Posted on 02/03/22
| News Source: Algemeiner
A rabbi in Melbourne, Australia was targeted this week by viciously antisemitic anonymous phone calls accusing him of “apartheid,” echoing rhetoric used in a controversial report on Israel recently published by Amnesty International.
The rabbi, who is the descendant of Holocaust survivors, was cold-called on Tuesday by the harasser, who said, “Hello Jewish [...], I’d just like to congratulate you on your new label, Captain Apartheid, because that’s how Jewish people are going to get named.”
The “new label” phrase appears to be a direct reference to the Amnesty report, which accuses Israel of subjecting Palestinian Arabs to racially-motivated discrimination — a charge that has drawn strong criticism from Israeli and American politicians, the German government, and Jewish groups.
In a second call a few minutes later, the harasser told the rabbi to “dump that stupid religion that got made up a million years ago [...] … You are going to die with it … [...] on you.”
The rabbi expressed deep shock at the incident, saying, “These voicemails spewed with hate were frightening to say the least, and my wife and I are concerned about our personal safety.”
“I would never have imagined that people in Australia hate Jews so deeply. As a senior rabbi of the community, I found this very unsettling and distressing and hope that others aren’t exposed to this too,” he added.
Dr. Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Australian Jewish advocacy group the Anti-Defamation Commission, said in a statement Thursday that he was “outraged” and understood “why many believe it is open season on the Jewish community and feel under siege.”
“This chilling and violent outburst of unbridled hate, the latest in a spate of horrifying episodes that have spread like wildfire throughout our nation, is further evidence that racists are less inhibited about expressing their insidious bigotry openly, and this out-of-control problem is one we can’t ignore,” he asserted.
“These sickening messages, fusing age-old antisemitism with anti-Israel rhetoric, have not only traumatized the victim but will shake the affected community to the core and leave members scared and vulnerable,” Abramovich said. “It may be an uncomfortable truth for some, but antisemitism has taken root in Australia and keeps rearing its ugly head from all directions.”