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100-629: The Australian Jewish Democratic Society ( AJDS ), a secular organisation, was formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1984 to promote free discussion and action on Jewish and general social and political issues. It grew out of a profound concern at the continuing Arab–Israeli conflict , though some of its members had been active on the left since at least the 1930s in Europe. Others had been born in Israel or Australia, or spent considerable time in Israel. Others came out of

200-545: A normalization agreement . However, Syria pressured President Amine Gemayel into nullifying the truce in March 1984. By 1985, Israeli forces withdrew to a 15 km wide southern strip of Lebanon, following which the conflict continued on a lower scale, with relatively low casualties on both sides. In 1993 and 1996, Israel launched major operations against the Shiite militia of Hezbollah , which had become an emergent threat. In May 2000,

300-615: A peace agreement , which stipulated mutual cooperation, an end of hostilities, the fixing of the Israel-Jordan border, and a resolution of other issues. The conflict between them had cost roughly 18.3 billion dollars. Its signing is also closely linked with the efforts to create peace between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representing the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). It

400-682: A peace treaty in March 1979. Under its terms, the Sinai Peninsula returned to Egyptian hands, and the Gaza Strip remained under Israeli control, to be included in a future Palestinian state . The agreement also provided for the free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal and recognition of the Straits of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways. In October 1994, Israel and Jordan signed

500-595: A semi-official coalition to confront Iran. This move and the Israeli normalization with Gulf states was marked by some as the fading of the Arab–Israeli conflict. The roots of the modern Arab–Israeli conflict lie in the tensions between Zionism and Palestinian nationalism ; the latter having risen in response to Zionism towards the end of the 19th century. Territory regarded by the Jewish people as their historical homeland

600-593: A complicated system of roadblocks and checkpoints around major Palestinian areas to deter violence and protect Israeli settlements. However, since 2008, the IDF has slowly transferred authority to Palestinian security forces. Israel's then prime minister Ariel Sharon began a policy of disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2003. This policy was fully implemented in August 2005. Sharon's announcement to disengage from Gaza came as

700-511: A full withdrawal by Israel from the occupied territories (including East Jerusalem) and a "just settlement" of the Palestinian refugee problem based on UN Resolution 194 . In the 1990s and early 2000s, a ceasefire had been largely maintained between Israel and Syria , while limited warfare continued in Lebanon against Iranian proxy militias. Despite the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan ,

800-443: A large number of communal organisations situated in these suburbs, including schools, synagogues and cultural centres. There are also significant pockets of Jews in other areas of Melbourne including Malvern , Hawthorn East , Bentleigh , Brunswick , and Doncaster , although these locations do not have the same communal structure and are arguably not served as well by communal organisations.. The Victorian Jewish community comprises

900-562: A name change and the VJBD became the Jewish Community Council of Victoria on 10 October 1989. The new name was promoted as having greater meaning for a cosmopolitan Jewry entering the 1990s. The JCCV became an incorporated entity in 2000. The new organization continued to grow, and today the JCCV has over 50 affiliates. The JCCV's affiliation is drawn from various organisations that constitute

1000-632: A new constitution which would allow input from the non-Orthodox communities. The MJAB renamed itself the Victorian Jewish Advisory Board (VJAB). During World War II the representational base of the VJAB was further expanded to include 18 constituents by 1947. At a meeting on May 7, 1948, delegates to the VJAB agreed formally to rename and reconstitute themselves as the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies (VJBD). In 1988 delegates approved

1100-553: A promise from Arab leaders that they would be able to return when the war had been won, and also in part due to attacks on Palestinian villages and towns by Israeli forces and Jewish militant groups. During the war, official Israeli documents subsequently uncovered by Benny Morris and Benjamin Kedar have revealed that Israel conducted a biological warfare campaign codenamed "Cast Thy Bread" to covertly poison Palestinian wells to prevent villagers from returning. Many Palestinians fled from

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1200-422: A range of sub-groups including strong Progressive, Yiddishist , Modern Orthodox, secular, Conservative, and ultra-Orthodox communities. It is a commonly held belief that most of the community can be described as strongly Zionist. Victoria's Jewish population has continued to grow due to immigration from the former Soviet Union , South Africa , Israel and New Zealand . The Jewish Community Council of Victoria

