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Australians 'don't trust Iran,'
poll by Lowy Institute finds
CANBERRA- Australians generally do not trust Iran, but prefer diplomacy as a means of disarming the Teheran regime's nuclear weapons program.
These emerged as some of the attitudes of Australians polled on Iran and other troubling world issues in the latest annual Lowy Institute poll.
Asked how much they trust Iran "to act responsibly in the world," the country was ranked bottom of a list that also included the United States, Japan, India, China, Russia and
Indonesia, with 75 per cent stating "not at all/not very much", compared to only 18 per cent choosing that description for the top-ranking US.
Asked to choose which method they would prefer "to deal with Iran developing nuclear weapons,85 per cent favoured "diplomatic negotiations."
A large majority (69 per cent) also supported "economic sanctions," while just a third (32 percent) were in favour of "military means".
Asked to rank Iran on a scale of 100-0 in terms of a "warm, favourable feeling," the mean score for Iran was 38, with Afghanistan at 37 and North Korea coming last at 30. New Zealand topped the table at 83, with the US at 67.
Choosing from a list of 12 "possible threats to the vital interests of Australia," 69 per cent of respondents identified "the possibility of unfriendly countries becoming nuclear powers" as a "critical" threat.
And 50 per cent of respondents chose "Islamic fundamentalism" as a "critical" threat, while only 43 per cent chose "AIDS, avian flu and other potential epidemics," with 27 per cent, the smallest category, identifying "failing countries in our region" as "critical".
As Iran's nuclear weapons development proceeds, its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has repeatedly rejected the legitimacy of Israel and has described the Holocaust as a Zionist myth concocted as a justification for the Jewish State's existence.
The Lowy Institute poll findings were released as Fairfax newspapers reported that Canberra had brokered a meeting between Australian and Iranian officials in Cairo last month during a summit of the International Commission on Nuclear
Non-proliferation and Disarmament, a panel of experts put together by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Workshop for rabbis on
domestic violence issues
MELBOURNE - The Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence (JTAFV) will run a training seminar for a group of rabbis.
To commence in partnership with the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, the three-part series will address all aspects of family violence and sexual assault.
The sessions aim to train the group of 15 rabbis in the realm of family violence, enabling them to consult with other members of the rabbinate on related issues.
JTAFV committee member Sheiny New said: "A priority for the JTAFV is the training of Jewish community leaders, specifically the rabbinate.
"Having completed these sessions, the participating rabbis will be an invaluable resource of support for victims of violence, their families and friends."
Reinforcing this, New said a common question asked by Jewish victims of violence and abuse, regardless of their beliefs or background, is whether their rabbi will understand what they are experiencing.
Planned over a three-week period, the seminar includes information on family law and other legal issues relating to family violence and sexual assault; details of Victorian protection agencies, including Victoria Police and the
Department of Human Services; and the role of the
taskforce's support line as a specialised community support service.
New said the organisation plans to run similar workshops for other community leaders, groups and rabbis in the near future.
The JTAFV seeks to advance community education
and awareness regarding issues of family violence and sexual assault.
The organisation regularly runs forums presented by local and international experts, as well as providing free confidential information and support to victims of abuse and their families
through the taskforce's support line.
Mainstream newspaper apology
to Jewish community
MELBOURNE-- John Searle and Geoffrey Zigyer respectively President and CEO of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, the peak body of Victoria's Jewish community, has issued he following statement:
"On 24 July 2009, The Age published an article entitled 'Motorcycle victim was Holocaust survivor.' This piece resulted in numerous complaints, which I considered clearly
justifiable, from members of our community.
I accordingly wrote to Age Editor-in-chief Paul Ramadge, including the following observations:
"This article concerns a person killed in a road accident, a sadly too common event, but one which I accept The Age may consider worth reporting. That he was an American tourist and a Holocaust survivor may also be of interest to some. But
surely the fact that his son is a member of 'Melbourne's Adass community, an ultra-orthodox and reclusive group [that]. hit the front pages last year when the principal of the Adass Israel
Girls School,. a mother of eight, fled to Israel ahead of allegations of molesting teenage girls at the school" is irrelevant to this tragedy and merely tabloid journalism unworthy of The Age.
