The Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) has condemned an attack on a childcare centre, which was set alight and graffitied with antisemitic words on January 20.
It is latest in a string of antisemitic incidents, which include attacks on synagogues.
The Jewish Council said these “reprehensible acts of violence are attacks not only on individuals or institutions, but on Jewish communities more broadly”.
It warned politicians not to use them for “political point scoring or to spread other forms of hatred, such as Islamophobia or anti-Palestinian racism”.
Sarah Schwartz, JCA Executive Officer urged MPs “not to use these attacks to politicise this moment by relying on knee-jerk law and order responses which do nothing to prevent racism.
“For Jews, waking up to yet another antisemitic arson attack is terrifying. We send our solidarity and prayers to all Jewish people impacted by this recent spate of attacks.”
She said politicians need to take a “principled anti-racism approach”. That means “listening to affected communities and to human rights groups, and promoting initiatives which bring communities together rather than sow division.”
Dr Max Kaiser, another executive officer said anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian racism attacks are escalating. “Now more than ever, we remain committed to advocating for a society where diversity is celebrated, and all individuals and communities can live without fear of discrimination or violence.”
Meanwhile, Jews Against the Occupation '48 (JAO'48) has condemned Sydney Festival’s attempt to silence Palestine solidarity.
After several “walk-outs” from a performance of Air Time by Branch Nebula at the Seymour Centre, the Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) posted a warning on its social media about the “deeply offensive anti-Semitic messages”. The JBD accused Branch Nebula of inciting violence.
branch_nebula_seymour_centre.jpg
The JAO'48 said that the prospect of losing sponsorships drove Sydney Festival to acquiesce to the JBDs’ demand that audience members who walked out of performances of Air Time by Branch Nebula at the Seymour Centre be refunded.
The “offence” was a “masked artist, reciting the chant “From the river to the sea”. Spokesperson for Branch Nebula, John Baylis, said a recorded audio statement had been broadcast after the Welcome to Country before each of the five performances.
“As we make art and perform for you today, Palestinian people are experiencing a genocide implemented by Israel as well as the sustained destruction of Palestinian culture, people and land,” the statement said.
“We call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and we stand in solidarity with all oppressed people around the world … From the river to the sea, always was and always will be.”
“The JBD is clearly oblivious to the irony of characterising the demand for equal rights for all in Israel-Palestine as a call for ‘the extermination of the Jewish people’,” JFP WA said, “while Israel, in the face of opposition from tens of thousands of Jews worldwide is actually exterminating the indigenous people of Palestine.”
JAO'48 commended Branch Nebula for its refusal to cease broadcasting the message and for its principled stand.
It said NSW arts minister John Graham’s “vacuous comments” about “social cohesion” were unhelpful and that the goal is “not achieved through repression public acknowledgement of horrendous injustice”.
JAO'48 advised Sydney Festival and Graham to “educate themselves on the distinction between Judaism and Zionism”.