1300-551: A surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur , the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The Israeli military were caught off guard and unprepared, and took about three days to fully mobilize. This led other Arab states to send troops to reinforce the Egyptians and Syrians. In addition, these Arab countries agreed to enforce an oil embargo on industrial nations including the U.S., Japan and Western European Countries. These OPEC countries increased

1400-628: A threat to their homeland and their identity as a people. Moreover, Jewish policies of purchasing land and prohibiting the employment of Arabs in Jewish-owned industries and farms greatly angered the Palestinian Arab communities. Demonstrations were held as early as 1920, protesting what the Arabs felt were unfair preferences for the Jewish immigrants set forth by the British mandate that governed Palestine at

1500-602: A tremendous shock to his critics both on the left and on the right. A year previously, he had commented that the fate of the most far-flung settlements in Gaza, Netzararem and Kfar Darom, was regarded in the same light as that of Tel Aviv. The formal announcements to evacuate seventeen Gaza settlements and another four in the West Bank in February 2004 represented the first reversal for the settler movement since 1968, dividing Sharon's party. It

1600-865: A wide range of issues on behalf of Victorian Jewry. In the past these have included reforms into the Sentencing Act, Racial Vilification legislation, Child Protection and Equal Opportunity legislation. The JCCV also coordinates with local governments where there is a significant Jewish population. One such issue is setting traffic lights in the city of Glen Eira to automatic during Shabbat . They are involved in interfaith and multicultural activities and dialogue. This includes establishing bilateral ties and hosting functions with other faiths and communities, and by participating in various multicultural and multi-faith organisations, both government and non-government organisations. The JCCV has engaged in overt advocacy of Israeli policies in partnership with Zionism Victoria. This

1700-676: Is also considered by the Pan-Arab movement as historically and presently belonging to the Arab Palestinians . Palestine had been under the control of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years, until its partitioning in the aftermath of the Great Arab Revolt during World War I . During the closing years of their empire, the Ottomans began to espouse their Turkish ethnic identity, asserting

1800-484: Is an acceptable expression of Jewishness or Zionism. The JCCV should be focused on fostering an open, inclusive and dynamic Jewish community. Disaffiliating, or sanctioning, the AJDS would be a step in the wrong direction for a diverse, and politically pluralistic Victorian Jewish community, and for Jewish communities around the world." On 15 May 2011, an op-ed from the AJDS was published in leading Australian newspapers including

1900-603: Is despite having affiliates such as the Australian Jewish Democratic Society who are not supportive of Israel's policies. The JCCV has, however, come in for considerable criticism for a number of public relations failures. Arguably the greatest of these was the JCCV's inability to accommodate the community's LGBTQI community until 2015, although they did apologise for the exclusion in 2019. The JCCV has also been heavily criticised for its failure to tackle key communal issues, such as drug and alcohol abuse,

2000-522: Is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events". It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the autonomy of Palestinian organisations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The violence resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the vast majority Palestinians. Armed conflict lasted until July 1971 with

2100-736: The Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald . The article urged the Australian government to support a resolution in favour of the establishment of the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September 2011. Arab%E2%80%93Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is the phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between various Arab countries and Israel , which escalated during

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2200-741: The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine . In response to Arab pressure, the British Mandate authorities greatly reduced the number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine (see White Paper of 1939 and the SS ; Exodus ). These restrictions remained in place until the end of the mandate, a period which coincided with the Nazi Holocaust and the flight of Jewish refugees from Europe. As a consequence, most Jewish entrants to Mandatory Palestine were considered illegal (see Aliyah Bet ), causing further tensions in

2300-694: The Egyptian Air Force in a surprise attack, then turned east to destroy the Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces. This strike was the crucial element in Israel's victory in the Six-Day War . At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem ), Shebaa farms , and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of

2400-627: The Free Lebanon Army forced the PLO to retreat north of the Litani river. In 1981 another conflict between Israel and the PLO broke out, which ended with a ceasefire agreement that did not solve the core of the conflict. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in alliance with Christian factions of the Lebanese government. Within two months the PLO agreed to withdraw thence. In March 1983, Israel and Lebanon signed

2500-568: The Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. The United States and the United Nations soon pressured it into a ceasefire. Israel agreed to withdraw from Egyptian territory. Egypt agreed to freedom of navigation in the region and the demilitarization of the Sinai. The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was created and deployed to oversee the demilitarization. The UNEF was only deployed on the Egyptian side of

