Victorian Labor conference gets mixed Jewish response

The Victorian Labor Party state conference has received criticism from Jewish communal bodies for passing a motion supporting the release of convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti.

But Jewish Labor figures insist the wider mood at the conference reflected a significant improvement in the party’s relationship with the Jewish community.

Delegates also voted down an amendment that would have condemned Iran’s human rights record.

And Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has criticised two of the motions, saying they did nothing to support social cohesion in Victoria.

“They are not motions that go to state government responsibilities … more importantly, they don’t go to matters that are about strengthening social cohesion in this state,” she said.

“We do not need actions that divide the community. We need to be using every ounce of our energy to build and strengthen social cohesion for communities that have been grieving conflict in the ­Middle East.”

Ms Allan said the Iranian regime “inflicted an evil act of terror here in Melbourne”, referring to the firebombing of the Adas Israel Synagogue by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

However, the conference unanimously passed a motion explicitly rejecting antisemitism, moved by Jewish delegate Dean Sherr, which received a standing ovation.

A second motion calling for respectful conduct in discussions of the Israel-Palestine conflict, moved by Jewish Labor co-convener Adam Slonim, was also passed.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said the Barghouti motion represented “a shocking moral collapse” from elements of the Victorian Labor movement.

“Marwan Barghouti is not a political prisoner. He is a convicted terrorist responsible for the murder of innocent civilians,” Mr Leibler said.

He noted Barghouti was serving five life sentences plus an additional 40 years for murder, attempted murder and terrorism offences, and called on Premier Jacinta Allan to distance herself from the motion.

“A mainstream Australian government should not be associated in any way with advocacy for the release of a convicted terrorist responsible for murdering civilians.”

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Committee responded by saying “While we welcome the Victorian ALP conference passing a motion rejecting antisemitism, and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan publicly distancing herself from the most extreme anti-Israel motions, the outcome nonetheless reflects a troubling strain of ideological extremism within sections of the party.”

AIJAC said accusing Israel of apartheid is “a deeply inflammatory and unfounded allegation”, and calls for the release of convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti are equally indefensible.

Chief executive of the right leaning Australian Jewish Association, Robert Gregory, said the motion was particularly painful in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack last December.

“When a major political party in Australia lends political support to calls for the release of someone convicted of orchestrating such violence, it sends a deeply disturbing signal and risks emboldening extremist sentiment,” Mr Gregory said.

“It is difficult to understand how any member of the Jewish community could feel comfortable remaining in a party where such motions are supported.”

Mr Sherr, whose motion received the standing ovation, told The AJN the vote sent a clear message.

“It was a great sign, certainly, that the entire conference was prepared not just to vote for it, but to vote with their feet, literally,” he said.

He said the motion was intended to speak for all Jewish Labor members.

“We’re here because we’re not going to make a choice between being Jewish or Labor. We’re proud of our Jewish identity and our heritage and our values, and those values inform our desire to be active in Labor.”

Mr Sherr was nevertheless disappointed by the Barghouti motion and the defeat of the Iran amendment, saying the two Iranian-Australian sisters behind it had not received the respect he had been afforded.

“I know many people in the room were Googling who is Marwan Barghouti, as his name popped up on the screen, so I don’t think that people really understood or grasped what that motion was about.”

He said the broader cultural shift within Labor was the more important story. “It was more significant and meaningful the way that the conference affirmed and discussed its own culture and its own values and its own inclusion of Jewish people.”

Mr Slonim said as his motion was debated, a young Muslim delegate took the microphone to express support before embracing him in the hall.

“The mood of that conference towards its Jewish delegates and those who support Israel is starkly, starkly different to last year and the year before,” he said, attributing the change to a “post-Bondi world”.

He acknowledged the foreign policy motions were disappointing but said they should not be given undue weight.

“Those two little silly motions in a state conference around foreign policy, they stand for what they are. The real issue is Dean’s motion, [which got a] standing ovation, and mine getting applause.”

Mr Slonim’s motion affirmed that the Australian Jewish and Palestinian communities must never be held collectively responsible for overseas conflicts.

“Our job is to build on that,” Mr Slonim said.