Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08MELBOURNE22
2008-03-05 03:17:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Melbourne
Cable title:  

SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MONITORING AND COMBATING

Tags:  PHUM PGOV AS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5342
RR RUEHPT
DE RUEHBN #0022/01 0650317
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050317Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL MELBOURNE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4681
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3372
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 1408
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 1951
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MELBOURNE 000022 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AS
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MONITORING AND COMBATING
ANTI-SEMITISM GREGG RICKMAN'S VISIT TO AUSTRALIA


SUMMARY
--------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MELBOURNE 000022

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AS
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MONITORING AND COMBATING
ANTI-SEMITISM GREGG RICKMAN'S VISIT TO AUSTRALIA


SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating
Anti-Semitism Gregg Rickman and Foreign Affairs Officer Karen
Paikin visited Australia January 21-28 to learn about the
incidence of anti-Semitism in Australia. Interlocutors from
government, law enforcement and the Jewish community
acknowledged that an increased number of recorded acts of
aggression perpetrated by louts or members of extremist
groups against Jews merited action. Nevertheless, some
Jewish community members assured Rickman that they enjoyed
excellent relations with government and the law enforcement
community, participated enthusiastically in both private and
state-sponsored interfaith dialogue initiatives, and saw no
evidence of pervasive anti-Semitic sentiment in mainstream
Australian society. Jewish groups told the Special Envoy
that while they chronicle every incident against Jews, they
report to the authorities only those crimes that can
reasonably be prosecuted. Rickman strongly advocated
reporting all incidents to the authorities. End Summary.

MORE RECORDED INCIDENTS
--------------


2. (SBU) In some of his meetings, based on questions from the
interlocutors as to what he would do with the information
gleaned in Australia, Rickman informed interlocutors that he
will testify before Congress on February 7 to render account
of his activities, in connection with the publication of
several reports, including the International Religious
Freedom and Country Human Rights Reports. He met with a
broad cross-section of Jewish leaders in Melbourne and
Sydney, who gave various opinions on where they believe
anti-Semitism is coming from in Australia. Many in Sydney
attributed the incidents to small, disorganized extremist
groups broadly identified as right-wing neo-Nazi extremists,
Muslim radicals, or left-wing anti-Israel intellectuals.
Some also described many of the attacks as isolated incidents
of anti-social behavior. In Melbourne, the Victorian Police,
state government officials and many of the Jewish community
leaders attributed the majority of anti-Semitic incidents to
a "growing yobbo (hooligan) culture." One thing was clear;
there was no definitive answer as to who was primarily
responsible. Executive Council of Australian Jewry President

Robert Goot insisted, however, that mainstream Australians
reject anti-Semitism as "rat-bag" behavior, and that it is
not part of Australian culture.

STATE GOVERNMENTS ARE RESPONSIVE
--------------


3. (SBU) When meeting with government officials Rickman
prefaced his remarks by saying he came in friendship, but was
disturbed to learn from the Executive Council of Australian
Jewry's 2007 report of the growing number of recorded
incidents of violence against Jews. In general, government
officials and law enforcement representatives acknowledged
that the aggregate total of isolated incidents of
anti-Semitism had increased, and merited continued action by
the authorities on several fronts to curb them. Rickman
asked for an account of what the authorities were doing to
curb such incidents. The Victorian Minister assisting the
Premier on Multicultural Affairs, for example, gave Rickman a
page-long list of actions that the Victorian government had
taken not only to prevent violence against but also uphold
the civil rights of all minority communities, not just Jews.
The Victorian Police followed a similar line, noting that
their efforts were to protect all citizens, and professed to
have good communication and ties with the Jewish community.
Victoria's Deputy Police Commissioner reported that the force
had no record of hate crimes perpetrated against Jews, and
characterized the 2007 alleged assault of Victorian Jewish
community member Menachem Vorchheimer as the work of drunken
louts. Rickman pressed the Deputy Police Commissioner about
what actions were being taken against the off-duty policeman
who drove the bus whose passengers had allegedly beat
Vorchheimer. The Deputy Commissioner responded that,
although he was not privy to details of the investigation, he
could report that the Victorian police equivalent of internal
affairs was following up on the case. Following the meeting
with the Victoria police, Rickman reported a number of
complaints about their conduct and effectiveness.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS IN VICTORIA
--------------