2600-525: The Gulf War in 1991, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel, in the hopes of uniting the Arab world against the coalition which sought to liberate Kuwait . At the behest of the United States, Israel did not respond to this attack in order to prevent a greater outbreak of war. In 1970, following an extended civil war , King Hussein expelled the Palestine Liberation Organization from Jordan. September 1970

2700-603: The Gulf of Aqaba , in contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888 . Many argued that this was also a violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements . On 26 July 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal Company , and closed the canal to Israeli shipping. Israel responded on 29 October 1956, by invading the Sinai Peninsula with British and French military support. During the Suez Crisis , Israel captured

2800-590: The Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) due to its invitation of anti-Islam academic Daniel Pipes to address the community. Pipes is noted by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an "anti-Muslim extremist" and his presence caused the ICV to cancel their official partnership in the annual Jewish Muslim Comedy Debate, and they temporarily broke off all contact with the JCCV. The JCCV have other functions within

2900-823: The Jewish People's Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum and approved a proclamation that declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel , to be known as the State of Israel . The declaration was made by David Ben-Gurion , the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization . There was no mention of the borders of the new state other than that it was in Eretz Israel. An official cablegram from

3000-696: The Munich Olympics Massacre in 1972, and the Entebbe Hostage Taking in 1976, with over 100 Jewish hostages of different nationalities kidnapped and held in Uganda. In December 1987, the First Intifada began. The First Intifada was a mass Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the Palestinian territories . The rebellion began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza and

3100-473: The Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, returning the region to the way it was in 1956 when Israel was blockaded. On 30 May 1967, Jordan signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. Egypt mobilized Sinai units, crossing UN lines (after having expelled the UN border monitors) and mobilized and massed on Israel's southern border. On 5 June, Israel launched an attack on Egypt. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) destroyed most of

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3200-474: The anti-Vietnam war and peace movements. Some key members had strong links to the Israeli peace movement , the Jewish left , Labor Zionism , or other Jewish religious and cultural traditions. More recently, members with strong environmental concerns have become active. There had been a number of predecessor organisations in the past, though these had been strongly stigmatised in the McCarthyite atmosphere of

3300-571: The 1880s, but it was a visit from Chief Rabbi Hertz in 1921 that was the trigger for the formation of the organization, where he convinced a number of prominent Melbourne Jews of its need. The membership of the resulting Melbourne Jewish Advisory Board (MJAB), was drawn from the three major synagogue congregations. In 1936, the secular Judean League, the Yiddishist Kadimah and the Victorian Zionist Organisation pushed MJAB to form

3400-691: The 1920s. Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict arose from the conflicting claims by these movements to the land that formed the British Mandatory Palestine , which was regarded by the Jewish people as their ancestral homeland , while at the same time it was regarded by the Pan-Arab movement as historically and currently belonging to the Palestinians, and in the Pan-Islamic context, as Muslim lands . The sectarian conflict within

3500-468: The 1950s, when communal leadership in those years took an increasingly hard line on the Israel-Palestine issue. After the 1967 Six-Day War , the sharp decline in right-wing anti-Semitism, the rise of left-wing anti-Zionism , and the increased affluence of the community all tended to confirm and reinforce a Jewish move to the political right in a similar fashion to what occurred in other countries. At

3600-568: The 1973 Yom Kippur War . Peace agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979, resulting in Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula and the abolition of the military governance system in the West Bank and Gaza Strip , in favor of Israeli Civil Administration and consequent unilateral annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem . The nature of the conflict has shifted over

3700-408: The 20th century. The roots of the Arab–Israeli conflict have been attributed to the support by Arab League member countries for the Palestinians , a fellow League member, in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict ; this in turn has been attributed to the simultaneous rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism towards the end of the 19th century, though the two national movements had not clashed until

3800-404: The AJDS became the first Australian community-affiliated Jewish organisation to adopt the view that some boycotts of Israel may indeed be justified. Unlike the BDS position on Israel, the AJDS wants to concentrate on those who profit from the occupation. The decision culminated a 16-month process of discussion and expression of a wide range of views in its Newsletter. The resolution thus rejected

