Daphne Anson: JNF Shaliach Among The Jews Bashed At Bondi

Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East. (From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday, 27 October 2013

JNF Shaliach Among The Jews Bashed At Bondi

The group of Jews (four men, the oldest of whom is a 66-year-old who suffered a minor fracture of the skull, plus a 62-year-old female teacher at the Kesser Torah College) who were subjected to antisemitic insults, viciously attacked, and injured (one had a broken nose and an injury to his eye) near Sydney's famous Bondi Beach on Friday night, include Shlomo Ben Haim, education shaliach for the New South Wales Jewish National Fund, J-Wire reports:

'JNF Executive Director Ygal Shapir told J-Wire: "We expect our emissaries to have to be especially cautious in certain European countries but who would have believed something like this could happen in Australia."

The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council’s Jeremy Jones added: "I have been maintaining records of anti-Semitic attacks in Australia for over 25 years but we have never come across an attack of this nature by so many on so many in all that time."

President of the The Executive Council of Australian Jewry Peter Wertheim added: "Although the police investigations are still proceeding, the vicious attack on a Jewish family in Bondi early on Saturday morning appears to have been the most serious incident of spontaneous antisemitic violence in Australia in living memory....

We ... want to thank the police for responding as swiftly and effectively as they did. We especially thank the six employees from the Beach Road Hotel and a passing taxi driver who intervened to end the violence and apprehend some of the alleged assailants. Thanks to their efforts we expect all members of the gang involved in the incident to be rounded up by the police and charged and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The brave and selfless actions of these bystanders is a much more accurate reflection of the attitude of Australians to their Jewish fellow citizens, than the hate-filled violence of the group who allegedly attacked the family...."

Read more here
Illustrated report, with the misleading term "brawl"!, in the (not-very-friendly-to-Israel) Sydney Morning Herald here

Despite the fact that the three suspects who've been caught have not yet been named, some people are taking it for granted that they are Muslims.

This video from a national news channel has been uploaded to YouTube to reflect that assumption, and at least one blog has accordingly echoed the claim that "three Muslims" have been arrested for the attack. Not very fair, is it?

19 comments:

Anonymous27 October 2013 at 20:02
It really is a disgrace. Why on earth would anyone want to be unfair to our muslim friends? Interfaith and multicultural training assures us Islam is misunderstood.

Our street wise instincts tell us otherwise. Look at the MO it's not hard to figure it out.
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Daphne Anson27 October 2013 at 22:13
Ah, but assuming without evidence (and so far there's no reported evidence) that Muslims, as opposed, for instance, to nasty drink-fuelled thugs, are responsible is sheer prejudice. We shall see.
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Ian27 October 2013 at 22:25
Daphne your "Read more here" link is broken

It would be interesting to know the name of the 23 year old that was charged, I don't think that's sub judice.

Interesting to see that 2 of the cowards, the youngest, were already on bail for prior offenses.

Turnbull is on the case
Mr Turnbull, the federal Communications Minister, called for zero tolerance of racism.
''Violence of this kind and, in particular, racist violence, anti-Semitic violence, is completely unacceptable in our society,'' Mr Turnbull told the Nine Network. ''We should have zero tolerance.''
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquiry-into-anti-semitic-attack-in-sydneys-east/story-e6frg6n6-1226747440761
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Shirl in Oz27 October 2013 at 23:18
@ Anonymous - Islam is not misunderstood. Your interfaith training and your multicultural training assures you incorrectly.

However, as I have been blogging everywhere today and I might add being abused for it too, you cannot presume without all the facts what people are guilty or not guilty of.
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Ian27 October 2013 at 23:47
An update from ToI
No one intervened to help us, Sydney victim says
Shlomo Ben Haim, an emissary for the Jewish National Fund who was among the victims of Friday night’s attack, said Sunday that the attackers screamed “bloody Jews” and were able to continue their assault for several minutes, even though it took place in a well-lit area with foot traffic and open restaurants.
The attack occurred when his party of five Jews, walking back from a Shabbat dinner, encountered “about 10″ youths, who, when seeing them in Shabbat clothes and yarmulkes, began to shout derogatory comments and then attacked, Ben Haim told Ynet News on Sunday from his hospital bed in Sydney.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/no-one-intervened-to-help-us-sydney-victim-says/
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Anonymous28 October 2013 at 18:55
The evidence won't be reported, the truth is suppressed for fear of being labelled hate speech. Who knows what we might do if we found out what was really going on ....
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Ian28 October 2013 at 21:23
The Guardian Australia didn't cover this till Monday
Note that of the 37 comments, 15 have been removed, that says a lot about the Guardian readership.

Peter Wertheim: Antisemitism: an evil Australia can no longer ignore
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/28/antisemitic-attack-bondi
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Shirl in Oz29 October 2013 at 09:52
According to this they were Pacific Islanders

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/the-mother-of-the-boy-accused-of-racehate-attack-in-bondi-works-in-a-jewish-nursing-home/story-e6frg6n6-1226748562990#sthash.Z8dmpu66.dpuf%22
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Daphne Anson29 October 2013 at 23:28
Shirlee, I'm sorry that owing to computer woes I couldn't post these links you gave me earlier:

http://jewsdownunder.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/trio-questioned-over-antisemitic-attack-assault-on-5-people-in-bondi/

http://jewsdownunder.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/jewish-leaders-condemn-anti-semitic-attack-including-cctv-footage-of-the-bondi-antisemitic-attack/

http://jewsdownunder.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/attack-on-jewish-group-in-bondi/
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Daphne Anson30 October 2013 at 09:25
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Anti-Semitism-in-Australia-330110
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Daphne Anson30 October 2013 at 23:53
Interesting article here:

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/.premium-1.554850
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