Anti Semitism

It’s even less useful than #protestbyhashtag. Last night the Max Brenner outlet in Parramatta, Sydney, was again the target of a small but loud anti-Israeli protest.

As Tel Aviv went into emergency mode due to missile attack from Gaza, people holding Boycott Israel signs marched on the spot people generally go to for hot chocolate 14,000 kilometres away.

They managed to pull off the double whammy - by being both pointless and offensive. There’s an interesting piece on The Conversation about the anti-Semitism of these ongoing Max Brenner protests.

Continue reading "What did that cup of hot chocolate do to you?" »

It is often stated that history is written by the victors, a matter of perspective, rather than of fact. In an age, however, where freedom of speech and of press are sacred, where books are published on merit, and where the Internet has merged the Speakers’ Corners of the world into a conglomerate, perspectives are so abundant that the content of “history” is increasingly difficult to settle.

There is no longer, you might say, an “agreed” history, though this is not say bile is treated anymore seriously than before, for example, Michael Leunig’s 2005 outburst against ANZAC Day, which the cartoonist labelled as “shameful” and as glorifying war.

There is a difference, however, between bona fide perspective and malevolent falsehoods. The Jewish people have long been stuck with instances of the latter, such as the Passover Blood Libel and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Into this category, too, falls historical revision, such as Holocaust Denial. While British drama The Promise might not be considered so sinister, the series’ “fictional” portrayal of real-life events must be treated with great concern.

Continue reading "SBS shouldn’t be allowed to re-write history" »

This article was co-authored by Professor Douglas Kirsner, Ari Suss and Geoffrey Winn.

A militant campaign that singles out Israel alone in the world as worthy of boycott, divestment and sanctions has met with a surprising form of resistance. Michael Danby MP, the Member for Melbourne Ports, has been organizing these Hot Chocolate ‘sit-ins’ together with members of the ALP leadership and other public figures such as Gerard Henderson and Jana Wendt.

Gerard Henderson explained the context in his Sydney Morning Herald column Jews know acceptance still has its exceptions when he pointed to the 1930s British Fascists’ targeting and smashing up Jewish-owned shops in London’s East End.

After reading Henderson’s column,  Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd suggested to Danby that he join him for a hot chocolate at Max Brenner’s Melbourne CBD shop. That Max Brenner shop was the target of violent anti-Israel protest by BDS militants on July 1. The police made nineteen arrests during the violent protest.

Continue reading "Hot chocolate a cure for those who ignore history" »