AJA takes issue with CAM’s statement
The Australian Jewish Association believes that The Coalition to Advance Multiculturalism statement supporting Victoria’s African community is ill-considered and counterproductive.
CAM is a multicultural coalition which has among its members The Jewish Community Council of Victoria, the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, B’nai B’rith Victoria, the Council of Christians and Jews Inc Victoria, the Jewish Christian Muslim Association and the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (Victoria).
CAM’s statement was published in J-Wire on Monday in which it expressed concern over alleged targeting of the African community as scapegoats for youth crime in Victoria. Each of the above organisations is expressly noted as supporting CAM’s public statement.
The AJA has issued the following statement:
- CAM baldly asserts that the African community in general has been made a target for racism, hate speech, intolerance and discrimination. Were this true, AJA would support CAM. However, CAM has provided no evidence that any general targeting of the African community is taking place at all. Our wider community well understands that a reference to a small section of one particular community is not a reference to the entire community in question.
- In Victoria there has recently been a significant increase in violence, home invasions and other criminal behaviour perpetrated by street gangs comprised of African youths, particularly of Sudanese extraction. Drawing attention to a problem for the purpose of addressing it should be encouraged. Suppressing the problem or concealing the identity of the perpetrators, which would appear to be CAM’s objective, will inevitably prolong the problem. Failure to clearly identify a problem inhibits effective action to address it.
- History has many examples where the failure to recognise a serious problem has had serious adverse consequences. For example, there were Jewish groups in 1930s Europe which failed to recognise the threat of Nazism. In Rotherham UK there was a staggering 1,400 victims of child sexual assault and according to the report commissioned by the local government authority, effective intervention was inhibited in part due to the failure to identify Pakistani Muslim gangs as the perpetrators.
- The Home Affairs Minister, Hon Peter Dutton MP, has publicly called on the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to resign over his failure to contain the African gang crisis. His reference to “African gangs” is neither racist nor misleading. What is indeed misleading and patronising is to represent that the term generally smears a community.
- CAM’s statement reads as an attempt to downplay a serious situation. This is regrettable and insensitive when the wider Victorian community is angry and frustrated about youth crime and the high rate of recidivism.
- It does not reflect well on the Jewish community when its leadership makes statements which may well be viewed as apologetic of genuine anti-social behaviour by another minority and counter-productive to facilitating solutions.
You guys must be on holidays. Why else would you not print my comments.
Bernard<
AJA was formed to represent those Jews in our community that are fed up with the overwhelmingly Progressive/Leftist group think on all issues : The existing mainstream Jewish communal organisations who have all moved to the left and have greatly divided the community on issues such as Israel, Multiculturalism , Refugees /Asylum seekers, African Gang crime epidemic in Victoria ,SSM , 18 C as some examples . Any Jews in our community that do not agree with their views on these issues are shunned , called racists , Bigots , bullied and are not entitled to an alternative view".
AJA do not represent 'The Jewish Community ' no one organisation in Australia does however AJA does wish to represent those Jews with alternative views to what our mainstream organisations are promoting.
Not to worry Michael, it’s not only the Jews who suffer from the insults… no matter what race you are you will be considered racist, Islamophobic, Homophobic, anti-progressive etc.
But Mr Burd, why do you want the right to be a bigot, whereas I don’t have the right to call you a bigot? Perhaps you should call yourselves AJABR, that’s the Australian Jewish Association for Bigots’ Rights.
1. AJA and CAM both ignore the coming Victorian election in relation to this issue. Dutton and the Federal coalition gov seem to have only just woken up on Victorian law and order issues. Well, to be accurate, only the law and order issue relating to African perpetrators, why so selective in timing and type of crime?
2. AJA’s analogy to some Jewish Germans failing to recognise the threat of Nazism in 1930s Germany is a staggering sham. Street violence by a group of disaffected African youths is not comparable to the targeted atrocities by Nazi Brown Shirts who were the vanguard of an insidious hate-filled political movement. A further disgrace is in using the Nazi analogy so blithely, something the AJA itself and the entire Jewish community usually guards against. There is no such valid comparison.
3. In protecting Minister Dutton’s statement AJA says citing African gangs in no way smears the entire community, yet we know from our own experience when the behaviour of a few Jews brings dishonour we all feel the broader community needs to be reassured of our good character. Many conservative Jewish commentators are quick to say that local Muslims should reassure us of their good character when Islamist atrocities occur here or overseas. You can’t have it both ways.
Nice Gary; you try to put some reason into this argument, unlike me, with my sledgehammer approach. But, these angry white male Jews at the AJA respond only to stimuli, like dog whistling. So there is no point in trying debating anything with them. In fact, if you are critical of them, they claim victimhood by being labelled as bigots for their bigoted views.
I cannot believe any Jewish group would be naive enough to take seriously the disingenuous rantings of Peter Dutton on this issue.
I can believe it Philip: Just read their comments, publications and posts.
You’d think they’re the Jewish alt-right and relate to far-right extremists more than Jewish representative bodies, like the JCCV and any other Jewish organization which prefers conciliation.
AJA?
Bernard,
You will find background information at http://www.jewishassociation.org.au and for current news and views simply put Australian Jewish Association into Facebook to find the AJA page.
Dr Adler, Bernard was pulling your leg and being ironic, but the people on the right have never had much of a sense of humour.
The AJA is a group of right-wing, self-important, self-appointed angry white males who believe that hatred and fear are the way to combat terrorism, although they just don’t like Muslims. They also strongly oppose the established and well recognized Jewish representative organizations, because of their conciliatory approach to social issues, which is un-representative of them. A number of them feel comfortable defending far-right white supremacists, as long as they target Muslims.
They also campaigned to change the racial discrimination act to allow offending others on grounds of race, but boy, do they react badly when they are criticized. Some even have a program on J-air, called nothing left to show how balanced and objective they are.
Or to put it in another way, they’re right-wing Jews who think that they’re white.
Also, just read in the Australian Jewish Blues that channel 7 had an interview with a neo-Nazi who had described Jews as parasites, siding with AJA’s views on African youth gangs. That’s who the AJA is. The alt-right of the Jewish community.