Latest news with #Leibler
Sydney Morning Herald
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
In Jacinta Allan, Melbourne Jews have discovered a friend
There is a growing recognition among Melbourne Jews that Allan, after an uncertain start, has become a good friend in difficult times. Allan, before offering the toast, made clear her deep misgivings about the Netanyahu government, its conduct of the war and particularly, its withholding of aid from Gaza. 'However, we must remember this fact,' she said. 'The government of Israel is not the same thing as the nation of Israel and the people of Israel. And the government of Israel is not the same thing as the Jewish community here in Victoria. 'It distresses me that some are unable to recognise this distinction. Members of the Jewish community in Victoria have suffered as a result. People have been bullied, vilified and hurt.' Allan and Opposition Leader Brad Battin were both invited to speak at the annual event co-sponsored by the state government and state and federal Jewish representative groups – the ZFA, Zionism Victoria, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria. Former Victorian premier John Brumby was also there, along with federal Labor MP Mark Dreyfus, state MPs from both major parties and Jewish community leaders in the arts, law, media and business. After the premier bid the room L'Chaim, Zionist Federation of Australia chairman Jeremy Leibler thanked Allan for her words and her response to last year's firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea. Leibler said the arson attack felt like 'a culmination of many months of escalating hatred' that had coursed through pro-Palestinian protests and university encampments. When the Victorian government returned to work this year, it made good on Allan's promise to the Jewish community to toughen the state's anti-vilification laws. 'Premier, I vividly remember turning up to Adass on that Friday morning with you, the smell of smoke still lingering in the air,' Leibler said. 'I saw the deep impact this had on you and I witnessed within a very short period of time your decisive response, not just in words but in action. Loading 'You sent an incredibly powerful message – that Jewish life in Victoria would not just be acknowledged but protected. And when your government introduced the new racial vilification advocated for, you followed through on that commitment. Zionism Victoria president Elyse Schachna told Allan her government had sent the 'strongest possible message' that antisemitism would not be tolerated. The comments are part of a determined effort by Jewish leaders to reset the relationship between Australia's Jewry and the Australian Labor Party following the Albanese government's re-election. They also consign to history a federal Coalition campaign which, on its fringes, sought to exploit the government's tepid response to rising antisemitism and anxiety within the Jewish community. Loading Some Jewish leaders were willing to ride this political wave. Leibler made clear his view that Jewish interests are better served when they don't become campaign fodder. 'There are many things I've learned over the last couple of years,' he said. 'The most important is the power of leadership and cost of its absence. While some seek to exploit our divisions others strive for common ground.' It is no small thing for Allan to toast Israel's independence at a time when international condemnation of the war in Gaza is reaching a crescendo. The decision is unlikely to win her votes outside her party room or support from within.
The Age
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
In Jacinta Allan, Melbourne Jews have discovered a friend
There is a growing recognition among Melbourne Jews that Allan, after an uncertain start, has become a good friend in difficult times. Allan, before offering the toast, made clear her deep misgivings about the Netanyahu government, its conduct of the war and particularly, its withholding of aid from Gaza. 'However, we must remember this fact,' she said. 'The government of Israel is not the same thing as the nation of Israel and the people of Israel. And the government of Israel is not the same thing as the Jewish community here in Victoria. 'It distresses me that some are unable to recognise this distinction. Members of the Jewish community in Victoria have suffered as a result. People have been bullied, vilified and hurt.' Allan and Opposition Leader Brad Battin were both invited to speak at the annual event co-sponsored by the state government and state and federal Jewish representative groups – the ZFA, Zionism Victoria, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria. Former Victorian premier John Brumby was also there, along with federal Labor MP Mark Dreyfus, state MPs from both major parties and Jewish community leaders in the arts, law, media and business. After the premier bid the room L'Chaim, Zionist Federation of Australia chairman Jeremy Leibler thanked Allan for her words and her response to last year's firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea. Leibler said the arson attack felt like 'a culmination of many months of escalating hatred' that had coursed through pro-Palestinian protests and university encampments. When the Victorian government returned to work this year, it made good on Allan's promise to the Jewish community to toughen the state's anti-vilification laws. 'Premier, I vividly remember turning up to Adass on that Friday morning with you, the smell of smoke still lingering in the air,' Leibler said. 'I saw the deep impact this had on you and I witnessed within a very short period of time your decisive response, not just in words but in action. Loading 'You sent an incredibly powerful message – that Jewish life in Victoria would not just be acknowledged but protected. And when your government introduced the new racial vilification advocated for, you followed through on that commitment. Zionism Victoria president Elyse Schachna told Allan her government had sent the 'strongest possible message' that antisemitism would not be tolerated. The comments are part of a determined effort by Jewish leaders to reset the relationship between Australia's Jewry and the Australian Labor Party following the Albanese government's re-election. They also consign to history a federal Coalition campaign which, on its fringes, sought to exploit the government's tepid response to rising antisemitism and anxiety within the Jewish community. Loading Some Jewish leaders were willing to ride this political wave. Leibler made clear his view that Jewish interests are better served when they don't become campaign fodder. 'There are many things I've learned over the last couple of years,' he said. 'The most important is the power of leadership and cost of its absence. While some seek to exploit our divisions others strive for common ground.' It is no small thing for Allan to toast Israel's independence at a time when international condemnation of the war in Gaza is reaching a crescendo. The decision is unlikely to win her votes outside her party room or support from within.
Herald Sun
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Herald Sun
National Socialist Network: Caulfield residents wake to find anti-Semitic flyer
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News. Residents in one of Australia's largest Jewish populations woke to find disturbing anti-Semitic flyers — believed to have been authorised by a prominent neo-Nazi group — in their mailboxes on Wednesday. Several homeowners in Caulfield, in Melbourne's southeast, discovered pamphlets delivered early this morning with the following message: 'Giving the Jews everything they want'. The flyers display an alerted Liberal Party logo with the Israeli flag inserted within the design, with the bottom of the material claiming to be authorised by the National Socialist Network leader. On the back of the flyer, a four-point-plan insinuates ways in which the Liberal Party will give the 'Jews everything they want'; including putting 'Israel First', 'Abolish Free Speech', 'Jail anti-Semites' and 'Give Jews Free Money'. One Caulfield resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Herald Sun she was collecting her mail this morning when the flyer immediately caught her eye. 'Obviously there has been a lot of political pamphlets over the last few weeks but this one was definitely designed to stand out, brightly coloured with capitals and bold text and designed to look like 'official' political advertising,' she said. 'It felt brazen, bold, and I felt totally violated and infiltrated. 'To know that a neo-Nazi had brazenly walked around my street, chosen my house, my safe space with my family inside and opened my letterbox to leave something inside with the sole purpose of trying to offend, intimidate and share their hate.' Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said Jewish people should be able to feel safe in their own homes, not under threat from extremists who want to harm them. 'Over the last 18 months, ridiculous and hateful conspiracy theories have been spread about Australian Jews,' Mr Leibler said. 'It's dangerous, and it must be rejected by all Australians.' Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said this year's election had spiralled into one of the 'ugliest' in terms of anti-Semitic attacks seen against candidates. 'Now, the Jewish community has to contend with Nazi filth dropped in the area with the highest concentration of Jewish residents in the state, including Holocaust survivors and many of their descendants,' Mr Ryvchin said. 'Nazi sympathisers are an embarrassment to our country and are the lowest of the low.' He said he trusted police to do their utmost to find those behind the incidents overnight and this morning.
