Port Phillip council candidate ‘distraught’ over anti-Semitic attack
A council election has turned nasty and a Jewish candidate left shaken by a disturbing anti-Semitic and homophobic attacks on his campaign posters, prompting calls for those behind the “repugnant” vandalism to be hauled before the courts.
Inner South
Don't miss out on the headlines from Inner South . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Jewish Port Phillip Council candidate says he is “distraught” after Hitler moustaches and anti-Semitic slurs were scrawled on his campaign posters.
Former mayor, Dick Gross, told the Leader the “deeply troubling” graffiti, which included the numerals ‘666’ stamped across his forehead, was “abhorrent and completely unacceptable”.
“For the past few years I have seen anti-Semitism in may guises and manifestations — it is a creeping cancer rapidly metastasising,” he said.
“If we don’t fight this, it will grow and it must stop.
“666 is the devil’s number which is often used when accusing Jews of … being the devil’s spawn.
“It’s crude and offensive and completely unacceptable.”
This is not the first time Cr Gross has been subject to “disgusting” anti-Semitic attacks.
During a 2017 council meeting, Cr Gross was the target of a tasteless publicity stunt when someone, believed to be a member of the Greens party, left 30 pieces of silver on his desk after he flipped his vote in the mayoral election.
The nasty manoeuvre came just days after posts on Greens’ Facebook pages claimed Labor and Liberal-affiliated councillors had teamed up to block Cr Katherine Copsey’s bid for the mayor position.
The 30 silver coins represents Judas’ betrayal of Jesus which ultimately led to Christ’s death.
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said he was extremely troubled by the latest “repugnant personal attack” on Cr Gross.
“I find it alarming that he has been singled out for intimidation with Nazi imagery and the age-old association with Satan simply because he is Jewish,” he said.
“This is a cowardly attack on our democracy and our values and shows that the contagion of anti-Semitism continues to strike our city with disturbing regularity and shows no sign of abating.”
Dr Abramovich called for those responsible to be arrested and prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law”.
“This vile targeting of an elected representative was intended to create a climate of fear and is yet another reminder the white-supremacists, who have surged out of the shadows, are out in force and are a persistent reality in Australia,” he said.
Several of Cr Gross’ campaign posters have also been slapped with homophobic tags declaring the Labor-backed Canal Ward councillor a “lover of faggots”. The letter ‘C’ has also been removed from ‘Canal Ward’.
But Cr Gross said being labelled a lover of the LGBTIQ community was a badge he would “wear within honour”.
“I condemn the use of the word ‘faggot’ but in a way I am proud to be vilified by homophobes,” he said.
“I do love LGBTIQ people and I’m proud of that.”
Cr Gross is also locked in a battle of wills with a more harmless vandal he has dubbed “the tooth gap fairy”.
“Someone is going around blacking out my tooth on the posters so I go around with a bottle of white nail polish and paint over it again,” he said.
“The work of the tooth gap fairy is pretty witty and harmless but when vandalism spills into bigotry, that’s not okay.”
MORE:
CONSPIRACY THEORIST INVESTIGATED OVER ALLEGED COVID BREACHES
ELWOOD WOMAN’S IDENTITY STOLEN IN ‘SOPHISTICATED’ FRAUD PLOT
HOW COVID-19 IS PUSHING PORT PHILLIP BUSINESSES TO THE BRINK