Concern over BDS hate speech
Community leaders have expressed concern about antisemitic comments made ahead of a Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) protest to take place in Melbourne next Friday.
Sam Tatarka
As invitations to the protest were issued over Facebook, an individual who said he would be attending posted the comment, “Zig Hail! Wir mussen die Juden ausrotten.” This Nazi era slogan translates as “We must exterminate the Jews”.
Sam Tatarka, president of the Zionist Council of Victoria, did not seem surprised at the strong language. “The people who are attracted to this movement represent the very worst kind of prejudice and intolerance,” he said.
Tatarka called the BDS campaign “antisemitic” and added that it did not appear to be gaining any traction.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria President Nina Bassat AM said that it was too early to tell whether or not the comment posted on Facebook meant something .
“All I can say is it’s been there for 24 hours and has not been removed,” she said.
Nina Bassat
But despite the strong language, protest co-organiser Omar Hassan insists that next week’s demonstration will be peaceful, writing on Facebook that “there will be absolutely nothing remotely arrestable [sic] taking place at this event”.
This is not the first time that protesters have used antisemitic language to demonise Israel, notably shouting “Max Brenner, come off it. There’s blood in your hot chocolate!” at protests outside Max Brenner stores in the Melbourne CBD.
Earlier this year, protesters burned an effigy of Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu outside a cocktail party for Israel’s Independence Day.
Ahead of next week’s protest, Bassat has called on the Jewish community not to engage with protesters, stating that it is unproductive and puts community members at risk.
The protest is being organised by Students for Palestine under the banner “Flash Mob for Palestine”.
Phill,Don’t tell Nina Baset….
phil says:
October 7, 2012 9:21 pm at 9:21 pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/353457174743565/
An alternative event will happen at the same time and place!!
SUPPORT ISRAEL IN MELBOURNE!!!
Reply
As usual, Israel’s supporters can’t find an actual case of an actual pro-Palestine activist saying something anti-Semitic, just a facebook comment by some unknown individual, probably a Zionist trying to get this story written. Reminds me of the recent article in The Australian about anti-Semitic youtube comments.
Why do you need to scrape the bottom of the barrel for stories? Can’t you find anything more substantial than youtube and facebook comments made by unknown individuals? It makes me think of believers in ghosts and aliens who insist that they must be real despite every shred of ‘evidence’ they can find being flimsy and tangential.
We could find racist hate speech against Arabs in the comments section of any article on Israel or Facebook page. But we don’t really need to do this to point out that Israel and its supporters are racist. We can simply point to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the 1300 civilians butchered in the Gaza ‘War’, the white phosphorous dropped on civilian populations, the second-class status of Arab citizens in Israel etc.
The funny thing is, none of the Palestine solidarity activists in Australia are anti-Semites (and a good chunk of us are Jews). We’re simply activists who support Palestinian human rights. That’s why you have to resort to such hack journalism to try to push this bizarre and unfounded idea that supporters of Palestine are anti-Semites. It won’t work. History is always on the side of the oppressed.
https://www.facebook.com/events/353457174743565/
An alternative event will happen at the same time and place!!
SUPPORT ISRAEL IN MELBOURNE!!!
Phil. I made a comment to you on Facebook.
No ISRAELI FLAGS. (Bring it on Wednsday) You know that. Only Australian ones.We don’t want foreign issues on our shores.
There are protesting about an Australian owned business, which employs Australians
Shilee ,can you imagine the JCCV equivalent the ICV Islamic Council of Victoria ever having a group affiliated with that ORG that works with israel Advocacy groups and acts a Zionist activist group.
That is how crazy it is and that is just ”one” reason the Jewish community is losing the PR war so badly and yet they won’t even admit it…
The difference between Muslim/ Arab community leaders is they encourage their community members to go out and fight for their cause , perhaps thats why in Australia as far as the Palestinian / Israel conflict goes the Palestinian narrative is the only one in town !
Hey, you know what? I drafted my comment 4 hours ago and got interrupted before hitting “submit”. Now I see a few more voices have added their opinions .. but all I still see is smoke and no fire. Why don’t those of us who feel so strongly get together and do something about this? Just posting comments to J-Wire won’t achieve a bl**dy thing! If you feel the same way and want to actually make a difference, email me: [email protected]
So as long as Moslems are offended by “racist hate speech” and instigate laws against anti-Islamic speech, it’s okay for the rest of the world to insult Jews beyond belief and Jews (in typical fashion like sheep to the slaughter – where have we heard that before?) will just lie down peacefully and allow themselves to be slandered, abused verbally forever after amen .. and never say boo, never object, and G-d forbid never agitate for anti-racist hate speech to be applied to anti-semitic language. Oh no…..
