November 5, 2015
Media Coverage:
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has expressed its deep concern about a litany of anti-Semitic Facebook posts and sickening jokes about the Holocaust directed at a Jewish student that were posted on a VCE discussion page. The student contacted the ADC and provided it with evidence of the revolting posts which included comments such as: “I gas you don’t like my joke”, “Hitler was right”, “Hitler is the greatest leader of all time”, “Hitler actually did a lot of good”, “I’m finding this Hitlerous, ‘Don’t be Furhious”. One student posted a picture of Hitler with Anne Frank in bed alongside a caption which read, “10 minutes into Auschwitz and chill”.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“Anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head again. We cannot turn a blind eye to such disturbing conduct which must never be allowed to find a home in Australia. I am terribly alarmed and outraged to see the hate-filled comments, sickening taunts and hurtful remarks that were deliberately and maliciously posted on this Facebook page. We should all forcefully condemn this type of anti-Jewish abuse and be very concerned because where anti-Semitism thrives, so do racism and discrimination, and because there is a real risk that this harmful behaviour is manifesting itself in the schoolyard. This repugnant verbal lynching, directed at a Jewish student, is a wakeup call that we have much work to do to weed out the poisonous root of prejudice. Every parent should ask themselves: where did these teenagers learn these disturbing attitudes? Do my children hold similar views and are they engaging in this kind of vilification? Several countries have mandatory Holocaust education as part of the general school curriculum, and perhaps if we had one, these students would not be hailing Hitler as a great leader who was right, mocking Anne Frank, and joking about the gas chambers in Auschwitz where more than 1.1 million people were exterminated.
As a leader in anti-bias education, the ADC, through its groundbreaking program Click Against Hate, is ready to assist schools to rid our community of such bigotry. The young people, who displayed such shocking insensitivity towards the six million Jews and millions of other victims who were brutally murdered at the hands of the Nazis, must be taught to become ambassadors of our country’s core values of tolerance, multiculturalism and inclusivity. This is a battle worth fighting for.”
For more information, please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on 03 9272 5677