Australia Mayor With Jewish Roots Shuns Synagogue in Israel Feud
Peter Abelson Image by Flickr
By Dave Goldiner January 16, 2017
An Australian mayor whose father’s family is Jewish is under fire for boycotting an annual synagogue event because of what he called Israel’s “illegal” and provocative policies.
Peter Abelson, the mayor of Mosman, near Sydney, said he wouldn’t go to the new year event at the Great Synagogue in Sydney because of Jewish support for Israel.
“I should express my deep personal concern about the gross and illegal occupation of the West Bank which creates intense international division and bitterness and, unresolved, will cause endless terrorism across the globe,” said Peter Abelson, the mayor of Mosman, near Sydney.
Rabbi Benjamin Elton of the Great Synagogue said he was flabbergasted by Abelson’s response, which he called blatantly anti-Semitic.
“I’m astonished, really,” Elton told the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies. “To boycott a Jewish event in Sydney because of the actions of Israel, that’s a form of anti-Semitism.”
Abelson, who is also a university economics professor, countered that he has Jewish roots and has every right to speak out against Israel.
“To say someone who is critical of the West Bank is anti-Jewish is just nonsense,” he said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
