Community message
- Published May 5 2024
- Community Message
Community message from JCCV President, Philip Zajac.
WE WILL SUPPORT YOU
This week, we have been supporting our student leaders. The JCCV was proud to help our member organisation, AUJS Victoria, to hold a peaceful, student-led rally against hate at the University of Melbourne on Thursday.
The rally was in response to a permanent tent city that has been established in the middle of the university, replete with signs calling for intifada – death to Israeli civilians.
Naomi Levin, JCCV CEO, spoke at the event and told the hundreds of students and supporters gathered “We will work with you, we will do all we can to support you because you have every right to live a proud, openly Jewish life. You have every right to call yourself a Zionist. You have every right to feel safe.”
The JCCV remains deeply concerned about ongoing challenges to peace and harmony in Victoria.
In addition to the university encampments, in the past few days we have heard about local teachers seeking to include the perspectives of Palestinian advocates when delivering classes on Anzac Day; a keffiyeh-clad activist, currently on bail for criminal charges, sitting at the doors of Victorian Parliament intimidating visitors; and an AFL fan being assaulted by Palestinian-Australians on a Sunday in the CBD. Enough is enough.
The JCCV is continuing to work with Victoria Police, with Government, with the Opposition, with local councils – and to support our members to work in their own communities – to defeat hate, to arrest the criminals and to restore a sense of safety for Jewish Victorians.
This evening, nearly 1000 people will gather for our annual JCCV Yom Hashoah commemoration.
The theme this year is We Are Here – a poignant reminder in the last line of Zog nit keyn mol (The Partisan Hymn).
We asked community members to send in photos to show “We Are Here”. These have been compiled into a beautiful photo tribute, which will be shown at the commemoration this evening. You can also watch it here.
The program for this evening’s event can be downloaded here.
COMMUNITY KOVED
This weeks’ Community Koved goes to AUJS Leadership who rallied for the students they represent. They stood up in the face of hate to say proudly and loudly that Jewish students across the country have the right to not only feel safe on campus, but to be able to celebrate their Jewish identity.
We are proud of their leadership, their efforts, their determination to remain peaceful yet strong. These students are the future of our community – and we are honoured to stand by them!
Please send your nominations for Community Koved to community@jccv.org.au