3900-450: The Arab World in December 1947, and Jewish communities were hit particularly hard in Aleppo and British-controlled Aden , with hundreds of dead and injured. In Libya , Jews were deprived of citizenship, and in Iraq, their property was seized. Egypt expelled most of its foreign community, including Jews, after the Suez War in 1956, while Algeria denied its French citizens, including Jews, of citizenship upon its independence in 1962. Over

4000-527: The Arab nations from part of the occupied territories, thus extending its borders beyond the original UNSCOP partition. By December 1948, Israel controlled most of the portion of Mandate Palestine west of the Jordan River . The remainder of the Mandate consisted of Jordan, the area that came to be called the West Bank (controlled by Jordan), and the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt). Before and during this conflict, 713,000 Palestinian Arabs fled their original lands to become Palestinian refugees , in part due to

4100-429: The British Mandate territory between Palestinian Jews and Arabs escalated into a full-scale Palestinian civil war in 1947 . Taking the side of the Palestinians, especially following the Israeli Declaration of Independence , the neighbouring Arab countries invaded the by-then former Mandate territory in May 1948, commencing the First Arab–Israeli War . Large-scale hostilities mostly ended with ceasefire agreements after

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4200-406: The British in 1923 included what is today Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip . Transjordan eventually was carved into a separate British protectorate – the Emirate of Transjordan, which gained an autonomous status in 1928 and achieved complete independence in 1946 with the approval by the United Nations of the end of the British Mandate. A major crisis among the Arab nationalists took place with

4300-399: The Census figures estimates that 60,080 Jews live in Victoria, constituting 1.2% of the total Victorian population. Other estimates, based on the numbers of the various Jewish funeral houses, put the number possibly as high as 100,000 during the early 2000s. This community has a high concentration around the Melbourne suburbs of Caulfield , St Kilda East , and Elsternwick , and there are

4400-426: The General Assembly on 3 September 1947. The Report contained a majority and a minority plan. The majority proposed a Plan of Partition with Economic Union . The minority proposed The Independent State of Palestine . With only slight modifications, the Plan of Partition with Economic Union was the one the adoption and implementation of which was recommended in resolution 181(II) of 29 November 1947. The Resolution

4500-472: The Israeli–Palestinian conflict) on American soil. In 1969, Egypt initiated the War of Attrition , with the goal of exhausting Israel into surrendering the Sinai Peninsula. The war ended following Gamal Abdel Nasser 's death in 1970. Once Sadat took over, he tried to forge positive relations with the US, hoping that they would put pressure on Israel to return the land, by expelling 15,000 Russian advisors from Egypt. On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt staged

4600-402: The Jewish Community Council of Victoria, the AJDS issued a statement in which it said that "The JCCV, as the roof body of the Jewish community in Victoria, must recognise that our community is large and complex. There are innumerable different versions of Jewishness, Judaism, and relationships to Israel contained within it. It is not the role of the JCCV, or the different affiliates, to police what

4700-436: The Jordan, leading to growing conflict between Israel and Syria. The PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was first established in 1964, under a charter including a commitment to "[t]he liberation of Palestine [which] will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence..." (PLO Charter, Article 22, 1968). On 19 May 1967, Egypt expelled UNEF observers, and deployed 100,000 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. It again closed

4800-456: The June 1967 Israeli borders." While not reversing the AJDS's long-term opposition to blanket academic boycotts, the AJDS envisaged boycotting "specific Israeli academics openly supportive of the Occupation." The organisation made it plain that nevertheless decision on any action would still need to be taken on a case-by-case basis. In early 2013, AJDS also launched a Don't Buy Settlements Products campaign. In response to hostile statements from

4900-430: The London Conference and before the United Nations mainly, the only fair and just solution to the problem of Palestine is the creation of United State of Palestine based upon the democratic principles ... That day, the armies of Egypt , Lebanon, Syria , Jordan and Iraq invaded what had just ceased to be the British Mandate, marking the beginning of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . The nascent Israeli Defense Force repulsed

5000-406: The Ottoman Empire, which was aligned with Germany against Britain and France in the war. McMahon promised that if the Arabs supported Britain in the war, the British government would support establishing an independent Arab state under Hashemite rule in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine. The Arab revolt, led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Husayn's son Faysal,

