Executive Council of Australian Jewry

Last updated
Executive Council of Australian Jewry
Founded1944;81 years ago (1944)
Headquarters Sydney, Australia
Region served
Australia
Co-Chief Executive Officers
 Alex Ryvchin
Peter Wertheim
Website https://www.ecaj.org.au/

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) is a peak national body representing the Australian Jewish community. It is the umbrella organisation for over 200 Jewish organisations across Australia. [1] It is the Australian affiliate of the World Jewish Congress, the worldwide umbrella organisation of Jewish communities. It is also affiliated with the Commonwealth Jewish Council, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. [2]

Contents

Overview

ECAJ was created in 1944 as the peak body for the various state based representative bodies. [3] Its councillors are elected via a collegiate electoral system. Of the ECAJ's 33 councillors, 25 are directly elected by the members of its constituent organisations, and eight are appointed by its affiliate organisations.[ citation needed ]

Syd Einfeld was President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry between 1953 and 1954, 1957–58, and 1961–62. [4] Other distinguished Presidents who have served multiple terms have included Maurice Ashkenasy CMG QC (1948–1950, 1954–1956, 1958–1960, 1962–1964, 1966–1968) and Isi Leibler AO CBE (1978–1980, 1982–1985, 1987–1989, 1992–1995).

Platform and advocacy

The ECAJ Policy Platform [5] covers a broad range of issues, including human rights, indigenous issues, multiculturalism, interfaith relations, refugees, education, Holocaust remembrance, racial vilification, antisemitism, religious issues, and Israel and the international community. The ECAJ website includes a pictorial history of Australia and Israel [6] including government-to-government, commercial, cultural and people-to-people relationships between the two countries from the earliest years onward.

There have been criticisms of the organisation that they are not truly representative and that their elections are too narrow to make a claim to represent all of Australia's Jews. [7]

Communal submissions

One of the roles of ECAJ is to prepare submissions to the government on behalf of the Jewish community. This has been on a broad range of topics such as the statutory definition of charity, [8] human rights, [9] freedom of religion [10] [11] and labeling kosher foods. [12]

ECAJ has also taken a stand against child sexual abuse which had a significant presence in the community. ECAJ advocated for the return of Malka Leifer from Israel to face abuse allegations, [13] and issued an apology to abuse advocate, Manny Waks, who was abused as a child. [14]

In 2019, ECAJ called on the government to offer more protections to faith-based hospitals, aged care facilities and housing providers, to allow organisations to continue to preference people of their own faith in service delivery. [15]

Antisemitism

One of the roles of ECAJ is to monitor antisemitic instances in Australia. This includes the unprecedented 60% jump in incidents for 2018 on the back of an increase in 2017. This was seen mostly due to a sharp increase in white supremacist activity. [16] [17] Another significant rise was recorded in 2019. [18]

They also strongly objected to the extremist politicians, Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts coming to speak in the Jewish suburbs of Melbourne. They were invited by a Jewish extremist Avi Yemini, and many white nationalists were expected at the event, before it was cancelled. ECAJ in their statement with the Jewish Community Council of Victoria said that while they "generally support the right of people to express their opinions", they objected to this event going ahead. [19]

Israel advocacy

ECAJ, considers itself a peak body for Australian Jewry, but regularly conducts advocacy on behalf of Israel. This is in accordance with the ECAJ's Constitution, whose objects include “To support and strengthen the connection of Australian Jewry with the State of Israel.” Further, according to the authoritative Gen 17 study of the Australian Jewish community in 2017, 88% of Australian Jews feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that the State of Israel continues to exist in peace and security (p. 64).

One significant area of pro-Israel advocacy is in their opposition to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. [20] ECAJ has rejected the BDS movement as anti-Semitic, although they did not join the legal proceedings against a Sydney professor brought by the group Shurat HaDin. [21]

ECAJ submitted a complaint to Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) over their screening the TV series The Promise in November and December 2011. [22] This complaint pointed to many examples of the negative stereotyping of the Jewish people throughout the series, in particular through the portrayals of the Jewish characters. This was later supported by the Chairman of the New South Wales Community Relations Commission, Stepan Kerkyasharian. [23] His submission argued that the program was guilty of "the portrayal of an entire nation in a negative light" and noted "concern that the series negatively portrays the WHOLE of the Jewish People. Such a portrayal cannot be justified in ANY context."

