Wednesday, 15 November 2023

Motions

Community safety

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (10:22): I move:

That this house:

(a) condemns the disgusting acts of antisemitic violence committed by anti-Israel protestors outside a synagogue on Shabbat in Caulfield South;

(b) unequivocally condemns all acts of antisemitism; and

(c) stands with Melbourne’s Jewish community and their right to feel safe in their own backyard.

Last Friday evening we all saw the shocking events unfold before our very eyes in which the Jewish community was targeted on the Sabbath – not only on the Sabbath, but on the eve of Kristallnacht, Kristallnacht being the night of the broken glass, which actually kicked off the Holocaust and the tragedy that we saw then unfold. It was at a time on that Friday night in Caulfield where many were attending their Friday night services, and where this particular anti-Israel protest took place was outside Central Synagogue. Those congregants in Central Synagogue had to be evacuated. They had to be evacuated because they feared for their safety. We should never, ever have to evacuate houses of religion. We should never, ever have to do that. To think that it was, as I say, on the night of remembrance of the night that sparked the Holocaust, to think that Jews back then were precluded from practising their religion, to think that we would see this kind of event unfold on our streets in Melbourne – that is why we need to protect the rights of people to be able to go about their lives and practise their religion, practise their faith, and not have to be looking over their shoulders as to who might come after them.

We know of the increasing antisemitism since the events of 7 October, and 7 October changed the world. It changed the lives of so many, where we saw the murder of 1400 people going about their lives – 1400 people that were living on a kibbutz on the Gaza border, many of those at a dance party actually dancing for peace. Kfar Aza is one of the kibbutzim which was attacked and still has 14 hostages. It was in the middle of actually making kites, which it flies every year – which they have for the last 40 years – to fly as a symbol of peace to actually show to the Palestinians on the other side that one day there would be peace.

I say this, which is very important, although it is not about the events of the Middle East and what is happening over there: I know people are very anxious in terms of where they come from and their views on what is going on in the Middle East, and I, as I think like most Australians, do not want to see one loss of a life, be it a Palestinian or an Israeli life – not one. But unfortunately in this particular horror movie that we are seeing we have had an evil group called Hamas which have used the Palestinians and which have targeted the Jews, and the only way for peace is to actually take out the evil that is using this as cover to effectively wipe out all Jews. That is in the mandate of what Hamas stands for. That is their doctrine – to wipe out all Jews from the face of the earth. Any organisation that seeks to eradicate another group simply has no place.

I would call for calm in this notice that I am putting forward, and I would actually call for unity, because anybody that wants peace in the Middle East needs to unify to ensure that those evils are taken out. We want to see a peaceful solution for the Palestinians. I, more than anybody, want that, and I am prepared to do whatever it takes to work with communities, whether it be in Victoria or whether it be in any other place, to see peace. The Jewish community are a peaceful group. In fact since 7 October we have not seen the Jewish community running down on the steps of Parliament House calling for the death of anybody or calling for the targeting of anybody. In fact every single protest – well, not even protest but get-together – of the Jewish community has been a peaceful, respectful vigil, firstly calling for the 240 hostages to be returned home and also to see the end of the horror that is unfolding at the moment. What happened last Friday night should have never happened, and we have got to do whatever we can to make sure what happened on Friday night never, ever happens again, not just for the Jewish community but for any community.

We are a proud multicultural state, and no multicultural group should ever, ever be targeted. I would hate to think that down in Springvale the Vietnamese community might be targeted for whatever might happen or that a Muslim community might be targeted in Coburg or outside a mosque or that the Indian community might be targeted because people do not like the Indian community. I would hate for anyone, anyone at all, to be targeted, and when they are, we must unify. When they are, we must stand up together and strongly.

I do want to say that since this happened on 7 October, working with both the Premier and the Deputy Premier to look at ways in which we can go forward with this has been really important. We cannot play politics with this. We have got to look at ways to be able to get this done. I think particularly the words of the Greens and others to try and spark this and to use this politically does not help anything. It does not help the situation. To try and get kids to strike and take a day off school does not do anything. As the Shadow Minister for Early Childhood and Education has said, let us educate kids about international affairs in the classroom, not on the streets, trying to take sides and fuel more hate. We have got to do whatever we can, and that is why this motion is really, really important. The Deputy Premier and I have had a number of words about this, and I know the Deputy Premier has been to Israel and he has seen firsthand what Israel contributes to the rest of the world and what an important role Israel does play.

Just finishing my contribution today on this motion, a letter to the editor in the Age this morning from Keren Zelwer, one of my constituents in St Kilda East, says:

I write this as a proud Australian and a proud Jew, and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors who attempted to reach the shores of Israel on the famous Exodus ship in 1947. It has been well documented that the Exodus ship symbolised the struggle of the Jewish refugees to reach their homeland. The refusal of the British Mandate to allow Jewish refugees safe passage to Israel ultimately led the world to recognise the need for a Jewish state. I have never before been more acutely aware of this need.

The age-old antisemitic hate is now rising up around the world cloaked as anti-Zionism, and we must not allow it to fester. Although I believe in the goodness of most Australians of all backgrounds, I cling to the notion that never again will Jews be turned away when seeking refuge from antisemitic atrocities if needed.

