An event intended to feature One Nation Senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, and to be attended by 200 members of the Jewish community, has been cancelled in Melbourne due to security fears. The cause of these security fears was that far-left activists with violent tendencies had planned a massive protest outside, and possibly inside, the intended venue in Caulfield, Melbourne. Their numbers were so great that the police were presented with so many unknowns that they could not guarantee the safety of the speakers or the attendees.
You can read a statement by Avi Yemini, the organiser of the event and head of IDF Training, here. You can listen to a podcast of Yemini’s interview with Andrew Bolt for the Bolt Report here.
The XYZ contacted Mr. Yemini, who had intended to hold the event as a “public forum” featuring a number of speakers, followed by a Q&A where members of the public could ask questions and offer counter-perspectives, as long as this was done in a “respectful manner.” The forum, planned for a couple of months, had been intended to cover the following topics:
- The success of Post-WW2 Jewish immigration to Australia, and its comparison with the current problematic Islamic immigration to Australia
- The issue of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act
- One Nation’s policies toward Islam
- One Nation’s relationship with the Jewish community in Australia
When asked why he thought these topics are important to discuss, Yemini stated that it is important to discuss the “important topics of today,” to discuss the “hard truths.” He said that the “established leadership of the Australian Jewish community” tends to be very politically correct and doesn’t want to confront these issues, but there is a “silent” part of the Jewish community who do want to discuss them.
Critiquing the far-left protesters’ characterisation as anti-racists, Yemini has made it clear both online and to The XYZ that the far-left are some of the “biggest anti-Jewish / anti Israel” activists going around. Regardless, he believes the protesters wanted to shut down the event, not because it was a Jewish event, but because it presented a view which disagrees with their own.
Regarding the provision of security, it appears that there may have been some politics involved. The police had advised the organisers that they would need to hire additional private security specifically for themselves and the speakers. But when giving a reason for pulling out of the event, the private security company claimed that there was already sufficient security provided for the event by police..
Yemini still hopes to hold the event in the future, although unfortunately, not in the heart of the Jewish community in Caulfield.