5100-617: The PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, while the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist and renounced terrorism, violence and its desire for the destruction of Israel . The Oslo II agreement was signed in 1995 and detailed the division of the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C . Area A was land under full Palestinian civilian control, and Palestinians were also responsible for internal security. The Oslo agreements remain important documents in Israeli–Palestinian relations. The Al-Aqsa Intifada forced Israel to rethink its relationship and policies towards

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5200-404: The Palestinian civil society version of Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS): "The AJDS is opposed to any Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign aimed at the breadth of Israeli economic, cultural or intellectual activity". The AJDS only supports "selected BDS actions designed to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation, blockade and settlement on Palestinian lands lying outside of

5300-423: The Palestinians. Following a series of suicide bombings and attacks, the Israeli army launched Operation Defensive Shield in March 2002. It was the largest military operation conducted by Israel since the Six-Day War. As violence between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants intensified, Israel expanded its security apparatus around the West Bank by re-taking many parts of land in Area A. Israel established

5400-463: The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to the UN Secretary-General on 15 May 1948 stated publicly that Arab Governments found "themselves compelled to intervene for the sole purpose of restoring peace and security and establishing law and order in Palestine" (Clause 10(e)). Further in Clause 10(e): The Governments of the Arab States hereby confirm at this stage the view that had been repeatedly declared by them on previous occasions, such as

5500-425: The US. AJDS takes an active role in presenting an alternative viewpoint within the Australian Jewish community and to the community at large. It has taken positions opposing the Blockade of the Gaza Strip and the Occupation , including settlements , and is outspoken in support of civil rights in Israel and the occupied territories. However, it has made clear that its opposition is not to the state of Israel, but to

5600-420: The Victorian Jewish community. Their affiliates represent a range of religious, political, cultural, welfare, educational and social associations. Affiliates are able to share views through the JCCV's Plenum, which meets seven times per calendar year. The JCCV devotes much of its resources to advocating for the Jewish community with government and the media. The JCCV regularly provides submissions to government on

5700-515: The West Bank. Palestinian actions ranged from civil disobedience to violence. In addition to general strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti and barricades, Palestinian demonstrations that included stone-throwing by youths against the Israel Defense Forces brought the Intifada international attention. The Israeli army's heavy handed response to the demonstrations, with live ammunition, beatings and mass arrests, brought international condemnation. The PLO, which until then had never been recognised as

5800-479: The actions in Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere. On 1 June 2010, it issued a strong statement against Israeli actions in the Gaza flotilla clash , calling it an act of terror and saying that "Unless the Israeli government can convincingly back up its claims that the Gaza aid convoy was not a project for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza, but in reality a front for violent action, it invites the condemnation of everyone who supports negotiated conflict resolution and reinforces

5900-423: The areas that are now Israel as a response to massacres of Arab towns by militant Jewish organizations like the Irgun and the Lehi (group) (See Deir Yassin massacre ). The War came to an end with the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and each of its Arab neighbours. The status of Jewish citizens in Arab states worsened during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war. Anti-Jewish riots erupted throughout

6000-421: The beginning of European settlement but the Jewish population only grew significantly after World War II , largely due to migration from Europe. The 2006 Australian Census put the Jewish population of Melbourne ( Victoria's capital) at 40,547, with a national Jewish population of 88,834. It is estimated, however, that there may well be under-counting of up to 30% for a range of reasons. One reputable analysis of

6100-401: The border, as Israel refused to allow them on its territory. Israel completed work on a national water carrier in 1964, a huge engineering project designed to transfer Israel's allocation of the Jordan river 's waters towards the south of the country in realization of Ben-Gurion's dream of mass Jewish settlement of the Negev desert. The Arabs responded by trying to divert the headwaters of

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6200-422: The city of Hebron , in what became known as the Hebron massacre . During the week of the 1929 riots, at least 116 Arabs and 133 Jews were killed and 339 wounded. By 1931, 17 percent of the population of Mandatory Palestine were Jews, an increase of six percent since 1922. Jewish immigration peaked soon after the Nazis came to power in Germany, causing the Jewish population in British Palestine to double. In

6300-443: The civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine". The Declaration was issued as a result of the belief of key members of the government, including Prime Minister David Lloyd George , that Jewish support was essential to winning the war; however, the declaration caused great disquiet in the Arab world. After the war, the area came under British rule as the British Mandate of Palestine . The area mandated to

