In this case, the person in question – Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes – did not know himself until recently.

When Jimmy Barnes sang a few versus in Yiddish before 1700 Jews this week, the rock star had some unexpected news for his audience at the charity event. He, too, was Jewish.

Through the rock of ages, many stars have had Jewish roots: Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, the Ramones, Kiss and the Beastie Boys. Now we can add Barnsey, the Scottish immigrant kid who was raised a Protestant and played in the Salvation Army band before he became Australia’s howling Working Class Man.

Barnes only made his discovery hours before he told Sydney’s Central Synagogue on Thursday night: ”I rang my mother this afternoon, before the rehearsal. And I said, ‘Mum, I remember when I was about 18, you gave me a Star of David. Why?’ And she said, ‘Oh, my mother gave that to me and her mother gave it to her and I thought I’d give it to you.’ And I said, ‘OK, was your mother Jewish by any chance? And she said, ‘Yes, her name was Esther.’ So, if I’m to get this right, my great-grandmother was Jewish, my grandmother was Jewish, my mother was Jewish, so I must be Jewish.”

The audience response was rapturous. Barnes added: ”The only problem with that – it might be a painful process.”

Well, not quite. Barnes explained to the Herald yesterday: ”It is passed down through the mother so, yes, technically, I am Jewish.” But he added: ”Basically, I’m a Buddhist.”

He had meditated in Thailand, attended black gospel in the US, studied Hinduism in India and had Muslim friends in France.

”I like people of faith, and I believe the more people who have spirituality, the better the world will be. It’s about peace and tolerance.”

He thought little about that Star of David as a teenager. His mother was not a practising Jew. In 2003

the Rabbi Mendel Kastel, then at the Great Synagogue, approached Barnes to perform Hava Nagila. ”I wanted something spectacular to get the community in. Jimmy thought it was a joke at first. But then, graciously, he did it.”

Rabbi Kastel now runs Jewish House, a crisis centre at Bondi that deals with homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction and families in need. Barnes has become a supporter, and he and his son, David Campbell, will perform a fundraiser for the centre on December 1 at the Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney.

About a month ago, the rabbi and Barnes were sharing a Kosher meal in Bondi. At the next table, Central Synagogue’s Cantor Shimon Farkas was dining with the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, and he invited Barnes to sing at Thursday night’s concert.

And so Barnes was there to sing My Yiddishe Momme. But not before calling his mother that day. He shared his news before treating his audience to a solo, What a Wonderful World.

Update: For those not familiar with Jimmy (the non-Aussies amongst you – he’s a legend Down Under), here is his one of his most famous songs, and the inspiration behind the post’s title.

A little on his new wife, Aloysia Brooks:

Ms Brooks studied at the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and writes poetry on human rights issues.

Yep. Who better for her to marry than an anti-Semitic, ex Islamic terrorist.

Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson has told his flock they should not tell Jewish jokes.

Archbishop Wilson said Friday that Catholics must be respectful and sensitive towards Jews.

“My sense about this is, we have to be especially careful about the way that we talk about the Jewish people because of the way that they’ve been persecuted and treated for over a thousand years, and especially during the Holocaust in World War II,” he said.

Of course, if they really want to tell Jewish jokes, they can always convert.

Or should that be of “kicking in a door at his own mosque and making a false claim of vandalism” fame (hat tip: Tim Blair).

Australia’s most controversial sheik, Taj Din al-Hilali, has been caught on videotape kicking in a door at his own mosque before calling police to report an act of vandalism.

The head imam at the Lakemba mosque, who caused outrage in 2006 by comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat, was shown on a CCTV security tape kicking open the door just minutes before reporting the incident.

The Nine Network’s A Current Affair last night broadcast the videotape from March 9, showing the incident, which Sheik Hilali initially denied.

“There is a trick in this camera. There is a trick in this film,” he told ACA.

Zionist Camera of Death perhaps^TM?

But in a letter sent by Sheik Hilali’s lawyers to ACA yesterday, he admitted kicking the door, saying the damage had already been done to the door before he kicked it.

“What he did do was to kick open a door to the mosque that had already been damaged by others in order to gain entry to it,” the letter said.

Worst. Excuse. Ever?

Lebanese Muslim Association president Shawky Kassir said they had called the police “for a little problem, but we have fixed (it) and everything is under control”.

Unless they’ve knocked off Hilali, I would suggest they haven’t fixed the problem.

The footage shows four young men locking the door behind them at 10.28pm.

