Schwartz asks police to withdraw intervention order
In a lengthy social media post, leader of the Jewish Council of Australia Sarah Schwartz has accused Zara Cooper of being "fixated" on her.
Sarah Schwartz has asked Victoria Police to withdraw a personal safety intervention order (PSIO) against Zara Cooper and advised she will not be providing them with a statement.
Last month police applied for a PSIO on behalf of Schwartz, the leader of far-left group Jewish Council of Australia, alleging Cooper’s online commentary was severely affecting her mental health. Cooper posts under the name Clammy Fraud on social media and has been critical of Schwartz and her Council.
Police had been granted more time to collect evidence on Cooper’s alleged harmful social media posts against Schwartz, despite providing 26 pages of social media content to the court.
But Schwartz accused Cooper of intending to use court proceedings, “to further her disgusting and racist social media commentary”.
In a lengthy social media post, Schwartz said that while some of Cooper’s posts about the Jewish Council “constitute legitimate political commentary”, the quantity of them “demonstrate a level of fixation on me as an individual rather than my politics”.
“Ms Cooper is clearly fixated, having made at least 671 social media posts about myself and the Jewish Council,” said Schwartz.
“Most of these posts reference me by name, and not, for example, my male co-Executive Officer. They are clearly racist and sexist in nature.”
In February, Schwartz made a formal complaint to police about Cooper’s posts, which allegedly include depictions of Schwartz’s face with Nazi imagery, leading police to initiate the case. But defence barristers acting on behalf of Cooper argued in court that there was no evidence of Nazi references or imagery of any protected persons.
Cooper has never met Schwartz in person, nor has she spoken with her or threatened her. Her small Instagram account is dedicated to calling out antisemitism and fighting for improved online safety. Yet police have still targeted her despite multiple online activists with far larger platforms continuing to menace the Jewish community and cause tangible harm. Victoria Police has not confirmed if the intervention order proceedings will be withdrawn.
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