Jewish Council labels Segal pro war
“We already have a Race Discrimination Commissioner which is empowered to fight all forms of racism," says Greens Deputy Leader and Antiracism spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi.
The Greens have criticised the government’s appointment of an antisemitism envoy.
Greens 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”.
She also criticised the lack of an envoy for Islamophobia, saying the announcement one would be created was hastily added on to the announcement without even a candidate.
“Muslims facing Islamophobia in this country should not be an afterthought. We need a united effort to defeat racism in this country, which is so pervasive and deep seated, especially against First Nations people” she said.
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.
Senator Faruqi didn’t speak out when Jenny Leong referred to the Jewish community’s ‘tentacles’. She has not said anything about the Jewish activists who have left the Greens because they don’t feel safe or respected.”
The Jewish Council of Australia has also expressed concern at the appointment.
The left leaning organisation which has little support within Australia’s Jewish community 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 antisemitism cannot be equated with other forms of racism and such a view demonstrates a misunderstanding of its unique nature and the Jewish experience in Australia over the past year.
“The Jewish Council of Australia, an unelected and deceptively named fringe group, was formed ostensibly to fight antisemitism but has consistently downplayed it. Their real objective appears to be to undermine the Jewish experience of antisemitism in Australia, while legitimising groups like the Islamic Council of Victoria, which have failed to condemn the October 7 attacks” Cassuto said.
Opposition Liberal Party Senator Dave Sharma has meanwhile welcomed Ms Segal’s appointment.
“Those who are objecting to this appointment, on some spurious basis that it will dilute a broader front against racism, are misguided. Combating one particularly prevalent form of discrimination does not lessen the fight against other forms – quite the opposite, in fact” he said.
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