The Greens have adopted a new policy position on Palestine and Israel which expresses concern that Israel’s “ongoing colonisation of Palestinian land” is eroding the potential for a two-state solution. The updated resolution — which was backed by Greens MPs and senators and drafted in collaboration with Greens for Palestine and Jewish Greens — was formally adopted at the party’s national conference on Sunday. While the Greens have long called for Australia to recognise Palestinian statehood, the party has hardened its language against Israel and urged the government to boycott meetings with fa ..read more

Fierce debate has erupted over an article arguing that the US should use harsh sanctions to force Israel to become a bi-national state. Israel’s One-State Reality: It’s Time to Give Up on the Two-State Solution was written by four academics from George Washington and Maryland universities and published in the journal Foreign Affairs. The article says Israel has killed the two-state solution through settlements and the US should pursue a single, binational state to replace Israel, using harsh sanctions to force Israel to accept a one-state reality. “The promise of a two-state solution  ..read more

AVIVA LOWY takes a chance on a book about lotteries, explores modern romance rules, delves into identity and learns Jewish Italian cooking. For a Dollar and a Dream: state lotteries in modern America – Jonathan D Cohen (Oxford University Press) Every year, Americans spend more on lottery tickets than on books, concert tickets, movies and TV streaming services combined. In 2020, sales from lottery tickets totalled more than $90 billion.  According to historian Jonathan Cohen, lotteries are Robin Hood in reverse. “They take relatively more from those with lower incomes. The frequency ..read more

The ultra-Orthodox Melbourne school is suspected of helping its former principal attempt to evade justice over child abuse charges. Police have re-opened an investigation into the school that was allegedly involved in former principal and convicted rapist Malka Leifer fleeing Australia.  A probe into the conduct of others at the Adass Israel School in Elsternwick was launched in 2015 but suspended while the years-long criminal investigation into Leifer was underway.  Victoria Police confirmed on Saturday that the Sexual Crimes Squad had resumed an investigation&nb ..read more

DEBORAH STONE talks to members of the Bnei Menashe Jewish community caught up in ethnic violence in the northern Indian state of Manipur. After 15 years living in Australia, Indian Jewish woman Aya Khongsai returned to India last year, planning to retire close to her brother, sister and their families. But that plan was devastatingly disrupted by the ethnic violence wrecking her home state of Manipur. Khongsai, who has fled back to Sydney temporarily, is one of more than 50,000 people who have been forced to leave Manipur as mobs attack with home-made weapons, burn buildings and loot anything ..read more

A new program is bringing Australian Jews together around shabbat tables to understand Indigenous issues and promote a Yes vote in this year’s referendum. Shabbat is traditionally a time for Jews to gather with their loved ones, share a meal, and converse after a busy week. A new initiative is encouraging Australian Jews to use that time to join the national conversation around Indigenous rights and understand the value of voting Yes to constitutional recognition and a Voice to Parliament for Indigenous Australians.   Shabbat Table Talks provides guided materials to encourage at-home conv ..read more

Transgender teen Shachar Chefer transitioned while remaining active in her small religious community. “I was hospitalised in a psychiatric ward after I tried to take my own life. I begged my mother: ‘Mom, I can’t do this anymore, release me from this pain, I’m a girl’.” These are the words 19-year-old Shachar Chefer, from the small religious community of Bnei Darom in central Israel, used to describe coming out as transgender four years ago. Many religious parents reject transgender children but her mother, Liat, who wears a head covering and defines herself as a very observant person, accepte ..read more

Young Palestinians and Israeli Arabs are turning to video games to role-play a version of the conflict which gives them the upper hand. Most Israeli Arabs tend to opt out of military service, if not out of political resentment, then to avoid finding a cousin at the other end of a barrel. Boyish fantasies of military heroism are infused with political stakes. In these parts, only Jews are soldiers. But on social media, many Arabs have begun acting out fantasies of a different world online in the game Grand Theft Auto Roleplay (GRA RP), a setting in which Arabs can man Israeli checkpoi ..read more

BEN LYNFIELD reports on how a mobile phone that refused to break exposed persecution of East Jerusalem Palestinian activist FAKHRI ABU DIAB. While Israel marked Jerusalem Day last month, East Jerusalem political activist Fakhri Abu Diab told Israel’s Ynet TV channel that instead of having cause to celebrate, Palestinians suffer oppression and discrimination. As if to make his point, police tried to halt his live Hebrew-language television interview from outside the al-Aqsa mosque by grabbing his mobile phone and throwing it on the ground. Unfortunately for the officers, Abu Diab’s phone didn’t ..read more

Anti-Defamation League found significant belief in antisemitic stereotypes in 10 European countries. (JTA) — The US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) measures antisemitic attitudes across a range of countries by asking respondents if they believe a set of 11 stereotypes about Jews, ranging from “Jews have too much power in the business world” to “Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars.” The latest survey, taken from November to January, polled more than 6,500 people across 10 countries: Germany, France, the United Kingdom., Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Ukr ..read more