Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex & Queer people in Melbourne's Jewish community. Founded 1995.
Aleph Melbourne is optimistic Michael Danby MP will issue a statement condemning the knife attack at the Jerusalem Pride March further to his positive signalling of a call via Twitter for him to do so:
We’re counting on you to add your name to the many denouncing the terrible knife attack in the Jerusalem Pride March @MichaelDanbyMP.
— Aleph Melbourne (@alephmelbourne) July 31, 2015
Adding to a strong statement against the Jerusalem Pride March knife attack from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria have added the following message:
“The attack in Jerusalem is a despicable act. Bigotry, intolerance and hatred are not acceptable in any community, here, in Israel or anywhere. We join with the ECAJ in condemning this terrible incident, which demonstrates where hate can lead. Everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity should feel free and safe in their daily lives.” — Jennifer Huppert JCCV President
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has issued a welcome statement [PDF] in response to the despicable knife attack in the Jerusalem Pride March overnight.
MEDIA STATEMENT
31 July 2015
STABBING ATTACK IN JERUSALEM
We are appalled and shocked by the knife attack at the Pride March in Jerusalem where six people were stabbed. We understand that two of them are in a critical condition. The Jewish community in Australia condemns the attack in the strongest possible terms, and we are pleased to see statements from Jewish community and religious leaders across the world expressing outrage at the attack.
A purportedly religious Jewish extremist has been arrested in connection with the attack. That person was released from prison three weeks ago, after serving a ten year sentence for a similar attack. We have confidence that the Israeli Justice system will deal with him appropriately.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We wish all the injured a speedy recovery. Israel is known for its welcoming acceptance of Jews of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity, and for providing asylum to Palestinian gays who are in mortal danger from their own community.
Israel is a beacon to other nations, not just in the Middle East, but throughout the work in its inclusion of the LGBTI community and its embracing of diversity.
This incident hits at the heart of the freedoms and social inclusion that we promote and welcome in the Jewish community in Australia and in Israel. We must all condemn this attack and increase our focus on promoting inclusion, tolerance and acceptance of every member of our community.
Robert Goot AM SC Peter Wertheim AM
President Executive Director
Contact:
Peter Wertheim AM Executive Director
ph: 02 8353 8500 | m: 0408 160 904
e: pwertheim@ecaj.org.au | www.ecaj.org.au
Tue 11 Nov 9:00pm (Elsternwick)
Fri 14 Nov 2:45pm (Elsternwick)
“The Good Son tells the poignant story of a young Israeli man … who takes the radical step of changing his gender: without telling his family first.” – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, 2013.
This is the incredible story of Or, a 22-year-old Israeli man who plans to secretly have sex reassignment surgery. Or’s own home videos make up the first part of the film – the emotionally gruelling lead-up to the procedure, lying to his family about his acceptance to university abroad and stealing from them to pay for the operation in Thailand. Then he teams up with filmmaker Shirly Berkovitz, who not only documents the remainder of Or’s lonely and guilt-ridden journey through recovery and personal reinvention, but also acts as friend and confidant. Berkovitz captures Or’s first steps in her new life as a woman, talking with fellow transgender people and finally, confronting her family and the price of seeking her true identity. This is an extraordinary tale about overcoming self-doubt, conflicted loyalty and being true to one’s self.
SCREENING WITH SHORT FILM Salomea’s Nose
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52 MINS/ ENGLISH, HEBREW (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)
DIRECTOR — SHIRLY BERKOVITZ
CATEGORY — OTHER ISRAEL
JIFF Archives
The Good Son
This year’s Melbourne Queer Film Festival again presents a rich selection of cinematic offerings from Israel and also of Jewish/Semitic relevancy. View the full programme here.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Spiritual Leader of Israel’s Sephardic Jews, Dies at 93 | NYTimes.com.
“Rabbi Yosef’s weekly sermons, delivered on Saturday nights after the Sabbath, were broadcast by satellite to wide audiences and, in the last few years, uploaded to YouTube. While dealing with the intricacies of the laws of the Sabbath and festivals, the sermons also became the rabbi’s platform for lashing out against those he despised — rival politicians, gay people and perceived enemies of Israel.”
הבית הפתוח » Student Rights Law Op Ed | JOH.