"There are three issues that concern me. Firstly, The Age has smeared a grieving family by gratuitously connecting their name to what supposedly occurred at the Adass school. Secondly, both the Adass community in particular and the Jewish community in general were traumatised by this alleged child abuse. To bring this up in such an unwarranted way is
insensitive and may well open up wounds for many. Thirdly, many members of the Victorian Jewish community already believe that The Age has a bias against Israel, the Jewish State, and thus by implication against Jews. You will well remember the furore caused by Michael Backman's piece some months ago. Such reporting will only confirm this belief."
While Mr Ramadge apologised consequent to my letter, my Executive and I considered it inadequate. Accordingly we complained to the Australian Press Council which took the matter up with The Age. Following further discussions, The
Age published an apology in its 20 October 2009 edition . I am satisfied with this apology and now consider this particular matter closed.
In conclusion, I note that both Danny Lamm, President of the Zionist Council of Victoria, and I are continuing to work on the Jewish community's relationship with The Age. It is an
important institution, both in Victoria and nationally. Recently, for example, Mr Ramadge addressed a public meeting jointly sponsored by our organisations. It was open and frank, and useful for our community and, I believe, for Mr
Ramadge as well. Our relationship must be an honest one and, as the JCCV's complaint indicated, we will not sacrifice community interests for the sake of expediency."
Victorian Opposition Party supports hate crime legislation
MELBOURNE- The Liberal Party has thrown its weight behind the Victorian Government to amend sentencing procedures so judges can take into account a defendant's hatred for a victim's
religious, ethnic, racial or sexual group.
With state Parliament last week debating therecommendations of a report by the Sentencing Advisory Council, which propose amending the 1991 Sentencing Act to give judges this new latitude in sentencing, the changes seem certain to go ahead now.
Caulfield MLA Helen Shardey welcomed the initiative as an additional weapon in fighting crimes resulting from anti-Semitic attacks on members of the Jewish community and other groups within Victoria.
Her views were strongly supported by her Upper House colleagues for the Southern Region, David Davis and Andrea Coote.
"This is an issue that I have discussed at length with my colleagues, communal leaders and individuals who have been subjected to anti-Semitic violent attacks within my
electorate. I offer my full support for its implementation," Shardey said.
"While the concept makes clear the opportunity for the judiciary to take into account as a factor in sentencing, a racial or religious motive, it will still be up to the sentencing
judge to decide what additional penalty will be applied."
Shardey slammed the state Government's track record on addressing hate crimes, especially for not acting more quickly to invoke racial and religious tolerance legislation or criminal law following a violent attack on St Kilda East's Menachem Vorchheimer in 2006.
While Attorney-General Rob Hulls has spoken of a "quiet revolution" in Victoria's law reform during his government's decade in power, Opposition frontbenchers used last week's
parliamentary debate to point to a growing spate
of violent crimes against ethnic and religious groups.
Shadow attorney-general Robert Clark referred to Vorchheimer during the October 14 debate, stating that Vorchheimer "has been put through enormous delays and difficulties in trying to get any justice for his case, despite it involving a manifest breach of the existing criminal law".
On the Government side, John Eren, ALP member for
Lara, revisited Vorchheimer's assault, as well as a bashing in St Kilda East in 2007 in which a couple of Jewish teenagers were attacked by two people wielding baseball bats.
Australia's has its own
Jewish gangster novel
SYDNEY - In the United States, from the 1920s to the 1940s, the likes of Meyer Lansky, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and Lepke Buchalter were part of a syndicate dubbed Murder Inc, which allegedly performed hundreds of contract killings on behalf of the American mafia.
In London there was Jack "Spot" Comer, who reportedly ran the East End protection rackets until the early 1950s and profited from illegal bookmaking.
Australia has its own collection of Jewish "gangsters," one of whom Chopper Read claims as his best friend.
