Jewish man refused service by pro-Palestine staff member
'Inflammatory, hurtful, and unnecessary displays like this only further marginalise, isolate, and harm our Jewish community'
A Jewish man was denied service at an Officeworks store in Elsternwick by a pro-Palestine staff member.
The man went to the store in March to have a page of the Australian Jewish News laminated, but the employee would not do it as she said she was “pro-Palestine”.
When the customer asked why she wouldn’t do the job, she said Officeworks could deny service. He argued about this, and the staff member threatened to call the police, so he left.
Officeworks managing director Sarah Hunter issued a statement regretting the incident and the distress caused to the customer.
“We learned of the incident in March 2024. We were deeply disappointed that it occurred and confirm that the customer’s job should have been performed by the team member. We confirm that we have taken this matter extremely seriously, investigated the matter at the time and took appropriate disciplinary action. The views expressed by the team member are not Officeworks’ views,” she said.
“At Officeworks, we do not discriminate against our customers on the basis of political views, religious beliefs, gender, sexuality or race.”
Hunter said Officeworks has provided ongoing training and education to team members so that they understand the importance of treating all customers with respect and dignity. “Arising out of this incident relevant team members received education through the Melbourne Holocaust Museum,” she said.
The AJN understands the staff member who refused service to the Jewish customer is still employed at Officeworks but has undergone training.
The Jewish customer, who wants to remain an anonymous, has now applied to VCAT for an order under the Human Rights List under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 claiming racial and religious vilification.
AJN editor-in chief Gareth Narunsky said he was shocked at the incident in which someone simply wanted to laminate a page of the newspaper.
He said The AJN represents a broad range of Australian Jews with diverse opinions, running plenty of content critical of Israeli policies or actions when appropriate and also staunchly upholding Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself.
“To deny a customer who simply wants to laminate an article from our publication reeks of ignorance and antisemitism. Had the employee looked closer, she would have seen that the article in question was about a group of Australians who travelled to Israel to help and support the victims of the heinous Hamas-led attack on October 7, when more Jews were killed in one day than at any time since the Holocaust,” Narunsky said.
The AJN editor said history has shown that this kind of bloodshed is where antisemitism invariably leads.
Macnamara MP Josh Burns said there is no excuse for denying Jewish Australians services because of one’s views on the Middle East.
“That is antisemitism, and it must be called out as such. For the past 10 months we have seen Jewish Australians targeted for wearing a Magen Davids, Kippahs and Jewish school uniforms – that is completely unacceptable,” he said.
Burns believes It is incumbent on every company to ensure that they have a non-discrimination policy when serving customers and that it is upheld in all circumstances.
State Member for Caulfield, David Southwick, called the incident unacceptable.
He has written to Officeworks managing director Sarah Hunter, saying the company must now publicly apologise to the individual involved, publicly apologise to the Jewish community, provide staff at the store with proper antisemitism education programs, and guarantee that this behaviour will never happen again.

“Inflammatory, hurtful, and unnecessary displays like this only further marginalise, isolate, and harm our Jewish community. The fact that this happened on Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick – which sits in the heart of Melbourne’s Jewish community – has only added insult to injury,” Southwick said.
Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said, “It may begin with the Jews being turned away from a public business, but it will not end with the Jews, and red lines are now being crossed that I never thought I’d see in my lifetime.”
He said there should be zero tolerance for this kind of profiling and indefensible prejudice.
“No one should be singled out or denied service because of their ethnic origin, the country they support, gender, creed, faith, or sexual orientation. Being different should be a cause for celebration, not a liability that makes one subject to bias,” Abramovich said.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria CEO Naomi Levin said, “All Victorians are protected by law from discrimination. The JCCV urges any Jewish Victorian who feels they have been discriminated against to seek assistance from the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, which is the government body entrusted to provide support in this area.”
She said all instances of antisemitism should also be reported to CSG Victoria via the JEAP app.
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