Author Dr Daniel Goldhagen. Photo: AJN file

LEXI LANDSMAN

LEADING author and expert on subjects of Jewish interest, Dr Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, will spearhead this year’s United Israel Appeal (UIA) campaign.

The writer is best known for his international bestseller, Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, which was published in 15 languages.

UIA NSW president Bruce Fink said Dr Goldhagen is uniquely positioned “to speak truthfully and forcefully about the perils Israel faces, their sources, and the necessary responses”.

“The Sydney Jewish community is fortunate that Dr Goldhagen has accepted our invitation to visit Australia, where we will be privileged to hear firsthand from an extraordinary human being and a great Jewish thinker,” Fink said.

Recently appointed campaign chairman Danny Taibel added: “Dr Goldhagen’s work educates the world on the atrocities that Jews have faced and is a heartfelt reminder that we will never again be subjected to the horrific persecution and suffering thrust upon us in the past.”
Read the full story

Alfred “Uncle Boydie” Turner speaks at the UIA's AGM in Melbourne on November 26. Photo: Peter Haskin

AJN STAFF

ABORIGINAL elder William Cooper’s grandson, Alfred “Uncle Boydie” Turner, was the guest speaker at the UIA’s AGM in Melbourne on November 26.

Cooper, of Yorta Yorta descent, spent most of his life in the Cummeragunja community where he was a spokesman for the Yorta Yorta in their ongoing battles for land justice against the New South Wales government. Late in life, he resettled in Melbourne.

In 1938, following Kristallnacht, Cooper petitioned the German Consulate over the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews, the only such recorded protest in Australia at that time.

In May 2009, the State of Israel commemorated the brave actions of Cooper.

The Embassy of Israel and United Israel Appeal flew Turner to Israel for this commemoration and he spoke to the AGM about his trip.

Among the events held in Melbourne recently was the Pink Ribbon breakfast in aid of breat cancer research, a Jewish Care awareness evening and UIA seniors outing.

Check our Photo Gallery

Photos from around the community in Australia. Read the full story

Dan Gillerman, former Israel ambassador to the United Nations

PETER KOHN

ONE of Israel’s most eloquent spokespeople Dan Gillerman has arrived in Australia to discuss Israel’s challenges and the way to overcome them. Gillerman, Israel’s former United Nations envoy, is visiting as a guest of the United Israel Appeal and in the lead-up to his trip, he has not shied away from the hot topics.

Speaking to the general media last week, Gillerman told the Australian Government to keep away from the Durban Review Conference in April. “Countries like Australia who, to my mind, represent the best of what democracy and civilisation can be, shouldn’t take part in this charade,” he told Fairfax papers.

In a broad-ranging interview with The AJN, he called for a wide coalition, including Kadima, to lead Israel. “Although the numbers indicate the right-wing could form a narrow coalition”, Gillerman said Israel needs “a wide and united government, which will be there for four years to tackle the incredible challenges we’re facing”. Read the full story

SHARON BERGER

NO known Australian Jewish organisations were directly invested in Bernard Madoff’s investment firm, yet the billion-dollar scandal in the US is expected to affect Jewish philanthropy worldwide, including Australia.
North American Jewish philanthropies are expected to see a 20 per cent reduction in funding, as a result of organisations and donors, who had invested their money with Madoff.
And as American organisations tighten their budgets and try to avoid shutting their doors, they are expected to focus on meeting primary needs in the community, at the expense of Israel and education programs. Read the full story