Community message
- Published January 26 2025
- Community Message
AUSTRALIA
This morning, I have had the privilege of being invited by the Governor of Victoria for the raising of the Australian flag for Australia Day.
This invitation has led me to reflect on what it means to me to be Australian at this very challenging time for our community.
I am, like so many of you, a new Australian. Australia was a safe haven for my parents after the horrors of the Shoah. I was born here. It is now my home, and the home of my children and grandchildren.
But the past months might have given us pause to ask, do Australians really want us Jews here?
The answer, in my experience, is a resounding yes! While there are a small, loud, awful minority who are working hard to cause us harm, from the many conversations I have had with lots of different people, I genuinely believe that the vast majority of Australians value the contribution of the Jewish community and wish for nothing else than to see us live safe, peaceful lives here.
INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY
Tomorrow is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. A significant gathering of world leaders will take place at the site of the former death camp. All remaining survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau have been invited, with 50 people expected to attend.
There is a remarkable Australian link to Monday’s commemoration. During the service, a train car which was restored with support from Australian Frank Lowy, will be placed directly at the front gate.
This particular train car, which transported millions of people in squalid, overcrowded conditions to Auschwitz-Birkenau, has been dedicated to the memory of about 420,000 Hungarian Jews who were deported to Auschwitz in 1944, including the family members of many Australians, among them JCCV CEO Naomi Levin.
The train car was restored thanks to the support of Frank Lowy, whose father, Hugo, was killed in the camp. Hugo was murdered by SS guards after refusing to surrender his tefillin and tallit.
It is our commitment to the memories of Hugo Lowy and the six million Jewish people murdered during the Holocaust, to do everything we can to combat modern-day antisemitism.
ANOTHER DIFFICULT WEEK
The JCCV, with assistance from CSG, provided briefings material for Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan ahead of that meeting. The outcome of that meeting – a national database on antisemitic crimes – is a step forward, but is unlikely to stop the growing problem in the short-term.
The JCCV continues to work with the Victorian Government to speedily implement changes to local hate crimes laws. We expect these to be debated as soon as Victorian Parliament resumes in February. While I do understand the challenges, I truly believe that we need police to do all they can to make much faster arrests and the courts must deal with those arrests faster. This will create a real and swift deterrent to those who seek to do us harm.
On the police front there were a number of updates this week:
- On Monday, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said there are 15 serious allegations of antisemitism that are currently being investigation.
- Commissioner Kershaw added that there may be international actors behind the antisemitic crimes that we have witnessed. It is important that we keep public speculation to a minimum as police continue their investigations. More information here.
- Also on Monday, we heard from National Cabinet that Victoria Police have made 70 arrests for antisemitic conduct since October 7. More information here.
- On Thursday, a dedicated national police antisemitism coordination group was established. A deputy police commissioner from each state and territory will come together to share intelligence and assist with investigations that may transcend border. More information here.
We can only hope that this remarkable attention and focus on the problem will see a turn in the tide.