The Knesset, Israel’s governing body, has introduced a crucial amendment to the existing Student Rights Law. On Sunday, June 26 2013, a coalition led by Knesset member Dov Khenin proposed to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the education system.
The Student Rights Law, originally drafted to ensure the rights of those in the education system, currently stipulates that it is a criminal offense to discriminate against a student on the basis of religion, socio-economic background or political ideology. Dov Khenin’s coalition seeks to add sexual orientation and gender to the list of protected identities, citing figures that show the education system in Israel is rife with instances of heterosexism and transphobia.
The proposed bill addresses an important and difficult problem facing Israel. Queer youth find their identities condemned by a large part of Israeli society. Here, a Knesset Member can openly assert that people are homosexual because they were abused as children. The top rated Israeli reality show “Big Brother” features a violent contestant who recently aimed venomous anti-lesbian comments at another contestant. Currently, the Israeli queer community is mourning the loss of two of its members to a hate crime in Tel Aviv.
The effect of this hatred is immediate and unavoidable. Queer youth are vulnerable to damaging attacks that can lead to anxiety, depression, and suicide, as both Israeli and worldwide research indicates. An Israeli study reveals that half of queer youths are exposed to anti-queer verbal violence, a quarter has been sexually harassed at school, and ten percent has been subjected to physical attacks. Additionally, many youth report that the teachers do not condemn verbal violence and slurs, and a quarter of youths have had homophobic and transphobic remarks hurled at them by teachers themselves.
The proposed amendment is crucial to empowering queer youth. It ensures that schools are legally obligated to disown the warped messages about gender identity and sexual orientation that are imparted to youth via society and the media. It promotes the values of respect, tolerance and human dignity in the realm of education. Significantly, this bill will affect all youth in the education system, including those who are often relegated to the periphery in the queer community.
In recent years, privileged members of the queer community have introduced bills which address their own needs while ignoring and sometimes trampling the interests of disempowered subpopulations within our community.
Powers in the Knesset prevent members from supporting the queer community fully, and members often carefully choose which measures to support. We fear that members of Knesset would be more inclined to vote for heavily promoted bills like same-sex marriage that would mark them as progressive and socially just, while ignoring the more marginal and highly localized bill proposals which would probably not grant them the same kind of glory.
Thus, it is absolutely necessary to support this amendment and to promote it vigorously. This amendment means working towards the safety of queer youth in the education system. It means introducing children to the spirit of respect and human dignity from a younger age. It means progress in the direction of a healthier, more just Israeli society. On Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013, the proposal will be brought for a preliminary vote at the Knesset’s general assembly. We thus call on you to send letters to members of Knesset, asking for their support for this important piece of legislation.
The following resolution on Marriage Equality passed by overwhelming majority at the International Assembly of the World Union of Progressive Judaism on May 1 2013.
All of the suggested resolutions can be viewed here.
WUPJ International Assembly Meeting
May 1st, 2013 – Jerusalem, Israel
Suggested Resolutions
8. WUPJ Proposed Resolution on Marriage Equality
(Proposed by Resolutions Committee)
Whereas the World Union for Progressive Judaism condemns all forms of bigotry and discrimination in our society as being incompatible with the preservation of human dignity which is destructive of tzelem elohim, and;
Whereas the WUPJ upholds the principle of treating all people equally whether by gender, age, colour or sexual preference, and;
Whereas the WUPJ has long championed full equality of women in our movement and in society generally, and;
Whereas the 2011 International Assembly of the World Union for Progressive Judaism called on all institutions, colleges, congregations and youth groups to give equal opportunity to gay and lesbian bisexual transgender and inter-sex members (GLBTI), especially in terms of leadership and learning and to be aware of gender issues when developing study curriculum, and;
Whereas the 2011 International Assembly of the World Union for Progressive Judaism called on all institutions associated with the WUPJ to treat GLBTI couples in the same manner as married heterosexual couples and families. This call included commitment ceremonies, and family membership fees.
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED that the 2013 International Assembly of the World Union for Progressive Judaism calls upon all institutions associated with the WUPJ to promote, where possible, marriage equality within our movement, and to join with others to support legislation to help guarantee the legal rights of GLBTI couples to marry civilly and religiously, and to secure their marital legal rights in full equality to heterosexual couples.
