Israel update

Somewhat surprisingly, the Zionist organisation, "The Australia-Israel & Jewish Affairs Council" (AIJAC), has distanced itself from Prof. Israel's comments and cancelled his speaking engagements with them. The Shalom Institute, the institution that is hosting Israel, is less than contrite, however.

I should apologise for following the SMH in so unequivocally equating Shalom with UNSW yesterday. The Shalom Institute, is based out of, and runs, Shalom College, which is a residential college on the UNSW campus. UNSW is the only university in Sydney based in the Eastern Suburbs region of Sydney, where most of Sydney's Jewish population is also located; it is, surely not coincidentally, reputed to have the highest proportion of Jewish students of any university in Sydney.

The question really needs to be asked what the interconnections here are. The Shalom Institute puts on courses, but these do not appear to be accredited by UNSW. However, it is accredited to provide accomodation to UNSW students, through Shalom College. The College is independent of UNSW, contends that its residential facilities are open to anyone, and offers scholarships to indigenous students, although it also hosts both the Shalom Institute and the Australian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS), both of which are avowedly political-Zionist organisations.