Tag: Antisemitism

Isaac Rosenberg is rightfully celebrated as one of the Great War’s greatest poets and “In the Trenches”  is indeed a fitting poem to read in memory of the millions slaughtered on the Western Front.

The horrific attack on a German synagogue was the second in less than a week – a lethal turn of events that has seemed inevitable as antisemitic crimes have risen in recent years.

What more can be done to counter antisemitism at schools?  That question reverberated around Australia this past month as many were shocked to hear of appalling antisemitic bullying.  

Despite graphic footage existing for one of the two shocking antisemitic attacks on Jewish children in Melbourne public schools, first reported by the Australian Jewish News (Oct. 3), it appears the issue attracted newspaper interest but was largely ignored by TV stations.

Anti-Zionism is a flourishing politics today on many university campuses and on parts of the left, and the standard response from many Jewish organisations and from most of the Jews I know is to call it the newest version of antisemitism. But anti-Zionism is a subject in itself...

What more can be done to counter antisemitism at schools? That question reverberated around Australia this past month after published reports of two separate incidents of appalling antisemitic bullying in Victorian schools. 

A great deal has changed since the days of Sheikh Hilaly’s speech and the street harassment of Melbourne Jews. There is now a raft of federal, state and territory anti-racist legislation and coalitions of people of goodwill working to understand and combat antisemitism

It is difficult to express the sense of shock and outrage at the murderous attack near the synagogue in Halle, Germany, while Jewish people were at prayer on the holiest day of the Jewish year.

The reverberations from media reports that two Melbourne students were subjected to humiliating anti-Semitic abuse have been felt in Jewish communities around the world. How could this happen in an enlightened society, ask well-meaning people.

"Incidents of anti-Jewish bullying committed by, and directed at, schoolchildren must never be excused or tolerated. As a nation, we have a responsibility to protect and assist victims and do what we can to eliminate racist behaviour and bullying," said Dr. Colin Rubenstein, executive director of the Australia/ Israel & Jewish Affairs Council