Category: Justice

How many must die to warrant a response from the JCCV?

The JCCV refused to make a statement when two Israelis were shot in a Tel Aviv youth centre, yet they sent a representative to a September 11 2001 memorial to lay a wreath. Did not enough people die in Tel Aviv on August 1 2009 to satisfy the JCCV?

[SOURCE]

The United States Consulate General Melbourne in association with the Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia  held a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of September 11 2001 attacks on Sunday the 11th of September 2011 at the 9/11 Memorial Trees, Kings Domain, Melbourne.

The JCCV had a representative at this solemn occasion:

Mr Simon Tisher, Executive Member of Jewish Community Council of Victoria lays flowers.
JCMA: "Mr Simon Tisher, Executive Member of Jewish Community Council of Victoria lays flowers."

On August 11 2009, 10 days after the Tel Aviv attack where two Israelis where brutally murdered in a youth centre, I sent out an email asking a number of community leaders to speak up and condemn some anti-gay sentiments being published on a Jewish blog in Melbourne.  The response to my email from John Searle, JCCV President, was:

From: John Searle <jsearle@vicbar.com.au>
Date: 12 August 2009 11:38
Subject: RE: Gay hate is rife in Jewish Australia on AJNwatch (resend)
To: Michael Barnett <michael@aleph.org.au>
Cc: Geoffrey Zygier

Hi Michael,

I was thinking we should have a chat about this over a coffee one day next week. I might even ask Geoffrey to join us. Can you make it one morning at 7.30 or 8.00 in the Caulfield area or does it have to be in the city in which case I would suggest 10.00 or 10.30?

I was thinking Wed next week.

JS

We ended up meeting at John Searle’s house, the evening of Wednesday August 19, 2009.  I was accompanied by Colin Krycer, also from Aleph Melbourne.  At this meeting I politely asked John Searle to issue a statement from the JCCV condemning the attack in Tel Aviv.  His response was that the JCCV doesn’t issue statements for many issues, of which this was but one.  At this meeting I handed John Searle a printed copy of this letter that I had written, outlining a draft proposal for an anti-homophobia strategy for the Australian Jewish community.  I subsequently sent through an electronic copy of it.

I quote from the JCCV’s “About Us > Overview” page:

Through consultation, advocacy and working with government, other faith and ethnic communities, the media, service providers and the general public, the JCCV seeks to achieve the following goals:

…

And in partnership with the State Zionist Council of Victoria:
A more sophisticated public understanding of Israel’s efforts to achieve peace and security
Effective counteraction of misinformation on Israel, the Middle East and the Arab/Israel conflict
A more sophisticated public understanding of Israel in relation to contemporary Jewish identity.

I seem to be getting a number of messages from the JCCV.

  1. They are prepared to make a public statement about the terrible attacks in the USA on September 11, 2001.
  2. They are concerned about issues relating to peace and security in Israel.
  3. They are concerned about contemporary Jewish identity in Israel.
  4. They are not prepared to comment on the horrific death of two young Israelis killed in a youth centre in Tel Aviv.

I am really puzzled by the JCCV’s reluctance to be outspoken on an issue that is core to their agenda.  What is so wrong with condemning an attack on young Israelis, given the Zionist and peace-loving nature of the JCCV?  The only conclusion I can make, in comparison with their response to September 11, is that perhaps insufficient people were killed on August 1, 2009 in Tel Aviv to warrant a response from the JCCV.

I politely ask the JCCV to reconsider their stance on which international events they make statements on, especially when it comes to contemporary Israeli youth, and issue a belated and sincere statement about the 2009 attack.  It’s not asking too much is it?

The leading causes of homophobia in Australia today

“Research confirms that Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Bob Katter, Jim Wallace, Jeff Kennett, George Pell and Peter Jensen are among the leading causes of Homophobia in Australia today.”

 

Research confirms that Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Bob Katter, Jim Wallace, Jeff Kennett, George Pell and Peter Jensen are among the leading causes of Homophobia in Australia today.  These individuals supported by organisations such as the ALP, the Coalition, the Australian Christian Hate Lobby, the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church are actively working to increase homophobia in Australia today.

 

The leading causes of homophobia in Australia today
The leading causes of homophobia in Australia today

Jeff Kennett – BeyondBlue

“Jeff Kennett is one of the leading causes of depression and homophobia. His views on what constitutes a family are harmful. Beyond Blue as an organisation that deals with mental health need to sack this man or it has no credibility.”

