Melbourne, Australia – The Jewish community is considering legal action against The Age newspaper over “poisonous” anti-Semitic commentary published over the weekend.
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The article, headed “Israelis are living high on US expense account” and written by Michael Backman, blames the 9/11 attacks and the London and Bali bombings on Israel’s inability to “transform the Palestinians from enemies into friends”.
Backman, a business writer for the Melbourne newspaper, wrote: “It is not true that these outrages have occurred because certain Islamic fundamentalists don’t like Western lifestyles and so plant bombs in response. Rather, it is Israel or more correctly the treatment of the Palestinians that is at the nub of these events.”
John Searle, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, said his community was considering legal action against the publication and predicted individuals would take action by boycotting the paper.
A joint statement from Mr Searle and Danny Lamm, president of the Zionist Council of Victoria, condemned the article, saying it encapsulated “centuries of hate speech against Jews in a few hundred words”.
The article suggested Israelis and Jews were uninterested in the welfare of others and did not invest financially or socially in the broader community.
“It is inexplicable why The Age would publish such a pernicious article,” the statement said.
“The Victorian Jewish community’s experience is that such commentary rouses violence and hatred against local Jews.”
Jewish MP Michael Danby, federal Labor member for Melbourne Ports, called on Backman to apologise for using “the blood of 80 Australians for his bigoted theories”.
Mr Danby said stereotypes in the article about young Israelis not paying bills in Nepal fed into primitive prejudice about “penny-pinching” Jews.
“Backman’s poisonous article in Saturday’s business Age has no place in serious commentary, I call on Backman to apologise,” Mr Danby said.
Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff said while legitimate criticism of Israel was acceptable, the article reflected “the bigotry of rank anti-Semitism” and promoted appalling stereotypes.
**UPDATE**
The newspaper has since pulled the article see here
The article also stated that the historical persecution of Jews constituted punishment for the death of Jesus.
At first you can read the article, and lie to yourself thinking he’s just a misguided fool looking at the world a** backwards. However, when you get to this sentence: “Rather, they say that the young Israelis are rude, arrogant, and argue over trifling amounts of money even though they clearly have means.” you can clearly see his antisemitism come out in it’s full glory. Never heard of this dude, but they should hang him by his you know what…..
Please send the following letter to [email protected] and include your own name at the bottom of the letter. Please also forward this email to everyone on your contact list.
Dear Editor,
Conveniently ensconced in the Business section (17/1) was the most insidious, vitriolic and lousy excuse for reporting that your newspaper has ever published. The author, Michael Backman, deserves a stern slap on the wrists though I’m concerned that the editors may have trouble prying Backman’s hands from his bedside copy of /The Protocols of the Elders of Zion/.
Blaming Israel for 9/11 and the London and Bali Bombings is only the beginning as Backman portrays the entire Islamic terrorist network as a purely reactive group bearing no responsibility for attacks which Backman would have described as little more than reflex actions. Baseless accusations bereft of even the tiniest skerrick of factual grounding epitomize the piece. A hundred years of complex social, political and military conflict is crudely summarized as; Israel “slapping an opponent in the face, kicking it down to its knees, and watching it struggle in the dirt”. Backman then proceeds to inform us that among Nepalese tour guides young Israelis have a reputation for being “rude, arrogant” and miserly. How this is relevant to Israeli military policy is simply lost on me.
Awkwardly nestled between one paragraph blaming Israel for the Malaysian government’s policy of not allowing its citizens to visit Israel and a second confidently placing all responsibility for the present conflict on Israel’s shoulders, is a reassurance that “[i]t is not Israel’s right to exist that is at issue”. He could have fooled me.
Backman draws a comparison between Israel and the “very rich” Parsee ethnic and religious minority of India. Now things begin to get interesting. Is Israel an ethnic and religious minority dwelling in a foreign country? No. Who is this ethnic and religious minority that Backman is referring to?
It is at this point that Backman shows his true colours. He declares, albeit by implication, that Jews are “flashy” and “arrogant” and have little “interest in the welfare of others”. This final paragraph reveals the musings of a revolting bigot which left me feeling sick and then incensed.
