Jewish Online News from Australia and New Zealand
The United Israel Appeal (UIA) is the Australian arm of Keren Hayesod in Israel. The UIA, through a partnership between Israel and Diaspora communities, mobilises support for Israel and the rescue of Jews in distress, by encouraging and assisting in aliyah and absorption into Israeli society. UIA saves Jewish lives, strengthens Jewish identity, fortifies the fabric of Israeli society and reinforces solidarity within the Jewish people.
March 13, 2011 by Community Editor
More than 1700 members of the New South Wales community attended the five functions held recently by the United Israel Appeal.
Itamar Rabinovich photo: UIA
Moodi Sandberg photo: UIA
Keynote speakers included former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Itamar Rabinovich and Kerne-Hayesod World Chairman Moodi Sandberg.
Rabinovich delivered an analysis on the current situation and recent event in the Middle East and speculated on what the future holds for Israel.
Sandberg expressed his deep appreciation to the NSW Community for their ongoing support of Israel through the UIA and spoke about the new partnership between the Israeli government and Keren Hayesod-UIA, working together to fund Israel’s national priorities.
He told the audience of when he was sworn in as a Minister for the Government of Israel his father, a holocaust survivor who escaped Nazi Europe, said during the war he would never have been able to imagine one day he would have a son who would be a minister for the Jewish State. Sandberg said nothing in this world is for certain but he believes as long as the gates of Jerusalem stay open the gates of Auschwitz will stay closed – and this is what KH-UIA is all about.
The contributions raised through the UIA go towards supporting the State of Israel’s vital needs including saving Jewish life, Aliyah and absorption as well as strengthening Israel’s social and geographical periphery through the various projects funded by KH-UIA.
November 12, 2010 by Agencies
The United Israel Appeal of NSW is delighted to welcome Basil Reichman to the new position of Director of Planned Giving.
Basil Reichman
Planned giving through UIA is a forward-looking way of laying the foundations for Israel’s future. Reichman’s role includes organizing endowments and annuities as well as developing and maintaining personal relationships with current UIA donors and potential donors. He will liaise closely with the Planned Giving department of Keren Hayesod Jerusalem.
After a week in his new role, Reichman flew to Israel to attend a worldwide Keren Hayesod Planned Giving Conference.
Keren Hayesod, in partnership with the global Jewish community, works to further the national priorities of the State of Israel in response to the major strategic challenges facing the country and its Jewish population today. Reichman said “The conference gave me a more complete picture and provided an opportunity first hand to witness where KH are directing their energies, so we can place our own activities in perspective and direct efforts appropriately.”
While annual donations go a long way towards meeting immediate needs, Israel also requires long-term vision and planning of resources for the future. With the influx of over a million new immigrants from countries of distress over the past decade and new security challenges, ensuring resources for future and long-term needs has become critical for Israel’s future wellbeing. Planned giving is about estate preparation and arrangements for the distribution of assets in order to make a significant gift of lasting value to Israel and the Jewish people. Reichman comes from a strategic planning background and hopes to add this dimension to the position by coordinating and implementing new strategies.
Reichman will be working closely with Sam Steif, who has been with the UIA for over 20 years as Wills and Bequests Director.
UIA Executive Director/Shaliach Fentahun Assefa-Dawit said “For over 90 years KH-UIA has helped lay the foundations for the creation of the State and has strengthened Israel ever since. From my own personal experience I know KH-UIA’s vital contribution to new immigrants in Israel. We believe with Basil’s background and Sam’s experience together they can achieve the goals of the UIA.”
May 11, 2010 by Henry Benjamin
Khaled abu Toameh, who describes himself as an “Israeli, Muslim, Arab Palestinian” journalist and spoke yesterday to Sydney media…
His career started 27 years ago working as a journalist for the PLO at a time when Israel “turned a blind eye” to the publication of a Palestinian press within its borders.
