ADC News
Volume 1, No. 4
December 2008
Convicted antisemite not welcome in Australia
The ADC is delighted to have been active in discouraging British National Party chairman Nick Griffin from visiting Australia. Griffin has been convicted for inciting racial hatred in relation to antisemitic material he published in the 1970s and has also been charged over his comments relating to Muslims. He had planned to visit Australia this month at the invitation of the Australian Protectionist Party. He announced he was not coming because he cannot secure an entry visa in time. The ADC and Executive Council of Australian Jewry had asked the Immigration Minister Chris Evans to consider denying Griffin's visa because he failed the character test and was likely to vilify sections of the Australian community or incite discord.
ADC acts to remove offensive graffiti
 A Hitler moustache on a child ballerina may seem amusing but the incident is no joke. A swastika and Hitler-style moustache were painted on a poster on Little Gems dancewear shop in Glenhuntly Road, South Caulfield on 12 December. The graffiti attack is one of several such incidents on shops in the Caulfield- East St Kilda area in recent months. In other incidents swastikas have been painted on shops and fences in the area, a billboard on a Jewish school was vandalised and the word "Jew" was spray-painted on a car belonging to an identifiably Jewish family. It is essential such graffiti is cleaned up quickly because of the danger of copy-cat incidents. When vandals attack public property the local council is responsible for clean-up but in the case of private property the owner of the property is responsible. Identifying and contacting owners of rental buildings frequently delays the removal of offensive graffiti. The ADC has been active in advising landlords of antisemitic graffiti and asking them to remove it. Many owners, including non-Jewish landlords, are appalled by the sentiments and are prompt in removing graffiti. But contact issues, access and the cost of removing graffiti can be a problem. In some cases ADC staffers have simply chosen to do the manual labor of removing graffiti themselves rather than leave offensive graffiti around.
Antisemitism increasing in Australia
Australian Jews suffered a record 652 antisemitic incidents in the 12 months to October , the highest number of incidents on record. The total of number of incidents was almost twice the average of the past 18 years and the number of incidents of physical assault, property damage and direct, face-to-face harassment was almost three times the previous average.
The 2007-08 total was two per cent above that of the period ending September 30 last year, which was previously the worst on record.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry's (ECAJ) annual report on antisemitism in Australia found the internet was a particular problem. The report's author Jeremy Jones said Facebook and YouTube "have been the venues of crude and intense anti-Jewish prejudice being expressed openly and unashamedly. While the sum total of reports of each and all such behaviour is not sufficient to suggest that it is rampant, it is nevertheless cause for genuine concern".
Jones also noted the impact of material from overseas sources, much of it available on the internet, "which has as its thesis an eternal enmity of Muslims towards Jews". More
La Rouche gaining ground in financial crisis
 Fears that the far rights Citizens Electoral Council and its American parent the La Rouche organisation are gaining ground prompted Triple J to invite ADC Research Director Deborah Stone on air recently.
Ms Stone told presenters John Safran and Father Bob Maguire that claims of conspiracy theories, including the claim that Jews control the world banking system, had unfortunately increased under the current economic pressures. Frightened people looking for simple solutions were vulnerable to theories that scapegoat minorities and blame secret cabals.
In September ADC News we noted the CEC's attacks on American financier, a Hungarian born Holocaust survivor. The CEC has responded with a massive email campaign accusing Soros of being a Nazi and attacking the ADC for defending him.
Push for Australia to boycott Durban II
Australia should boycott the UN human rights conference next April unless it can be sure it will not degenerate into demonising Israel, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) believes.
At its annual conference in December the ECAJ resolved to ask the Federal Government to withdraw from the Durban Review Conference scheduled for April in Geneva. The conference, known as Durban II, is being held to review progress on resolutions made at the World Conference on Racism(WCAR) in Durban in 2001. But there are strong fears it will deteriorate into an Israel-bashing exercise. WCAR was the scene of virulent attacks on Israel and on Diaspora Jews, prompting both Israel and the US to walk out.
Canada and Israel have already indicated they will not attend Durban II. The ECAJ says Australia should do the same unless it can be sure Durban II will not single out or demonise any individual state, delete condemnation of antisemitism, remove calls for Holocaust commemoration or construct a hierarchy of racisms.
