Aussie Jews respond to Melbourne Symphony climbdown
NewsMessage from the Australian Jewish Association in response to the MSO’s apology to the anti-Israel activist pianist Jayson Gillham:
If the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra wants to engage in anti-Israel activism, why on earth would Jewish donors continue to support them?
Jewish attendees don’t want to be accosted by anti-Israel activists when attending events.
If the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra caves to far-left extremism and decides to work with this anti-Israel agitator after what happened, many self-respecting Jews will not want to be associated with them.
A quick glance at their donor list shows just how dependent they are on the generosity of the Jewish community.
Recent reaction to Israel’s method of conducting its offensive in Gaza is not without justification in the eyes of a lot of pretty civilised people, some within the state of Israel, some its staunch but not uncritical supporters outside Israel.
But what may well have begun as legitimate, reasonable protests have unleashed a kind of activity that has gone far beyond critcising a particular government’s activity.
I have been astonished by the naked and blatant anti-Semitism that has emerged. That the president of an Ivy League university could not state unequivocally that a call to commit genocide on Jews was outside the scope of the university’s free speech policy indicated how far, and how deeply, the rot had set in.
I really do not know, as I do not look at social media platforms, the exact nature of Jayson Gillham’s expressions about Jewish matters. This entire debate has not been helped by people like Norman Lebrecht, who may well be operating with the very knowledge I do not have on that subject, wildly accusing someone who made a dedication that NL may not happen to have agreed with of a “rant.” If he rants on social media, attack him on social media. If the MSO forbids guest artists to speak personally from the stage, which I doubt, then forbid it, and let the chips fall where they may.
But because the MSO clearly reacted to internet trolls and cancelled someone for something he patently did not do, this situation has got really out of hand, and has stirred up a lot of ill-feeling.
Dedicating a piece to journalists who have been killed in a conflict seems a pretty harmless thing to do, and should have been treated accordingly. Passions run high on this particular conflict and there are many people making good cases on BOTH sides of it. If others, knowing more about Jayson Gillham than I do, interpret it based upon other remarks that are more explicitly anti-Semitic, as many have claimed, I for one can’t blame them. I have ALWAYS argued, including to my less-than-receptive Jewish friends, that Israel is as liable to criticism as any other state. I have always considered their refusal to separate it from anti-Semitism as recalcitrant, but understandable given the events that led to the formation of Israel.
So while part of me wonders if the Australian Jewish Community needs to consider its position on free speech, and on being “offended,” which we often seem to urge others to do, I remember the lessons of passivity in the past. This conflict is going to generate a lot of talk until it is resolved, and, to my growing alarm, too much of it is anti-Semitism and not just criticism of government policy and activity.
Jason Guillam made, in my non-Jewish opinion, an unacceptable political statement at a concert where people paid to hear music. Not political ideology. If I had been in the audience at the Town Hall I would have been upset. And I am no ‘snowflake’! Anti-Semitism has emerged as a real issue here in Australia.
After the rapes & murders of so many innocent women & girls on 7th October it is astonishing that so many people world wide seem have forgotten what actually occurred that day. I do NOT agree with many of the subsequent political decisions made by the Israeli government. But I, for one, will NOT forget those girls & women. NEVER!
I totally agree- where is the outrage from these same people with regards to the terrible atrocities committed on October 7? And I’m not Jewish either btw.
Your comments are very reasonable.
My only concern is that you implore us to fight against anti semitism without asking if it is, presently a logical effect of Israel’s conduct.
It is not merely an opinion that Israel is soiling it’s reputation internationally n the course of flattening Gaza.
This current atrocity is only the last chapter in a litany of abuses of Arabs.
I would be more inclined to shed a tear for Jews arund the world if they showed their contempt for Israel’s far right admin. and we’re still attracting hateful comments.
Jews are famous for intellectual, artistic and cultural prowess. In the last century, many people know of them as the people that endured the holocaust and rebounded with great strength. The rrig contrast between this and the conduct of the homeland obviously causes a reaction.
How do you think that anti semitism can disappear in thisntext? Anti semitism is stupid and those that practice it seek proof of its validity in every event involving jews.
Of course this war is a gift to them.
Lastly, the overwhelming approval amongst Jews (and indifference) isin itself a crime.
No history of being abused or maligned warrants mass murder.
Now isn’t the time for polite and obtuse references to the reality in Gaza and the west bank.
Nobody should be able to hide from this ongoing disaster, not even in a dainty concert hall.
Tragic…that this has to reach this level…
Some anti-Semitic stereotypes here. You ‘glanced at the donor list’, saw some Jewish names and assumed they’d wield their power to influence cultural institutions. All because a single musician criticised a foreign country. I’d hope most of these donors have more appreciation of the freedom of expression we enjoy in this country than you.
He didn’t say he glanced at the donor list. He said a glance at it shows Jewish names. That is consistent with his having studied the list carefully and having come to the conclusion that a glance alone is sufficient to show Jewish names.
