Community split on censored ad

Publicity over alleged censorship for a Jewish professor’s speaking tour helped to attract more than 70 people to a meeting in Paddington.

The event was organised by Jews Against the Occupation Sydney, one of a coalition of groups that had tried to place an advertisement in the Australian Jewish News promoting a speaking tour by Professor Jeffrey Halper, who espouses a number of views controversial within the Jewish diaspora.  The advertisement – which contained only titles, locations and contact details for the lectures – was pulled at the last moment by the paper’s publisher, Robert Magid.  Mr Magid was quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald saying, “I don’t like the crowd who are bringing him [Halper] out…They use their Judaism to bash other Jews and issues associated with the Jewish community.”

Professor Halper’s appearance at the Emanuel Synagogue in Woollahra on March 23 was also cancelled. The synagogue’s executive director, Allan Glazerman, told the AJN the academic was invited by the synagogue’s Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins to address a Torah class of about 12 people. However, this was contradicted by Vivienne Porzsolt, a spokesperson for the organisers of Professor Halper’s tour, who said the arrangement was for Professor Halper to speak in one of their regular classes, but in a much larger venue.

The AJN subsequently published an extended Letters page, detailing views supporting and criticising the decision to reject the advert. On the balance of letters published, opinion was evenly split.

Some, like Ms Porzsolt, pointed out the backlash that resulted from the adverse publicity.

But others suggested the AJN had the right to refuse to publish whatever content it viewed as being connected to, and of interest to, its core audience.

– BY SHANT FABRICATORIAN