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LETTER FROM JERUSALEM
Gazans' protest on Israel's border fizzles
By Ira Sharkansky
 JERUSALEM—It was a campaign that fizzled.
We began reading in the press last week about the IDF's preparation for a Palestinian effort to break through the border from Gaza and into Israel. This was against the background of their destroying the southern border crossing, and pouring by the tens of thousands over several days into Egypt.
Palestianian aspirations were for upwards of 40,000 school children and others to join hands in a human chain from the southern to the northern boundaries of Gaza. The purpose was to call international attention to the suffering of Gaza under the Israeli blockade. Organizers said that it would be a peaceful demonstration, but the Palestinians themselves said that some groups were planning to break through into Israel.
It did not happen.
Perhaps 2,000 children and others participated. The human chain was missing numerous sections, and did not stretch from the south to the north of Gaza.
It rained heavily on the day set for the event.
Hamas did not cooperate. Some weeks earlier, Hamas turned out hundreds of thousands for a celebration of its anniversary as a movement. Its incentive then was a food package provided to those who would appear, and a threat for those who expressed reservations. On this occasion, something kept Hamas from using its money or its muscle.
Commentators reported that the thin turnout reflected Gazans having tired of the Hamas regime, and the suffering associated with it.
Israeli officials warned the Palestinians that they would not tolerate a breakthrough at the border, and arrayed considerable force in the event of an effort. Government ministers said that the IDF and police would employ non-lethal means of crowd control, but that no one would be allowed through in any case. A day before the planned event, the IDF moved tanks and artillery into position, along with thousands of police and soldiers. Newspapers on the morning of the demonstration showed pictures of snipers positioned where they would have a shot at anyone planning to reach Israel. From all the signs visible to the Palestinians, non-lethal force would be only the first line of defense.
Demonstration organizers saw success in their failure. It was their first effort. They learned. There would be other efforts, more successful than this.
Israelis agreed that there would be other attempts. They also learned the advantages of clarifying their own intentions. Massing armour, artillery, soldiers and police is expensive, but worth the price if it persuades the Palestinians that a charge against the border would not be worth the risks.
Television crews and journalists from around the world had assembled at the border crossings to record the mayhem. There was nothing to broadcast, except for pictures of a demonstration that did not happen.
About 20,000 Gazans took part, less than half the number Hamas called for and less than participate in a good Gaza funeral. Media reports attributed the low turnout to the rain - and indeed, there is nothing quite as nasty as cold February rain in a Mediterranean city.
There is, as usual, a contrarian's view - a more hopeful one.
The Hamas principle was women and children first. Not into the lifeboats or out of the burning building, but first to face the beefed-up Israeli military forces on the other side of the Gaza border. Maybe Gaza's women and children didn't want to go first, and so they didn't go at all. Maybe, absent the ability to shop as they did when they burst through the Egypt/Gaza border, they stayed home. Maybe, one can hope, some of Gaza's men were uncomfortable or humiliated to be told to march behind the women and children and so they stayed home.
Hamas rules Gaza with an iron fist and everyone there has been set against everyone else. Israel faces daily shelling with ever more precise rockets, and Gilad Shalit remains a prisoner of Hamas in violation of international law. But beyond that, the manager of Gaza's only Christian bookstore was abducted and killed; the YMCA library, which had been a resource for Muslim as well as Christian high school students, was burned to the ground; Hamas TV encourages children to hate and kill (recently they were encouraged to "bite and eat" Danish people); gangs of Hamas teenagers are encouraged to fight gangs of Fatah teenagers. Gaza is an outpost of bloody misery and anarchy - last year's civil war ousted Fatah leadership, but a great many Fatah members remain stranded there.
One might hope Palestinians would ask themselves on occasion how they descended into this abyss. Part of the answer would be that they were given lousy leadership in the form of Yasser Arafat and his gang brought from Tunis under the Oslo Accords; they inherited lousy leadership in the form of Abu Mazen when Arafat died; and they elected lousy leadership when they chose Hamas. All of this - including allowing Hamas, a terrorist group, to run for election - was done with the active participation of the American and Israeli governments. The result has been the isolation, radicalization and impoverishment not only of this generation of Palestinians, but the ruination of the next as well. Children taught what these children are taught will not become healthy adults, if they live long enough to become adults at all.
Maybe the low turnout was due to some dawning recognition in Gaza, as there was in Anbar, that a radical, terrorist government will devour its own as well as its enemies. And maybe in Gaza, as there was in Anbar, people will look for a way to throw out that which they had previously accepted. The unfortunate difference may be that when the people of Anbar were ready, American forces were there to help affect the change. The Palestinians have little hope of rescue from their own folly and their own jailors.
