ABC National Forum live updates: David Speers leads discussion on experiences of Jewish Australians

Anne Twomey He is a retired professor of constitutional law. University of Sydney.

The respected academic has many books on constitutional law and has a YouTube channel called. Constitutional Clarion.

Kate Rosenberg is the executive director New Israel Fund Australia, It is a partnership of Israelis and supporters of Israel around the world, providing funding to Israeli non-profit organizations.

Rosenberg has worked for human rights, arts and Jewish community non-profit organizations in Australia and Israel.

While living in Israel, he co-founded Tov Lada’at (meaning ‘good to know’), a scholarship and support program for African refugees seeking higher education in Israel, and Keren Baktana, an environmental network for young professionals.

It’s almost time for the program to start!

Here’s what viewers are getting ready at ABC’s Sydney studio.

Jeremy Stowe-Lindner like that manager Bialik College inside Melbourne.

The college is a pluralistic, private Jewish school with 1,150 students ages 1 to 18.

He is also a friend of ours Australian Education Leaders Council and was recognized as one of the nation’s most outstanding educators.

Stowe-Lindner has previously written about the need to continue to educate about the concept of Zionism and not shy away from difficult and uncomfortable conversations, especially in the wake of Zionism. 7 October attack inside Israel.

Josh Burns Labor Party MP Melbourne chair macnamara and a prominent member of the Jewish community.

In one incident he told the ABC podcast, in June 2024, his office windows were broken, a fire was lit in front of the building, and “Zionism is fascism” was spray-painted on his portrait. Now PoliticsThis was “difficult and sad”.

Alex Ryvchinis co-chief executive officer Executive Council of Australian JewsThe highest national body of the Jewish community and an author.

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He has written several nonfiction books, including The Seven Deadly Myths: Antisemitism from the Time of Christ to Kanye West. He also has a children’s book called A New Day, which he wrote to help children get through difficult times during the pandemic.

In January 2025, A bonfire was lit outside Ryvchin’s former home in Dover Heights, Sydney, and cars were tagged with antisemitic graffiti.

Michael Gawenda He is an award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of The Age and has written a memoir, My Life as a Jew, which explores his identity.

Gawenda was born in a displaced persons camp two years after the end of the Holocaust and spent his childhood and teenage years in a left-wing non-Zionist Jewish youth group in Melbourne.

His upbringing, he says, shaped the type of Jew he became; A secular Jew who loves the Yiddish language and Yiddish culture.

Please listen to this episode of Saturday Extra to hear Michael talk more about his experiences and his book.

Ronni Kahn One bondi He revealed to the local and ABC that he had been “very afraid” of his Jewish faith for some time following the terrorist attack.

“I’ve been running an organization where I don’t feel safe using my voice for the last two years because of the lack of social cohesion, as we watch our city fall apart, our country fall apart, and hate,” he said in December.

“There is no question that the Jewish community feels threatened and unsafe.”

Jessica Rosen is one of the survivors bondi terrorist attack.

She was pregnant in December and the Hanukkah by the sea When she heard the gunshots, she attended the incident with her husband and two young children.

She remembered that before, she had first searched for her son, then used her body as a shield to protect another girl caught in the chaos.

“When the shots happened I ran into an open area because I’m a mother and I saw a three-year-old girl and every mother does that,” she told ABC in December.

If you’d like to read more of Jessica’s story, you can find it here:

ABC News started ABC National Forum As a new debate program where ordinary Australians, community leaders, experts and policymakers can talk about issues of national importance.

Tonight’s forum will be the first to be broadcast and moderated by ABC National Political Leader And insider homeowner David Speers.

The aim is to focus on and discuss the lives and experiences of Jewish Australians. problems caused by Terrorist attack on Bondi.

If you’re tuning in tonight, you’ll hear from a range of stakeholders during a wide-ranging and stimulating conversation to a live audience on ABC. Sydney studios.

“The ABC National Forum will provide a space for Australians to come together to share their knowledge and experiences, learn from others and better understand each other,” Speers said.

You can read more information and reports about the National Forum here:

Hello and welcome to the first ABC National Forum.

My colleagues, Luke Cooper And Greig Johnsonand I will be live blogging tonight’s program on the experiences of Australian Jews, moderated by the ABC national political leader. David Speers.

We will bring you all the highlights and introduce the panelists and experts.