A regrettable incident outside the Addass-Israel Synagogue in Melbourne during Simchat Torah celebrations...Yiddish report 18.10.2020

A regrettable incident outside the Addass-Israel Synagogue in Melbourne during Simchat Torah celebrations, when a man filmed the service and sent it to a radio station, led to bad publicity of flaunting the Covid-19 restrictions, despite the fact that the participants stuck to the rules agreed to by them and the Department of Health and Human Services beforehand. Australian Jewish leaders greeted the Australian Government’s budgetary decision to halve the $20m contribution it makes to the UNWRA Palestinian Refugee agency, following claims that these are the only descendants of refugees to receive such funds outside the UNHCR general refugee commission, a fact that prolongs the lack of reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israel, as well as claims of costly overmanning and misplacement of some of the funds. Australian Holocaust survivors greeted the long-sought after banning by Facebook of Holocaust denial and distortion of facts posts on their social media platforms. 180 years’ worth of Australian Jewish newspapers and journals will become available to anyone via the internet thanks to a new project, which will digitise some 200 thousand pages of such publications, in a partnered effort between local and overseas historical and library services.

Source: SBS