Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Federal MP Mr Michael Danby should be highly commended for their visit yesterday to a branch of Max Brenner’s in Melbourne, a target of recent anti-Israel protests, where they took a strong stance against the boycott of Jewish and Israeli-owned business. Two weeks ago, Palestinian supporters of the boycott launched a protest outside the café that took a violent turn, leaving three policemen injured and 19 protesters arrested. The Herald-Sun reported Rudd calling the boycott “archaic” and saying, “I went there deliberately to make a point and that is I don’t think in 21st century Australia there is a place for the attempted boycott of a Jewish business…I thought we had learned that from history.” The Age also reported Rudd stating that: 

“As an individual citizen – that is me, K. Rudd – I am here because I object to the boycotting of Jewish businesses.”

Read more about the Foreign Minister’s visit in the Age, the Herald-Sun, J-Wire, or in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.