[SOURCE]

 

Jeff Kennett is one of the leading causes of depression and homophobia.  His views on what constitutes a family are harmful.  BeyondBlue as an organisation that deals with mental health need to sack this man or it has no credibility.

 

Jeff Kennett - Director & Chairperson - BeyondBlue & Homophobe
Jeff Kennett - Director & Chairperson - BeyondBlue & Homophobe

Manny the Brave

Manny Waks stands by his convictions, not afraid to say it how it is. He makes some insightful observations about the JCCV that parallel my experience with the organisation.

[SOURCE]

It’s a brave person to admit publicly they’ve been the victim of sexual abuse.  Making this admission in a small close-knit community is even more courageous; few do it.

Manny Waks has shown he’s a person who stands by his convictions, someone not afraid to say it how it is.  Forthrightness is a quality I admire.

In Manny’s response to the statements from Yeshivah and the JCCV, he makes some comments that are especially insightful.

While Yeshivah’s reluctance to fully cooperate with the investigation is somewhat understandable as it attempts to maintain its reputation – although completely unacceptable – the JCCV’s silence on this issue has been bewildering and outrageous. It indicates that there is a major gap in leadership in the Victorian Jewish community. No one was willing to stand up when it counted – this from an organisation that claims to be the voice of Victorian Jewry.

No victim would be interested in seeking assistance or support from an organisation that lacks moral leadership. Furthermore, the JCCV’s recommendation to seek assistance and support also from the Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence, a group that has proved itself to be primarily a Yeshivah apologist, is further alienating.

What is most revealing about Manny’s observation of the JCCV is that it parallels my experience with the same organisation.  This confirms to me that there are some fundamental deficiencies with the JCCV.  Address these and we can start to identify and then tackle the underlying harms that exist within the community, rather than just remedy them in a superficial manner.

Fascist Dictator Julia Gillard stops gay Aussies marrying in New York

Australian Fascist Dictator Julia Gillard denies Australian’s the right to get married overseas by refusing to issue a Certificate of Non-Impediment.

From: Alex Greenwich (AME)
Date: 8 July 2011 12:45
Subject: MEDIA RELEASE: GILLARD STOPS GAY AUSSIES MARRYING IN NEW YORK
To: Michael Barnett

AUSTRALIAN MARRIAGE EQUALITY

Media Release
Friday July 8th 2011

GILLARD STOPS GAY AUSSIES FROM MARRYING IN NEW YORK

The Gillard Government is blocking the marriages of gay Australians in New York.

When New York state’s new equal marriage law takes effect on July 27th same-sex couples from other countries will be able to marry there if they provide a Certificate of Non-Impediment to Marriage (CNI) to show they are not already married in their home country.

But the Australian Government refuses to give such certificates to same-sex couples intending to marry overseas, a policy defended by Julia Gillard as recently as the 14th of June, 2011.

Australian Marriage Equality National Convener, Alex Greenwich, called the policy petty and mean-spirited.

“The Gillard Government’s policy of not allowing same-sex marriages in Australia forces same-sex couples to go overseas if they want to marry, but when they apply to marry in another country Julia Gillard is there saying “no” as well”, Mr Greenwich said.

“This means some couples miss out on entitlements and protections they can only receive overseas if they are married in a country that would otherwise recognise their committment, and it causes endless hassles for couples who have planned their wedding only to find it can’t go ahead.”

In response to a question from Independent MP, Andrew Wilkie on June 14th Julia Gillard incorrectly stated that CNIs are issued to show if a marriage is recognised in Australia (details here), but the New York Marriage Registry clearly defines a CNI in the following way:

“A Certificate of Non-Impediment is an official Certification that the City Clerk’s Office has no information that would be an “impediment” to your getting a Marriage License in the City of New York.”

In 2009, a tri-partisan Senate inquiry condemned the policy of not issuing CNIs to same-sex couples and called for it be scrapped on the following basis:

“A decision by a sovereign nation to allow marriage between a couple of the same sex should be a matter for that nation, and not a matter against which Australia should throw up bureaucratic barriers.”

On Wednesday, openly-gay South Australian Labor State Upper House member, Ian Hunter, condemned the Gillard Government’s refusal to issue CNIs and revealed he and his partner have officially applied for a CNI to marry overseas. (Details here).

Yesterday in an interview with Sky News, Julia Gillard said she may not respect a motion at December’s National Labor Conference in favour of allowing same-sex marriages. (Details here)

For more information contact Alex Greenwich on 0421 316 335.