What about the Jews with non-Jewish names?
Oh please give it a rest. On a day in which the official death toll in Gaza officially surpassed 40,000 (a number that’s likely a huge undercount), wealthy classical music listeners are clutching their pearls over some pianist’s off-the-cuff remarks in Australia. Seriously? You people have no idea what hardship is if this what you’re obsessing over.
‘Official’ according to Hamas. The IDF has just reported that it knows it has killed at least 17,000 Hamas militants – even if Hamas’s figures are true (and we have plenty of incidents during this war where their reports have proved to be entirely false) that would still be a militant: civilian ratio that is far better than any other comparable war – and in many ways no other war IS comparable, because in no other war had the terrorists converted an entire area into a massive apparatus for human shields. Any civilian who dies is an unspeakable tragedy, and Hamas is responsible for all of it. Thanks heavens that the IDF has been taking such precautions- thousands of warning leaflets, phone calls, even bluetooth speakers parachuted down warning civilians to move and instructing them where to go. Building refuges, creating and defending humanitarian routes, building field hospitals, creating new crossings to allow for aid to enter and try to subvert the terrorists who routinely steal it. What other army has ever gone to such lengths? And throughout all of this, since October 7th Israel has been continually under attack (ballistic and cruise missiles, rockets, anti-tank armaments, attack drones and cyber attack) from seven countries.
This musician’s statement was a counter-factual, one-sided attack on Israel, nothing more – and the concert stage is not a place for that.
@James: Excellent post. This cannot be reiterated too often.
What the Netanyahu regime is doing is not a precise, targeted operation. It’s dropping 500-pound bombs (way larger ever necessary) on densely crowded areas because they think there might be a Hamas fighter lurking within. And if anything, this death count is a dramatic undercount because so many victims remain entombed in collapsed buildings.
Also: “After multiple conflicts between 2009 and 2021, United Nations investigators drew up their own lists of the dead and found they closely matched ones from Gaza.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/15/gaza-death-toll-hits-40000-with-thousands-more-yet-to-be-counted
If hamas embed themselves in the general population, use people as human shields and hospitals as safe havens how does dropping Bluetooth speakers, leaflets or anything to move civilians have a purpose. It’s also pretty sad that a pianist can’t offer some time to listener to ponder in a town hall about how journalists were killed.
If he has of said for instance
‘Three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American were bombed by Israel and killed here is a piece written in their honour’ would this be ok?
That also happened and is proven to be fact.
Maybe some of the facts of this matter (the fact that donors pressed the MSO to take a pianist down) is the real issue.
Freedom of speech in Australia is paramount. The MSO should not be controlled by donor money. They are a state asset, government funded employing hundreds of people from around the Country.
I they regularly play Strauss and Wagner of which was written by Nazi sympathisers. Should they never play these pieces?? Should Jewish people not attend these concerts?
He devoted a piece written about a current war to journalists who are on the frontline. They were bombed just like the Australian British nationals.
The UN have verified these facts.
It’s sad to think a musician can’t express their emotion openly. It’s sad that at a concert where people could get up and leave if offended thought it better to threaten an organisation with donor money.
Your “facts” are nothing but an off the cuff lecture.
Israel has bombed universities, camps, routes, refuges, hospitals, places of worship, markets, daycare centres, gardens, monuments, dwellings, water tanks and journalists with great accuracy.
It’s unhelpful to pepper your comments with tales of such mythical benevolence on Israel’s part. They have methodically destroyed Gaza. How you you propose to make amends?
“Officially” surpassed 40,000? Of course we trust the statistics provided by terrorists. Hamas is as reliable as was Goebbels. Only fools or fellow travelers would promote those numbers
Doesn’t that sort of smack of the old, “not seven million Jews! . . . maybe, five million”, type routine? The only difference is you need to lop off a bunch of zeros. Instead, isn’t the loss of even one innocent life enough, regardless of which side of the wall they’re on?
True but also a bit more than that. The extent to which people will hide in “non political” silence while throwing slurs at each other reveals complete indifference to the subject of the discussion. It seems that high culture suffers from robust examination of the times we live in.
We’re that really the case, some great works might never have found an audience.
I cannot believe that committing genocide towards Palestinians is an essential part of being Jewish. Therefore I cannot believe that opposing such genocide is anti-Jewish.
Genocide towards Palestinians is wrong, just as genocide towards Rohingya, Tibetans, Uighurs, Romani, and so many others, and the repeated genocides and expulsions of Jews in history is wrong.
How can this be a controversial view ?