6400-501: The collapse of the pan-Arabist kingdom led to the establishment of the local Palestinian version of Arab nationalism, with the return of Amin al-Husseini from Damascus to Jerusalem in late 1920. At this point in time Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine continued, while to some opinions a similar, but less documented, immigration also took place in the Arab sector, bringing workers from Syria and other neighbouring areas. Palestinian Arabs saw this rapid influx of Jewish immigrants as

6500-432: The conclusion of the Gulf War, AJDS renewed its call for political negotiations and mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestinians leading to the satisfaction of both Israeli security requirements and Palestinian national rights. In 1997, AJDS called on the Israeli Government to accept territorial compromise, and to recognise the right of the Palestinians to a State of their own and more recently, has strongly opposed

6600-421: The context of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process . The same year, Israel and Jordan reached a peace accord. In 2002, the Arab League offered recognition of Israel by Arab countries as part of the resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the Arab Peace Initiative . The initiative, which has been reconfirmed since, calls for normalizing relations between the Arab League and Israel, in exchange for

6700-426: The course of twenty years, some 850,000 Jews from Arab countries immigrated to Israel and other countries. As a result of Israel's victory in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , any Arabs caught on the wrong side of the ceasefire line were unable to return to their homes in what became Israel. Likewise, any Jews on the West Bank or in Gaza were exiled from their property and homes to Israel. Today's Palestinian refugees are

6800-450: The descendants of those who left, the responsibility for their exodus being a matter of dispute between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. Historian Benny Morris has claimed that the "decisive cause" for the abandonment by Palestinian Arabs of their settlements was predominantly related to, or caused by, actions of the Jewish forces (citing actual physical expulsions, military assaults on settlements, fear of being caught up in fighting,

6900-401: The expulsion of the PLO and thousands of Palestinian fighters to Lebanon. The PLO resettled in Lebanon, where it began to extend a de facto autonomous rule and from which it staged raids into Israel. PLO was one of the major factors for sectarian destabilization of Lebanon and the eruption of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. In 1978, Israel launched Operation Litani , in which it together with

7000-409: The failed establishment of the Arab Kingdom of Syria in 1920. With the disastrous outcome of the Franco-Syrian War , the self-proclaimed Hashemite kingdom with its capital in Damascus was defeated and the Hashemite ruler took refuge in Mandatory Iraq. The crisis saw the first confrontation of nationalist Arab and Jewish forces, taking place in the Battle of Tel Hai in March 1920, but more importantly

7100-408: The fall of nearby settlements, and propaganda inciting flight), while abandonment due to orders by the Arab leadership was decisive in only six out of the 392 depopulated Arab settlements analysed by him. Over 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1952, with approximately 285,000 of them from Arab countries. In 1956, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded

7200-422: The following value, that it works with and represents Most recently, the organisation has stated its objectives "to be a legitimate and responsible progressive Jewish voice raising awareness amongst policy and decision makers, political parties, social media, progressive Palestinian organisations, and thinking Jews about our three core issues – climate change, the middle east and social justice." On 8 August 2010,

7300-520: The interim peace accords with the Palestinian Authority and the generally existing ceasefire, until the mid-2010s the Arab League and Israel had remained at odds with each other over many issues. Among Arab belligerents in the conflict, Iraq and Syria are the only states who have reached no formal peace accord or treaty with Israel, with both supporting Iran. The Syrian civil war reshuffled

7400-570: The late 1980s, over 550 people signed a public advertisement AJDS placed an advertisement in The Jerusalem Post saying that many Australian Jews rejected Israel's refusal to negotiate land for peace . In August 1989, AJDS issued a 12-page pamphlet titled A Case for Israel's Future . Despite its clear attachment and concern for the future of Israel it was claimed that 'AJDS members [are] not grounded in Jewish life, coming to their analysis of events from outside. Thus ... they seem unable to grasp

7500-624: The leaders of the Palestinian people by Israel, was invited to peace negotiations the following year, after it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism. In mid-1993, Israeli and Palestinian representatives engaged in peace talks in Oslo, Norway. As a result, in September 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords , known as the Declaration of Principles or Oslo I. In side letters , Israel recognized

7600-525: The mid-1930s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam arrived from Syria and established the Black Hand , an anti-Zionist and anti-British militant organization. He recruited and arranged military training for peasants, and by 1935 he had enlisted between 200 and 800 men. The cells were equipped with bombs and firearms, which they used to kill Jewish settlers in the area, as well as engaging in a campaign of vandalism of Jewish settler plantations. By 1936, escalating tensions led to