Toameh 47, worked for the organisation for seven years before moving to the Jerusalem Post. He told the meeting that foreign media is never threatened within Israel for writing anti-Israel material adding that the story was quite different for those journalists working within the Palestinian community. He said that the foreign media’s freedom in the West Bank and Gaza was curtailed for a number of reasons including lack of easy access to Palestinian leaders, a need for translators and the need for a guide….all services he has provided for 22 years. Toameh has written for leading newspapers throughout the U.S. and Europe and has produced TV news ducumentaries for a world-wide audience including Australia’s “Sixty Minutes”. Nine years ago, he joined the Jerusalem Post as a journalist focusing on Palestinian affairs but continues to work with foreign media and is a correspondent for America’s NBC network.
Toameh has been accused of being pro-Israel. He told the meeting “I am not pro-Israel, I am not pro-Palestinian, I am not pro-American, I am not pro-Russian.” Toameh said that his main criterion was to work for an organisation where he had “a free platform”. He said: “As an Arab Moslem living in that part of the world, the only place where I can express myself freely is in a Jewish newspaper.” Toameh said that his work at the Jerusalem Post had not interfered with his connections with Hamas and Fatah in the West Bank and Gaza and that they are aware that “the best way to relay a message to the Israeli public is through the media.” He added that not a single member of Hamas or Gaza had denied him an interview because he was working for an Israeli newspaper.
He told the meeting that he believed in separation between Jews and Palestinians and in ending occupation. He criticised the international community for giving enormous amounts of money to the late Yasser Arafat in the belief that if he was funded, peace had a chance. He told the meeting that very little of the money had reached the Palestinian people. Between 1994 and 2001, Arafat received almost $10 billion, mostly from America. He said that a casino was built instead of hospitals and schools. “I tried to alert my foreign colleagues in 1995 amd 1996 to let them know that the funds were not going to the people.” Toameh reminded the meeting that he was working for Arafat at the time, and that the foreign media had questioned him as to whether or not he was “a Zionist agent”.
Toameh told the meeting that the foreign media’s answer was that Arafat’s corruption “did not fit into their narrative” and that an anti-Israel anti-occupation story would “make their lives much easier”. He said that the Palestinian people did not benefit from the funds received by Arafat causing them to become disillusioned and radicalised. Hamas then become stronger, running their election under the banner of change. The Palestinians had nothing to lose by voting for Hamas. He said that the power struggle between Fatah and Hamas has claimed the lives of over 2,000 Palestinians. In July 2007, when Hamas won the elections, Fatah supporters tried to flee Gaza but the Egyptians closed the borders and “Israel was the only country in the world which sent help to stop Moslems being slaughtered by Moslems”.
UIA President Bruce Fink (l.) and NSWJBD President Robin Margo chat to Khaled abu Toameh pic: Henry Benjamin - Reality Media
He said that if Israel deployed its forces from the West Bank, Hamas would take over the area. On the subject if the peace process Toameh was critical of the U.S. president’s current initiative saying that the biggest mistake Obama is making is to attempt to drag the parties to the negotiating table when the gap between them remains as wide as ever. He told the meeting: “It would have been better to have a ceasefire in Gaza and to improve the economy in the West Bank..and then just waiting. But to talk at the table at this time about explosive issues..it is only a matter of time before it explodes in our faces again. We have had a period of stability in the last year or two. Things have been calming down and there has been an improvement in the economy in Gaza.”
J-Wire asked him what he meant by waiting. Toumeh replied: “They should wait until things improve. Until the economy in the West Bank is strong. This will have a moderating effect on the people which will lead to them be more willing to make compromises and concessions for peace in the future.”
Media members asked him how he saw matters panning out over the next ten years. He replied that he could not even judge what will happen over the next ten minutes.
Khaled abu Toameh visited Sydney under the auspices of the United Israel Appeal the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. He addressed Sydney’s major media outlets, universities, the Jewish community and political identities. He will also visit Canberra and Melbourne.
