Israeli Film Festival: 21-28 August

Don't forget the Israel Film Festival starting this Wednesday at Cinema Paradiso.

Note that the Opening night admission price of $38 includes admission to the Opening Reception with His Excellency Yuval Rotem, Ambassador of Israel to Australia, at one of his final engagements in Perth before he completes his term in Australia.

The Opening Reception will commence at 6:15pm on Wednesday 21 August, over wines and canapés, upstairs at Oliver's. See below for details of how to book for this event or any of the movies in the Festival.

Settlements not illegal

A letter in Melbourne's Herald Sun by AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein responds to an important inaccuracy regarding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The letter in the Herald Sun, SAT 17 AUG 2013, by Dr Colin Rubenstein, executive director, Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, reads as follows:

The article, "Prisoners walk free" (HS, Aug 15), was mistaken in reporting that US Secretary of State John Kerry said Israel's settlements are "illegal''. The US does not make this claim, and neither did Kerry.

He repeated the Obama administration's standard formula to express disapproval without making a judgment on legality, saying, "As you know... the United States of America views all of the settlements as illegitimate".

In the context of the conflict, it is a significant difference. The US regards settlements as unhelpful because the territory on which they are situated is disputed land that is claimed by two different parties.

But settlements are not illegal because an independent and sovereign state of Palestine has never existed, so the West Bank is not "Palestinian land". The US knows the solution is to create a two-state resolution that draws final borders and ends the dispute over land.

Three times, Israel has offered such a resolution, in the last proposing to give Palestinians the equivalent of 100 percent of the West Bank and Gaza land area. Sadly, the Palestinian leadership has failed to respond positively.

Carr WRONG on Settlements…

From J-Wire, August 14, 2013 by Peter Wertheim*:

Read on for article

It was disappointing to hear Foreign Minister Bob Carr repeat an erroneous assertion he has made once before.
Speaking on August 8 at Eid celebrations in Sydney to end the Muslim festival of Ramadan, Carr told a crowd outside Lakemba mosque in western Sydney that “all Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are illegal under international law and should cease."
Leaving aside the contentious reference to disputed territory as “Palestinian land”, which prejudges the outcome of the current peace talks, one would not have expected a senior and respected foreign minister to make so basic an error...
Professor James Crawford, Whewell Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge, and one of the world’s most eminent international lawyers, is generally critical of Israeli policies, as is demonstrated in a legal Opinion he published in 2012. Yet he makes clear how erroneous it is for anybody to assert dogmatically that “all” settlements are illegal under international law:

“Land acquisition on the basis of military need is not necessarily unlawful under international law. Pursuant to Article 52 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, requisitions of property are permitted to meet “the needs of the army of occupation”. Until 1979, requisition for security needs was the primary mechanism for the taking of land for settlements, and some, such as the Nahal settlements, were clearly army bases and probably lawful.”

...No previous Australian Foreign Minister has said that “all” the settlements are illegal. Such dogmatic generalisations are unworthy of a respected middle power like Australia.
... such statements are also counter-productive. They make it politically more difficult for Palestinian leaders to agree to a land swap arrangement, a sine qua non of any final peace settlement, allowing them no way forward for any territorial compromise at all.
Such statements will also alienate many Israelis who will conclude that Carr is unfairly harsh in his judgements about Israel and does not really comprehend the depth and intractability of Palestinian rejectionism.
Our Foreign Minister would have done better to limit himself to well-established bipartisan principles calling for a peaceful settlement of the conflict based on “two States for two peoples”.
*Peter Wertheim is the Executive Director of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

Also see these previous related postings:

• Israel's occupation is LEGAL
• The Mandate for Palestine

Also note that:

• The Arab League destroyed, massacred and ethnically cleansed ancient Jewish settlements in the so-called West Bank, including the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.
• The 22 Arab nations neighbouring Israel have cleansed themselves of their 856,000 Jews since 1948.

Now, the PA demand for a Judenrein territory (including those areas ethnically cleansed by the Arabs as recently as 1948) to create another anti-Semitic state, reveals the PA to be unready for peaceful co-existence.

Why can't the PA tolerate co-existing with "even a single Jew" as a permanent resident of their proposed state? ...after all, Israel has 1,500,000 Arab citizens.

Melbourne Al-Quds Day features anti-Semitic cartoons

From J-Wire, August 9, 2013 by Julie Nathan*:         

Read on for article

Melbourne held its first Al-Quds Day rally this year.
The short video of the rally and march shows about fifty people gathered on the steps of the State Library, with speakers giving speeches, and protestors waving anti-Israel banners. The crowd then marched down the street.
In the middle of this two minute video of the anti-Israel protest several photos and cartoon images have been inserted.
Some of these images are overtly anti-Jewish.

