Community message
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- Community Message
COMMUNITY, COHESION AND COMMITMENT
From election engagement to interfaith initiatives, the JCCV continues to champion Jewish Victorians and confront antisemitism head-on.
ELECTION RESULTS
This week, we have watched the election results roll in here in Victoria.
The JCCV congratulates Jewish Victorian MPs, Josh Burns and Mark Dreyfus, on their re-election. We will continue to work with them, and all elected MPs locally, to champion a vibrant and resilient Victorian Jewish community.
We also continue to monitor the very close counts in the seats of Goldstein and Kooyong, both home to thousands of Jewish residents.
It was an election campaign full of passion, emotion and, at times, fury. However, as we were reminded so eloquently by Rabbi Allison Conyer at the Macnamara Candidates Forum, it was important that our participation, as Victorian Jews, was in the spirit of “machloket l’shem shamayim” (argument for the sake of Heaven). I welcome the participation of so many in our community in this election. I would also like to praise the community for accepting the outcome.
UPDATE - POLICE MATTERS
The JCCV has been working closely with Victoria Police to address two incidents of vile, antisemitic activity here in Melbourne during the final days of the election campaign.
We have provided details of community members who received the offensive flyers and are assisting with the police investigation.
The law must be used to hold to account those behind these clear attempts to spread anti-Jewish hate.
JCCV CEO Naomi Levin also spoke to ABC radio this week about the case currently before the courts involving prominent Palestinian-Victorian campaigner Hash Tayeh. Tayeh is facing four charges of using insulting words in public over the phrase “all Zionists are terrorists”. Two other men were arrested after using the same phrase in a demonstration in support of Tayeh outside the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court.
You can listen to the interview here, it starts 49 minutes, 17 seconds into the show.
Last week marked five months since the firebombing of Adass Israel Synagogue. We continue to press police information about the investigation, and we have a commitment from acting Chief Commissioner Rick Nugent that the investigation is continuing at pace. We know the community is anxious for an outcome and we will continue to relay this to police.
ENGAGING WITH DIVERSE COMMUNITIES
This Shabbat, the JCCV partnered with Temple Beth Israel and Stand Up to host a Break Bread event, a unique Stand Up initiative. We welcomed dozens of Victorians from a broad range of diverse communities – Christian, Chinese, Sikh, Vietnamese and many more – for Kabbalat Shabbat. We thank our co-hosts, both JCCV member organisations, and we extend our appreciation to all those who shared their first Shabbat with us.
Last week, JCCV CEO Naomi Levin also had important conversations with Vivienne Nguyen, chair of the Victorian Multicultural Commission, and Farah Farouque, CEO of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria. Addressing antisemitism and rebuilding social cohesion here in Victoria is a collective activity and the JCCV will continue to work with other organisations in this endeavour.
