The Indigenous voice to parliament debate has split Australia’s Jewish community, with prominent representative associations at odds over the referendum.
The Anti-Defamation Commission told The Australian on Thursday it was “unequivocally committed” to supporting the voice, just months after recognised community leadership body the Executive Council of Australian Jewry signed a bipartisan action with several other religious organisations supporting the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The Australian Jewish Association, however, condemned the actions of other Jewish bodies for supporting a Yes vote, saying it had “major concerns” on potentially “racist” amendments to the Constitution.
“The Jewish community is divided on the Indigenous voice with community members holding a range of views. We originally intended not to comment on this issue (but) several other Jewish groups have publicly expressed support for the voice, falsely claiming to speak for the Australian Jewish community broadly,” AJA president David Adler said. “Jews will understand from bitter experience that the political creation of ethnic or racial divisions in a society is not a good thing. The creation of unique political rights or advantages for one ethnic or racial group will inevitably cause resentment and friction.
“The AJA executive sees the voice proposal as overtly racist and will be voting No.”
Read the article by Ellie Dudley in The Australian.