Monday 11th of November 2024

Ruffling feathers ()

The Australian Jewish News (AJN) continues to feature comments and coverage on NHJ and my Ashrawi chapter.

A letter appears today from Michael Danby, Labor MP for Melbourne Ports. He accuses me of being 'a non-entity who represents a telephone-box group of Jewish Australians', a 'fringe player' and says the Sydney media gave Ashrawi far too much positive coverage during her visit to Sydney last November.

(There are a few more letters in print, hammering Margo and myself, not available online.)

Suffice to say, I strongly disagree with the charges made by Danby. Attempting to portray Margo and myself as outsiders on the Israel/Palestine question belies the facts. Important debates about Israel's future, the occupation and Ariel Sharon are increasingly occurring overseas, but perhaps we aren't mature enough to have them here yet. NHJ is the first step in addressing this imbalance.

An opinion piece also appeared by Ron Weiser, suggesting that my recent charge in the AJN, that Sharon is an