Jews And Australian Politics

Explains the contemporary politics of Australian Jewry. This book situates the politics of Australian Jews through comparisons with general patterns in Australian politics, the politics of other minorities in Australia, and the politics of other Western Jewish communities. It contains an appendix of Jewish Parliamentarians.

Explains the contemporary politics of Australian Jewry. This book situates the politics of Australian Jews through comparisons with general patterns in Australian politics, the politics of other minorities in Australia, and the politics of other Western Jewish communities. It contains an appendix of Jewish Parliamentarians.

For 50 years, until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Soviet Union ran a campaign of repression, imprisonment, political trials and terror against its 3 million Jews. In Australia, political leaders and the Jewish community contributed significantly to the international protest movement which eventually triumphed over Moscow's tyranny and led to the modern Exodus of Soviet Jews to Israel and other countries. Lipski and Rutland make this largely unknown Australian story come alive with a combination of passion, personal experience and ground-breaking research. "The struggle for the freedom of Soviet Jewry was one of the most powerful displays of strength and solidarity by the world Jewish community... even those intimately familiar with the struggle will be surprised to discover in Let My People Go how the Australian Jewish community and its leaders were among the campaign's initiators, and how they saw it through to its successful conclusion. This is a unique testament to how a small group can play a big role in history." - Natan Sharansky, Chairman Jewish Agency for Israel, Prisoner of Zion (1977-86)

A study based on a survey of the Melbourne Jewish community conducted by Medding in 1961-62 in part fulfillment of the requirements for an M.A. degree at Melbourne University. Ch. 3 (p. 55-75), "The Politics of Representation, " discuss the actions of the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies to combat antisemitism which, however, was a minor phenomenon. It was confined mainly to manifestations of verbal prejudice, social exclusion, and the dissemination of antisemitic literature. Pp. 220-234 deal with Soviet antisemitism and actions undertaken by the Board to combat it.

Australia and the State of Israel have maintained a cordial if at times ambiguous relationship. The two countries are geographically isolated: strategic, economic and cultural interests lie increasingly with Asia for one, and with the US and the EU for the other. But for all that divides the two states, there is also much they share. Australia played an important role in the Jewish state's establishment in 1948, and is home to the most Zionist centered Jewish diaspora globally. Jewishness for most Australian Jews has been shaped and defined by engagement with and support for Israel. At the heart of this engagement is a small but thriving Israeli community within the larger multicultural Australia. Australia and Israel: A Diasporic, Cultural and Political relationship draws attention to the important historical and contemporary nexus between this diaspora and its imagined homeland. The collection also considers the ways in which these two states mobilise national myths and share environmental challenges. In recent time relations between the two states have been tested by the illegal use of Australian passports in 2010, the mysterious death of dual national Ben Zygier, and growing disquiet within the ranks of the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens over Israel's handling of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. One prominent world-wide issue is the Palestinian BDS (Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions) movement, which has attracted sympathy and support that has brought about substantive differences of opinion regarding its legitimacy within the Jewish Australian community. These issues demonstrate the multifaceted and complex picture of two very different nations, that nevertheless share an abiding connection.

The historical involvement of Jews in the political Left is well known, but far less attention has been paid to the political and ideological factors which attracted Jews to the Left. After the Holocaust and the creation of Israel many lost their faith in universalistic solutions, yet lingering links between Jews and the Left continue to exist.

Jews form only a tiny proportion of the Australian population, yet they have made outstanding contributions and have influenced Australian society immeasurably. Stories such as that of Sir John Monash, Australian commander-in-chief during World War I, whose legacy continues through Monash University, show how Jews have reached the highest echelons of Australian society. The Jews in Australia explores what makes the Australian Jewish community different from other Jewish communities around the world. It traces the community's history from its convict origins in 1788 through to today's vibrant Jewish culture in Australia, and highlights the social and cultural impact the Jews have had on Australia. As well as looking at the emergence of a specific faith tradition in Australia, the book also explores how Jews, as Australia's first ethnic group, have integrated into multicultural Australia.

Australian reluctance to accept Jewish refugees before and during World War II was connected to traditional immigration policies intended to ensure a "White Australia" and barring "genetically undesirable races." Traces the history of cultural and intellectual antisemitism in Australia, often originating in Britain, and of Social Darwinist and right-wing nationalist ideas and their influence on immigration policies before and after 1933. Unemployment caused by the depression (and often blamed on Jewish financial machinations) aroused fears of being swamped by hordes of Jewish refugees. The official Jewish community acquiesced in these fears. As a result, only 7500 refugees reached Australia before 1941. Even after the war, the public and press opposed entry of Jewish refugees.