7700-542: The newly elected government of Ehud Barak authorized a withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, fulfilling an election promise to do so well ahead of a declared deadline. The hasty withdrawal lead to the immediate collapse of the South Lebanon Army , and many members either got arrested or fled to Israel. The 1970s were marked by a large number of major, international terrorist attacks, including the Lod Airport massacre and

7800-479: The partition plan cannot be carried out at this time by peaceful means. ... unless emergency action is taken, there will be no public authority in Palestine on that date capable of preserving law and order. Violence and bloodshed will descend upon the Holy Land. Large-scale fighting among the people of that country will be the inevitable result. On 14 May 1948, the day on which the British Mandate over Palestine expired,

7900-484: The politics of successive Israeli governments, the settler movement, as well as the move to extremism in Palestinian organisations. During the Gulf War , it argued in favour of the military removal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. AJDS launched a petition, calling on Australians of different viewpoints to oppose any local manifestations of racism or ethnic or religious discrimination linked to the Middle East crisis. Following

8000-638: The price of oil fourfold, and used it as a political weapon to gain support against Israel. The Yom Kippur War accommodated indirect confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union. When Israel had turned the tide of war, the USSR threatened military intervention. The United States, wary of nuclear war , secured a ceasefire on 25 October. Following the Camp David Accords of the late 1970s, Israel and Egypt signed

8100-461: The primacy of Turks within the empire, leading to discrimination against the Arabs. The promise of liberation from the Ottomans led many Jews and Arabs to support the allied powers during World War I, leading to the emergence of widespread Arab nationalism. Both Arab nationalism and Zionism had their formulative beginning in Europe. The Zionist Congress was established in Basel in 1897, while the "Arab Club"

8200-541: The region to this day. At the end of August 1967, Arab leaders met in Khartoum in response to the war, to discuss the Arab position toward Israel. They reached consensus that there should be no recognition, no peace, and no negotiations with the State of Israel, the so-called "three no's", which according to Abd al Azim Ramadan, left only one option – a war with Israel. In 1968, American senator Robert F. Kennedy

8300-623: The region. Following several failed attempts to solve the problem diplomatically, the British asked the newly formed United Nations for help. On 15 May 1947, the General Assembly appointed a committee, the UNSCOP , composed of representatives from eleven states. To make the committee more neutral, none of the Great Powers were represented. After five weeks of in-country study, the Committee reported to

8400-544: The rights of other minorities. We have all complained at some time about the indifference of the world to the plight of the Jewish people at their most horrific period in human history. Neither can we then ignore the plight of other minorities". Despite a vociferous campaign against its right to representation, in the 1990s, the AJDS succeeded in become an affiliate of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria . The organisation has traditionally attempted to work with

8500-483: The rise of the far right, soaring costs of Jewish living, and the refusal to engage in meaningful public advocacy to extradite accused paedophile , former [Addas] Principal, Malka Leifer. The JCCV also organises a number of communal events, and is the host of a communal event for Yom HaShoah and Yom HaAtzma'ut , the later being co-hosted with Zionism Victoria. Some events in the past have caused problems for them. The JCCV did significantly strain their relations with

8600-565: The same time, a small number of groups arose, including the Sydney Jewish Left and Salaam-Shalom in Sydney, Jewish Radical Association, Paths to Peace, and Australian Friends of Peace Now . In 1984, AJDS established itself as "A progressive voice among Jews" and "A Jewish voice among progressives", and alongside public fora and debates, also hosted a radio program on the community radio station 3CR , despite opposition from Maoists and others. In

8700-534: The situation near Israel's northern border, putting the ruling Syrian government, Hezbollah and the Syrian opposition at odds with each other and complicating their relations with Israel upon the emerging warfare with Iran. The conflict, since 2023 a war , between Israel and Hamas -ruled Gaza is also attributed to the Iran–Israel proxy conflict . By 2017, Israel and several Arab Sunni states led by Saudi Arabia formed

8800-587: The territory allocated by the UN to the Jewish State, creating a large number of refugees and capturing the towns of Tiberias , Haifa , Safad , Beisan and, in effect, Jaffa . Early in 1948 the United Kingdom announced its firm intention to terminate its mandate in Palestine on 14 May. In response, US President Harry S. Truman made a statement on 25 March proposing UN trusteeship rather than partition, stating that unfortunately, it has become clear that

