‘Fringe group’ labels Jillian Segal pro-war

The Greens have criticised the government’s appointment of an antisemitism envoy.

Deputy Leader and Antiracism spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi said “We already have a Race Discrimination Commissioner which is empowered to fight all forms of racism. Labor is trying to reinvent the wheel instead of backing the solution they already have”.

Labor MP for Macnamara Josh Burns, who is Jewish, said “I would have more faith in Mehreen Faruqi’s suggestions on how to combat antisemitism if she was able to call out the vile antisemitism within her party.

The Jewish Council of Australia has also expressed concern at the appointment.

The left leaning organisation has criticised the track record of the envoy, former Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Jillian Segal.

They accuse her of having lobbied for Israel, opposing voices that support Palestinian human rights, and painting all Jews as supportive of Israel’s actions.

The Council said in a statement “By appointing a pro-war voice to this position the government risks breeding division, increasing Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, and ultimately making Jews less safe.”

Zionist Federation of Australia Chief Executive Officer Alon Cassuto said, “The Jewish Council of Australia, an unelected and deceptively named fringe group, was formed ostensibly to fight antisemitism but has consistently downplayed it.” Cassuto said.

Meanwhile, an online petition challenging the Australian Jewish Council is getting strong support online, with more than 6.500 signatures so far.

The petition was launched by Jewish activist group J-United.

A spokesperson for the group, Simonne Whine, said “Their recent comments on Israel, support for pro-Palestinian protests, and criticism of Jillian Segal’s appointment as Australia’s first anti-Semitism envoy do not align with the beliefs of a significant portion of us. We felt it was important to clarify that the JCA doesn’t speak for everyone”.

Whine said J-United fully supports freedom of speech and recognises the JCA’s right to express their views.

“We are not trying to silence the JCA but rather to ensure that their statements are not misinterpreted as the majority view of the Australian Jewish community. Our petition is about advocating for inclusivity and ensuring that the diverse opinions within our community are accurately represented.” she said.

Whine said the Jewish Council has only about 600 members, which is a small fraction of the 116,000-strong Jewish community in Australia, and she hopes this petition encourages media outlets to seek out diverse perspectives within our community”.

The Jewish Council has responded by saying the petition starts from the false premise that the Jewish Council purports to represent all Jews.

The Council’s Max Kaiser said “Not only is this clearly untrue, we have stated in almost every interview that we are not representative. Our view is that no single person or organisation can speak on behalf of all Jews in Australia”.

He said the false claims by many Jewish organisations that all Jews support Israel is part of the reason the Jewish Council of Australia came into existence.

“We also note that many of the signatories of the petition explicitly state that they are not Jewish, therefore it is not possible currently to use the number of signatures as clearly representing a certain proportion of the Jewish community” he said.