From the home page of the Sar-El web site (a permanent additon to our Useful Web Links page).

• Year-round programs are available to the young and young at heart


• Do useful civilian work on army bases


• Visit Israel and have a great holiday


• Meet and work closely with Israelis for 1,2 or 3 weeks


• Enjoy the culture, lifestyle and work ethic of Israel


• Make friends from around the world

From AJN, 4 Jan 2012, by JOSHUA LEVI:

AUSTRALIA’S Foreign Minister Bob Carr has again rebuked the Israeli government, following its approval of 1500 new housing units in East Jerusalem late last year, describing the move as an obstacle to peace.

“This approval throws yet another obstacle across the path to peace,” Carr said.

He said that continuing to approve expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem is especially provocative.

“If construction of these 1500 units proceeds it will make a negotiated two-state solution even harder to achieve.

“And without such a solution, there can be no prospect of durable security for Israelis or Palestinians.”

He urged the Israeli government to reconsider its decision and refrain from any further settlement activity.

The Foreign Minister’s latest comments came only two weeks after he summoned Israeli Ambassador to Australia Yuval Rotem to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade over the same issue.

Carr said Australia has been opposed to all settlement activity and that he was extremely disappointed with Israel’s decision.

But Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) president Danny Lamm said that settlements are not the barrier to peace.

“Israel dismantled all the settlements in the Gaza Strip in the pursuit of peace, and it merely spurred Hamas and other groups to higher levels of aggression … the Foreign Minister should instead be insisting on the Palestinians repudiating the so-called ‘right of return’, which, of all the core issues, makes peace impossible.”

This is not Carr’s only recent run-in with the Jewish community.

Federal Labor MP Michael Danby launched a stunning attack on Carr in December, accusing him of “acting like Tiberius on the telephone” to stop Australia voting against the United Nations resolution on Palestinian observer status.

Julia Gillard reportedly told cabinet that she wanted to vote against a resolution at the UN granting the Palestinian territories observer status. However, she backed down under pressure from her cabinet and parliamentary colleagues, including Carr.

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PS The following comment was received froma FOIWA member on 6 Jan 2013:

Perhaps the strangest side issue concerning Carr’s betrayal of Israel, and Australia’s honour, is the support he received from two of his Cabinet colleagues. The two major supporters in Cabinet for Carr’s betrayal were Anthony Albanese (to be expected, he lives in loony BDS-land and has to be “more green than the Greens”), and Stephen Smith. Why on earth would Smith not only back Carr’s betrayal of decency, but act as a major motivator in promoting Carr’s reversal of the PM’s stated position?

Given the increasing number of electorates which have a large Muslim voter base, it is to be expected that we as a nation are on the road to dhimmification, but that isn’t the case in Smith’s Perth electorate (to the best of my knowledge). I would venture to guess that the Perth electorate has the highest Jewish vote in W.A., so why on earth did Smith play a leading role as a chief advocate for Carr’s betrayal of Israel?

Smith’s actions are beyond strange to me.

From J-Wire, January3, 2013 by J-Wire Staff:
A delegation of Australian Muslim scholars has visited Gaza and met with Hamas senior political leader Ismail Haniyeh…a visit which may be subject to a government investigation.
The delegation was led by Australian Grand Mufti Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed who is considered a ‘moderate’ and who reportedly said,

Go to JIW for the full report.

Uncle Boydie, the grandson of Aboriginal activist William Cooper sought to right history’s wrongs as he embarked on a three-hour walk from Footscray to Melbourne’s CBD, in December 2012, to deliver the petition his grandfather wrote, and attempted to deliver, 74 years earlier, protesting horrors of Kristallnacht in 1938.

Barbara Miller launches her book on William Cooper. Go to our Books page for details, and to order a copy.

"A government that rules by the ballot and a government that rules by the bullet"

Tony Smith MP, Federal Member for Casey

"In so many ways the conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists is a struggle between the enlightened values of a modern democracy and the benighted values of mediaeval theocracy; a struggle between Jerusalem, where women serve as Supreme Court justices, and Gaza, where a woman's sworn testimony is worth half that of a man's...."