In 2019 ECAJ also released a rebuttal against the Israeli journalist and political candidate, Orly Noy, who claimed anti-Sephardi racism and Apartheid was deeply rooted in Israeli society. [24]

In 2024, The Age reported that ECAJ deputy president Robert Goot had coordinated a campaign lobbying the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to sack radio host Antoinette Lattouf, following social media posts by Lattouf relating to allegations of war crimes committed by Israel in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Lattouf subsequently sued the ABC for wrongful termination, with her statement of claim alleging that she had been sacked as a result of a campaign from ECAJ rather than in line with any ABC internal policies. In response, ECAJ's co-CEO Alexander Ryvchin stated that the council did not contact the ABC about Lattouf and the campaign was a "grassroots initiative of individuals exercising their right to make their objections known". [25]

ECAJ continued through the year advocating for Israel, including attacking the ACTU's statement criticising the deaths of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces through bombings and forced starvation, [26] condemning the International Criminal Court for its issuance of arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed against Palestinians, [27] and writing to Foreign Minister Penny Wong encouraging the denial of Palestinian statehood. [28]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Australia</span>

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Marcus Richard Einfeld is an Australian former judge of the Federal Court of Australia and was the inaugural president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice and served two years in prison.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Jews</span> Ethnic and religious group in Australia

Australian Jews, or Jewish Australians, are Jews who are Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. In the 2021 census there were 99,956 people who identified Judaism as their religious affiliation and 29,113 Australians who identified as Jewish by ancestry, an increase from 97,355 and 25,716, respectively, from the 2016 census. The actual number is almost certainly higher, because being a Jew is not just about being religious, but the census data is based on religious affiliation, so secular Jews often feel it would be inaccurate to answer with "Judaism". Also, since the question is optional, many practising Holocaust survivors and Haredi Jews are believed to prefer not to disclose their religion in the census. By comparison, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz estimated a Jewish-Australian population of 120,000–150,000, while other estimates based on the death rate in the community estimate the size of the community as 250,000, which would make them 1% of the population. Based on the census data, Jewish citizens make up about 0.4% of the Australian population. The Jewish community of Australia is composed mostly of Ashkenazi Jews, though there are Jews in Australia from many other traditions and levels of religious observance and participation in the Jewish community.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Community Council of Victoria</span> Australias Jewish Community

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AlexanderRyvchin is a Ukrainian-born Australian author, advocate, media commentator, and lawyer. As Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, he advocates on behalf of the Australian Jewish community. He is a frequent guest on US, Israeli and Australia media.

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References

  1. ↑ "As Anti-Semitism Rises, 'I Don't Feel Safe in Australia,' Rabbi Says". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  2. ↑ "Partners". Executive Council of Australian Jews. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "About". ECAJ. Archived from the original on 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  4. ↑ "Sydney David Einfeld, Politician and Community Leader (1907-1985)". ARCHIVE OF AUSTRALIAN JUDAICA. Archived from the original on 2013-05-10. Retrieved 2014-11-05.
  5. ↑ "Policy Platform". Executive Council of Australian Jews. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Australia and Israel: A Pictorial History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Mendes, Philip; Levey, Geoffrey Brahm (2004). Jews and Australian politics. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN   978-1-903900-72-7.
  8. ↑ "Proposed introduction of a statutory definition of 'charity'–submission on behalf of the Australian Jewish community" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "National Human Rights Action Plan" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  10. ↑ "Religious Freedom Submission" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-15. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  11. ↑ Narunsky, Gareth. "New protections against religious discrimination". ajn.timesofisrael.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-15. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  12. ↑ Gottlieb, Rabbi Yaron (2010-05-27). "Copyrighting kosher a sectarian minefield". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2019-12-15. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  13. ↑ "Developments in Malka Leifer case". ECAJ - Executive Council of Australian Jewry. 2019-10-04. Archived from the original on 2019-12-15. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  14. ↑ "Executive Council of Australian Jewry apology". Manny Waks. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  15. ↑ "Religious freedom and the Jewish community". ABC Religion & Ethics. 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
  16. ↑ Cohen, Hagar; Bouf, Jacqueline (2018-11-26). "Antisemitism report shows marked increase in incidents and neo-Nazi activity". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2019-05-05. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  17. ↑ Davidson, Helen (2017-11-27). "Antisemitic incidents in Australia up nearly 10% over year, study says". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  18. ↑ Benjamin, henry. "Anti-Semitic incidents up 30% in Australia, report says". www.timesofisrael.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  19. ↑ "antifa notes (december 2, 2016) : jewsagainstfascism ~versus~ One Nation Party". slackbastard. 2016-12-02. Archived from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  20. ↑ "The Global BDS Campaign Laid Bare" (PDF). Executive Council of Australian Jews. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  21. ↑ "BDS Litigation "inappropriate" says ECAJ". J-Wire. 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  22. ↑ "Formal Complaint: The Promise" (PDF). Executive Council of Australian Jews. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  23. ↑ "Letter to Mr Skrzynski" (PDF). Executive Council of Australian Jews. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  24. ↑ "ECAJ complaint to ABC: Radio National interview of Orly Noy and Sara Saleh". Jews Down Under. 2019-07-11. Archived from the original on 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  25. ↑ Bachelard, Michael; Jaspan, Calum (16 January 2024). "Secret WhatsApp messages show co-ordinated campaign to oust Antoinette Lattouf from ABC". The Age. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  26. ↑ Staff, Ajn. "ACTU's 'shockingly misguided' statement on Israel and Gaza". www.australianjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
  27. ↑ ECAJ (2024-05-22). "Israel and the International Criminal Court - ECAJ" . Retrieved 2025-01-17.
  28. ↑ "Urgent warning ahead of major vote". news. Archived from the original on 2024-05-10. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
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