Yesterday, leaders of the Jewish community met with Premier Daniel Andrews, Federal Member for Macnamara Josh Burns and the Attorney-General for Victoria, Jill Hennessy to discuss the upcoming neo-Nazi concert, which will be taking place in Melbourne next month.
ZFA President Jeremy Leibler, ECAJ President Anton Block, Zionism Victoria President Sharene Hambur, JCCV President Jennifer Huppert and ADC Chairman Dr. Dvir Abramovich, met to discuss Jewish community concerns in relation to the impending concert, as well as a general uptick in anti-Semitism in recent months.
The group expressed concern that the concert is being promoted by two groups linked to global networks of white supremacists and that the band which is scheduled to perform uses lyrics and themes which are likely to incite racial hatred. Such behaviour, they stressed, appear to be in stark contrast to the very essence of a multi-cultural Australia – one that prides itself on cultural diversity and tolerance.
Both the Premier and Mr. Burns reinforced that they are committed to do anything within their power to ensure that Victoria remains a safe place for everyone, and that hate-speech has no place in Victoria. They also reiterated that any venues considering hosting such an event should carefully consider the consequences of allowing their premises to be used for such an event.
The group thanked the Premier, Mr. Burns and the Attorney-General for their time and for their efforts in ensuring that there is no place for such destructive behaviour in our society, and for protecting the safety of Victoria’s diverse community.
