Musings
On some weeks it is difficult to decide what to editorialise here.
On this particular week, the difficulty is too much choice. Should we talk about the horrific statistic that two-thirds of Jewish university students have experienced antisemitism on campus and more than half feel the need to hide their Jewish identity? Sobering for sure, and further evidence that universities simply cannot let this hatred run rampant any longer.
We could also mention the folly of Melbourne’s La Trobe University, who last week announced the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism. Except, by shunning its examples in favour of the highly problematic Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, La Trobe is in essence not actually adopting it at all.
Still on the topic of antisemitism, we could write about the findings of the Online Hate Prevention Institute’s report into antisemitism on social media. It found that some of the most popular online platforms need to be doing much more in terms of monitoring and removing hate speech.
We could write more about the federal government referring to the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza as “Occupied Palestinian Territory” or all settlements as “illegal”, a decision which will no doubt embolden some antisemites such as those in the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
We could write about Senator Lidia Thorpe’s speech last week in which she welcomed that stance and condemned “the brutality of the colonial power that is Israel and their state-sanctioned murder of the Palestinian people”.
Or, on the topic of Thorpe, we could write about how the ambiguously monikered Australian Jewish Association’s David Adler questioned the Indigenous heritage of the Senator and broadcaster Stan Grant, proving beyond doubt that his values are not our values.
But we’d prefer to write about Israeli soccer players Hadas Prawer and Dima Al-Rahmi – a Jew and a Muslim – and their participation in the Football For Good youth festival.
As Australia unites behind the Matildas, these inspirational young women are a wonderful example of the power of sport to foster unity and acceptance.
Indeed, it is due to people like them that we will one day no longer have to write about any of the above.
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