Sydney, It’s time to come home

Jewish Parents in Victoria, Australia, Please for the safety of your children think about making Aliyah. At lest send them ahead to Israel where they are safe.

I am deeply concerned that we are running out of time before we go over the cliff and public schools will become no-go zones for Jewish students. Increasingly today, being Jewish is a liability and makes you an easy scapegoat in an educational system where antisemitism is a deeply entrenched problem that is being swept under the rug and brushed aside by principals.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission

RISE IN ANTISEMITISM: SKY NEWS OUTSIDERS 6 Oct 19

Bibi Netanyahu:”I want you to continue studying Hebrew. Be proud Jews. Be proud Australians. And come to Israel.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been mobbed by Jewish primary school students during a visit to Moriah College in Sydney.
23 Feb 2017 – 5:24 PM  UPDATED YESTERDAY 5:24 PM
They were told to be on their best behaviour. They were told to sing in their most beautiful voices. And most importantly, to smile.

But the excitement was just too much for hundreds of Jewish primary school children to remember the messages from their head teacher when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked into their assembly hall at Moriah College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Up leapt dozens of children from the neat lines they were sitting in on the floor, while dozens more school choir members jumped down from a tiered stand where they had been patiently waiting, sending Mr Netanyahu’s huge security team into a spin.

As the grim-faced, dark-suited security guards tried unsuccessfully to stop the mini mob, Mr Netanyahu grinned and shook their hands and gave them high-fives.

Squeals of excitement rang out as he and his wife Sara made their way to some seats at the side of the hall.

The Netanyahus were accompanied by Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy, who are regular visitors to Moriah’s high-security Bondi Junction campus as it sits in the heart of the prime minister’s Wentworth electorate.

After listening to the choir sing Jerusalem of Gold, Israel’s unofficial national anthem, Mr Netanyahu had some questions for the children.

“How many of you want to come to Israel?” he asked. A sea of arms reached into the air.

“How many of you speak Hebrew?” Again, more arms went up.

“Here’s what I want to ask you to do. I want you to continue studying Hebrew. Be proud Jews. Be proud Australians. And come to Israel.”

As he bid them shalom, the children cheered and leapt to their feet to swarm around him so they could have pose for photos while some chanted his nickname, “Bibi, Bibi”.

Finally he managed to make his way out of the hall so he could drop by on a Hebrew lesson and deliver a speech to the college’s high school students.

The young children he left behind in the hall were buzzing with excitement.

But their head teacher wasn’t quite as happy.

“I think you could have behaved with a bit more decorum,” she told them.

Hundreds of high school students in a separate auditorium restricted themselves to standing ovations for Mr Netanyahu after he delivered a speech focused on the “fierce courage” of the Jews and their determination to have their own homeland in the state of Israel.

“Jews were transformed as the Jewish state transformed Jewish history and Jews’ destiny,” he said.

“You are part of that destiny. You are part of the reborn Jewish people.”


PM Netanyahu and Australian PM Turnbull Visit Moriah College in Sydney

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Jewish boys taunted in shocking cases of anti-Semitic bullying at Melbourne schools

By Adam Carey October 3, 2019 https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/jewish-boys-taunted-in-anti-semitic-bullying-at-melbourne-schools-20191003-p52xen.html

A 12-year-old Jewish student was forced to kneel down and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate, while a five-year-old boy was allegedly called a “Jewish cockroach” and repeatedly hounded in the school toilets by his young classmates.

The two incidents this year – the first involving a year 7 boy at Cheltenham Secondary College and the second a prep student at Hawthorn West Primary School – have prompted the Anti-Defamation Commission to sound an alarm about what it says is a “rapidly spreading” crisis involving anti-Semitic bullying in Victorian state schools.

Both boys, whose parents have asked to remain anonymous, have since left the schools where the incidents occurred, with the five-year-old boy currently being home schooled.

The older boy’s act of kissing another student’s shoes, under threat of being swarmed by several other boys, was filmed, photographed and shared on social media.

No disciplinary action has been taken against the group of boys involved in the incident, which took place in a public park.

The mother said she was bitterly disappointed by the response of Cheltenham Secondary College and the Education Department.

The school and the department have denied having responsibility for the incident, because it did not take place on school grounds, the mother said.

“I took such offence with the Education Department, because there was nothing they did to protect my son at all, at any point in time – that’s what’s cut me up,” she said.

The mother sought out the parents of the Muslim boy, who were horrified by their son’s actions.

“We sat down, his parents, the two boys and myself, around the table and explained the velocity of [the bullying] and what it meant to us as parents as far as building bridges between Jews and Muslims in society and not creating division like that photo does,” she said.

One of the boys who watched on was later suspended for five days for assaulting the Jewish student in the school locker room.

The Jewish boy was punched in the face and left with a bruised back and had skin gouged out of his shoulder, his mother said.

Death threats sent to Jewish boy forced to kiss Muslim’s shoes

Jewish 12-year-old in Australia who was forced to kiss Muslim peer’s shoes receives messages threatening that he’ll be slaughtered.
Marcy Oster, JTA, 10October2019 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/270009

The Jewish boy who was forced to kneel and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate has been sent threatening text messages.

