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STORIES OF RESILIENCE, PAST AND PRESENT
From Shepparton’s Jewish farming community to testimony before the Royal Commission.
Dear friends,
Our agricultural history
Not so long ago there was a thriving group of Jewish farmers here in Victoria. Around 60 or 80 Jewish families grew fruit for Australian tables and lunchboxes.
This week, Devorah Zmood’s launched her new book “Shepparton Jewish Agricultural Settlement – Migrant Stories”. In it, she recounts the story of a strong Jewish agricultural community in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley from the early 20th century till the 1960s. It is a story close to Devorah’s heart, she lived in Shepparton herself!
The book was launched with support from JCCV member organisation, the Australian Jewish Historical Society, at the Lamm Jewish Library.
Thank you Devorah, for documenting this colourful chapter in Victorian Jewish history.
Smiles lighting up the night
Were you among the community members who warmed up this week around a Lag Ba Omer bonfire? This outdoors celebration – on the 33rd day of the Omer, the period between Pesach and Shavuot – brought smiles to so many young and old.
Royal Commission update
It has been an emotional and challenging week for the community as the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has heard witness after witness provide evidence of devastating antisemitism.
I would like to draw attention to some poignant comments from representatives of a few of the JCCV’s member organisations that have been called by the Royal Commission to given evidence.
“Particularly for aged care but our disability services as well, when people are moving into residential care, the really important part is that they remain connected to community. One of the most amazing things I think about the Jewish community is their respect for elders and their sense of community. And we tried to build and create spaces where that can happen. But the need to lock down facilities, to have heightened protocols around security and around access means that people are not freely able to come and go.”
“I submitted part of my evidence and obviously redacted anonymous emails and online forms that have been filled in from people experiencing antisemitism in other schools. So an element of [Bialik’s] enrolment growth has without doubt not been just the fear of, but the reality of, antisemitic incidents in other non-Jewish schools both government and non-government schools.”
“I said [to a teacher from another school] they're going up to [a Jewish student] and saying, ‘Free, free Palestine,' and his reaction was he sort of shrugged it off and scoffed at the suggestion of what I had said, which was obviously quite insulting and belittling because he was undermining everything that I and my students were feeling. So I got quite defensive and I said, ‘These students are 11 years old, they don't need to be dealing with this right now.’ He said, ‘my students are just kids as well’. I said, ‘they're significantly older and should know much better,’ to which he said, ‘well that's just their beliefs’. I said, ‘I don't care if it's their beliefs, we are here at a museum to learn. You guys should be doing the same.’ And he repeated to me in a quite aggressive way, ‘What do you want me to do about it?’ I've said, ‘I've already told you what I want you to do about it, you are going to tell your students to stay away from my students’. He said, ‘all right’. That was the end of the first interaction we had with this school.”
“This was an under-18 game … this was a finals game. There were several comments made towards our players. One player said to one of our players ‘you f-ing Jews’ directly to one of our players. Another player called the parent of one of our players who was attending the match, ‘ you bloody jew, you bloody jew’.” Then one player attempted to remove the kippah from one of our player’s heads, a religious player … deliberately trying to intimidate, and a physical display of hate and antisemitism. The game was a very emotionally charged game, it was a finals game … but the fact that in this game, the number of individual references and continued aggression shown towards our players was incredibly dehumanising, very confronting for our players, who really, are there to try and win a game of football.”
City of Melbourne
On Tuesday evening, I spoke at a City of Melbourne council meeting in support of the council’s submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
I recognised that many City of Melbourne councillors, led by Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece and Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell, have engaged proactively with the Jewish community.
I also emphasised some of the constructive recommendations made by the City of Melbourne including that the Royal Commission recommend the federal government coordinate a review across all levels of government to address protest activity while protect freedom of expression.
Lord Mayor Reece said: “Melbourne will continue to stand up for multiculturalism, for Jewish life, and for the simple right of every person to live, worship and belong without fear. We have a clear message: antisemitism has no place in our city.”
There is still time
I want to remind you that submissions remain open until June 14.
Our community continues to live proudly and openly as Jews. But the environment around us has changed, and it is vital that the broader Australian community understands the impact and consequences of that change.
There are a range of resources available to support those making submissions, including writing workshops, webinars and submission guidelines
