Firm friends at ZFA
Federal Minister Mitch Fifield confirmed he's a staunch supporter of Israel and Jews when delivering the keynote speech at ZFA's 2016 biennial conference.
FEDERAL Minister Mitch Fifield confirmed that he is a staunch supporter of Israel and the Jewish people when he delivered the keynote address at the Zionist Federation of Australia’s (ZFA) 2016 biennial conference on Sunday (December 4).
The Minister for Arts, Minister for Communications, and Minister of Government Business in the Senate, lauded the Jewish State as a pluralistic and democratic society.
“It embraces the rule of law, freedom of speech and freedom of association in a part of the world where those things are in very short supply,” Fifield said.
“Israel for me has always been a beacon of hope … a beacon of tolerance. And I think the wellbeing of Israel really is a marker for the wellbeing of the global order that we have.”
Changing tack somewhat, Fifield talked about the arts as “one of the fundamental underpinnings of freedom of speech”, a notion he said is applicable both here and in Israel.
“What I think the arts does is it provides an opportunity to connect with people with their defences down,” Fifield said.
“I think arts more broadly can bridge barriers between communities within one nation, but also between people of different nations.”
Fifield, who has visited Israel five times, noted the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is “a practical and -living example of cultural confidence” in the way it reaches out within the community but also beyond Israel’s borders.
“Yes, it is obviously a cradle of culture but it’s also a model for coexistence and I think holds within it the hope of greater understanding in the future,” Fifield said.
“Security is an important underpinning for confidence. But you also need a cultural underpinning to national confidence.”
Also speaking at the conference was Alan Hoffmann, director-general of the Jewish Agency for Israel, who discussed the organisation’s vision of ensuring the future of a connected, committed global Jewish people with a strong Israel at its centre.
He said this depends on four interconnected pillars: connecting young Jews to Israel and to their Jewish identity, connecting young Israelis to the Jewish people and their Jewish identity, aliyah and absorption, and support of vulnerable populations.
He praised the Zionist landscape in Australia, which he said places strong emphasis on connecting young Jews to Israel, through shlichim, youth movements, high school Israel programs, Zionist seminars, and more.
“I think you don’t understand how unusual a Zionist community you have in Australia,” Hoffmann said.
Among the other speakers taking to the podium on Sunday was Israeli ambassador to Australia Shmuel Ben-Shmuel.
The conference also included a media panel moderated by AJN national editor Zeddy Lawrence, and featuring Herald Sun political editor James Campbell and columnist Rita Panahi, as well as Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council senior policy analyst Jamie Hyams.
Among the topics discussed were the portrayal of Israel in the press, whether Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act should be amended, the impact of social media such as Facebook on the dissemination of information, ensuring news reports are factual and balanced, and the controversy surrounding the cancelled Caulfield event with One Nation’s Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts.
The event also saw the re-election of Danny Lamm as ZFA president.
PHOEBE ROTH
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