Attack in Melbourne
An evening walk through the leafy suburbs of Elsternwick ended in a vicious attack on a Melbourne man wearing an Israeli t-shirt printed in Hebrew.
Zac Gomo
28-yr-0ld Zac Gomo turned off Melbourne’s Kooyong Rd heading back to his girlfriend’s home into quiet and dark Parnell St near Glen Huntly around 10pm on Thursday evening when he suddenly found two men by his side. He had been on an exercise walk.
He told J-Wire: “They yelled at me in Arabic calling me a Jew Dog and started attacking me and repeatedly saying ‘Gaza’.”
scar
Gomo, who served in the IDF between 2008 and 2010, grabbed one of his attackers by the throat and started yelling at them in Arabic a language he learned during his time in Israel.
The Caulfield North man watched as his attackers fled and then he headed back to his girlfriend’s home in Elsternwick having discovered that during the affray he had received cuts. He believes that while defending himself he had “hurt one if his attackers badly” . He added: “At the time of the attack, I was not aware that they had any weapons, but I have been told that the injuries I sustained and the cuts to my T-shirt could have been caused by a screwdriver.” Gom received cuts to his arms. head and stomach.
Cut T-shirt
He added: “We went straight to Caulfield North police and reported the incident and the officers were very supportive”.
Gomo arrived back from Israel in 2011.
Nina Bassat president of The Jewish Community Council of Victoria said: “It appears from the words used by the attackers that he was targeted only because he was clearly identifiable as a Jew. This was an act of cowardice and aggression that has no place in our society.”
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission has strongly denounced an assault on a Jewish man in Melbourne who was attacked while walking to a shop. The assailants reportedly shouted anti-Jewish slurs in Arabic as they hit the man who fought back.
ADC Chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich issued the following statement:
“This vile attack is another disturbing reminder that Jewish people in our community continue to be singled out because of their religion. This kind of antisemitic targeting is unacceptable and must be denounced and countered in the strongest terms possible by all communal leaders. We will not stand for such violence and I look forward to seeing those responsible arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It is also my hope that we do not see a pattern where anti-Israel attitudes related to the conflict in Israel and Gaza spill over into attacks on Australian Jews. When a victim is assaulted and intimidated because of his or her faith other members of that group feel threatened and unsafe and the impact reverberates throughout the entire community.”
Federal Labor MP Michael Danby told J-Wire: “The bashing of Zach Gomo, one of my constituents, appears to be inspired by violence in the Middle East. Michael Danby, member for Melbourne Ports, said there was no place in Australia’s successful pluralist society for imported conflicts being poured out here.
Danby said he was disappointed that the ABC in particular fail to mention that Hamas and it’s military wing were proscribed as terrorist organisations in Australia as a result of non partisan deliberation made to government by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. Danby noted the demonstrations protesting Israel’s response to rocket attacks on it’s population centres, recognising in a free society like Australia people are entitled to demonstrate. However, he said he was surprised that the demonstrators were absent over the last three years as 160,000 people had been killed in Syria with 7 million refugees fleeing to surrounding countries.
“Some claim that 150 people have been killed in the Gaza conflict so far (many of them Hamas terrorists firing rockets) but this number of people, mainly innocent civilians have been killed every day in Syria and none of them were terrorists firing rockets into surrounding population centres,” Danby said.
Just shocking. We were driving around there just the other day because our uni student daughter bought a second hand bedstead down there. It looks as though Zac G may have scars from this attack, which is shocking. This sort of attack changes the way you think, that is for sure. How disgraceful to know Zac G would be safer in Israel and likely not scarred. Am Yisroel Chai! [Lizzie in Bendigo]
Prayers for Zac Gomo.
Melbourne is one of the best, if not the best city, in the world to live in based on a variety of factors such as safety, risk of terrorism, economic opportunities, open spaces etc. etc. This terrible attack shows how interconnected the world is these days. The ripple effects from what happens in the Holy Land and Middle East are real. There are some specific moves of the cube that must be made in the coming hours and days by various “leaders” in the Middle East and wider world. De-escalation must unfold. The violence must be mitigated and ultimately ended. It is crucial to work out what is urgent and what is important at this time. It was obvious at midday Tues. April 29th what trajectory would unfold in the Holy Land.
Which paradigm should unfold for the Holy Land right now ?
Vision, courage and trust building or myopia, cowardice and betrayal trust.
Prayers for the peace of Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza and all of the Middle East at this crucial time in human history.