Published: 10 March 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
I LEARNT OF THE planned appearance by one my favourite Israeli musicians, Idan Raichel, and Israeli President Ruvi Rivlin, only a few weeks before last month’s UIA centenary celebration fundraiser in Sydney. I excitedly filled out the online registration form and within a very short time received an acknowledgment email, a process I found surprisingly efficient.
As a secular Jewish kid growing up in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in the late ‘60s I still hold clear memories of mum and dad, dressed to the nines, setting off to the annual, infamously glam UIA Ball.
As a young couple with four kids, neither of them could donate much financially but they did manage to contribute not insignificantly to “the cause” which saw my dad heading a medical volunteer team at the onset of the Six Day War and then making Aliyah in1969 (after one failed attempt in 1963).
After completing school, two years military service on the Lebanese border and gaining Israeli Tourism accreditation, participating in UIA fundraisers on my return to Sydney in the early 80’s didn’t really seem relevant.
I was often struck by the commonalities between the average Aussie Jo/e on the streets of Sydney and that of the everyday Israeli Yossi/Yosepha, both of whom would have found the lifestyle of most Australian Jews to be out of their league to say the least.
I always maintained strong connections with Israel and a keen interest in what goes on there. It was inherently obvious to me to that to explain and promote Israel to the broader Aussie community, as opposed to “the” (Jewish ) community, about the trials and difficulties confronting the modern Israeli state and the wonderful successes and advances it was still able to achieve was paramount.
Israel today is not the dusty, unsophisticated backwater it once was and hardly needs the amount of funding it receives from wealthy diaspora communities such as ours.
Australians of all colours and creeds are nowadays totally across the vibrancy of Israeli food (Ottolenghi); TV (Fauda; Homeland; In Treatment); Dance (Naharin; Shechter) and of course musicians such as the lovely Idan Raichel. Over the past few years, the response I receive when people learn of my strong connection to Israel is of admiration, envy and a desire to go there.
However, yet again, the UIA has lost the plot. Fundraising has become a blood sport competition among the privileged, entitled, powerful and removed members of “the community”. It breaks my heart to see that the fond relationship of shared values between the two countries is today being undermined by a distorted dynamic, and out-of-touch leadership.
As Michael Visontay asked in his report of the event, how could a gala of such importance ignore both the Malka Leifer debacle and Israel’s deep concern and pockets regarding the bushfires? Sharon Berger correctly questioned the lack of female voices. She’s right, the UIA isn’t just about getting out the designer gear and diamonds.
I would have liked to ask its leaders about the CIVL’s reinstatement of a corrupt board member and the UIA’s unquestioning support of the Netanyahu government. And doesn’t everyone want to ask where and why Israel is hiding Jeffrey Epstein’s right-hand woman, Ghislaine Maxwell, a story that has been reported for several months in the media?
Sadly, I didn’t get the opportunity to even attend the Sydney fundraiser. After receiving the acknowledgement of my application, I felt intimidated by the attitude of organisers and decided not to attend.
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