One image is of a Jewish man, identified as such with a kippah (skullcap) and Star of David, and with a stereotypical huge hooked nose, holding a small and limp child in front of him. The Jew is poised to take a gigantic and deadly bite out of the child.
Why is an image of a Jew eating a gentile child inserted into a video of an anti-Israel rally?
For a thousand years, Christians had accused Jews of murdering gentile children and draining their blood for use in religious rituals or for making matzah (Passover bread). This fabrication has been used against Jews to vilify and demonize them, and to incite the mobs to violently attack Jews.

Another image shows a dead Palestinian in loin cloth draped in the arms of a sitting woman, with fighter planes overhead. The figure is transposed from artwork of the dead Jesus in the arms of Mary. This image elicits the millennial accusation against Jews as “Christ-killers”.
This accusation was used to incite the mobs to go out and massacre Jews, often whole Jewish communities.
This image in the video reconstructs the accusation and demonizing of the Jewish people as being innately murderous and absolutely evil, and of the Palestinian Arabs as being mild and meek as Jesus, and innocent.
The video was made by Alaa Al, and appears in several places.
The Al-Quds Day committee Australia, the organizers of the rally, posted this video on their Facebook page, with the acknowledgment of its producer, through the introduction: “Video made by sister Alaa on the first Al-Quds Day Protest in Melbourne.” The video was also posted on the Al-Quds Day Committee’s Melbourne event Facebook page by Alaa. It also appears on Alaa’s Youtube channel.
Al-Quds Day was inaugurated by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran in 1979 as a call for international protests against Israel and to promote the destruction of Israel and its replacement with a Muslim state.
This is reinforced by the Al-Quds Day Committee Australia in 2012 calling “Israel, the enemy of mankind, the enemy of humanity…”
So why the antisemitic images?
- Anti-Zionists deny they are anti-Jewish, claiming they are only anti-Israel. They often accuse those who accuse them of using anti-Jewish stereotypes and imagery of using the ‘antisemitism card’ as a ploy to stifle and silence criticism of Israel. This is aimed at diverting the accusations of antisemitism away from the anti-Zionists, and of legitimising any claims of antisemitism.
A banner at the Sydney Al-Quds Day rally had the words ‘Delete Zionists’. This goes beyond calls for the destruction of a state. It is a direct call to kill people, specifically to murder millions of Jews in Israel and around the world.
In Toronto, Canada, a speaker at the Al-Quds Day rally called for giving Israeli Jews two minutes warning to leave Palestine, and then to start shooting any Jews they come across. This is another direct call and incitement to murder Jews, urged at an Al-Quds Day rally. The speaker’s words were:
“We have to give them an ultimatum: You have to leave Jerusalem. You have to leave Palestine… We say get out or you are dead. We give them two minutes and then we start shooting. And that’s the only way they’ll understand.”
If Al-Quds Day was about protesting against the Israeli control of parts of the West Bank and Jerusalem, or even of Israel’s existence, then why the antisemitism?
With all their rhetoric of ’justice’ and ‘human rights’ for all oppressed people throughout the world, and especially for the Palestinian Arabs, how can they justify using and promoting racist stereotypes and images about one segment of humanity, namely Jews, and only Jews? How do they justify portraying Jews as innately evil, and as the enemy of humanity?
It appears as though Al-Quds Day is not about Palestinian human rights at all, but about hatred of Jews. It appears that their problem with Israel is that it is the state of the Jewish people.
As Al-Quds Day proponents have a vitriolic hatred of Jews they will oppose Jews wherever they are, whether in a Jewish state or dispersed throughout the world. Their focus for now is on where Jews are concentrated most – in Israel.
To Al-Quds Day supporters, the Jews’ greatest crime is not to have re-established a state in the ancient homeland, but to survive and thrive, despite or in spite of, whatever hatred, demonization, and violence is used against the Jewish people.

*Julie Nathan is the Research Officer for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry

Bob Carr is "disappointing "

From AIJAC, Aug 9 2013:  

It was disappointing to hear the remarks made by Foreign Minister Bob Carr outside Lakemba Mosque at the celebrations to mark Eid al-Fitr on Thursday.
... it is unfortunate that he did not take the opportunity to ...recognise the need to ensure Israel's security, to call for an end to all rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and incitement by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas against the Israeli population, or to reiterate Australia's support for the current peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
His opinion that "settlements on Palestinian land are illegal under international law and should cease" is highly contentious. Any implication that the West Bank is sovereign Palestinian territory - something it has never been - prejudges core issues of the peace process that must be negotiated.
We call on the Foreign Minister to place realistic and informed support for a negotiated two-state peace at the centre of Australia's approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues, and to refrain from one-sided statements which prejudge the outcome and complicate peace negotiations.
 