Jewish gangsters also feature in popular culture, including the 1980s epic crime film Once Upon a Time in America, the Coen Brother's Miller's Crossing, and E. Doctorow's gangster novel Billy Bathgate, later made into a movie of the same name.
Adding to the collection of fictionalised Jewish criminals, Australia now has its own Jewish gangster novel.
Released earlier this month, Mark Dapin's King of the Cross is edgy and wildly entertaining, salacious and, at times, downright sordid.
Unsurprisingly, much of the story is set in Kings Cross, where crooks, spruikers (hucksters), bikers and prostitutes swarm the neon-lit streets. The book portrays an underworld where, emerging onto Darlinghurst Road from the train station, the
first thing one sees is the needle exchange across the street.
Dapin, who is a features writer and weekly columnist for Fairfax's Good Weekend magazine, tells the fictional story of the charming and chillingly evil Jacob Mendoza, dubbed King Sin, and King of the Cross.
The book follows Mendoza, who, reaching the end of his criminal career, needs someone to tell his story. An unlikely candidate is Australian Jewish Times journalist Anthony Klein.
Smart-talking, tough and newly arrived from the UK Hampshire town of Aldershot, Klein reveals he is more than a blank canvas upon which Mendoza can record his squalid tales of bent cops, gang war, property development, cold-blooded murder and Filipino brides.
Like his fictional character Klein, Dapin arrived in Sydney from England and lived in an apartment opposite Kings Cross police station. Also like his character, Dapin was determined to start again in Australia, to rise above the chaos clouding his former existence. This is where the similarities end.
"He is the opposite of me - useless at writing but a good boxer. I am a hopeless boxer. Neither of us could do what we wanted to do," Dapin says.
Mendoza's speech is a delightful blend of Australian underworld slang and Yiddishisms. Dapin says much of the book is a Jewish in-joke and a wink to the men of his grandfather's generation.
He adds that when he could not recall a certain word in Yiddish and would look it up, he would nostalgically remember it being used by his maternal grandfather.
"People don't generally talk about Jews as laconic like they do Aussies, but there is certainly a laconic strain in old Jewish men's humour," Dapin muses.
The prose is sharp, engaging and often hilarious. Australian Literary Review editor Stephen Romei describes "brilliant linguistic gymnastics" and prose as colourful as Dapin's heavily tattooed arms.
Coming after Dapin's three non-fiction books, including Sex & Money, Fridge Magnets are Bastards and Strange Country, King of the Cross is not a book for the faint-hearted, to the
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extent that Dapin will not let his own mother read it. Dapin recounts Underbelly author Andrew Rule saying: "Loved your book, mate. And the sex, whew!"
Dapin jokes: "I thought I must have had sex with him and forgotten about it, but he meant the sex scenes in the book. This really surprised me, because I didn't think there was much sex, just a lot of pornographic imagery."
Another friend told him he loved the book, despite the violence in it. "I didn't think there was much actual violence in it, just violent language," Dapin explains. "So it seems like I
didn't realise what I was writing."
In writing a novel about a Jewish gangster, whose cohorts are also Jewish and corrupt, Dapin did consider the possibility of this propagating an obvious stereotype.
He recounts that having a strong Jewish upbringing in Leeds, England, he always dreaded negative portrayals of Jews in books, films or theatre, as this was the only information about
Jewish people to which his classmates had access.
"I don't think you can not tell the story because anti-Semites might draw anti-Semitic conclusions," he quips. "Anti-Semites are going to draw anti-Semitic conclusions from Charlotte's Web."
Dapin would go to an Orthodox shul every Saturday with his father, and his mother used to send him to cheder four nights a week.
At 13, after his parents separated, he moved to an area away from the Jewish community. Though he doesn't consider himself "a believer" as such, he says he is drawn to Jewish themes, which he regularly writes about.
King of the Cross began as a short story, told in a question-and-answer form, inspired by a disastrous interview Dapin had with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, in which Dapin was kicked out of Ramsay's home after 15-and-a-half minutes.
An unsuccessful interview Dapin had with Chopper Read, which turned into a slanging match, also provided inspiration for the story.
