Transfer to the new website for Australians Voices for Israel by clicking here. Launch of Australian Voices for Israel AV4I
Click on image above or Click here to hear part of what Chris Pyne MP said at the launch of Australian Voices for Israel (AV4I) on September 6, 2011. Other Schtick videos include a documentary on the September 4 public rally against the BDS. This well-attended rally, held on the steps of the State Library of Victoria, with parliamentarians and others expressing their utter contempt for the racist BDS campaign to boycott and impede shopping at selected Jewish and Israeli-owned small businesses, was subjected to a barrage of anti-semitic chanting by a group of 25 pro-BDS activists equipped with megaphones. On the video you will hear the raucous anti-semitic chanting of a blood-libel against Jews .
Australian Voices For Israel - AV4I     Membership Form
Australian Voices For Israel - AV4I     Position Statement ir
	MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF AV4I For some time I have felt that while there are many communal pro-Israel organisations, a gap nevertheless exists for a grassroots organisation to actively present Israel’s case to the wider general public. This is needed because much of the mainstream media is biased against Israel and unfortunately the general public relies heavily on this media for its information. To address this imbalance, I have, with some colleagues, convened a new organisation whose aim is to take a higher public profile in advocating Israel’s cause and our first event will be held on Tuesday evening 6th September 2011, 8 pm, at Beth Weizmann. We are delighted to have The Hon. Christopher Pyne, MP (Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training ) as our first guest speaker, on the topic of the “Parliamentary Friends of Israel”, and we invite you and your friends to attend this inaugural event. We really aim to have a large audience for this launch, so your attendance would be much appreciated. In launching Australian Voices for Israel, we hope to make contact with people interested in expressing their support for Israel in various ways via membership and other financial support, and in helping us to disseminate pro-Israel information. We are asking for interested people to volunteer in any way, either by a particular skill they may have or by offering some time to assist with our projects. We would also like to build up an extensive mailing list of people that we can update about news and future events. This is an exciting new venture and I am hopeful that with strong community support we can turn the tide of public sentiment to be more favourable to Israel. I look forward to seeing you at our special opening event. We are relying primarily on ‘word of mouth’ for publicity, so could you please forward this email on to any family and friends who you think may be interested. Regards Alan Freedman President Australian Voices for Israel

For further information on Australian Voices for Israel contact infoATAV4IDOTorgDOTau

The above collection of documents related to the launch of AV4I is part of The History of Now a website devoted to Contemporary Jewish History. One factor that lead to the launch of AV4I has been the boycott campaign of the BDS movement in Australia, which has been organising noisy and abusive "demonstrations" outside certain Jewish and Israeli small shops and restaurants, dependent on passing trade, and so selected for their vulnerability to such actions. These demonstrations with their ugly violence and harassment of innocent shoppers, the chanting of assorted blood libels against Jews, have been a gross affront to Australian values of civility and fair go, and lead to the staging of counter-demonstrations to the BDS. Such counter demonstrations against the BDS first took place in September October 2011 in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne , and Perth. Click on the logo above for the Home Page of The History of Now Comments and questions email chaiimATtpgDOTcomDOTau