On the other hand, let's not ascribe too much intellectual understanding to the Gaza civilians - maybe it was just the rain.
PETE'S PLACE
Daily news discourages potential olim
By Peter Garas
 CANBERRA, Australia —I was fascinated, but not surprised by the content of the article from Judy Lash Balint of 26th February entitled "Aliya fails to keep up with out-migration"
When you read the press these days (or if you are now less able to read for any reason and have to view your news) what do you find?
Do you find stories like:
"Israel, the place to come for fun sun and employment" or perhaps an advert for working on a Kibbutz picking fruit like "Israel, the place where you can enjoy the fruits of your labour" or something more arcane like. "Don't just read about the history of your family, faith and fellows - come and live in Israel and enjoy them - live and in person!"
Hardly.
You are more likely to see stories about Israeli troops in Gaza, suicide bombers, rockets being fired daily into the places where people come to live, arguments among the religious right, the socialist left and everyone else, world condemnation from the UN about Israel restricting food and other humanitarian supplies to the poor underprivileged refugees of Gaza, the interminable 'peace talks' with the other group of Palestinians and of course the rantings of certain people in Lebanon who aggressively shout at the cameras messages like, "You want war! That's what you will get!" or yet others, slightly farther away from the action, who continue to issue statements about wiping out all of the Jews and sending them into the Mediterranean!
I don't know about you - but if this is the picture that I get from the news - daily - then the chances are that making 'aliyah' or "going up" to Israel is less attractive than it may otherwise be - especially if my thinking contains thoughts along the lines of "I would like my children to have a good and peaceful life."
The pressures in Israel are unrelenting, the Zionist youth movements that used to imbue enthusiasm into the developing teens in other lands for making aliyah are now no longer as "fashionable" as they once were and YouTube and reality TV are (apparently) far more entertaining than learning to do Israeli folk dancing!
Judy Lash Balint is quite right - there is something wrong with this picture - the question is what do people want to DO about it!
The status quo is not going to change people's minds about migration in or out of the country.
THE JEWS DOWN UNDER
Dreyfus gives first speech in Parliament
By Garry Fabian
 CANBERRA—Mark Dreyfus steered clear of references to his Jewish heritage in his maiden speech in Parliament this week, instead focusing on the history of his electorate, his personal and professional background, and his experience with the Indigenous community and the land.
Dreyfus, the Labor MP for Isaacs and a Queen’s Counsel, last week joined Michael Danby as a representative of the Jewish faith on the government backbenches.
But, unlike Danby’s perch in Melbourne Ports, Dreyfus’ seat in Melbourne’s southeast does not have a large Jewish constituency.
In what proved to be an eventful second week in parliament for Dreyfus, he was nominated by the ALP to join the Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.
In his maiden speech on Monday, the Isaacs MP spoke about his work with the Indigenous community.
In 2000, Dreyfus worked as a member of the legal team that represented the stolen generation in a Federal Court test case.
His team lost the case after the judge found that despite enduring pain and suffering, the plaintiffs did not have enough evidence to warrant the granting of compensation.
Dreyfus said in his speech that there was a great personal satisfaction for him to be in Parliament when the apology was delivered because of his work with the Indigenous community.
He also paid tribute to his electorate’s Jewish namesake -– former governor-general Sir Isaac Isaacs.
“His biographer, Zelman Cowen -– who himself became governor-general -– described him as ‘a master lawyer and one of the greatest judges in federal history,’” Dreyfus explained to the House.
Dreyfus also recited his personal background.
“My own family story is a story of immigration,” he said.
Both his grandmothers, despite being the same age, had very different beginnings in life, one in Germany and the other in Gippsland, Victoria.
“My grandmothers were both born in 1904, in places and time when neither would have comprehended the events that would connect their children in marriage and see one of their grandchildren one day serve as a member of the Australian Federal Parliament.”
Prime Minister to honour Israel
CANBERRA—Australian politicians across the political spectrum, together with a broad range of community leaders, will celebrate Yom Ha'atzamaut in style in Canberra.
It is understood Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will deliver a parliamentary motion in the House of Representatives on March 12, followed by a reception at Parliament House.
The Prime Minster's motion is expected to congratulate Israel on reaching its 60th birthday and will immediately be seconded by the Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson.
The Israeli embassy and Zionist Federation of Australia will then host a celebration in Parliament's House's Mural Hall. Both the Australian and Israeli national anthems will be performed at the reception.
Both the prime minister and opposition leader are expected to attend, along with Israel's ambassador to Australia Yuval Rotem. Other members of parliament and Australian Jewish community leaders have been invited. It is also expected that leaders of other faiths will also be present at the reception.
