Australian Civil Rights Group Condemns Vandalization of Office of MP With Jewish Wife
by Algemeiner Staff
A leading Australian civil rights group has condemned a incident on Wednesday in which pig entrails were left at the door of a district office of a parliamentarian whose wife is Jewish.
The vandalism at Labor MP Mike Kelly’s Queanbeyan headquarters marked a “cowardly display of anti-Semitism which is an attack on our democracy and which violates Australia’s fundamental values of decency, acceptance and respect,” Dr. Dvir Abramovich — chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) — stated.
“This craven vandalism is a distressing reminder that the increasing threat of neo-Nazis and white supremacists still remains strong here, and a timely wake-up call that we have much work to do in countering this dangerous extremism,” Abramovich continued. “The ADC stands firmly with Mike Kelly and his family, and calls on community leaders across the political and religious spectrum to express their outrage at this repulsive assault on a member of parliament. We hope that those individuals responsible for this wanton and sickening act of bigotry are apprehended and are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Earlier this month, the door of Kelly’s office in Bega was defaced with swastika stickers.
Kelly said in a statement on Wednesday, “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. If the perpetrators think that they will intimidate me into refraining from defending Israel or supporting our Jewish community they are deluded. Actions like this only spur me to greater efforts and commitment.”