Counter-terrorism experts promote multifaith activity 
Counter-terrorism experts met in Melbourne during the Mumbai attacks to consider ways to deal with the growing threat of global terrorism. Terrorism experts told the conference, run by Monash University's Global Terrorism Research Centre, that it was important to counter the recruitment of terrorists and their supporters by providing improved engagement, social cohesion and community contact for people who might otherwise cross the alienation threshold and become attracted to violence. Multifaith activity was suggested as a positive way of increasing social cohesion and researcher Anna Halafoff told the conference there was untapped potential to use interfaith and multifaith activity as a weapon in the early stages of terrorism prevention.
ADC Research director Deborah Stone, who was at the conference to gather information for the Jewish community, wrote a report on the Global Terrorism conference examining these issues for the Australian Jewish News.
Future Leaders promised dynamic opportunities
 From ropes courses to public speaking, conflict resolution to team building through drumming, the ADC's inaugural Multifaith Future Leaders Program is set to launch with a dynamic program.
Jewish, Muslim and Christian young leaders, aged 18 to 26 will participate in the program at Campaspe Downs Resort from 2 to 4 February. Participants have been recruited from within faith communities based on their interest in gaining leadership skills and in working with faith leaders from different backgrounds. The aim is that by learning side by side this new generation of leaders will be better prepared to work together and to counter extremism from within their own communities.
The ADC staff is working hard to put together a packed program which includes practical skills and many opportunities for working together. Highlights will include a Conflict Resolution training session with Joel Gerschman, a session on diversity management with Yasser Soliman and a session on using narratives to overcome difference with storyteller Simon Oats. A few places are still available. For more information, contact project co-ordinator Ari Morris.
Anti-racists battle NZ extremists
About 150 people were involved in a clash between National Front and anti-fascist demonstrators in Wellington during October. The New Zealand National Alliance (NA) held a rally for Flag Day on 25 October. The rally was endorsed by Australia First’s Jim Saleam who touted it as an opportunity to strengthen the ANZAC alliance. New Zealand far right activist Kerry Bolton, well known for his antisemitic activities, was among the promoters of the rally. Bolton is Director of Renaissance Press, which publishes an antisemitic, conspiracy-driven catalogue of publications. He is on the record denying the Holocaust. His more recent targets have included US President Elect Barak Obama. A thesis cataloguing his offensive activities was removed from the shelves of the library at the University of Waikato after Bolton objected last October. The thesis analysed what Bolton had written, focusing on how neo-Nazi thought was re-packaged for a younger generation.
Unlikely bedfellows
Australian League of Rights publication On Target is circulating an attack on Jews by an unlikely ally – the ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionists. The League is circulating an email by Rabbi Meir Hirsh of Neturei Karta Palestine attacking “the ongoing state terrorism practiced by the Zionist state against the Palestinian people, most visibly today in Gaza, where the Zionists believe they can starve the Palestinians into submission in violation of all tenets of international law, all religious values in general, including the values of the Jewish faith”.
Neturei Karta is a fringe ultra-orthodox Jewish sect and is founded on the idea that Zionism is literally demonic and responsible for many of the world’s evils. Spokesmen regularly call for the dismantling of the State of Israel and the empowerment of the Palestinians, who would then decide whether to permit any Jews to live in their new state. Its supporters believe that a promised messianic age cannot begin until Zionism is eradicated from the Middle East.
Freedom of Religion inquiry underway
Faith communities and other interested Australians have been invited to tell the Federal Government what could be done to improve freedom of religion and belief in Australia. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission has asked respondents to consider a list of key questions including what can be done about managing incitement to religious hatred. The inquiry will also look at security issues in aftermath of September 11 including what can be done to prevent religious radicalism and political extremism and how the Government should balance physical security and civil liberties. The implications of technology, including the impact of media and the internet, are also on the table. Further details and submission forms are available here.
New Board, new push for members
The ADC has a new board of management following the Annual General Meeting in  November. Tony Levy has taken over as Chairman, while former chairman John Searle moves on to become Chairman of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria. Alain Grossbard remains as deputy chairman. The meeting also voted to alter the constitution to allow membership to expand beyond the membership of B'nai B'rith.
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Antisemitism 