The celebration in parliament acknowledges the close relationship between Israel and Australia - a relationship that transcends political and religious boundaries. It is believed that Australia's political leaders will attend other Yom Ha'atzamaut events around Australia later this year.
Woollahra honors Jewish volunteer
WOOLLAHRA—This inner Sydney suburban area, which has one of the largest concentrations of Jewish residents in Australia, has named Emily Margo its 2007 Young Citizen of the Year.
Margo, 21, was selected for her leadership in public health and community fundraising. She has been involved with the Red Cross Appeal and the Salvation Army, and has served as the Rose Bay representative for Rotaract UNSW-Rotary International.
She is a regular volunteer for the Starlight Foundation at Sydney Children’s Hospital and is the secretary of Oxfam for the University of New South Wales (UNSW), where she produced a film to promote fair trade.
Margo has been a peer mentor at UNSW, and was director of the Society for German students in Woollahra.
She recently co-wrote Living On, a book that seeks to improve the quality of life of those facing life-limiting illnesses. A percentage of the profits from the book will go to cancer research.
“Emily is a very worthy recipient of the award for Woollahra Young Citizen of the Year,” said Woollahra Councillor Geoff Rundle.
“Her tireless work in fundraising and volunteering is remarkable for a person of any age, but all the more impressive due to her youth. She is a credit to Woollahra.”
Margo’s mother, Jill, said the award came as a surprise to Emily, who is studying philosophy and politics at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She is in America on an exchange scholarship from UNSW, where she is pursuing an arts degree.
“When an envelope came for her from Woollahra Council in January, I just set it aside, thinking it was a library fine,” said Jill.
But, after looking at it a second time, she decided to open it and then contacted Emily overseas.
Because she was unable to attend the presentation ceremony, Margo’s younger sister Sarah read her short acceptance speech and received the award in her absence.
“While Emily was at Ascham School, she was head girl, and now Sarah is head girl at the same school. They are very close, have a lot in common and even resemble each other in appearance, so it was very appropriate that Sarah could stand in for Emily,” her mother said.
In her acceptance speech, Emily wrote, “I have discovered that using a small part of one’s week to help others become a little bit more comfortable, better fed, better listened to, or better understood, makes one feel good and connected to others.
"When I return to Sydney next month, I fully intend to resume my involvement with community causes and will make sure the honour you have given me today is not wasted.”
Police take race crime seriously
MELBOURNE—A senior Victorian police officer has refuted claims that Victoria Police does not take race-hate crimes seriously.
Helen Shardey, Caulfield's Liberal member of parliament, earlier this month put forward a motion in Victoria's Parliament stating " Victoria does not have a police race-hate unit, because the police does not believe racially based hate crime is occurring in this state" (Caulfield has the largest concentration of Jewish residents in the state).
Shardey later said that Dr Gregg Rickman, the US special envoy on anti-Semitism, provided her with this information after his meeting with Victoria Police.
Victoria Police Commander Ashley Dickinson refuted Shardey's claim and said it could only have come from within the Jewish community. The absence of a police unit that deals specifically with race crime has become a sticking point between police and community leaders.
At the most recent Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) meeting, president Anton Block said "the absence of a hate-crime division within the police force is increasingly becoming an Achilles heel in terms of the police properly dealing with anti-Semitic attacks.”
Commander Dickinson, who is a representative on the police Multi-faith Advisory Council, responded by saying that the force takes race- based crime seriously, despite the absence of a hate-crime unit.
Victoria does not have a unit for "hate"crimes. Instead it has a Security Intelligence Group, which has the mandate to investigate hate crimes.. As well as this group, the police consult with the Victorian Multi-cultural Commission (VMC), a state-government run organisation, on issues of race.
VMC chairman George Lekakis said "The VMC works closely with Victoria Police to ensure issues affecting Victorians of culturally, linguistically and religious diverse backgrounds are addressed appropriately and seriously".
Recent crimes have included the alleged physical and verbal assault of a young Orthodox man, and a spate of Jewish-themed vandalism over consecutive days last month. Dickinson said that not all the crimes are being investigated as racially motivated.
Prime Minister reaffirms school pledge
SYDNEY--In his first address to the Jewish Community, since becoming prime minister last November, Kevin Rudd reaffirmed his government's pre-election pledges to the Jewish community on security and funding for Jewish day schools.
