Police to interview Burgertory owner
"Mr Tayeh frequently leads deeply offensive and antisemitic chants, labelling the majority of the Australian Jewish community as terrorists,” says Alon Cassuto.
The owner of the Burgertory restaurant which was firebombed in Caulfield in November reportedly faces arrest this week for anti-Jewish incitement.
The Age newspaper reports that Hashem Tayeh, a Palestinian activist has been told he will be arrested over allegations of inciting hatred of Jews while leading protests about the war in Gaza.
The arrest had not taken place before this edition of the AJN was printed.
A Victoria Police spokesperson has said “A person of interest has been identified and they have been contacted, both directly and through their legal representative, to arrange a time to be interviewed. It is standard practice for police to interview persons of interest about their alleged behaviour while a matter is being investigated.
The Melbourne man who initiated the complaint that led to this, Menachem Vorcheimer, said the Jewish community has endured a lot of pain over the last nine plus months.
“This pain has been compounded by people who have arguably incited hatred and/or serious contempt towards members of the Australian Jewish community. Freedom of religion and social cohesion necessitate a zero-tolerance approach towards those who seemingly seek to divide Australian society along racial and/or religious lines” he said.
Vorcheimer said he welcome any steps taken to affirm those values.
Zionist Federation of Australia CEO Alon Cassuto was unsurprised by the news.
“Mr Tayeh frequently leads deeply offensive and antisemitic chants, labelling the majority of the Australian Jewish community as terrorists. Such chants are a violent affront to our community”.
Cassuto said people should remember Tayeh’s allegations that he was the victim of a hate crime when his burger store burned down … ultimately led to the violent and intimidating protest in Caulfield Park, which forced a shule to be evacuated.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) President, Philip Zajac said Victoria Police has made more than 60 arrests in recent months in relation to racial and religious motivated crime, largely antisemitism.
“During our many discussions with police the JCCV continues to educate on what antisemitism looks like and urges police to treat all reports with utmost seriousness. We also continue to press the Victorian Government to legislate long-overdue reforms to our anti-vilification laws to make it easier to hold antisemites to account.”
There have been public pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Australia at which slogans about “armed resistance” have been heard.
Member for Caulfield, David Southwick said “When thugs feel comfortable enough to spew violent hatred in public, it shows our government has completely failed. They don’t care about Palestine anymore. They hate Australia, hate our values, and want to burn our whole society to the ground”.
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