Peak body warns against inaction
COMMUNAL responsibility was the theme of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s (ECAJ) annual conference at Melbourne’s Beth Weizmann on Sunday, where the organisation’s achievements over the past year were balanced by a view to the challenges that lie ahead for the Jewish community.
COMMUNAL responsibility was the theme of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s (ECAJ) annual conference at Melbourne’s Beth Weizmann on Sunday, where the organisation’s achievements over the past year were balanced by a view to the challenges that lie ahead for the Jewish community.
The day-long event included a question-and-answer session with Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem and short lectures by Dr Helen Szoke, speaking on race relations in Australia, and Israeli diplomat Shmuel Ben-Shmuel, speaking in his capacity as director of diaspora and religious affairs for the Foreign Ministry.
The annual anti-Semitism report, written by ECAJ life member Jeremy Jones, was also handed down.
ECAJ president Dr Danny Lamm opened the meeting with an overview of some of the issues that the group had grappled with in 2012, from matters involving Israel – such as the latest Gaza flotillas – to domestic concerns, such as standing up to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and lobbying for the protection of shechitah.
“The ECAJ is a brand name that is recognised by government, Dr Lamm said, “The illustration of that is the numerous reports that the government seeks advice and policy opinion from the ECAJ, which then gets frequent reference in the reports that they come out with.”
Dr Lamm urged ECAJ members to educate the community about the “important work” of the organisation so that it could continue to fund its activities. “You’ve got to grab the opportunity to say, ‘listen boykey, that piece of meat that you can eat is because somebody made sure that you could do it,’” Dr Lamm said.
“The fact that you can walk around with your shoulders firm and straight and not feel uncomfortable about Australia’s position in respect to Israel is because work has been done in the past and continues to be done,” he added.
Rotem fielded questions ranging from Israeli-Australian relations to the Arab Spring and the peace process in a frank discussion that alternated on and off the record.
The ambassador told the gathering that Israel was looking to use the art of diplomacy to find solutions to its problems, not despair over them.
“Don’t tell me that [Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s days are numbered,” Rotem said, “Tell me what you’ll do to make sure that the guys who will replace him are not going to be a bunch of cuckoos, but people who can reason with you.”
Similarly, on Iran, Rotem said “Don’t tell me they are rushing into having to a nuclear bomb. The question [to other governments] is what they’re doing about Iran.”
On all issues, “inaction is not a luxury we can pursue,” Rotem concluded.
At the meeting, it was also announced that ECAJ executive director Peter Wertheim had renewed his contract with the organisation.
In his remarks, Wertheim reminded ECAJ members of the unique strategic positioning of the group as a voice of the Jewish community, which brings with it unique responsibilities.
“No other organisation has a federal and state branched network where they can work simultaneously with the relevant federal ministers and state ministers” on any given issue, Wertheim said.
AHRON SHAPIRO
Photo: ECAJ president Dr Danny Lamm holds up the Gen08 anti-Semitism report at Sunday’s conference. Photo: Peter Haskin
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