In a special video broadcast to the Sydney yeshiva Centre's annual gala dinner last week, Rudd confirmed that he would be delivering on his promise for "a school security program costing $20 million over four years" to assist schools in covering their security costs. However he did not provide an update on tax deductibility for Jewish community security, which is yet to go through parliament
Concern on extremism
CANBERRA—New MP Mike Kelly has used his maiden speech in parliament to highlight the danger posed by Islamic extremism. Kelly, whose wife and son are Jewish, told fellow MP's that "one of the greatest challenges we face is from Islamic extremists. It is vital that we reach out to the moderate voices of Islam, to do all we can to assist and encourage them in this struggle", Kelly said.
Kelly, a former legal officer in the Australian Army, mentioned Israel in his speech. He said he believed Australia's biggest challenges are water and oil and encouraged his fellow politicians to work with Israel to overcome these issues.
Kelly was not the only one to invoke Israel in his maiden speech. Luke Simpkins, the new Liberal MP for the Perth based seat of Cowan, with a Jewish population of some 700, said the Middle East peace process was "of great and enduring concern of the Jewish people in his electorate.
"The great problem with the pursuit of lasting peace and harmony is that it is so difficult to identify a Palestinian authority willing and able to speak for their side" Simpkins said.
Claims of harrassment in prison
MELBOURNE-- A Jewish prisoner at the privately run Port Phillip Prison has claimed he was bashed by a prison guard in a dispute over his wearing a skull cap.
Police are investigating the allegation, and it is believed the Victorian Ombudsman is also looking into the incident.
Top Queens Council Robert Richter and the leading Jewish Law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler have taken up the man's case, acting pro bono, and exploring the possibilities of civil action.
The prisoner, a 38-year old father of three serving a six months sentence for burglary, spent four nights in St.Vincent's Hospital after the alleged beating. He was then transferred to the government-run Melbourne Assessment Centre.
The man received treatment for injuries, including severely blackened and bruised eyes and eye-sockets, a suspected broken nose, a cut to his face and damage to his left shoulder, allegedly sustained when he was stomped on while lying on the ground. The man also reportedly sustained a chipped tooth and is still suffering from ringing in his ears, after the alleged attack in early December last year.
Photos taken at the Melbourne Assessment Centre Prison four days after the alleged assault show him with severe bruising around the eyes and his left arm in a sling.
The incident is said to have been related to the prison officers' demand that the prisoner remove his yarmulke. A spokesperson for Corrections Victoria, said that the police were investigating allegations made by the prisoner at Port Phillip, but no charges had been laid to date.
Melbourne Jewish girl meets Oscar
HOLLYWOOD, California -- Jewish producer Eva Orner is the toast of Tinseltown, taking out the Academy Award for best documentary feature for Taxi to the Dark Side, a politically-charged film about American involvement in Afghanistan.
The New York-based Melbourne-born producer, wearing a gown by Sydney designer Collette Dinnigan, accepted the award along with the film's director Alex Gibney.
The pair were underdogs in a strong field which included the Oscar-winning film-maker Michael Moore, who was nominated for his US health system expose Sicko
She is believed to be the second Jewish-Australian Oscar winner in history -- Sydney-born cinematographer Andrew Lesnie won an Oscar in 2002 for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
SAN DIEGO JEWISH WORLD THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Judy Lash Balint in Jerusalem: Aliya fails to keep up with out-migration
J. Zel Lurie in Delray Beach, Florida: Hadassah celebrates Israel’s 60th birthday with new stem cell research and therapy
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson in Mevasseret Zion, Israel: Turning a rubbish dump into parkland
Peter Garas in Canberra, Australia: An Aussie's take on U.S. election
Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: A puzzling toast on a 40th anniversary
Sheila Orysiek in San Diego: Reaching and keeping nationhood
Plus, an invitation from the editor to join San Diego Jewish World
Shoshana Bryen in Washington, D.C.: Satellite shot proves Reagan's wisdom
Rabbi Baruch Lederman in San Diego: A scream in the dark, a knock on the door
Sheila Orysiek in San Diego: Cousin Barry—Another shimmering soul
Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal in San Diego: Why Moses was angered by Golden Calf
Gary Rotto in San Diego: Free at last, free at last ... to write a column
Ira Sharkansky in Jerusalem: Shas minister blames quakes on gays
Carol Davis in San Diego: S.D. Opera scores with Maria Stuarda
Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: We can make those souls shimmer longer
Dov Burt Levy in Salem, Massachusetts: In Israel, the egg roll wars heat up
Fred Reiss in Winchester, California: A Jewish path to self improvement
Peter Garas in Canberra, Australia: When bunnies and children urge murder
Charly Jaffe in San Diego: Anita Diamant takes women beyond usual feminist mantras ... to the the mikvah
Sheila Orysiek in San Diego: Sharing the Dessert: The Last Grand Jeté
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—
The big, much-ballyhooed "human chain" across Gaza was a big bust - an interesting bust, but a bust nonetheless.