After Greens Senator David Shoebridge appeared on a podcast presented by a host who claims Zionists are responsible for paedophilia, human trafficking and organ trafficking and didn’t challenge her when she railed against the influence of Jewish groups including the ECAJ, asserting that Zionists had “hijacked” the Australian government, ECAJ co-CEO Peter Wertheim issued the following statement:
“The ECAJ does not take orders or directions from any outside party, including any foreign government. The ECAJ does not receive funding from any source outside Australia. The insinuation that the Australian Jewish community and its representative bodies are somehow alien and not a part of Australian society is an outrageous lie with a long and disreputable history.
Every Australian is entitled to express their views, within the law, about the government’s foreign and domestic policies. Armenian Australians advocate in support of Armenia’s position in the conflict with Azerbaijan, Greek Australians advocate in support of Greek Cypriots on the Cyprus issue, Ukrainian Australians advocate in support of Ukraine, Lebanese Australians advocate in support of Lebanon, and Palestinian Australians advocate in support of a Palestinian State.
None of those communities is accused by the Greens as acting as an agent of a foreign government. Those communities are simply exercising their democratic rights and freedom to express themselves about political matters. It is only the Jewish community which is singled out and smeared by the Greens with the disgraceful suggestion that we do not have those same rights and freedoms and are exerting undue influence on the Australian government when we defend Israel’s right to exist in peace and security.
That is why we accuse the Greens of antisemitism, and why they have lost Jewish members in droves. The progressive environmentalist party founded by Bob Brown and Drew Hutton has become a party riddled with far-left authoritarians and Jew-haters.”
