New strategy to meet changing needs

Stand Up was established over 30 years ago and has become one of the Australian Jewish community’s leading social justice organisations. In the aftermath of October 7 and the Bondi massacre, Stand Up has launched an updated strategy that focuses on “activating emerging leaders” and builds on “allyship in action”.

Speaking to The AJN about its new approach Stand Up’s CEO Gabe Freund said it was needed as some former friendly organisations became hostile, and as young progressive Australian Jews found themselves ostracised.

“We have a very strong legacy of contributing to social change in this country, and yet, almost overnight, these places became unsafe for Jewish people … We’ve also seen what I would describe as a haemorrhaging of a cohort of passionate … young Jewish people who want to go out there in Australian society and make a difference,” he said.

In response, Freund said Stand Up is seeking to “support a generation of young Jewish leaders who are proud of who they are and know where they come from”, saying they are building a “movement of young Jewish change makers” who can be proudly Jewish while addressing inequities and social challenges.

Discussing Stand Up’s relationship with organisations it had once supported, Freund said that Stand Up’s true allies spoke up after the Bondi massacre. “It became clear who the groups were that stood beside us and loudly and vocally supported us and rejected the hatred that we’ve been experiencing, and those were communities that we’ve been working with for a really long time.”

He pointed to two Aboriginal communities in northern NSW, Toomelah and Boggabilla, where Stand Up has been working for more than 20 years with its Derech Eretz program, which sends young Jewish students to the communities for cultural learning and meeting with their elders.

“They know us as the Jewish mob,” he said. After the Bondi attack, these communities held a public vigil and a smoking ceremony in solidarity with the Jewish community. “They held that event to show their community that they stand with us, they stand with their friends, and that they reject hate,” he said.

Freund noted this was significant given some First Nations communities have aligned themselves with the anti-Israel movement where antisemitism is a widespread.

He reflected, “I think what we’ve learned is that when you do long term, deep relationship building, you achieve some sort of meaningful impact and change. When you only do surface level, photo ops or things that make people feel good in the moment, but then there’s no ongoing engagement – you don’t achieve that impact.”

Freund has worked in Arab-Jewish coexistence in Akko, Israel, building “social infrastructure that bridges between the different groups”.

He said the experience provided him with a pragmatic and realistic approach, noting, “You can’t just snap your fingers or write a nicely worded policy paper or throw a bunch of money at a problem and expect it to be solved. It takes long term, sustained, sometimes sophisticated work to make a difference … it is possible, it is attainable.”

To learn more visit standup.org.au