Australian Rabbi confronts woman who allegedly told his family to ‘go to a gas chamber’
Rabbi Yonason Johnson, who was on public transport with his children, said: 'I am not aggressive by nature, but I wanted to teach my kids to be proud Jews'
A rabbi in Melbourne has described how he wanted to teach his children to be proud Jews, after video footage circulated of him confronting a woman who allegedly racially abused him and family by telling them to “Go to a gas chamber”.
Rabbi Yonason Johnson, founder of Melbourne’s Maor Centre for Torah education, said the incident occurred while he was travelling home to St Kilda East, a suburb with a large Chasidic Jewish community.
Video footage shared on social media appears to show an unidentified woman seated by a window on the tram, with a bag decorated with pro-Palestine symbols including watermelons and a keffiyeh placed beside her. In the footage, the woman hides her face and says the rabbi and his children are “picking on her”, tells him to “stop being a bully”, and asks “why would I say anything like that?”
In a post on his Facebook page, Rabbi Johnson wrote: “Another day of antisemitism in Melbourne. Does anyone know who this person is? I was riding the tram home in St Kilda East, with my 8 year old and 14 year old daughter and this woman, with her free-palestine kaffiyeh bag tells us ‘You should all go to the gas chambers!’”
“My 8 year old was in tears and is afraid to go on trams again. I am not aggressive by nature, but I wanted to teach my kids to be proud Jews. So I confronted her and then announced to the full tram what she had said. This is how we need to respond. Like the Maccabees who stood up and fought back with Jewish pride and strength. No more will we be afraid or cower. We will stand up to you and call you out. Let them be ashamed!
“Well done to the driver for stopping and checking in on us.”
Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory said: “This appears to be just the latest shocking incident of antisemitism in Melbourne. It’s unbelievable that anyone could tell a child to go to a gas chamber. The fact that this woman was carrying a bag with pro-Palestinian paraphernalia does not surprise me at all. I commend the Rabbi for doing the right thing. People must not be bystanders when such shocking incidents occur. ”
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry earlier this month reported a surge in antisemitism, with 1,654 anti-Jewish incidents recorded in 12 months.
Jewish News has contacted Rabbi Johnson for comment.
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