"I thought, 'what if someone tried to tell their whole life in this [Q and A] form, what if somebody was obnoxious, aggressive, unapologetic and evasive and yet still tried to tell his story'. There was a reflection of my experience as a journalist . I started thinking, 'what would it be like to interview the worst interviewee over and over again?'. Then I thought I would try
and write it as a full narrative."
The streets of Kings Cross were a natural choice of setting for Dapin, who lived there for six months following his arrival in Sydney in 1989, aged 26.
Walking the streets from Kings Cross to Surry Hills, where he worked as a typesetter, he would see the very earliest of the prostitutes, men cleaning outside nightclubs and the occasional pool of vomit.
"This place formed my mental geography and when I started to write, it all came back to me. There was something about being here, I remember the feeling that you were at the centre of something . it certainly had a seedy kind of drama," explains Dapin, who later become the editor of Ralph, ushering in uncharted success for the magazine during his tenure. He then had a stint as editor-in-chief of ACP's men's magazines.
Dapin is both part of the landscape of the Cross and removed from it. When we meet, he is dressed completely in black, from shoes to cap. His tattoos are visible past the sleeves of his black leather jacket.
While Dapin is a watcher, absorbing microscopic movements as black absorbs light, his characters are immersed in the action. They consort with the showgirls, bikies and wheeler dealers. These men and women are the products of, and servants to, his protagonist's kingdom of the Cross.
Don Lane dead at 75
SYDNEY--Jewish entertainer and Australian TV icon Don
Lane has died after a long battle with illness. He was 75.
Diagnosed with dementia in 2005, Lane had been living in a Sydney nursing home before his death on Thursday.
Lane was best known for his long-running variety show The Don Lane Show, which ran for 13 years between 1970 and 1983 and netted the performer 10 Logie awards. He attracted some of the biggest stars of the time, including David Bowie, Sammy Davis Junior and comic pioneer Phyllis Diller.
After being discovered by Nine Network producer John Collins at the Copacabana Nightclub in Hawaii where he was a performer and singer, Lane went on to work alongside Australian comedy royalty in Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton.
Lane met Newton for the first time on the first episode of The Don Lane Show and the pair became great friends and one of the best-loved double acts in Australian TV history.
Born in New York in 1933, Lane became a nightclub performer in the 1950s and appeared briefly on the Ed Sullivan Show. He was drafted to the US army, where he did two tours entertaining troops.
Lane moved back to the US briefly in the late 1980s, before returning to Australia and signing a contract with Ten. He went on to host broadcasts of several NFL Superbowls and other American sports for the ABC.
In 1968 Lane was charged with importing marijuana into Australia and was imprisoned. but later found innocent of the crime.
Lane was buried after a brief ceremony in the Jewish section of the Macquarry Perk cemetery in Sydney
Chabad Rabbis praise
local community
MELBOURNE- Two of the world's most prominent Lubavitch rabbis visited Melbourne this week to share in the wedding celebrations of Chana Gutnick and Ari Herzog.
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky and Rabbi Benyomin Klein, two of the three secretaries of Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, were invited by Gutnick's father, Rabbi Joseph Gutnick. The visiting rabbis praised the warmth and growth of the local community.
Rabbi Krinsky whose youngest son married Rabbi Gutnick's eldest daughter in 1994. has visited Australia on various occasions for family reasons.
"I find the Melbourne Jewish community extraordinary. There is this feeling of camaraderie, of warmth, helping one another
whenever necessary, whatever time. there is a sense of togetherness and inclusitivity that I find remarkable" He said.
Rabbi Klein who .lived in Australia for two years in the 1960's has personally seen the community grow and change over four decades of visits. "I saw it in the beginning and I see it now and it is very different. It is growing and growing" he said.
As well as being the late Lubavitcher Rebbe's assistant, Rabbi Krinsky was also his chief spokesperson, and he is currently the chairman of the education and social services committee of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
Race hate book in New
South Wales schools
SYDNEY - A text book, already being used in NSW schools, claims Jewish people spread the blood of lambs on doorposts on Pesach, blames modern conflicts on "reactions of other groups to the Jewish people," and says polygamy is "commonly practiced" in Israel.