JCCV’s John Searle speaks on prejudice with gay abandon

John Searle, JCCV president, claims that Jews must not tolerate prejudice against homosexuals, yet dishes it out personally with gay abandon.

[SOURCE]

On May 1 2011 at the Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Commemoration Evening, Jewish Community Council of Victoria president John Searle delivered an address, in which he said:

It is up to us to play our part in ensuring that another holocaust never occurs. Be it attacks against Jews, blacks, homosexuals or political rivals, we must be ever vigilant in bringing the message to the world – never again! We must educate our children; help them to understand that we cannot turn a blind eye, not to racism, not to stereotyping, not to suffering, not to prejudice of any form, not ever. We must send the message, that racism and prejudice in all its evil forms will not be tolerated.

Just to refresh you, John Searle published a media release earlier this year in which he gave tacit support to the notion that organisations representing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people would not be welcome as a members of the JCCV, the organisation he is currently president of.

John Searle also told me in person late in 2009 that he believed it was acceptable for (orthodox) Judaism to be intolerant of homosexuality.  He refuses to discuss this (or any other) matter further as he knows it will blow open his facade of tolerance toward GLBT people.

I am in complete dismay at the absolute arrogance of this man, who on the one hand declares publicly that prejudice against homosexuals will not be tolerated, and on the other hand dishes out homophobic prejudice with gay abandon.

JCCV – Victoria’s serial Jewish bully

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria is a serial bully. It runs to the police to cry out against ant-Jewish hate but tolerates and promotes anti-gay attitudes. The Jewish bully needs a good spank.

[SOURCE]

This week the Australian Jewish News advised that the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) has launched a new reporting system for anti-Semitic incidents.  They’ll be working with their Community Security Group and Victoria Police.  That’s good news. This sort of hate needs to be identified and countered.

Welcoming the initiative, JCCV president John Searle said, “This is a great step forward in our relationship with the police.  They will now have a much better understanding of the issues we face.”

No doubt they will.  The JCCV are not shy at bringing “the issues we face” to the attention of the community and authorities, when they are so motivated.

I have a message for JCCV president John Searle.  Next time you’re on the phone to Victoria Police, please ask them to transfer you to their Gay and Lesbian Advisory Unit.

Please tell the GLAU that GLBT members of the Jewish community face homophobia, intolerance, marginalisation, hate, discrimination and contempt and that the JCCV tolerates and contributes to these attitudes originating from both within and external to the community.

Please tell the GLAU that the JCCV sees GLBT people as inferior members of the community, to be feared, and does not believe they are worthy of being admitted as members of the JCCV because they are perceived to be a risk to community stability.

Victoria Police needs to know that the JCCV is a serial bully, constantly crying out against anti-Jewish attitudes, but simultaneously perpetrating anti-gay attitudes and intolerance.

The JCCV is not playing the game fairly.  It plays by its own duplicitous rules, doing what it wants, when it suits it.

Time is up JCCV.  The Jewish Community bully is a bad boy and it needs a really good spank.

No joy in Jewish community heads gaining Lion membership

JCCV President John Searle fails to gain membership of a Jewish community radio station, yet he endorses the view that marginalisation of GLBT members of the Jewish community is acceptable.

[SOURCE]

This week the Australian Jewish News (Mar 4 2011, p3) reported that heads of key organisations in Melbourne’s Jewish community faced difficulty gaining membership of embattled aspirant community broadcaster Lion FM (Melbourne Jewish Radio):

“MJR president John Kraus … submitted Lion FM membership applications for ECAJ president Dr Danny Lamm, JCCV president John Searle and Zionist Council of Victoria president Sam Tatarka. The executive, however, passed a resolution to defer membership deliberations – “a disgusting and disgraceful state of events”, according to Kraus, particularly given that Searle and Tatarka were present.

This comes two weeks after the JCCV issued a media release (covered in my blog here) stating:

Rabbi Rapoport contends that the GLBT community must accept that they cannot become official members of the JCCV as this would fracture the Jewish community.

In 1999 the JCCV refused membership to Aleph Melbourne[1], then a social and support group for gay and bisexual Jewish men.  Now in 2011 the JCCV unapologetically endorses the unsubstantiated view of Rabbi Rapoport that membership of the JCCV by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the Jewish community would be harmful to said community.  In my opinion these two events overshadow the fraught membership application by the JCCV president of community radio station Lion FM.

