Jewish Council of Australia news & media
We aim to work with media personnel, politicians, and policymakers to provide expert Jewish voices on issues of antisemitism in Australia
Jewish Council’s criticism of Australian universities’ new antisemitism definition covered by The Guardian, Asia Pacific Report and Pearls & Irritations
Sarah Schwartz recently spoke to a range of publications about Australian universities’ new antisemitism definition. An excerpt of Sarah’s comments that were quoted in the Guardian: “This definition risks increasing antisemitism by suggesting that all Jews support the state of Israel, and can be held responsible for Israel’s egregious human rights abuses.” Use the links…
Louise Adler’s latest piece in The Guardian: “From Creative Australia to Sydney writers’ festival, the direct threat facing the arts is coming from within”
Advisory Committee member Louise Adler has a new piece in the Guardian titled “From Creative Australia to Sydney writers’ festival, the direct threat facing the arts is coming from within”. It’s an adapted extract from her essay Culture, Money and Morals in What’s the Big Idea? 34 Ideas for a Better Australia (Australia Institute Press)…
Jewish Council of Australia slams universities’ adoption of dangerous, politicised and unworkable antisemitism definition
[Image credit] Today, Australia’s 39 universities endorsed a dangerous and politicised definition of antisemitism which threatens academic freedom, will have a chilling effect on legitimate criticism of Israel, and risks institutionalising anti-Palestinian racism. They did so without meaningful consultation with Palestinian groups or diverse Jewish groups who are critical of Israel. The Jewish Council of Australia strongly…
Jewish Council supports public interest defence in Victorian anti-vilification legislation
All people have a right to live free of discrimination and vilification and the Jewish Council supports the Victorian government’s commitment to protecting marginalised communities from acts of hatred. The Jewish Council of Australia stands in support of robust civil protections against hate speech while ensuring that criminal laws do not target marginalised communities and…
Sarah Schwartz interviewed by The Sunday Shot
Sarah Schwartz recently appeared on The Sunday Shot for an interview where she discussed the Jewish Council’s mission, Zionism and antisemitism and a range of other topics. Click here to watch the episode on YouTube or use the embedded player below:
500+ Jewish Australians take out newspaper ad saying NO to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians
Members of the Australian Jewish community have taken out a full-page ad in Nine newspapers urging Australia to reject Trump’s plan for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza. The ad in today’s Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, organised by an independent grassroots collective, features the names of 500 Jewish signatories including musician Ben Lee; actor Miriam Margolyes;…
‘Every life is a universe’: The ceasefire must hold
[Image credit] Whoever destroys a single life, the Torah considers it as if they destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a single life, the Torah considers it as if they saved an entire world.Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a Yesterday, we received confirmation that the remains of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas have been returned to their…
Dr Gabor Maté on Healing, Justice and Liberation for All — a Jewish Council of Australia event
Below is the full recording of the sold-out event recently held at the Melbourne Jewish community. You can also watch the video directly on YouTube here.
NBC coverage of Sarah Schwartz’s comments about the recent antisemitic attacks
NBC News has a piece out titled “Australia struggles to address a surge in antisemitic attacks,” which includes Sarah Schwartz’s comments about the recent antisemitic attacks. An excerpt from Sarah’s comments quoted in the article: To address antisemitism on campus, we must also address the racism faced by other racialized groups, including First Nations, Palestinian,…
Free online event: Max Kaiser in Conversation with Robyn Reynolds
Join Max Kaiser and Roby Reynolds on Sun 23 February, 5pm (online) for a conversation about Judaism, antisemitism, and everything in between. Click here to register.
Max Kaiser speaks to AFR about the antisemitism investigation of Cairo Takeaway
Max Kaiser recently spoke to AFR (Australian Financial Review) for an article titled “Legal threat after ‘antisemitism investigation’ goes wrong.” An excerpt from Max’s comments quoted in the article: “There is enough real antisemitism out there in the world today. Confecting incidents like this … is horrible.” Click here to read the full piece (requires…
Our first year changed the conversation. Help us into year two
Dear supporters, This week marks one year since we launched the Jewish Council of Australia with our op-ed in The Age, declaring that as Jews, we support Palestinian human rights and don’t accept that criticism of Israel is antisemitic. Since launching we have witnessed something remarkable: an expanding movement of Jewish Australians ready to stand up for Palestinian…
Jewish Council opposes Parliamentary Inquiry recommendation to adopt controversial definition of antisemitism
[Image credit] The Jewish Council is deeply concerned with many of the recommendations released yesterday by the Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities. While increasing rates of antisemitism are of serious concern, this series of inquiries has been overtly politicised. The Jewish Council is strongly opposed to the recommendation for universities to adopt a…
Dennis Altman’s piece in The Jewish Independent: “Making sense of Trump on Gaza”
Advisory Committee member Professor Dennis Altman AM has a piece out in The Jewish Independent titled “Making sense of Trump on Gaza.” From the piece’s introduction: “How do we make sense of President Trump’s announcement that the United States would take over Gaza, and its inhabitants should move elsewhere?” Click here to read the full…
Advisory Member Antony Loewenstein speaks to Sky News about NSW hate-speech laws and Trump’s plan for Gaza
Advisory Member Antony Loewenstein recently spoke to Sky News about NSW hate-speech laws and Trump’s plan for Gaza. Click here to watch the interview on YouTube or use the embedded player below:
Executive Member Dr Naama Blatman writes for Al Jazeera about Trump’s ‘surrealistic statements’
Executive Member Dr Naama Blatman has a piece out in Al Jazeera (co-authored with Neve Gordon) about Trump’s ‘surrealistic statements’. From Al Jazeera’s description of the article on their website: “US president’s latest comments confirm Israel’s wholesale destruction of Gaza is aimed at permanently removing its Palestinian population.” Click here to read the article.
Open Letter to Jason Clare MP: Targeting of Antiracist Academics Evidence of Rising Repression of Dissent
Jason Clare MP Dear Minister Clare, The Jewish Council urges you to reject the coordinated and malicious campaigns by Israel lobby groups to interfere with the academic freedom of Palestinian and First Nations scholars. We write to you in response to the campaigns being run by various Israel lobby groups to silence the voices of…
The Jewish Council condemns US President Trump’s plan to ‘take over’ Gaza
[Image credit] The Jewish Council of Australia strongly condemns Donald Trump’s suggestion the United States will ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip and move Palestinian people elsewhere. We furthermore condemn the cynical use of humanitarian language by Trump to justify his egregious plan. This language adds insult to injury given the mounting evidence collected by human…
Max Kaiser appears on SBS’s Weekend One On One podcast about allegations of antisemitism against Elon Musk
Max Kaiser recently appeared on SBS’s Weekend One On One podcast about antisemitism and far-right extremists. From SBS’s description of this podcast episode: “Amid a rise in antisemitic incident around the world, a wave of scrutiny has fallen at the feet of a somewhat unlikely target – the richest man in the world – Elon…
Max Kaiser speaks to ABC, CNN and Ten News about the recent series of antisemitic attacks
Max Kaiser recently spoke to a range of media outlets about the series of antisemitic attacks. Click here to listen to the ABC PM segment on the ABC’s website. Click here to read the CNN article. Click here to watch the Ten News appearance on Instagram.
