Advocacy workshops
Over 80 Israel advocates, both Jewish and non-Jewish, have participated in an interactive workshop with top Israel advocate and trainer Michael Lawrence in Melbourne.
Michael Lawrence, Emily Gian (Director of Media and Advocacy, ZFA), Raphael Leibler (ZFA Executive Member) at Arnold Block Leibler
The workshop, co-hosted by the Zionist Federation of Australia and Zionism Victoria, was attended by people covering a cross-section of ages from young adults through to older members of the community, with people coming from as far away as Geelong to attend the event at Beth Weizmann.
The relentless terror in Israel does not get the media coverage it should, and therefore community members need to have the tools to be effective spokespeople, whether they write letters to Editors of newspapers, speak at a range of forums, or even for their “water cooler” chats in the workplace. Through a series of video clips of various Israeli politicians and spokespeople speaking to the media, Lawrence showed the audience what to do, and more importantly what not to do, when advocating for Israel.
Michael Lawrence, Sharene Hambur (Zionism Victoria President), Dr Danny Lamm (ZFA President) at Beth Weizmann
Opening the evening, Zionism Victoria President Sharene Hambur, said that “now, more than ever before, there is a need for us as a community, to be able to advocate for Israel and to bring her narrative to those with whom we come in contact”.
Dr Danny Lamm, President of the ZFA encouraged community members “to be active advocates, to keep up to date with the information from reliable sources and importantly, to be clear and appropriate in how it’s presented”.
Michael also presented the following day at an intimate lunchtime boardroom workshop at Arnold Bloch Leibler with a group of young professionals at a ZFA Young Adults event. He showed a snapshot of the way the international media, such as CNN and BBC, have been reporting on the situation in Israel since 2000, and how while some things change, most things remain the same.
