Following rally hate material, Victorian government must follow through on IHRA and stop the spread of Antisemitism
Premier Jacinta Allan was today urged to crack down on the manufacture and display of virulently antisemitic material that were both on show and on sale at yesterday’s pro-Palestinian protest in Melbourne.
Citing the Victorian Labor Government’s adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism in 2022, a letter from the President of Zionism Victoria, Yossi Goldfarb, noted that “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is one of the key examples included in the definition.
Attached to Mr Goldfarb’s letter were photos of two posters that were widely brandished at yesterday’s rally. One features the Nazi flag with the Nazi swastika replaced by the Star of David. The other featured an actual image from the Third Reich of a Nazi parade, with the flags, banners and armbands all displaying Stars of David in place of swastikas, alongside the slogan, “Same Same”.
A third poster depicted a machine-gun toting Hamas terrorist, together with the slogan “By any means necessary”, which Mr Goldfarb labelled “an unashamed incitement to terrorism and violence”.
Mr Goldfarb wrote, “’By any means necessary’ – we witnessed those means on 7th October. And it is those means that precipitated the current tragic conflict and that have scuppered each and every attempt to establish peace over the past 76 years.”
Zionism Victoria understands that these placards, which clearly breach the IHRA definition and incite violence, are produced by a Melbourne-based organisation called Free Palestine Printing.
Among other antisemitic merchandise, they also sell clothing at the weekly rallies that appear to bear the logo of Hamas – a proscribed terror organisation – as well as sweatshirts with such slogans as “From The River To The Sea B***h”.
Mr Goldfarb wrote, “With the horrific targeting of the office of Josh Burns last week and with rallies now unashamedly featuring antisemitic placards, the situation is clearly deteriorating, and it is incumbent on the Government to not simply hold IHRA to be the definition of antisemitism, but to uphold it as well.”
He concluded, “Insofar as all these items are antisemitic, incite hate and violence, and express support for proscribed terror organisations, in accordance with the Government’s commitment to IHRA, we call on the Government to take action against Free Palestine Printing, implementing whatever measures are required – through vehicles such as the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act and/or other legislation that proscribes incitement to violence – to halt the manufacture and distribution of all such material. Those producing these hateful items and those displaying them must be held to account.”
Clothing on sale
Zionism Victoria is one of the peak representative bodies for the Jewish community with over 60 affiliate organisations, including synagogues, schools, student organisations, youth movements and social & welfare groups.
Islamophobia?
What do you do when that very islam you see as victim then becomes virulently racist as antisemitic-jew hatred?