I am looking to all Australians to ensure there is never a repeat of the atrocities that have been committed against Jews throughout our history. While Palestinians also deserve to live in dignity, Israel is facing an existential threat from terror, and Australia must continue to support its right to exist as a Jewish homeland.

Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Minister for Education, Minister for Medical Research) (10:30): I thank the member for Caulfield for his motion, and while this is not the normal way of doing business in this chamber, I do want to say a few words because we are living in very, very difficult times. I want to make it very clear in support of the member for Caulfield and his words that the violence, hate speech and antisemitism we saw on Friday night in Caulfield is unacceptable, and the government condemns it in the strongest terms. Israel’s first Prime Minister, the great David Ben-Gurion, once said, ‘In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles’, and there is no doubt right around the world that people are looking for miracles right now.

We do know, and I think it breaks our hearts to think, that Holocaust survivors only recently thought that they needed to collectively come together to sign a statement on what is occurring not only here but around the world. To read the words of Abram Goldberg, a Melburnian who has written a book on the Holocaust and a book about love and peace with the author Fiona Harris, and see that he has had to come out at 97 going on 98 to condemn what has been occurring speaks volumes. He said:

Never have we, the survivors of the Holocaust felt the need to make a collective statement such as this until now.

It is sad that that is what has had to happen. Like the member for Caulfield, I do believe we need to stand together and be very much collective on this, because we also need to remember that Victoria and indeed Australia are home to more Holocaust survivors per capita than anywhere outside of Israel, and this is a strength of the Victorian fabric. Indeed when I was in Israel recently, I was drawing on their know-how and their expertise in business, in the arts, in science and in technology. What they have achieved there as a democracy and as an economy is incredible, and they should be celebrated for that. They do have every right to exist in their homeland, where they have ancient roots.

We do know, and I think Barack Obama said this quite well in his statement that he released – and there is a great documentary out that I have seen about the past 25 years of trying to reach peace that interviews President Clinton, Secretary of State Albright, President Bush, President Obama and all of the advisers, from Yitzhak Rabin to Ehud Barak to the Camp David accords under Jimmy Carter to the Camp David summit under President Clinton. It needs to be put on record that the Israeli government has on more than one occasion gone very far, and indeed leaders such as Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak indeed should be commended for the courage they showed, albeit perhaps against their own opinion polls, to try and reach a two-state solution. As Barack Obama himself said, ultimately it was rebuffed on these occasions by the other side. But we all do believe in a two-state solution, and the member for Caulfield is right – we want all Palestinians and all Israelis to be living in peace and harmony under a two-state solution. While that seems very far away at the moment, it is I think the way forward and the pathway forward.

Coming in to our Parliament today there is a sign out the front that most members would have seen that says ‘Justice for Palestine is peace for humanity’. We all want to see not one more civilian life lost, but we have got to also remember that it was Hamas that broke the ceasefire. It was Hamas that has caused untold murder. Parading the naked body of a woman down the street and seeing her be kicked at and spat out is not on in any type of civil society. US intelligence has come out today to confirm that Hamas is indeed embedded amongst the civilian population, including under hospitals.

That just goes to show the tenor of the evil that we are dealing with, and they do need to be unhinged and dealt with and taken off so they can never, ever have the capacity to do what they did on the 7th when they broke that ceasefire. We support the diplomacy, and we do support President Biden, Tony Blinken and others working with Mr Netanyahu to try and solve this but also make sure that civilian life is sacrosanct. It is heartbreaking to see young children’s – and we know the population of Gaza is predominantly young people – innocent lives being lost, and we all have a moral obligation to try and support everyone to get through this.

As the member for Caulfield also outlined and as other members have, let us also remember that what we do here in our homeland in Melbourne, Victoria, can also be a beacon for how we interact with one another and how we support one another. We know violence and hate have no place in our society or in any society and the easy path would be to blame different sides, but we do need to try and work together and see a way forward. It is very sad that Q&A on the ABC on Monday night – many people would have watched that – for the first time I think had to be filmed without an audience. Both sides put their cases forward during that program, and it was pretty hard to watch, to be frank, because of the difficulty and the lives that are being lost. We also need to make sure that when we talk about the current conflict the Palestinians are not lumped with Hamas. They are innocent here. They have done nothing. The brutal, murderous Hamas regime needs to be held to account and needs to be destroyed, and we need to make sure that that is what occurs.

I just want to end by saying that violence does not have a place in our society. I have worked with the member for Caulfield, and I know the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition have also worked together on this. Indeed we have been at many functions together on this in Caulfield and at the ‘Bring them home’ function recently at Fed Square and seen the toddlers’ shoes – literally infants . We do not know what place they are in or where they are, but they are being held hostage. We do call for those 239 innocent civilians to be brought back to their homes and their loved ones as soon as possible.

In conclusion, I just want to say there is no place for what occurred on Friday night ever to occur again. There is no place for the violence, hate speech and antisemitism we have seen, and we do condemn it in the strongest possible terms. We do hope for a peaceful resolution where Israelis and Palestinians are able to live in peace and harmony. We do hope wise heads prevail and diplomacy can prevail behind the scenes, as we have seen happen on other occasions, that we can get through this together and that we always remember and celebrate what is so unique and so special about Melbourne, Victoria, and always put that first and foremost in our interactions in our community.

Motion agreed to.