Rabbi victim of road rage

January 30, 2019 by J-Wire Newsdesk
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A Melbourne rabbi has videoed an antisemitic attack launched by the male passenger of a car stopped alongside his vehicle on the Nepean Highway.

The attack was brought on by the other man when he saw the rabbi looking at his phone.

The rabbi who does not want to be named used his phone to video the attack.

A Melbourne rabbi has been left shaken and disturbed after a man hurled antisemitic abuse at him during a road-rage incident on Monday night.

During the attack, the man screamed: “Would you like me to get out and show you what Hitler did?” “You should have died in the Auschwitz.”

The rabbi claims the man also said he was a “dirty Jew” and “Hitler should have killed you all”.

The woman driver gave the startled rabbi “the finger” as she drove off.

 

Chairman of the Antidefamation Commission Dvir Abramovitch stated: “In a week in which we commemorate International Holocaust Day,  I am deeply worried that the virus of antisemitism is spreading like wildfire in Melbourne and is becoming a fact of our daily life.  The flames of hatred will envelop our society and escalate into a cruel force if we do not push back. It may be an uncomfortable truth for some, but over the last year, the level of intolerance, the hostile environment for the Jewish community, and the number of reported incidents are on a scale I have not witnessed before in our nation.

We know that violent words can turn deadly, and such disturbing outbursts, which shock the conscience, not only traumatise the victim but shake us all and will leave many fearful and vulnerable.   This terrifying incident provides further evidence that racists and extremists are less inhibited about expressing their poisonous bigotry in public, and that we must redouble our efforts to address the growing threat of antisemitism in Australia. This is a time to come together around our common values of decency and respect and to move beyond words. I call on the state and federal governments to come up with a concrete action plan, with effective educational and prevention strategies, so as to ensure that this stain our society, will never become normalised and become acceptable.”

The president of The Jewish Community Council of Victoria  Jennifer Huppert added: “Antisemitic incidences such as this have no place in our society.  While incidences of such blatant antisemitism are isolated, it is not acceptable behaviour, and we should be able to go about our daily lives without experiencing antisemitism or other forms of intolerance and discrimination.

Victoria has a strong multicultural society, incidence such as this show that we cannot take this for granted, and we must continue to combat antisemitism and all forms of prejudice.”

Comments

2 Responses to “Rabbi victim of road rage”
  1. estelle behrens says:

    THIS SHOWS HOW LITTLE BREEDING SOME PEOPLE HAVE.IF ONE IS BROUGHT UP PROPERLY ONE WOULD NEVER STOOP SO LOW AS TO WISH THIS ON A PERSON. I ALWAYS FEEL THAT BREEDING IS WHAT COUNTS HOW PARENTS TEACH YOU AD YOU GROW UP TO LOVE AND CARE OR TO HATE AND KILL.
    A PERSON’S RELIGION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYBODY ELSE EVERY PERSON IS ENTITLED TO THEIR OWN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

    • Rabbi Pinchos Woolstone says:

      Estelle, everything you write is correct and would be fully supported by people of decency irrespective of religious, ethnic or societal affiliation.
      With the rise of anti Israel sentiment worldwide over recent times those harboring anti semitic feelings and attitudes now have a new opportunity to express their vile racism; some cunningly hide it behind “anti-zionism” and claim they are not against Jews just those evil people denying the Palestinians their human rights.
      Let no one be naive, when ever increasing numbers of people scream ” Palestine from the River to the Sea” they express their desire that the whole State of Israel must to be dismantled.
      0ver all the generations Jew hatred was endemic, in each place and every epoch it took a different form…..
      In the post Holocaust period there was somewhat of a moratorium on anti semitism in the West; unfortunately the honeymoon is now over, dislike of Israel and of Jews is now front and center, we need to stay ahead of the curve and find new and effective ways of countering the resurgent scourge.

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