From the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem* USA  (ICEJUSA), 12 Apr 2012:

From a friend; originally posted on Daphne Anson, 16 Dec  2012:

Here’s a truly inspirational story of a small, newly formed, non-denominational group supporting Israel, started by three people, Ben White, Virginia Snape and Tania Fenwick, who have known one another for a number of years in Adelaide. Virginia has an information blog informing readers about the real situation in Israel. Ben is very involved in informing people about the historical and political truth about the region.
Along with Tania, they often posted comments to one another about issues and happenings in Israel on their Facebook pages. They noted for weeks before Israel actually took action during Operation Pillar of Cloud, that the rocket attacks were increasing and nothing was being said in the media. When the media became obsessed with Israel again, Ben suggested that they started a group and rallied to get support.
Tania has been to Israel and has in her own words

"witnessed the inclusive and multi-cultural society of Israel. I have spent considerable time in Jordan and Israel, mostly in my archaeological pursuits. I am a field archaeologist who has worked with the University of Adelaide, Israeli Antiquities, Associates for Biblical Research and a private contractor. I have a great interest in the history of Israel and find that the archaeological proofs back up that the Jews have indigenous connections to the land.

I have Jewish Israeli and Arab Israeli friends and along with Ben and Virginia are proud supporters of Israel."

A good friend of Tania’s suggested they make contact with the Jewish community. People were interested and supportive. One especially so. Another attended their rally and is now "in touch" with the group.
Tania’s dream was to hold a rally in support of Israel.
She said

"I ordered posters to be printed and tried to get numbers for a rally, but it was difficult to get solid numbers. I had a lot of maybes, and it took a while to understand the process as none of us had ever been part of a rally like this. I informed the Adelaide City Council and Parliament house and contacted the Police who were very supportive.

[Parliamentarian] Christopher Pyne has indicated that he will attend a future rally, as he is a great supporter of Israel but was unable to attend on that day.

The rally went ahead on 9 December. 13 people attended. Although it was a small group, all were enthusiastic. I gave a speech."

Tania continues

"The rally took place on the steps of Parliament House which is quite busy. The great thing is that we had members of the public who waved and cheered from their cars and many who told us they supported Israel. We handed out flyers and the whole thing was non-confrontational but underpinned that Israel wants peace, but it is impossible when Hamas and others are full of hate and have declared that they will never make peace."

She told me:

"I think our peaceful rally with a clear message said so much and highlighted that Israel wants peace.

I notice a lot of other pro-Israel rallies have done the same and I hope the peaceful sentiments speak louder than the aggression shown on the other side!

It went well - and I think it is a great building base for the future."

Tania told me that she has had many comments about the BDS protestors in Rundle Mall who have spoken about how nasty they are and how they harass everyone. In saying this, she then decided to confront this pro-Palestinian group, who picket the Mall, outside the Seacret Spa shop every Friday.
Brave girl!
She told me the obvious after attempting to engage them in meaningful dialogue: that

"they are utterly clueless and when questioned they know nothing of the real situation. I think they are bullies. I told them they were racist as they would not picket an Israeli Arab company, but by singling out an Israeli Jewish company they are.

We are not political activists, but find the anti-Israel and antisemitic undertones intolerable and feel that voices are needed at this time to support Israel."

One other thing she thought was odd was when she was questioned about what she was doing in Israel. She said

"I told him about being a field archaeologist and then he asked me if I was Jewish or Israeli. When I told him I was neither, he was lost for words - this bloke was a real goose!"

To quote Ben

"It was cool to see a dream that Tania had several weeks ago turn into reality! Plenty more to come yet from SASI !"

I have become quite involved with this group and feel they merit some support from the Jewish community in South Australia. I’ll make contact with the community there. I do know someone personally I can contact. I have also had the offer of support from someone here, who will go down to Adelaide in February to offer any assistance he can.

I have followed the pro-Palestinian group there who are very active, for a couple of years now and who run totally unchecked without opposition. Now we have a group of people prepared to stand up and be counted and should be able to count on us for some support.

My question now is there anyone out there that can help in any way please? The South Australian Jewish community is small, and I doubt they have the finances to fund speakers to go there. We have plenty of educational courses here but they have nothing. I am open to suggestion as to what way we can help.

Contact editor Steve Lieblich if you can assist.