I can only hope that publishing this article was an editorial error and, needless to say, I expect a full, official retraction. In future, the editorial board should to do a better job of discerning between a legitimate opinion and a hateful rant.
Oh would i love to slap that smirk off his sarcastic face.
I think he should think before he writes!! I think that the newspaper should print a retraction and fire him and then let us see his picture!! He will think twice before he writes such garbage that is not “fit to print”!
This man is an idiot. He says at the end of the article that the Parsees in India are respected unlike the israelis. He goes on to say that the reason is they built hospitals, schools, etc. Well, Backman needs to get his facts straight. Did he ever hear of David Sassoon? He was a Jew in India who built a high school, library, hospital and orphanage in Mumbai. He also built the shul Knesset Eliyahoo.
Backman is only picking the facts that support his slanted opinions.
Further, the palestinians go to Israeli hospitals built by Jews to be treated. Believe me Israel has done more for the palestinians than any other arab country.
I just wrote to the paper. Here is my letter to them:
Dear Editor,
The article that you published recently by Backman is insulting to Jews and anti-semetic. A newspaper should be reporting facts, not vitriol and the encouragement of racial hatred. His article is full of errors. Mr. Backman says at the end of the article that the Parsees in India are respected unlike the Israelis. He goes on to say that the reason is they built hospitals, schools, etc. Well, Backman needs to get his facts straight. Did he ever hear of David Sassoon? He was a Jew in India who built a high school, library, hospital and orphanage in Mumbai. He also built the shul Knesset Eliyahoo. (The high school today is no longer used by Jews, it is used by Muslims. Go figure!)
Backman is only picking the facts that support his slanted opinions.
Further, the palestinians go to Israeli hospitals built by Jews to be treated. Believe me Israel has done more for the palestinians than any other arab country. Many hospitals around the world have been built by Jews, Beth Israel in Manhattan is an example. So don’t say that the arabs hate us because we are greedy. The arabs hate us because we are Jews. Plain and simple. Furthermore, the rest of the arab world hates the Palestinians. What did the Jordanians do to the Palestinians during Black September? They crushed a rebellion by running them over with tanks. Why doesn’t Egypt take over Gaza if they love the Palestinians so much? After all they did control Gaza till 1967. The Egyptians don’t want Gaza. The muslims in Gaza are militant and a destabilizing force for Egypt which is already facing other pressures. The arabs are united against Israel. Is it because they love the Palestinians? No, they hate the Palestinians. They just hate the Jews more!
Deeply saddened,
Ben Schron
Brooklyn, NY
Your anti-semetic and unfactual article makes me less likely to read your paper should I ever be in Australia, or to read your newspaper website.
That article would sicken and disgust all genuinely informed, fair-minded, and reasonable people to the core – be they Jewish or not. It’s disgusting. And I can assure you that young Israelis do not have that reputation in any of the 5 countries in which I have ever lived. Backman should apologise and resign.
“Nepalese people are some of the warmest, most hospitable in the world. Rather, they say that the
young Israelis are rude, arrogant, and argue over trifling amounts of money even though they clearly have means.”
Chevra,I’ve read the article, the guy obviously is not a great lover of Jews, but I’m not sure he is the great anti semite either.The example he brings from india about The Parsees being respected because they give to the larger community is true about the Jews in India who were also respected, the only difference is that India has only a few thousand Jews today and the Farsees are a few million!
One thing we have to be careful about, though is the quote I brought above.It’s time we realize that “handling” to much gives us a bad name.
Btw, the guy who brought the example of Sassoon from India, who gave a lot to the general community is using a good example, though what he is trying to prove from him giving a shul to Jews is beyond me!This guys whole tayna is that the yidden don’t give to others,not that we don’t give to ourselves! Please, some saychel
If you do a google search of the article, you will find that it shows up in a Malaysian and a Turkish newspaper. Basically, the muslim countries are publishing this article now.
Does this Backman frequent a certain cafe in New Zealand that bans Israelis (& presumably all Jews)?