Shame on Australia
The decision by Australia’s government to revoke Simcha Rothman’s visa to enter their country on the day before he was due to set out on his lengthy journey was disgraceful.
Rothman chairs the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee and deserves some level of respect even if one does not agree with his views.
I am no supporter of the man. His efforts to reform Israel’s judicial system are not to my taste and I don’t like his politics. He is also no friend of Reform Judaism. If that were not enough, he is also an uncouth individual.
It will be recalled how in 2023 he grabbed the megaphone from a protester on a New York City street and rushed away, leading her to file a police report against him.
All that having been said, the man is entitled to his views, and some Australians had invited him to share them with them.
Anthony Burke, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, is quoted as having said: “If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don’t want you here…. Australia will be a country where everyone can be safe, and feel safe.”
But Australia is not a country in which Jews feel safe today. There was the attempted arson attack on the East Melbourne Synagogue this July just six months after the destructive firebombing at the Adas Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea.
There was the violent protest outside the Israeli-owned restaurant Miznon in Hardware Lane, which had followed incessant marches on the streets of Australian cities, using slogans that called for the destruction of the Jewish state and the eradication of the Jewish people.
Tammy Reznik, an Australian, who describes herself as a descendant of the Shoah, wrote in July:
“The cancellation of Jews from cultural spaces, the doxxing of hundreds, possibly thousands, a genuine feeling of unsafety in my own city. And then there were the scenes of celebration following Hamas’s wanton killing spree on 7 October 2023, with some of my fellow citizens evidently exhilarated by the deeds of these ‘freedom fighters’. And then came the graffiti on Jewish homes, the torched cars, the targeted businesses, the threats to Jewish politicians, the university encampments, the burning of synagogues.”
Australian Jews are understandably nervous and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has done little to reassure them. He has even been accused of antisemitism.
One can understand the government’s anxiety about the violent protests that would have undoubtably erupted were Simcha Rothman to have spoken to audiences in Australia. (Why don’t Jews protest violently?) However, it was Voltaire who said: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Rather than banning Rothman, Albanese should have ensured that he was given appropriate police protection and granted the right to speak. Cowering to those who protest and fearing the consequences of allowing him to do so is a sign of weakness, not of strength.
As Churchill said to Neville Chamberlain in a different context: “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonour, and you will have war.”
Democratic governments around the world are being tested at a time when violent attacks, protests and civil unrest threaten the very fabric of our societies. It is then that we expect them to stand firm, grant freedom of speech and protect those who feel threatened.
My Australian friends tell me that they don’t feel that that is what is happening in their country today.