Israeli Film Festival 21-28th August 2013

10th AICE Israeli Film Festival 2013

Screening exclusively at Cinema Paradiso 21-28th August 2013. Download programme. Visit website. View Trailer This year the AICE Israeli Film Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary! In 2013 we bring you one of our strongest programmes yet – with an exceptional selection of 19 award-winning feature films and documentaries. The films screening at this year’s festival explore the myriad of stories emerging from one of the most diverse and multi-racial countries in the world. Many are shaped by politics, many are personal - but overwhelmingly they celebrate the stories of people’s lives. OPENING NIGHT The Ballad of the Weeping Spring (dir. Beni Torati) will launch the festival on Wednesday 21 August, 7pm. The Perth premiere of The Ballad of the Weeping Spring is preceded by the official reception from 6.15 upstairs at Oliver’s, including wines courtesy of Devil’s Corner, canapés and live entertainment. Described as an entertaining, melodramatic fairytale by Screen Daily, Beni Torati’s The Ballad of the Weeping Spring sees Tawila travelling a timeless Israel in this homage to the music of the region and a Hollywood of the past. Possibly the first Felafel Western, certainly an Israeli Magnificent Seven, the multi-award winning feature echoes classic cinema in telling a story of love, loss and redemption. And then there’s that music… Read more here. View Trailer. General Admission $38, Luna Privilege Card holders $33.

Antisemites gather in Sydney and Melbourne for "Al-Quds Day" (inaugurated by Ayatollah Khomeini)

From J-Wire, August 6, 2013 by Julie Nathan:

Palestinian and Hezbollah flags flew at the Al-Quds Day rally in Arncliffe, Sydney, last Friday

Around 150 people attended, plus a police contingent of over a dozen officers.

An Israeli flag at the rally had the words “Delete Zionists” painted on the blue stripes,

and the Star of David was circled and crossed out.

 

Inciting people to “Delete Zionists” is a call not only for the destruction of Israel, but for the destruction of Israelis, and of those who support Israel and the right to self-determination of the Jewish people.
It is a call for the annihilation of millions of Jews, in Israel and the diaspora. It is a call against people, not against a belief or a state.
The protestors gathered outside Arncliffe railway station and after several speeches, the crowd marched to Arncliffe Park while chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “Down down Israel”, and “Netanyahu you will see, Palestine will be free.”
Let no-one be fooled into thinking that the protest was simply against Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank. Designating the whole of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which includes Israel’s heartland, as “Palestine” is a statement against Israel’s very existence.
Father Dave Smith, of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Dulwich Hill, addressed the crowd in the park, most of them Shia Muslims from the nearby Arncliffe mosque. He stated that
“the greatest crime ongoing in the world today is the oppression of the Palestinian people. From 1948 until now, the Palestinian occupation continues. How has humanity allowed this injustice to go on for so long? The injustice of the Palestinian occupation stains the whole world with the blood of the innocent… We call on governments to remove this stain.”
 Just listen to his words:  “the greatest crime ongoing in the world”, “from 1948 until now”, “this stain”. He was saying that all of Israel, not the West Bank, is an “occupation”, a “crime”, a “stain”.
He was inciting people to hate and destroy Israel.
Yet he began his speech by saying that he did not agree with those calling for Israel’s destruction. That sentiment rings hollow in light of his subsequent rhetoric.
The MC for the event demanded “We want the Zionists out of Muslim lands...” A female speaker referred to genocide being committed against the Palestinians.
Jamal Daoud, an organizer of the rally, lamented that the Arab Spring and the Syrian civil war had “shifted the focus from the Palestinians.”
Several Shia sheiks addressed the crowd. Sheikh Nami Farhat al-Ameli called on “humanity to stand against the evil Zionist regime and big devil America.”

Tim Anderson, another speaker, said that “imperialism has its tools, and Israel is one of those tools.”
This was the second year that an Al-Quds Day rally has been held in Australia, both times in Sydney. This year saw the first rally held in Melbourne. An early video of the Melbourne protest was embedded with the antisemitic imagery of a Jew eating a gentile child.
Al-Quds Day was inaugurated by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran in 1979 as a call for international protests against Israel and to promote the Muslim rule of Jerusalem.
The Al-Quds Day committee Australia stated on its facebook page in July that “Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem, which along with all of Palestine is under occupation by the Zionist Regime.” In 2012 this Committee called “Israel, the enemy of mankind, the enemy of humanity…”
A few days before the rally last week, the Committee made a bizarre accusation: “this year the Zionists have left the job of trying to sabotage the rally to organisation/s that claim to be pro-Palestinians” and of “plots to sabotage the movement.”
It is unclear what they are referring to, but perhaps it fits in with Iranian leaders who see “Zionist plots” anywhere and everywhere, even under the bed, and apparently too even in the Sydney suburb of Arncliffe.

*Julie Nathan is the Research Officer for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry