MPs get books to better educate them about Israel and Mid-East

All 227 federal MPs and senators will be sent books to better educate them on the Middle East and Israel’s perspective.

Former editor of The Age newspaper Michael Gawenda. Picture: Michael Potter

All 227 federal MPs and senators will be sent five books on Thursday to better educate them on the history of conflict in the Middle East and Israel’s perspective in ­response to the recent sending of pro-Palestinian books to MPs.

The move, initiated by former journalist and editor Michael Gawenda, comes amid growing criticism of the government by Jewish groups for not supporting Israel on a range of issues.

It is a direct response to the move by 90 Australian writers and literary supporters, endorsed by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, to send five books to all federal politicians giving a pro-Palestinian view of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Mr Gawenda, who is Jewish and is a former editor of The Age newspaper, said it was important to ensure greater levels of education for decision-makers on these complex issues.

“I did this because I think it is important that members of parliament be as informed as they can be about the history and the context of everything that is going on in the Middle East,” he told The Australian. “They face huge ­challenges dealing with what are clearly huge stresses on Australian multiculturalism and they can’t deal with those stresses in ignorance.”

In a letter to MPs, Mr Gaw­enda writes: “For our politicians – all our politicians – these are challenging times, a time when Australia’s multiculturalism is under serious threat. And a time when positions taken by our politicians on the conflict, the war, between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah and their patron Iran, really matters.

“What I can do – with help – is send a bunch of books to you and to each member of the federal parliament that I believe will help you understand the history of the conflict, understand its complexities and understand too the obstacles that stand in the way of a peaceful resolution to a bitter conflict that goes back more than 100 years.”

The five books, which will be sent to politicians by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, include Israel, A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby, My Promised Land by Israeli Ari Shavit, Letters to my Palestinian Neighbour by Yossi Klein Halevi, Israel A Concise History of a ­Nation Reborn by Daniel Gordis and Mr Gawenda’s own memoir, My Life as A Jew.

Mr Gawenda told the MPs that the pro-Palestinian books they were recently sent offered “a particular view” of the conflict and that the books he was sending would offer “a nuanced and different view of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians”.

“I know that you have received books from a group of Australian writers, books endorsed by the Jewish Council of Australia and the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network. The Jewish Council of Australia is a small group, most of whom are anti-Zionists whose views are rejected by the vast majority of Jewish Australians,” he writes.

“Most of these books offer a particular view of the conflict and its history, which is not to say they are not worth reading. I am a writer, and I would never advocate for books not to be read.

“I do think, however, that the books you will receive today – with the ECAJ covering the cost of sending the books to you – offer a nuanced and different view of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”