The messages were sent Friday after photos of the incident were splashed across the front pages of newspapers in Australia and around the world, the Daily Mail reported. The photo was first published by the Australian Jewish News.

The messages told the 12-year-old boy that he would be slaughtered and asked if he wanted to “talk about suicide,” according to the report.

Victoria Police confirmed to the Daily Mail Australia that they were investigating a report of such text messages but would not comment further.

Dvir Abramovich, chairman of B’nai B’rith’s Anti-Defamation Commission, called the threats “vile and deplorable.” He said the boy’s parents now want a broader inquiry into anti-Semitism in schools.

Abramovich has helped the family to relocate the boy from Cheltenham Secondary College in suburban Melbourne to a Jewish school.

The incident did not take place on the school’s campus. Reports said a group of older students threatened the boy with violence if he did not comply.


Opinion from Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission

Antisemitism in Victorian schools is a monumental and hidden crisis

By Dvir Abramovich October 4, 2019 https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/antisemitism-in-victorian-schools-is-a-monumental-and-hidden-crisis-20191004-p52xp2.html

A 12-year-old Jewish boy from Cheltenham Secondary College is lured to a park and threatened with gang violence unless he kisses the feet of a Muslim boy who films this evil ritual. Later, the young man is beaten up so badly that he loses consciousness and is hospitalised.

A 5-year-old Jewish kid at Hawthorn West Primary is bullied by five classmates because he is circumcised and called a “Jewish vermin and cockroach”. Emotionally scarred, he eventually leaves, effectively forced out by an administration whose only solution is to suggest that the child use the staff bathroom. These heartbreaking episodes are just the tip of the iceberg.

We need to accept a hard truth: Anti-Semitism in Victorian schools is a monumental and hidden crisis that is keeping Jewish parents, who are terrified about the physical and mental safety of their children, up at night. The phones at the Anti-Defamation Commission ring off the hook daily with chilling reports of harassment of Jewish students, and the situation has become so bad that there is no telling where this descent will end.

I am deeply concerned that we are running out of time before we go over the cliff and public schools will become no-go zones for Jewish students. Increasingly today, being Jewish is a liability and makes you an easy scapegoat in an educational system where antisemitism is a deeply entrenched problem that is being swept under the rug and brushed aside by principals.

I well up with emotion when I hear of Jewish kids being subjected to physical assaults, bigoted stereotypes and insults, exclusion, degrading text messages and social media lynching. The day is not too far off when young people will have to hide their Jewish faith so as not to be singled out and vilified by their classmates. The victims are traumatised, filled with feelings of despair and abandonment, convinced that the system has failed them. And they are right.

Not infrequently, distraught parents are concerned that the anti-Semitic abuse will escalate if they notify the school since their child will become an even-bigger target. Some remain silent believing that the school leadership will not be sympathetic to their complaint. In fact, some administrators trivialise the attacks as a childish aberrations, as “kids being kids”, or blame the victims (“it’s your child’s fault since they provocatively choose to exhibit their Judaism” or “we are a non-Jewish school so if you don’t like it, leave”), are very slow to respond, and do not impose the appropriate punishment. In effect, they are enabling the wrongdoers by sending a crystal-clear message that Jewish pupils are fair game.

The elephant in the room is that very few of our elected representatives are actually speaking out about the darkening clouds that are gathering. And so, this cancer of intolerance, which is spreading like wildfire, must end. All of it. Because we literally have no choice and because that is not who we are as a nation. Good intentions and words are not enough. We now need bold action by the state and federal governments that matches the scale of the runaway problem we face, and which effectively tackles this menace at every single step. One solution is to institute mandatory reporting so schools are obliged to notify the Education Department when such incidents occur. Such reporting will then necessitate the investigation of each individual case and if warranted, appropriate penalties for the perpetrators.

Countering religious bigotry in the long run also hinges on making anti-bias and Holocaust education compulsory in every class. One example is the Anti-Defamation Commission’s Click Against Hate program, a free, groundbreaking educational program, which equips students with the skills to respond to the hate they encounter in schools, urging them to action when it happens to them or when they see it happening to others. Further training for teachers and headmasters is also urgently needed so they understand that antisemitism is a threat to our way of life and that inaction is not an option. It’s time for the adults in the room to stand up and protect the defenceless and vulnerable – our children.

Dr Dvir Abramovich is Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission.


Rabbi Meir Kahane HY”D “Jews MUST make ALIYAH to Israel!”
Speaking about Australia:

CSIRO: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Using science and research to solve issues and make a difference to industry, people and the planet. National science agency.

The Hungry Microbiome: why resistant starch is good for you
Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer in Australia. Research shows that eating fibre rich in resistant starch is one way we can combat this threat. This animation shows how resistant starch moves through the intestine, feeds the healthy bacteria of the gut Microbiome and helps prevent cancer. More information on our website:
http://www.csiro.au/hungrymicrobiome/

Video transcript available here: http://www.csiro.au/news/transcripts/…

 

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