Community experts lambast activists using antisemitism to intimidate
Experts Dr Andre Oboler and Professor Emirata Suzanne Rutland have penned A LETTER IN RESPONSE to those responsible for delivering a message to Jewish homes in the Melbourne electorate represented by Independent Zoe Daniels.
Dr Andre Oboler
They wrote: ‘The recent letters claiming to come from “Your Jewish Neighbour” that were placed in the Goldstein electorate in mailboxes of people who displayed corflutes supporting Zoe Daniel MP were an attempt to intimidate and silence political speech during an election.
We welcome the announcement from the Australian Electoral Commission that they are investigating this incident. We believe the use of blatantly false charge of antisemitism to silence people is a significant aggravating factor that should be considered in any investigation and potential prosecution.
This activity is not only undemocratic, it is likely also a breach of Section 327 of the Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) which states: “A person shall not hinder or interfere with the free exercise or performance, by any other person, of any political right or duty that is relevant to an election under this Act”. The penalty is up to three years imprisonment and a note in the Act states that harassment is an example of a breach.
The allegation that promotional material for the sitting member is somehow “reminiscent of early Germany” and “evoking the same feelings” in survivors as they “experienced Germany in the early 1930s-40s” is utterly preposterous. The signs in question contained no Nazi symbols, were not in the same colours, did not contain antisemitic messages, and in short have no resemblance to racist and antisemitic political signs of the 1930s-1940s. The claim is not only baseless, but exceedingly harmful as it risks weakening understanding and resolve against racism, allowing actual harm to occur more easily in the future.
Suzanne Rutland
The accusations distort the understanding of the Holocaust through Holocaust minimisation and trivialisation. In 2021, Canadian jurist, Prof. Irwin Cotler, told the UN, paraphrasing a Canadian court case, “the Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers, it began with words”. Real Nazi signs, real hate speech, real dehumanisation like that of the Nazis is profoundly dangerous. Throwing such unfounded accusations around reduces understanding of the real hate and the danger they pose. This weakens society’s willingness to confront antisemitism when it occurs for real, as the concerns of the Jewish community become easier to dismiss then as just another baseless claim.
For those wrongly bullied with false accusations of antisemitism, you have our sincere sympathies. This abuse both attacks those expressing their support for a candidate and diminishes public trust in and support of the Jewish community’s legitimate concerns about the real cases of antisemitism. It undermines support for laws that limit antisemitism out of fear of their abuse. The Jewish community, and the Australian public at large, need to stand firm in the face of this campaign of harassment of individuals and harm to the Jewish community.’
Andre Oboler and Suzanne Rutland are expert members of the Australian Government’s Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and members of its Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial.