We should be out there in force and large numbers. It is ridiculous to tell the Jewish community not to act but sit quietly while those who hate us are free to spread their bile. What will we say to our kids? ‘WE DIDN”T KNOW’?
Norman
The answer is not standing there to ‘face off’ with them.
I was at the 2nd BDS action of Australian Students for Palestine last year in Parramatta and then every single one in Newtown after that.
As I stood there in Parramatta, no more than a few metres away from about 120 hate filled screaming idiots, most of whom I think were part of rent-a-crowd and had no idea what it was all about, I wondered what I was doing there. After that I just helped the Police, who dislike them more than we do.
We need to find legal ways around this. That’s what Shurat HaDin is doing Internationally. These idiots are harming Australian owned businesses by their actions. The shoe shop they targeted in Brisbane is a classic example of that. Someone had the chutzpah to actually front the shop owner and insist she stop stocking Israeli made shoes.
You only have to follow their web sites and Facebook groups to realise how much it irks them when they are ignored and no one takes notice of them and their ridiculous screaming and shouting at a CHOCOLATE shop !!
Somehow they need to be educated. How I haven’t a clue, but that’s what it will take. I have seen someone turned around with sensible discussion.
Finally!!
Kol HaKavod, finally we are beginning to speak up and speak our minds, as a fair number of posts show here over the last week or so.
About *b….y* time !!
Never mind what the loony left thinks and never mind what our dhimmi leaders don’t say, we have to speak up loud and clear. Let’s not be silenced as we have in the past
Nina Bassat, of course the comment on Facebook means something! Too early to know if or what it means? It’s the flavour of 1930s Germany, that’s what it is, as is the escalating persecution perpetrated by the BdS organisers and protesters. What are we waiting for exactly? Are Jews to hide behind doors and under beds while these protests become more and more vitriolic? And what does our silence and lack of assertion mean to those who hate us and what does it mean to on-lookers who are ignorant of our history, ancient and contemporary? Jewish community leaders must assist Jewish people in voicing their concern eloquently and actively and stating their position.
I call for a boycott of all Arab kebab shops .
Apart from the minor point about the antisemitic Facebook ignoramus’ incorrect spelling, one must wonder about two matters.
1) Why doesn’t ZCV or JCCV identify the rat that calls for the extermination of Jews?
2) Why doesn’t one from among our myriad of Jewish lawyers take action – not bloviate pious blather -with regard to Facebook carrying an incitement to violence; BDS associating with an individual who is both a Jew hater and a law breaker by calling for the extermination of Jews; going to the courts for stopping the boycott fo Mac Brenner, most probably under our secondary boycott laws; lobbying parliamentarians to pass laws that prohibit political actions against individuals or organisations going about their lawful business.
What next? A boycott of synagogues? Or Jewish lawyers? Doctors? Schools? Anyone who does not oppose the existence of Israel?
And what for goodness sake are Jews doing? Why don’t we boycott mohammedan bookshops that sell books like Mein Kampf or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Why don’t we protest outside the Iranian embassy for its nuclear program, its lies and terrorism or the Pakistani embassy which charges a 13 year old Christian girl with Down Syndrome with a capital offense against Islam?
Paul
The ZCV and/or JCCV won’t say a word. They are too much under the thumb of the loony left in Melbourne, which unfortunately seems to be the majority of the Jewish Community there, for some inexplicable reason..
The fact that ‘Australian Jewish Democratic Society ‘ is an Affiliate of the JCCV, pretty much says it all.
Why then the JCCV is an Affliliate if the ECAJ?
The mind boggles.
Thats right Otto the motto of our Jewish community leadership always been turn the other cheek, look the other way, don’t make waves , don’t put up any opposition and the favorite don’t give them any oxygen..
Gee that strategy is making all the Anti- Semitic BDS campaigns , demonization of Israel and intimidation of Jews in Australia go away we have our enemies shivering in their boots ,
Caring like a true leader, a true Mamme, G-d forbid smeone should voice, object to the public show of hatred for Israel and all things Jewish.
Nina Bassat’s own children, the community,should be tucked in nicely in their PR comfort zone because …………someone………WHO!!! will take care of our public voices out there.
Hang on, actually they just have taken care of it by telling all and sundry in the Jewish community to play the little social game called “Stumm”.
Great leadership, Mama Nina !!!