The text book Cambridge Studies of Religion: Stage 6 has been distributed to HSC students in religious studies. The text book is being distributed, with the publishers seemingly
oblivious to the gross inaccuracies in the Jewish chapter, which could form the basis for a legal claim of racial vilification.
The book also inexplicably informs high school students that Jewish people "choose sophisticated professions such as law, medicine and scholarship" because of a focus on "family
togetherness," particularly on Shabbat.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies executive director Vic Alhadeff has met with one of the book's authors to express serious concern about the content of the text book. But as of last week, Cambridge University Press had not acted to remove the book from the market or recall it from schools.
Alhadeff indicated that some of the content of the book could be the basis for a legal claim of racial vilification and could potentially incite racial hatred in NSW.
"Some of the statements could perpetuate myths and inaccurate stereotypes about Judaism and the Jewish people and fuel anti-Semitism," he said.
"This textbook should be withdrawn from circulation immediately. We have put that request to the publisher and are awaiting their response."
SYDNEY - The Maccabi Masters soccer team wrapped up its World Masters Games campaign in disappointing style, losing the semifinal match against Russian side Cosmos 2-0 and then
going down 1-0 to Canadian team Lads Calgary United in the play-off for the bronze medal.
Maccabi's group of veterans had dusted off the boots to return to full-field football for the first time in seven years for the World Masters Games being played in Sydney.
The majority of the side, who are between 46 and 54 years of age, have come through the Maccabi ranks together over the past 40 years.
Earlier in the nine-day tournament, Maccabi tackled opposition from Russia, Ukraine and Canada for two draws and a loss.
In the semifinal Maccabi played a tight and compact defensive game to frustrate the Cosmos and at the break the scores were tied 0-0.
The turning point came midway through the second half when the referee awarded a dubious free kick to the Russians on the edge of the penalty area.
The Cosmos captain curled his kick under the crossbar to give them a 1-0 lead.
Maccabi then had to push forward in search of an equaliser which left them exposed at the back and Cosmos counter attacked to score its second goal and close out the game 2-0.
In the bronze medal playoff match, Maccabi was without dynamic playmaker and skipper Clive Barrett, who came down sick overnight and with other key players carrying injuries it was a backs-to-the wall effort.
This was compounded when the Sky Blues conceded
an early goal after just 90 seconds of play following a backline mix up.
Maccabi battled hard for the remainder of the game and striker Gabi Rachamim came close when his shot went just wide of the post, but Maccabi couldn't pull back the deficit.
Government discussing new code of conduct at sports events
MELBOURNE - Victorian sports teams that misbehave will have their funding pulled by the Victorian Government if they fail to address bad behaviour, including religious vilification.
Victoria's Sports Minister and Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs James Merlino announced on Monday that a state-wide code of conduct would be implemented next year.
His department is drafting the code, which will be applied to all Victorian junior and senior teams. The code will cover violence, fair play and racial, religious, sexual and gender vilification in sport.
Merlino said: "Respect is a two-way street and it is everybody's business regardless of age or background to ensure that people can enjoy themselves and feel safe when they are down at their local ground watching a local club or team."
While the main impetus for the code has been recent supporter violence and abuse, it will also ensure all sporting teams are bound by racial and religious vilification regulations.
If a team breaches the code for example by making discriminatory or prejudicial remarks about opposition players it risks losing government funding.
During the past decade, the Victorian Government has given sports teams close to $200 million.
Over the past few years, the Jewish community has not been immune from bad behaviour both on and off the field.
In 2006, Menachem Vorchheimer was assaulted by members of a football team. In 2007, the McKinnon Cricket Club apologised to the AJAX Cricket Club after a few of its members made graphic anti-Semitic remarks against the Jewish club on the internet.
At the other end of the spectrum, the AJAX
Football Club last year distanced itself from a
supporter, who made racially insensitive remarks to an opposition player.
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The Jews Down Under 