Taking back the Opera House
"This campaign will be like no other before it. Never in our recent history has the Australian Jewish community experienced such levels of antisemitism or felt as uncertain about our local community's future.
JCA’s 2024 Communal Campaign event will take place on Sunday, April 7 at the iconic Sydney Opera House.
“Following the October 9 protests on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, it has been an overwhelming desire of mine for our community to gather at this iconic location and to proudly reaffirm our place as a strong and resilient Australian Jewish community,” JCA CEO Alain Hasson said.
“This campaign will be like no other before it. Never in our recent history has the Australian Jewish community experienced such levels of antisemitism or felt as uncertain about our local community’s future.
“Following the attacks in Israel on October 7 and the protests on October 9, everything changed. It is now up to us to stand together as one – a united, strong community that supports each other.”
Headlining the event will be former Olympian, former Senator and ally of the community Nova Peris and Dr Sharon Nazarian, an Iranian-born American communal leader, philanthropist and international authority on antisemitism.
Nazarian, former senior vice-president and now current board director of the Anti-Defamation League will address the community on the globalisation of antisemitism.
Three days before the horrific October 7 Hamas attack, Nazarian piloted a course at UCLA in the Global Studies department on The Globalisation of Antisemitism: A Survey of Transnational Trends – a senior seminar on understanding antisemitism through a global lens.
As an experienced educator and adjunct professor of political science, her experience with the campus climate in the US has provided her with firsthand insight into what is going on at an especially sensitive time.
“I call on everyone to join us at the Sydney Opera House.
“We will stand together with our community, our friends, our family and our allies to ensure our local organisations like the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, CSG and AUJS who are on the frontlines of advocating for us and keeping us safe know they are not alone,” JCA president Ian Sandler said.
Bookings for the event are now open to anyone over the age of 16.
Bookings: jca.org.au/main-event-2024
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