There may be meritorious reasons for Lion putting on hold the membership applications of Searle, Lamm and Tatarka.  It is unhelpful that Searle endorses Rapoport’s claim the JCCV should not have GLBT membership.  This action further marginalises GLBT members of the Jewish community.  If any community organisation wants to be successful, it must work cooperatively with every member of the community it is a part of, not just those that fit its political agenda.

It’s worth noting that in 1999 that both the State Zionist Council and Danny Lamm actively spoke against membership of Aleph Melbourne to the JCCV.

By no stretch of the imagination do they [Aleph Melbourne] follow Jewish ideals and the motion [for membership] should not be put forward — Erwin Lamm, SZC delegate[2]

The organisation [Aleph Melbourne] … is not an organisation that ought to be represented at the JCCV. — Dr Danny Lamm, Mizrachi delegate[3]

If Searle, Lamm or Tatarka approached Aleph Melbourne for membership, they would be pleased to hear that membership would be approved without hesitation.  Aleph Melbourne doesn’t ask questions about how prospective members bat or the way they prefer to score goals.  The organisation welcomes all members of the Jewish community, with the only prerequisite being a Jewish identity or heritage.

Lastly, if any of the aforementioned wish to become members of a long-standing and reputable community radio station in Melbourne, they can approach JOY 94.9.  Their membership application process is especially transparent.  Apply here.

1 JCCV Plenum Meeting minutes – May 10 1999

2 “Gay group seeks to join the JCCV” [AJN, Apr 9 1999; p7]

3 “Could Aleph split the JCCV?” [AJN, Apr 30 1999; p7]

Anti-Defamation Commission – an organisation in conflict with itself

In October I wrote to the Anti-Defamation Commission in relation to the issues I addressed in my previous blog, calling for them to take action.

I received this initial response to my message:

From: ADC Reception <Reception@antidef.org.au>
Date: 14 October 2010 10:48
Subject: RE: Call for Anti-Defamation Commission to echo ADL’s Denouncement of Carl Paladino’s Comments Denigrating Homosexuality
To: Michael Barnett <mikeybear69@gmail.com>

Dear Michael,

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.  We are taking this matter seriously; the ADC Board will consider it at its next meeting on Wednesday 20th October.    We will let you know the outcome of our discussion shortly after.

Kind Regards
Alain Grossbard
Acting Chairman ADC

I followed up with the ADC after their board meeting and received the following response:

From: ADC Reception <Reception@antidef.org.au>
Date: 25 October 2010 09:55
Subject: RE: Call for Anti-Defamation Commission to echo ADL’s Denouncement of Carl Paladino’s Comments Denigrating Homosexuality
To: Michael Barnett <mikeybear69@gmail.com>

Dear Michael,

The Board has declined to comment.

Curiously, the matter goes from genuine concern to silence.  But really, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, because we know the ADC won’t comment on anti-gay hate in the Jewish community.

With the immediate past JCCV President Anton Block being appointed to chair of the ADC, I don’t expect this situation to change.  The ADC’s parent organisation is the JCCV (not B’nai B’rith as the Jewish News continues to misinform all).  The ADC tows the JCCV’s “let’s not upset the Orthodox” stance and remains muzzled by them.

Deborah Stone, Research Director at the ADC says on Galus Australis:

But I’m quite clear on my Jewish identity and my rights as a Jew to be free from hate speech. I’m also clear on my responsibility, as a Jew and as a human being, to advocate for respectful pluralism in Australia. So when an opportunity to use my media and research background came up at the Anti-Defamation Commission, it seemed a good fit.

Of course, but don’t let a little hate toward gay people get in the way of you doing your job.  We all know anti-gay hate isn’t nearly as harmful as anti-Jew hate.  Jewish Gays can cop it, can’t we?  We don’t really matter all that much.  A little suicide or self-mutilation here and there won’t matter to the families of the young kids who feel they can’t cope with the anti-gay hate that the ADC won’t address.  But god help those who throw anti-Jew shit at Jews.  Lord knows the ADC and it’s overlords at the JCCV will turn heaven and earth to seek adequate redress.

The ADC needs to take a good look at itself.  The JCCV needs to take a good look at itself.  The Jewish community needs to ask itself if they want to be represented by these self-serving, gutless organisations that elect egotistical leaders in acts of nepotic arrogance.

They don’t give a fuck about the welfare of your kids.  Only their egos and political careers.