4. (SBU) Nonetheless, Jewish leaders in Melbourne generally
applauded their relationships with State government and law

MELBOURNE 00000022 002 OF 002


enforcement. Gavin Queit of the Jewish Community Security
Group reported to Rickman that he enjoyed "excellent
relations" with the Victorian Police. Anton Block, head of
the Victorian Jewish Community Council, noted the Victorian
government's recognition of the growing number of
anti-Semitic incidents and praised them for several
initiatives to promote "racial and religious tolerance,"
including the Multi-Faith Leaders Forum and the Multicultural
Youth Forum. Colin Rubenstein, Executive Director of the
Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC),and Manny
Waks, Executive Officer of the Anti-Defamation Commission
(ADC),also cited the multifaith forums as positive examples
of state government's action, and noted in their meetings
with Rickman that there were effective communications
channels existing with the Victorian police.


5. (SBU) In the ADC meeting Manny Waks explained that his
organization did not report all incidents to the Victorian
police, for example, name calling. The Special Envoy
strongly advocated reporting all anti-Semitic incidents to
the authorities. On Rickman's advice the ADC subsequently
reported an incident of verbal abuse to a pregnant Jewish
woman and her two children aboard a bus. The Victorian
police logged the case as an incident of anti-Semitism. The
case is now working its way through Melbourne's judicial
system.

AND IN NEW SOUTH WALES
--------------


6. (SBU) The New South Wales (NSW) Police Force established a
community contact group in 2007 responsible for liaising with
communities that both emanate and are victims of attacks. In
the same year, the police force established its first-ever
Hate Crime Coordinator as a one year experimental position,
focused exclusively on improving police action against hate
crimes. The Hate Crimes coordinator, Sergeant Geoff Steer,
explained to Rickman that he has focused on developing a
program that will train police to recognize and document hate
crimes. Although state and federal anti-discrimination laws
are relatively weak and rarely used to prosecute offenders,
Steer said, the NSW state parliament passed new legislation
in 2007 that includes provisions that allow judges to
increase sentences for crimes aggravated by discrimination.
In their conversations with Rickman, members of the Jewish
community in NSW commended their relationship with the NSW
law enforcement community. In late 2007, every police
officer assigned to situations that cover Sydney's largest
Jewish community attended Jewish awareness training sponsored
by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, which included a tour
and seminar at the Holocaust Museum. The Victorian Police
had a similar program and enthusiastically embraced Karen
Paikin's suggestion that it liaise with the Victorian Jewish
community to improve the sensitivity training of its recruits
and officers. The NSW Jewish community also actively
participates in state government-sponsored interfaith
initiatives. For example, a rabbi, imam, and a Christian
clergyman visited a number of schools in both Sydney and
rural NSW in order to teach children the importance of
interfaith harmony.

HOW AUSTRALIA STACKS UP
--------------

7 (SBU) In meetings with the Jewish community, Rickman
explained the Congressional origins of his position and then
cited concern about the reported rise of anti-Semitism in
Australia. Colin Rubenstein of the AIJAC commented that he
did not believe that "the situation in Australia was worse
than in Europe." While noting a rise in the number of
incidents being recorded, Mark Leibler, the National Chairman
of the AIJAC, pointed out that "of the 600 plus incidents for
2007 only 12 were considered serious." Both men argued this
was a dramatically different situation from that which was
taking place in the UK and throughout Europe.


8. (U) In follow-up to Rickman's visit, OPA Melbourne is
facilitating contact between the Victorian Police and U.S.
organizations, among them the Wiesenthal Center in Los
Angeles, responsible for tolerance training with the help of
the Special Envoy's office.


9. (U) Special Envoy Rickman cleared this cable. CONGEN
Sydney contributed to its drafting.
IRVING