Community message
- Published July 21 2024
- Community Message
Community message from JCCV President, Philip Zajac.
IN GOOD HANDS
It may be a cliché, but it is true: our young people are our future.
If the statement jointly released by students at our Jewish schools is anything to go by, our future is in good hands.
I urge you to read this statement if you haven’t yet had an opportunity.
The students write:
Australia is meant to be a country that is ‘one and free’, yet as young Jewish Australians, we have been made to feel all too often that we do not belong.
We seek unequivocal support and protection from our institutions and country.
Our community needs not only condemnation of antisemitism but decisive action to ensure we can live freely as Jews in Australia.
Kol hakavod to our Mount Scopus Memorial College, Bialik College, King David School, Leibler Yavneh College, Yeshivah College and Beth Rivkah Ladies College students, and Perth’s Carmel School students on this courageous step.
A MINISTERIAL APPROACH
Australia’s multicultural ministers met in Adelaide this week to discuss how they can cooperate to better support Australia’s multicultural identity.
Naomi Levin, JCCV CEO, was the only Melbourne-based Jewish representative invited to address the Ministerial Forum on Multicultural Affairs, chaired by Australia’s Minister for Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles and South Australia Minister for Multicultural Affairs Zoe Bettison.
She explained how Jewish Australians are being actively excluded from public spaces and discriminated against in education, workplace and government settings.
She also urged the ministers to look at what actions can be taken to make it easier and quicker to hold individuals to account who breach existing racism laws.
You can read the Ministerial Forum on Multicultural Affairs Communique here.
COUNCIL CONVERSATIONS
The JCCV’s local council engagements continue. This week, we shared a productive morning with councillors from Manningham and Monash, including with local councillors who supported motions on Gaza.
These engagements are an incredibly valuable as a way of explaining our community’s pain, educating about the experiences we are going through and building meaningful connections.
I would like to thank Rabbi Menachem Sabbach and Milton Shenker from North Eastern Jewish Centre for helping to make our program such a success. Rabbi Sabbach and his team are doing remarkable work in Doncaster and surrounds, including outreach to more than 1000 non-Jewish students per year.
I also met with Councillor Stephen Mayne, a long-time local councillor in both Manningham and City of Melbourne. Cr Mayne helped us to understand some of the radical tactics the pro-Palestine activists have been heaping onto local councils.
COLLABORATING
The JCCV knows how important it is that our community organisations all work together. We are stronger when we are united.
This week, JCCV staff and board members have engaged with representatives from CSG, Yeshivah College, Chabad Youth, Stand Up, Jewish Climate Network, Shira Hadasha, UJEB, Progressive Judaism Victoria on a range of shared priorities and shared challenges. We are proud of our broad relationships across our amazing community.
#ACTIONNOTWORDS
The JCCV has outlined what #ActionNotWords means to us and what steps we want our state and federal government to take.
Get involved by sharing the campaign on social media and with your local leaders.
#ActionNotWords
