13 June 2016
Dear
Parliamentary Candidate
Re: 2016 Election
Questionnaire
As the elected representative
of the WA Jewish Community, through our 30+ constituent community
organisations, we are pleased to provide the attached questionnaire addressing
many of the issues that are important to us.
We invite you to
respond with your replies or your comments, which we will disseminate to the
community for you.
We also invite
you to discuss any of these issues, by phoning me at your convenience. If you
prefer, we’ll be pleased to meet with you.
Your faithfully
Steve Lieblich
Director of
Public Affairs, Jewish Community Council of WA...
1. Safety and Security
The Jewish Community
is increasingly concerned about the safety and security of community members
and assets. (Refer to Appendix 1 – Jewish Community Security.)
Do you envisage any
changes to government support and funding of Jewish-community security? If so,
what changes?
2.
Private Schools
Do you envisage making
changes to government funding of our Private Schools? If so, what changes?
3. Religious Freedom
Observance of the Jewish religion and customs include
the ritual circumcision (“brit milah”) of male children at the age of 8 days,
and observing Jewish dietary laws (eating food that is rabbinically-certified
as kosher). Do you envisage making changes to any of
the following? If so, what changes?
·
regulation
of brit milah
·
regulation
of kosher slaughter (“shechita”)
·
regulation
of kosher certification
4.
Israel
Our community
overwhelmingly supports Zionism as the modern political movement for the
self-determination of the Jewish people; and Israel as the homeland of the
Jewish people.
Do you support those notions?
Do you support the
strengthening and enhancement of government-to-government and people-to-people
ties between Australians and Israelis at all levels, including trade/economic,
academic and cultural ties?
Do you consider
Australian-media reporting on Israel to be fair and unbiased? If not, would you
take any specific action or make any statements to promote fair, unbiased
reporting?
Arab leaders have
created a culture of death that motivates terrorism. (Refer to Appendix 2 – Incitement to Terror.) Do you consider that Australia could
make a practical difference, especially considering that about a third of the
Palestinian Authority’s budget is financed by foreign aid?
There have been
calls for unilateral recognition of a “Palestinian” State that does not yet
exist. (Refer to Appendix 3 – Unilateral Recognition of a
“Palestinian State”.) Will you take any action to oppose
Australian recognition of such a unilateral declaration?
6.
Antisemitism in Australia
Our community has a
high degree of concern about the influence, in Australia, of anti-Israel and
anti-Zionist movements such as the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
campaign and other forms of de-legitimisation of Israel and the cover they
provide for anti-Semites to express their hatred. Do you envisage taking any action
in relation to any of the following? If so, what action?
·
Legal
protections against promotion of racial hatred and of racially-motivated
violence. · Sections 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act.
· The activities of radical preachers in schools and religious institutions.
· Public and school education campaigns against violent and/or extremist ideologies.
7. Relations with Iran
Iran continues to
contravene its international obligations and remains the greatest state sponsor
of global terrorism. (Refer to Appendix 5 – Iran: a Rogue State.)
Do you envisage
making any changes to the following, without prior
public consultation?
·
additional
diplomatic representation of Iran in Australia· further relaxation of sanctions and expansion of trade
Appendix 1 – Jewish Community
Security
Security costs include one-off capital
costs to harden buildings against potential attacks as well as the recurring
operations costs of monitoring systems and guards. The latter in particular are
a growing concern and drain on our communal resources.
Our communal dollars are needed for a
myriad of worthy causes, such as youth programs, education, aged care and
welfare, but we are finding it increasingly difficult to give physical security
the priority it requires. We currently receive government funding assistance
towards the security costs of Jewish day schools.
Appendix 2 – Incitement to Terror
The latest surge of Arab terror attacks
in Israel results from explicit calls by the Arab leaders to “spill blood.”
Arab children have been taught to idolize the murder of Jews as a sacred value
and to regard their own death in this “jihad” as the pinnacle of their
aspirations. Appendix 2 – Incitement to Terror
The Palestinian Authority pays handsome
stipends to terrorists and their families and idolizes terrorists as admirable
“martyrs”. Yet the apathy shown by the international community to this
death-culture, and the unbalanced manner in which subsequent violence is often
treated by the international media is doing long-term, and possibly
irrevocable, harm to the Arabs themselves, more than to anyone.
Yet there is little international
opposition to the exploitation of Arab children.
Appendix 3 – Unilateral
Recognition of a “Palestinian State”
Another Arab state formed outside the
framework of a peace treaty with Israel will almost certainly be in a de facto
state of war with Israel, and a platform for intensified attacks on Israel.
Indeed, its legitimacy with the Arabs of the region will be defined by its
commitment to the eventual destruction of the Jewish state.
Appendix 4 – The BDS Campaign
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
(BDS) campaign is a product of the NGO Forum held in parallel to the 2001 UN
World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, which was marked by
repeated expressions of naked anti-Semitism and condemned as such. The
declaration established the “Durban Strategy”, promoting “a policy of complete
and total isolation of Israel, the imposition of comprehensive sanctions and
embargoes, [and] the cessation of all links (diplomatic, economic, social, aid,
military cooperation and training) between all states and Israel”.
In deliberately drawing a false parallel
to South African apartheid and promoting a campaign like that which eventually
led to the downfall of that despicable system, the “Durban Strategy” declared
that “Israel should be subject to the same kind of attack, leading to the same
kind of result.”
Appendix 5 – Iran: a Rogue
State
Iran's state media recently reported that
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps test-fired several long-range ballistic
missiles in contravention of. UN Resolution 2231. In response, the US State
Department warned that Washington continues to "aggressively apply our
unilateral tools to counter threats from Iran's missile program" and
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called for sanctions against Iran.
The US State Department’s June 2016
annual report on global terrorist activity, lists Iran as the top state sponsor
of terrorism and said that Iran "remained the foremost state sponsor of
terrorism in 2015, providing a range of support, including financial, training,
and equipment, to groups around the world." The report also said that Iran
was continuing to provide arms and cash to terrorist groups like Hezbollah and
Iraqi Shia terrorist groups.
Iran currently maintains an embassy in
Canberra.
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