Australian Lawmaker With Jewish Wife Targeted With Pig Entrails Vandalism
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
SYDNEY (JTA) — The electoral office of an Australian member of Parliament whose wife is Jewish was targeted by racists who threw pig’s entrails at the front door.
The early Wednesday morning attack follows an earlier attack by the far-right group Antipodean Resistance on September 1 on another office belonging to Labor lawmaker Mike Kelly, in which the group plastered swastika stickers on the door.
Mike Kelly’s wife is Jewish.
The attack involving the pig’s entrails took place in the New South Wales city of Queanbeyan, located just 10 miles from Australia’s capital Canberra. The swastika attack took place in the coastal town of Bega, 135 miles from Queanbeyan.
A former military attorney, Col. Mike Kelly joined the Australian military serving in Somalia, East Timor and Bosnia, and was among senior Australian military personnel who served in the Iraq War. In 1993, he was awarded the Chief of the General Staff Commendation.
“The series of attacks directed at my electorate offices are evidence of the need for constant vigilance and the confrontation of extremist groups in our country,” Kelly told JTA.
“If the perpetrators think that they will intimidate me into refraining from defending Israel or supporting our Jewish community they are deluded,” Kelly said. “Actions like this only spur me to greater efforts and commitment. I have faced much worse threats in my Army career and I will continue to fight racism and ignorance wherever I find it.”
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