Outrage at Jewish expert’s event ban
Violent threats are never the answer, even in response to the war in the Middle East
Organisers of a Gold Coast mental health conference have expelled a Jewish academic on the speaking bill from attending, sparking outrage from Australia’s peak body for Jewish people.
The Frontline Mental Health conference at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa had invited Israel-based trauma expert Dr Moshe Farchi to attend as a keynote presenter.
Dr Farchi, founder of the Stress, Trauma and Resilience Studies program at Tel-Hai College in Israel, was to speak on stage on Monday.
But instead he was on a flight back to Israel that same day after organisers claimed high volumes of abuse about his appearance prompted a decision to axe him, citing security risks.
Australian Jewish Association (AJA) chairman Robert Gregory called the decision to remove him from the line up “disgraceful”,
“The actions of the organisers are a stain on Australia’s reputation and reminiscent of Nazi boycotts of Jewish academics.”
Mr Gregory said the Jewish academic was invited six months ago, but just days before the conference - having already flown to Australia - the professor was told he was expelled and his registration cancelled due to “unspecified threats”.
“Dr Farchi has never experienced such anti-semitism in his long career in academia. Jews in Australia are experiencing a surge in anti-semitism, fuelled by radical ‘pro-Palestinian’ activists.”
Mr Gregory called on conference organisers to be fired for the “disgraceful decision” and called on the Queensland Government - listed as a supporting partner - to intervene.
“We are calling for the person who made this disgraceful decision to be fired. The Queensland Government needs to explain its continued involvement. Would they sit by if an Indigenous person, gay person, or member of any other minority was excluded from a conference they were involved with?”
The two-day event at the five-star resort included keynote presentations from international health experts, with delegates from emergency services, defence, community, and government.
Conference organisers AST Management’s general manager Samantha Collingridge said they had received a high volume of abuse on Friday from protestors.
“Late on the afternoon on Friday, AST Management began receiving a high volume of online abuse and telephone calls from protestors and activists regarding the attendance of Dr Moshe Farchi at the Frontline Mental Health Conference we are organising on behalf of the Australia New Zealand Mental Health Association (ANZMHA),” she said.
“This continued throughout the weekend. Our security expert advised us, based on the volume and nature of the abuse, there was insufficient time to conduct a thorough risk assessment at the hotel to ensure the safety of the 280-plus conference attendees.”
AST Management will cover the costs of Dr Farchi’s accommodation and flights.
ANZMHA CEO Sam Stewart said the association had not taken a position on the Palestine-Israel conflict.
“As the conference organisers, AST Management advised us they were not confident of being able to provide a safe environment for our attendees, and they made the decision to cancel Dr Farchi’s registration,” Mr Stewart said.
The Families For Palestine group launched a Change.org petition demanding Dr Farchi be boycotted by the Frontline Mental Health conference. “We, the undersigned, petition the ANZMHA to rescind their invitation to Dr Moshe Farchi, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Israel Defence Force, as a keynote speaker at the annual conference,” the petition read.
“We welcome ANZMHA’S decision to withdraw and cancel Moshe Farchi’s presence.
“It is crucial for the Association to uphold its commitment towards promoting mental health without compromising human rights principles.”
The conflict between Israel and Hamas began nearly five months ago and the subsequent humanitarian crisis unleashed by the warfare has become a focal point of international concern.
The actions of Hamas on October 7, 2023 and that of Israel in the months since has drawn significant condemnation and led to debate about how to respond to the atrocities committed.
While far from the Gold Coast, the repercussions are being felt locally at the Frontline Mental Health conference
Israel-based trauma expert Dr Moshe Farchi, who was invited to attend as a keynote presenter, had his appearance cancelled and was sent home.
Organisers claimed high volumes of abuse about his appearance prompted a decision to axe him, citing security risks.
“They were not confident of being able to provide a safe environment for our attendees, and they made the decision to cancel Dr Farchi’s registration,” organiser Sam Stewart said.
Dr Farchi had been to present a speech on psychological first aid with a particular focus on its application in the aftermath of October 7.
The Families For Palestine group had called for Dr Farchi to be boycotted, owing to his position in the Israeli military while the Australian Jewish Association argued it was “disgraceful”.
Boycotting people, who themselves bear no direct responsibility for the actions of their state, is a response which the international community has routine used in the past, such as Russia’s exclusion from sporting events following the Ukrainian invasion.
While the event was ostensibly non-political, inviting an Israeli to speak about October 7 inevitably made it so.
Regardless of anyone’s views on the conflict, threats of violence are unacceptable and indefensible and achieve nothing more than spreading further rancour when anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are both increasing rapidly.
Martin Luther King said it best when he said people must be able to disagree without being violently disagreeable.
Nobody should feel fear or the threat of violence for who they are.
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