Because Israel is not comitting genocide – it’s ridiculous and scandalous to even suggest such a thing (see above in my reply to Carl for many of the ways, and there are more, that Israel has been going to enormous lengths, and with quite some success compared to other conflicts, to avoid killing Palestinian civilians). The only genocide going on here, is the attempted genocide of Jews and Israel by Hamas and their paymasters Iran, with active participation from Hezbollah and others – they are quite open about it, both in, for instance, Hamas’s founding charter (and specifically Jews, not just Israelis btw), and in almost daily statements from the Iranian government. You might glean a further clue from the fact that Iran – who earlier this year launched upon tiny Israel the largest single ballistic missile attack in history – writes “Death To Israel” on the side of its missiles. They mean it.
I am sick of the misapplication of the term genocide. Israel is committing genocide no more than the British committed genocide against Nazi germany
There is an agreed definition. Look it up. Individuals can make up their own criteria but the international legal framework is pretty clear on what constitutes a genocide.
It applies in Gaza as it is not only self evident in the field but also in government statements such as “execute Palestinian prisoners to free up space in the prisons”(Ben Gvir), for instance or “,cut off their water”.
If you dispute the term “genocide” then find another term, perhaps homicide against the ethnic Palestinians of Gaza.
Those are the facts do perhaps plain language is best.
That’s right, because one side is black, and the other side is lily white
Opposing Israel’s campaign in Gaza is neither antisemitic nor far-left extremism.
Personally, I’d greatly prefer to attend live music performances without political opinions being thrust down my throat, regardless of whether I agreed or disagreed.
The published statement seems to imply that pro-Israel proselytizing would be acceptable.
Proselytizing inside the concert hall for either side of this, or indeed any other, cause serves little purpose other than to make the proselytizer feel virtuous.
Bravo
Jews could make complaining, particularly about themselves perceived oppressions and anything that does not chime with their world view, an Olympic sport. They always have complained, they always will complain. Time to change the topic? This is getting very old and tedious now, particularly when there is so much else one could complain about given the state of the world right now.
Some people complain. Others fly planes into buildings, bomb nightclubs, magazines, assassinate over perceived insults.
Do you know ANYTHING about Jewish history? Let alone present circumstances? “Perceived oppressions”? Is that your take on the Holocaust? The pogroms? The STATED desire of quite a few of the “protestors” to obliterate Israel from the map? Have you ANY idea what happened on October 7?
I have not supported Netanyahu’s prosecution of the Gaza offensive, or many of his previous actions as PM. I believe he sees Palestinians as less than human, and as someone who has always been appalled by those who looked at the Jews that way and acted accordingly, it has always horrified me.
If he listened to anybody, he would realise that he is fighting in Gaza the urban equivalent of a guerrilla war. As a man not devoid of brains he ought to have realised that it would never be possible to get “all” of Hamas, and certainly not without massive civilian casualties. As a human being he ought to have made that more important in his calculus. Netanyahu has never been a proponent of “proportional response” (nor were most of his predecessors in office) but I think that a lot of people who have, in their firm belief that the state of Israel has every right to exist, supported Israeli government responses to the threat that literally surrounds them EVERY DAY, the Gaza offensive has been a step too far.
But I can also understand that for Netanyahu, and many Israelis, October 7 was the straw that broke the camel’s back. And it was no slight straw. It was a massacre, of the bloodiest possible character, and it was compounded by the taking of hostages, some of whom have since been killed and others whose fates we can only guess at.
The real horror of this is that there are no longer any good guys in this conflict. And the recalcitrance of both sides is very alarming. As ever, the innocents — on both sides — suffer.
As for you: yours may be quite the most anti-Semitic comment I have seen here, in a vigorous discussion over recent days in which many expressions of support on both sides have been aired.
All those PHD’s…all those Nobel Prices…yet these are actions of low level animals…classical music lovers should be at a higher state of decency.
Can someone please link the suppose quote from the Australian Jewish Association? I could not find anything, which makes me highly suspicious of this entire post. At least 40000 are dead, the Gaza Strip is in ruins, and the US Navy, Hezbollah and Irán have their missiles in position ready to reduce Tehran, Beirut and Tel Aviv to rubble. Given the horror of what Is happening, we need the truth, and not conspiracy theories.
You have it wrong…America does not want to go to war with Iran…Israel is expendable….in my opinion
What makes Israeli statistics more reliable than Gazan? The issue was reviewed and settled early on – Gaza Health Ministry is pretty accurate to ALL parties – but is trotted out whenever the figures embarrass Israel. It is also asked how Israel has precise (!) figures on Hamas dead, but not on Gazan civilians.
We heard lot about Ukraine in concert halls and opera houses. Why not Gaza?
Terms like anti-Israel and antisemitic have been distended beyond meaning. I don’t even know what this pianist said. Pro-Israel hypersensitivity is boomeranging. (Boomerang is Australian.)
Please, No politics in the concert hall. Period. I listen to live music to rise above life’s challenges. Can you believe I know of a class that teaches Yoga for Palestine. The arts and Yoga have always been my safe space. Sadly, no longer. And I’m a child of Holocaust survivors.
I don’t hold much hope for the future.