Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission, joined other Jewish leaders at a meeting with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to discuss a host of issues, including the growing problem of anti-Semitism at schools and matters of critical concern to the Jewish community.
Dr Dvir Abramovich issued the following statement:
“This was a very positive meeting, and I appreciated the opportunity to brief Premier Andrews about the activities and successes of the ADC, in particular our free groundbreaking educational program, Click Against Hate, now running in 90 Victorian schools. I noted that anti-Semitism is a growing, widespread and hidden crisis in our schools and that it is affecting kids as young as eight. I told the Premier that I believe that the number of cases involving day-to-day harassment of Jewish students is largely underreported, and that Jewish students are regularly being subjected to verbal insults, bigoted jokes about Jews as money-hungry and stingy, social exclusion, demeaning text messages and Facebook posts, and physical assaults. I explained that the internet is an ideal vehicle for those who want to disseminate hatred, and provides a mask to individual users and groups to unburden themselves anonymously. Now, every extremist has a platform and a megaphone through Facebook or YouTube. Young people are therefore more vulnerable than ever, and so, Click Against Hate educates these young people to develop strategies for protecting themselves against cyber bullying, urging them to stand up and speak out against hatred when it happens to them or when they see it happening to others. I told the Premier that we all have a duty to build what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr called the beloved community, a diverse, mutually respectful, tolerant society where people of different faiths and backgrounds live together harmoniously. I thanked Premier Andrews for the invitation to the gathering and for his unwavering commitment to effectively counter the menace of anti-Semitism and intolerance. ”
The Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677
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