As a lifelong Zionist, I must vote ‘Yes’ to the Voice

Belief in a Jewish homeland requires acknowledgement of the Indigenous people's particular rights in Australia, writes ERNIE SCHWARTZ.

Many years ago, my Grade 4 teacher in Canada, Mrs McIntyre, gave us an assignment. We were to select a famous person and then take our turn at the front of the class to explain the reason for our choice.  I was stumped. I didn’t know whether to go with Jean Beliveau or David Ben Gurion. In the end I opted for the captain who led my much-loved ice hockey team – the Montreal Canadiens – to five Stanley Cups. It was the cooler choice.

But Israel has always played a central role in my Jewish identity. And, notwithstanding my feelings about the current government, it continues to do so.

My late father - a survivor of Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps - imbued in my brother and me a fervent belief that the promise of “Never Again” can only be fulfilled if there is a national homeland for the Jews. One of his proudest days was May 14, 1948, when Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel. To my father, it was the ultimate act of Jewish resilience; a clarion call to the world that centuries of persecution demanded this moment. The six million who were murdered, including his parents and sister, while the rest of the world looked the other way, did not die in vain. 

And where else but Israel - the land with which the Jewish people have had a continuous connection for 3000 years?

Flash forward 75 years to Australia – a country which opened its metaphorical arms and heart to thousands of survivors of the camps; a place where they were empowered to rebuild their broken lives and express their Jewishness in whatever way they deemed fit. On October 14, Australians will be asked to vote "Yes" or "No" to a question concerning a group of people who have had a continuous connection to this land for 60,000 years. A people whose ancestors had been systematically killed by European settlers, whose lands were taken and whose children were stolen.

Are we being asked to establish Australia, or a portion of this country, as their national homeland? No. Are we granting them the rights of self-government? No. We are being asked to join other nations such as Canada, New Zealand and the United States in recognising in our Constitution the “First Peoples” of this great country. We are being asked to form a body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that may make representations to Parliament and government on potential legislation that that will affect them. We are not forced to agree with them. We are simply being asked to listen to them.

As I reflect on my love for the land of Israel and the crucial role it plays in the continuity of the Jewish people, I ask myself how we can, in good conscience, say no to this. To quote the respected filmmaker Rachel Perkins, an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman, it’s a proposition that is “almost embarrassing in its modesty”.

And let’s not indulge in comparisons. This isn’t a grotesque competition. We understand the singular nature of the Holocaust in terms of scope, intent and numbers. That doesn’t render the history and plight of First Nations people as anything less than tragic. Racism is an abomination in all its forms. We know that too well.

To those who are considering voting "No", I ask, what do you fear will happen? Did your world change in 1992 when the High Court in the Mabo decision overturned the legal fiction of terra nullius (that the land belonged to no-one prior to European settlement)?  Were your lives affected when the Native Title Act was passed 12 months later? There is legislation passed throughout the year which has far greater impact on you than the Voice ever will.

I hear "No" supporters in our community talk about how the Voice will sow division in granting to one group of Australians additional powers not accorded to the rest. What powers are you talking about – the power to make representations? The power for First Nations people to be recognised as the original inhabitants of this country?  If, like me, you support the Law of Return, you might want to give some thought to how that position lines up with your concerns about this.

It’s understandable that people are apprehensive and have legal questions. If so, read what Justice French of the High Court and numerous constitutional law experts, including Mark Leibler, have said about the Voice.

And I urge you to recall the courage of the Yorta Yorta leader William Cooper who, in the wake of Kristallnacht, led a march to the German Consulate in Melbourne to protest the Nazi persecution of our people.

We stand at a unique point in the history of this country. We have the power to take a small step towards righting the wrongs of the past. I call on the leaders of our community organisations, our rabbis, our Jewish school principals to compel us to explore our history as a people before deciding on the referendum. If we do, the choice will be clear. Not only will we be moved to vote "Yes", but we will do so with open arms and – importantly – an open heart.

Photo: Posters supporting the Voice (Uluru Dialogue)