Anti-Semitic campaigners targeting Australian Jewish leaders

Jewish leaders are being targeted in their professional life by anti-Semitic campaigners bombarding regulatory bodies with complaints. One prominent Jewish GP has received 10 complaints since October 7.

Anti-Semitic campaigners are weaponizing online forms with professional bodies to make spurious complaints against prominent Australian Jewish professionals.

Highly regarded eastern Sydney medical practitioner Dr David Adler – the president of the Australian Jewish Association – has had to fend off multiple professional complaints made to the nation’s doctor regulator and the NSW health watchdog – over social media posts made supporting Israel.

Dr Adler has been a doctor for more than 35 years and prior to this targeted campaign, only ever had one formal complaint, which was dismissed.

But now 10 complaints have been made – and thrown out by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission – and Dr Adler says the attempts to revoke his medical licence were “an ugly political campaign of harassment” and a waste of public resources.

Many of the complaints, which were also lodged with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, were illiterate, ungrammatical, spelt his name wrongly and used form letters, copied and pasted with the same sentences.

Australian Jewish Association president Dr David Adler is says “this is an ugly political campaign of harassment”.

Some came from outside NSW and typical of the complaints asking for Dr Adler, a former Australian Medical Association deputy medical secretary, to be deregistered, was a claim he was “spilling hatred in the community” by posting about the Israel Palestine conflict.

One gave the reason for trying to revoke his medical licence as “posting crap on Facebook”.

Jewish leaders say there’s been a rise in anti-Semitic hate – graffiti found along Dandenong Creek Trail, Tirhatuan Wetlands.

Some alleged he was “posting fake stories of the war going on in Israel and Palestine”.

Another anonymous account wanted an investigation into his medical licence claiming “he has been spreading lies claiming that pro-Palestinian protesters support terrorism and hate”.

Dr Adler said he was targeted because he was Jewish and supported Israel.

“I have been a registered medical practitioner in NSW for more than 35 years and during that time there was only one formal complaint, which was dismissed,” he said.

“However, since 7 October there have been ten complaints, all from people I don’t know and all because the complainants didn’t agree with public comments I’ve made in support of the Jewish community and Israel.

“I have been targeted only because I am Jewish and support Israel. This is an ugly political campaign of harassment.

“It is a clear abuse of process and also wastes public resources. There needs to be consequences for people who indulge in such undemocratic and anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish Australians.”

In a letter to Dr Adler, the Health Care Complaints Commission stated that they had consulted the Medical Council of NSW and “decided to take no further action regarding these complaints”.

They told him the concerns raised were “not within the context of you providing clinical care and treatment as a healthcare provider”.

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