8900-675: The time. This resentment led to outbreaks of violence later that year, as the al-Husseini incited riots broke out in Jerusalem. Winston Churchill 's 1922 White Paper tried to reassure the Arab population, denying that the creation of a Jewish state was the intention of the Balfour Declaration. In 1929 , after a demonstration by Vladimir Jabotinsky 's political group Betar at the Western Wall , riots started in Jerusalem and expanded throughout Mandatory Palestine; Arabs murdered 67 Jews in

9000-421: The transcendental attachment Jews outside Israel have towards the Jewish State'. ( Sam Lipski , Australian Jewish Times, 16 July 1987) This is despite the fact that much of what AJDS stands for is familiar to the Israeli left. Such statements are characteristic of attacks on Jewish critics of Israel, including those who belong to the 'pro-Israel' camp, including the strongly Zionist, but critical J Street lobby in

9100-487: The view that Israel's professed support for human rights is a sham." In addition to frequently expressing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the AJDS also promotes cooperation with broader social groups on a range of issues. As part of its platform, the organisation has stated that "We in AJDS believe that in a genuinely multicultural society like Australia, Jews should be concerned with Indigenous rights and

9200-650: The walled area and had a population of only a few tens of thousands. Collective farms, known as kibbutzim , were established, as was the first entirely Jewish city in modern times, Tel Aviv . During 1915–16, as World War I was underway, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, secretly corresponded with Husayn ibn 'Ali , the patriarch of the Hashemite family and Ottoman governor of Mecca and Medina. McMahon convinced Husayn to lead an Arab revolt against

9300-560: The years from the large-scale, regional Arab–Israeli conflict to a more local Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which peaked during the 1982 Lebanon War when Israel intervened in the Lebanese Civil War to oust the Palestinian Liberation Organization from Lebanon . With the decline of the 1987–1993 First Intifada , the interim Oslo Accords led to the creation of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, within

9400-530: Was assassinated following a speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles , California. The assassin, Sirhan Sirhan , was a Palestinian-Jordanian Arab Christian who cited Kennedy's support for Israel during the Six-Day War as his motive for the killing; Sirhan was sentenced to life in prison. Some scholars described Kennedy's murder as the first spillover of the Arab–Israeli conflict (and in particular

9500-457: Was adopted by 33 votes to 13 with 10 abstentions. All six Arab states who were UN-members voted against it. On the ground, Arab and Jewish Palestinians were fighting openly to control strategic positions in the region. Several major atrocities were committed by both sides. In the weeks prior to the end of the mandate the Haganah launched a number of offensives in which they gained control over all

9600-481: Was established 10 October 1989. It was the successor of a series of communal peak bodies that claimed to be the official voice of Victorian Jewry. The previous versions were the Melbourne Jewish Advisory Board (est. 1921), the Victorian Jewish Advisory Board (est. 1938) and the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies (est. 1948). There was a desire for a unified representative voice for the community since

9700-486: Was established in Paris in 1906. In the late 19th century European and Middle Eastern Jewish communities began to increasingly immigrate to Palestine and purchase land from the local Ottoman landlords. The population of the late 19th century in Palestine reached 600,000 – mostly Muslim Arabs, but also significant minorities of Jews, Christians, Druze and some Samaritans and Baháʼís . At that time, Jerusalem did not extend beyond

9800-550: Was signed at the southern border crossing of Arabah on 26 October 1994 and made Jordan only the second Arab country (after Egypt) to sign a peace accord with Israel. Israel and Iraq have been implacable foes since 1948. Iraq sent its troops to participate in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , and later backed Egypt and Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In June 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed newly built Iraqi nuclear facilities in Operation Opera . During

9900-575: Was strongly supported by Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni , the Minister for Immigration and Absorption, but Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly condemned it. It was also uncertain at the time whether this was simply the beginning of further evacuation. Jewish Community Council of Victoria Jewish people have lived in Australia from

10000-529: Was successful in defeating the Ottomans, and Britain took control over much of this area. In 1917, Palestine was conquered by the British forces (including the Jewish Legion ). The British government issued the Balfour Declaration , which stated that the government viewed favorably "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" but "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice

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