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The Jewish firestorm

By Larry Stillman - posted Thursday, 15 March 2007


The firestorm which appears to be now sweeping through Australia's small, but influential Jewish community over the issue of representation, and the “right” to speak out about Israeli politics may perplex many people outside the community, as it may infuriate or please some within. It is much more than a comic characterisation of “two Jews; three opinions”, but something that involves perceptions of authoritative representation, and the right to different forms of identity in a democracy.

It is also a case study in the power of the Internet in that hundreds of individuals (well over 430 as of March 14), through signing an online petition from “Independent Australian Jewish Voices”, appear to have touched some very raw nerves in the community and caught some big time power players completely off guard.

I would argue that this is a another example of an unpleasant feature of Jewish life in Australia that happens with regular frequency, and it can be explained as a result of unresolved issue of what the “Jewish community” actually is and does, and how it treats dissenters from so-called “official” positions.

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In the 1940s, there were furious debates over the legitimacy of Zionism with, on the one hand, elderly former Governor General Sir Isaac Isaacs pleading a non-Zionist, British identity the one hand, and the young Zionist jurist Julius Stone on the other. Isaacs died before the establishment of the State of Israel, but he reflected the concerns of a number of others about the dangers of virulent separatist nationalism.

After the 1967 War, when critiques of Israeli triumphalism were made in the Jewish Herald newspaper by Paul Bram, advertisers withdrew, and the paper was closed down, leaving the press monopoly to the Jewish News.

Today, to its credit, many critics of Israeli policies, including myself, do get our letters printed in that publication, but by and large, it puts forward fairly conservative positions on Israel and lampoons critics as, for example, “pampered self-styled radicals” in a recent editorial, even though the same issue contains a colour supplement devoted to consumerism and lifestyle!

Additionally, from the 1950s onwards, the Jewish left, represented antecedents of the Australian Jewish Democratic Society as well as a number of anti-Zionist socialists were constantly anathematised by the mainstream community leadership. Until recently, in fact, the AJDS was prevented from being a constituent member of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.

While it can be argued that there is a “survivor” mentality in the community because of the large proportion of Holocaust survivors, with a resultant defensiveness about the issue of Israel, there are a number of other factors to be considered to explain the zealousness of the response to the petition from “Independent Australian Jewish Voices”.

These include:

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An unresolved problem of exactly what constitutes the Jewish “community” and resultantly, the legitimacy of its leadership as representing all interests and points of view. One the one hand, there is a low degree of direct involvement in any communal structures by around 40 per cent of the Jewish population, but on the other, these structures present themselves as representative and they have entrenched, vocal, and well-resourced spokespeople. It is seen as bad form to speak out on issues covered by these organisations, particularly on the Israel-Palestine question.

One the other hand, as a well-settled group of Australians, to what degree are Jews still “different” and why should it be that largely affluent people require or need separate structures and institutions? Is such a tribal mentality really necessary?

It can be suggested that many Australian-born Jews have absolutely no interest in the agendas led by such organisations. Their Jewish affiliation is confined to family and perhaps ritual and for many, an attachment to Israel (including visits or family there). They are secure, and their social and welfare needs are served by mainstream rather than purely Jewish institutions.

Furthermore, there appear to be elements of a power struggle (also familiar) over “who speaks on Israel” between more moderate organisations such as the various state Community Councils, the Anti-Defamation Commission of Bnai Brith, the “loyalist” Zionist Councils, and the very well-resourced neo-conservative private lobby group the Australian Israel Affairs Council which bills itself as Australia’s premier public affairs group.

The relative isolation, until very recently, of the Jewish community from the broader world of Jewish scholarship and critical thinking over issues of identity, and the possibility of the creation of legitimate Jewish alternatives. This includes relatively weak position of modernised, universalising liberal or reform Judaism with its roots in post-enlightenment Europe and the USA, as distinct from inward-looking, and traditionalist orthodoxy that has a strong influence even over those who are not particular observant.

The fact that there is a relatively weak “liberal” wing to the community means that it has adopted a fairly conservative religious and social agenda, in contrast to the much more progressive position taken by many reform Jews in the USA. Additionally, orthodoxy in Australia is now dominated by the wealthy Lubavitch sect who take a strongly Zionist position, coupled with its own particular type of messianic theology and social separatism.

A Jewish community that is increasingly affluent and increasingly inward looking. Additionally, recent immigrants from South Africa form an increasing proportion of the population and have left behind a tumultuous environment for suburban security. There are also many Israelis, who take a low profile. A majority of children are educated at private Jewish schools leading to less exposure to the rest of the Australian community. The organised Jewish left has declined in numbers (and possibly too, 10 years of the Liberal's fear agenda have had their ideological effect on the community).

In addition to the factor of the Holocaust, there are unresolved tensions over to what degree Israel is the centre of Jewish cultural or religious life, mixed in with a deep fear for the security of fellow Jews in Israel. This is the lightening rod issue which mixed in with the other issues outlined above, results in outbursts of extreme communal verbal violence.

Thus, as can be seen in the current spate of opinion pieces in the broadsheets in Melbourne and Sydney, in their letter columns, and in the Australian Jewish News, the mix of influences has resulted in a vituperative attitude towards signatories of “Independent Australian Jewish Voices” who have crossed not a physical, but a psychological line in challenging what is seen as acceptable criticism of Israel by those in dominant positions in the community.

Much of their language is drawn from publications in the US and Israel. Even the key point the signatories have stated - that they are opposed to terror - has been attacked as relativism because it supposedly equates Israel and Palestinian violence and is therefore a cover for anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

What is also interesting is this criticism of the “Independent Australian Jewish Voices” is also coming from a number of well-known people in the community who would still claim to be on the left but who have become legitimated into mainstream power structures.

This also suggests there is a high degree of sensitivity across the board to challenges to community power, at least community power as perceived by those on the inside.

This results in the criticism, as expressed in the Jewish media and round the dinner table that those who are critical of mainstream structures and positions on Israel are in fact, not really acceptable members of a somehow defined community, and that they have no other legitimate form of Jewish identity or practice. This in fact explains the vilificatory, psychologising (“self-hating Jews”) and highly personalised tone of criticisms from the mainstream, rather than an informed debate on the merits of the politics of contemporary Israel, the crisis in Zionism, the lunacy of 40 years of occupation and so on.

In fact, I would argue that for many of the signatories of the letter, the issue of Israel is in fact the lodestone of their Jewish identity, attenuated as it may be in some cases. They have signed the petition because they see a desperate situation, rather than out of a crude anti-Zionism as is being presented by so-called legitimate opinion.

The Jewish community, such as it is, should welcome this as an opportunity for engagement, rather than rejection.

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About the Author

Larry Stillman lived abroad from 1976-1989 and travels regularly for his work at Monash. He has degrees from the University of Melbourne, Hebrew University, and Harvard, as well as a PhD from Monash University. He works as a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of IT at Monash as well as with the Oxfam Australia-Monash University Partnership.

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