Although it happened 10,000 miles (16,000 km) away, last week’s vote in favor of a boycott against Israeli companies by Britain’s fifth-largest food retailer, the Co-operative Group, has an underlying Australian connection. The Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) is an active member of the Palestinian campaign to boycott Israel (BDS), and contributed to the campaign targeting the UK Co-operative group. UAWC officials also “called on other European supermarkets to take similar steps.”
Lord Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth has addressed the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation following the dedication of two new Sifrei Torah scrolls.
Another round of “Flotilla Activism” aimed at inciting greater tension in the Arab-Israeli conflict is underway. Just like last year’s infamous Flotilla incident that resulted in nine deaths, this latest crop of flotilla participants – a fringe group of extremists working alongside terrorists – is more concerned with their own PR and promoting hate, violence, and chaos, rather than on working with Israelis and Palestinians to find peaceful solutions to the conflict.
