to do their bidding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I forgot to acknowledge Shirlee, who sent me the flyer as a pdf file. If anyone has the link, please add as a comment. Thanks!

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  3. The JNF has been funding the expansion of Jewish settlements in the Negev by displacing the Bedouin. The JNF has been the min vehicle of colonisation of Palestine by the Zionists. These are facts, debate them with those who oppose the JNF. Smear, slander and abuse har e worn out tacks without credibility.

    I am wiling to debate the history of JNF with you in this space. Let us have an free and honest examination of the history and present activities of the JNF.

    ReplyDelete

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