From:The Australian, December 15, 2012, by Christian Kerr:

From JPost, 06 December 2012, by Isi Leibler: 

In the diplomatic debacle at the United Nations General Assembly pertaining to the vote of recognition to the Palestinian Authority, two countries considered solid supporters of Israel, abandoned us at the crucial moment. Israel was shocked when Germany abstained, especially as Chancellor Angela Merkel had stated earlier that Germany would vote against the Palestinian initiative.

The other unexpected defection was the last moment abstention of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Labor government, considered a strong supporter of Israel. On a few recent occasions, votes by Australia at the UN appeared to deviate from the norm, but this was rationalized as temporary pandering to the Arabs to solicit votes for elections to the Security Council.

The dramatic tilt against Israel was spearheaded by Foreign Minister Bob Carr who exerted enormous pressure on the Labor caucus and compelled Prime Minister Gillard to backtrack from her decision to oppose the Palestinian initiative. Had she not complied, she would have been humiliatingly defeated and possibly toppled as Prime Minister. Carr was vigorously supported by former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke, at one time one of Israel’s greatest supporters, notorious (whilst inebriated) for having called on Israel to “nuke” the Palestinians if they failed to halt the terror.

Hawke was intimately connected to Israel’s Labor leaders but after Menahem Begin was elected Prime Minister in 1977, he changed his views and today regards Israel as “intransigent”. He was supported by another veteran Labor politician, former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, who since retiring from government has been consistently canvassing the Arab cause. Both fervently lobbied Labor ministers to repudiate Gillard’s policy.

Carr was only appointed to his post in March this year. Prior to that he had served for 11 years as Premier of Australia’s largest state, New South Wales. Ironically, he was once considered a close friend of the Jewish community. He is knowledgeable about Jewish affairs and has a genuine and sensitive understanding of the Holocaust. In 1977, he was a founding member of the Labor Friends of Israel. He subsequently became a passionate admirer of Amos Oz and appears to have absorbed much of his far left outlook on Israeli affairs.

In 2003, as State Premier, he dismayed the Jewish community and friends of Israel by presenting the Sydney Peace Prize to Palestinian political activist, Hanan Ashrawi, renowned for her rabid demonization of Israel. Carr visited Israel in August this year meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders including Ashrawi. On his return to Australia, he raised eyebrows when he dispatched a delegation to Iran to solicit votes for Australia’s UN Security Council candidature. There were also unconfirmed rumors circulating that undertakings were made to the Arabs in return for their support.

His backing of Israel during the Gaza campaign was lukewarm. In the Senate, he made the astonishing statement: “Any response by Israel needs to be proportionate and not lead to civilian casualties. We have on more than a dozen occasions called on both sides to exercise restraint”. Setting aside the moral equivalence inherent in this remark, he was effectively demanding that Israel – which more than any army in history goes out of its way to minimize civilian casualties – take no action to defend its citizens from missile attacks. He was even more forthcoming after the UN vote when he proclaimed

“I don’t apologize for the fact that Australia has interests in the Arab world. If we had voted no, that would have been a body blow to our interests in over 20 countries. The truth is they all see this as a bedrock issue.”

He also dismissed suggestions that the Palestinians intended to exploit their new observer status to initiate charges of war crimes against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

Carr’s change of policy was confirmed when he joined the European bandwagon and hauled Israel’s Ambassador to Australia, Yuval Rotem over the coals following Israel’s decision to build homes in the Jerusalem suburbs and adjacent areas – which the Bush Administration had agreed should remain within Israel.

Australia has a long association of friendship with Israel dating back to Australian troops who served in Palestine during both World Wars. Labor leader Dr. H.V. Evatt was UN President in 1948 when the Jewish state was proclaimed and since then until today – with the exception of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam from 1972-1975, – successive Australian governments of all political persuasions, displayed strong friendship towards Israel. The Liberal (conservative) government under Prime Minister John Howard, which governed Australia for 11 years prior to Labor’s electoral victory in 2007, was especially supportive of Israel and could be compared to the Harper Government in Canada today.... ...unless Gillard succeeds in persuading the Labor Party caucus to change its approach, in the short term Israel should not expect support from Australia under Foreign Minister Carr.

Like many of our European “friends”, Carr may continue insisting that his motivations are based upon having the Jewish state’s security at heart and trying to save Israel from itself. But when the chips are down, he will abandon us as he did at the UN General Assembly.