Nine minutes later, Sheik Hilali checks the lock and pushes on the top of the door, bending it on its hinges. After checking the corridor, he disappears from view before rushing towards it and kicking it open at 10.46pm.

It is understood the name of the suspected culprit was put forward to NSW police, but it is not known if he was interviewed by the authorities.

A NSW Police media spokesperson said they started to investigate the matter but three days later were told by a mosque official that he did not wish to take the matter any further.

“The matter remains under investigation. Further senior members of the local community will be consulted to discuss the incident.”

Update: Here’s the Current Affair treatment of the story, including the offending footage of Hilali practicing his soccer skills on the door.

Update: Of course, this is not the first time Hilali has shown his violent side.

I pray that the ordeal be over soon, with no more life being lost. I also hope they catch the arsonists responsible.

My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones.

Outspoken Islamic cleric Abu Hamza has branded Australians as boozers who are hooked on gambling and prostitution.

In another sermon broadcast over the internet, the Coburg cleric urged followers to spread the word of Islam to save Australians.

“They think happiness can be achieved by being intoxicated, by going to the casino and blowing your money away, by going from one prostitute to the other,” he said.

“They don’t know what life is all about, that’s why they are on the booze, why they are binge drinking . . . why unfortunately suicide has skyrocketed, murder, anxiety and depression.”

You can see the offending sermon in the Herald Sun report only. That’s because this is what greeted me when I looked in YouTube to find the video:

Change of heart, or threatened with beating by toothbrush?

As for the speech itself, I did not find it nearly as offensive as the first. Sure, he is being judgmental, but I suspect he did not mean that all Australians are prostitute-visiting boozers. I think he was more attacking the idea of a godless society, but he did it in a way guaranteed to offend the very society which affords him the freedom to espouse his views and put his foot in his mouth.

Meanwhile, to those who claimed in the comments to my last post that there was nothing offensive to women in his marriage sermon, some Muslim women disagree.

His comments on the treatment of women have been condemned by the Islamic Women’s Welfare Council of Victoria and Muslim community leaders, including Yasser Soliman.

“To claim this is Islamic, or that the Koran forces wives to do things such as (these) lectures suggest, is quite insulting to most of the Muslim world,” Mr Soliman said.

Update: Yasser Soliman, executive director of Diversity Connect International and a past president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, has repudiated Hamza’s marriage comments, and even continued the damage control by holding a liveblogging session.

Update: The video is now on YouTube.

Apparently, marriage is so important, that the husband can hit his wife and force her to have sex with him.

He’s now claiming he has been taken out of context and that he was being “metaphorical.”

Hmm..why does this all sound so familar?

If anyone has the time, you can view his entire speech here to see if he is telling the truth, or – as I suspect -  full of Sheikh.

New Zealand looks certain to have a new government after about 3 million Kiwis – almost 10% of whom live in Australia – cast their votes tomorrow.

National polls yesterday gave the National Party of John Key a strong lead over the incumbent Labour Party of Helen Clark, who has been prime minister since 1999.

With the economy officially in recession and its budget plunging into deficit last month, most commentators have been tipping for weeks that Miss Clark’s four-term period at the top is coming to an end.

You may recall that John Key is Jewish and has an interest in Israel.

Helen Clark is simply a disgrace.

I’m guessing that there will be more consensus amongst Israellycool readers regarding their preferred candidate in these elections.

A Darwin man woke yesterday to discover dogs had eaten his car.

And he says it’s not the first time it has happened.

Clayton Dwyer, 47, of Millner, thought his girlfriend was kidding when she woke him up and told him his work ute had been gnawed by a pack of savage dogs. But when he walked outside his Beetson Place home he discovered this was no joke.

His front bumper had been ripped from the car and chewed to bits by the dogs. They had even tried to munch on the front panels.

“You can see the teeth marks,” he said.

Asked what he thought when he first saw the damage, Mr Dwyer said: “Doggone it! That’s a bit ruff.”

The landscape gardener said the pack of wild dogs had been lurking around his neighbourhood for months.

“My girlfriend’s car got eaten about three months ago,” he said. “At first we thought it had been attacked with a hammer, but we took it to the panel beaters and he said it was dogs. You could see the teeth marks on it.”

Mr Dwyer said his neighbours had seen the dogs early yesterday and had chased them away by throwing mangoes at them.

He said he was unsure if his insurance company covered dog attacks.

“I hope they do,” he said.

“It’s actually a new bumper. I only bought it a couple of months ago.

“I know it isn’t the prettiest car, but it didn’t deserve that.”

Dogs eating homework is so old school.

Update: Or is it just an excuse?