DEAR News Of The Area,
AUSTRALIANS quite rightly believe that there is no place for antisemitism in this country, and I am sure that many right-thinking people will be moved to join a movement to resist, schooled as we are in the horrors of the Holocaust (‘Never Again is Now in Coffs Harbour’, NOTA Letters, 26 September).
Movements like the Never Again is Now (NAIN) group recently formed in Coffs Harbour usually exist to pressure the government but the Albanese government gives wholehearted support to any targeted group.
When the attacks on schools and synagogues earlier this year were found to be perpetrated by thugs in the pay of Iran, the Iranian ambassador was promptly expelled.
After this the Prime Minister appointed Jillian Segal as envoy to combat antisemitism in Australia but has since remained quiet on the report.
For one organisation to recommend the defunding of universities that fail to reduce hatred, monitoring media organisations to ensure accurate coverage, and screening visa applicants for antisemitic views is a step too far for many Australians.
We are a country which has given, and continues to give, refuge to many different racial and religious groups.
NAIN stands for traditional family values such as faith, family, community and country and I am yet to find these values missing in any of the communities who shelter here.
All parents seek for their children a safe place to live, to be educated, to practise their faith in peace, and to be a part of the community in which they have landed.
Acknowledgement of the situation in Gaza is strangely missing from both Jillian Segal and Alison Buckley, even though an Israeli presence is evident in Australian pro-Palestinian rallies.
I would be very cautious about aligning myself with an organisation which appears to overlook the multiple crimes against humanity inflicted on innocent civilians by the current Prime Minister of Israel. Our present laws against hate crimes are sufficient for the Australian people of all racial and faith groupings.
Anything else has the potential for division.
Regards,
Margaret ENGLAND,
Toormina.
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