‘Anti-Semitism normalised’ in Wagga Wagga shop front
Iconic Australia institutions have demanded their names be removed from an online clientele list of a Wagga Wagga business that used its shopfront to accuse Israelis of ‘gang rape … maim and torture’.
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Iconic Australian institutions have demanded their names be removed from an online clientele list of a Wagga Wagga business that used its main street shopfront to declare the Israeli people are perpetrators of “gang rape … maim and torture”.
The owner of the Fitzmaurice graphic design store, Advision, was forced to remove the display, which included a poster that said “Israeli’s claim to be the chosen people. Chosen to; commit genocide, gang rape, pillage, kill, starve, maim and torture others”, from the front window this week after 53,000 people (52,985 more than usual) flooded his website, and left angry and abusive messages and calls.
The window display, which has been referred to as “normalised anti-Semitism”, also featured a widely circulated print comparing Hitler and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Australian institutions such as the Red Cross, Commonwealth Bank, University of Sydney and Western Sydney University said they had no record of services from the business and demanded they be removed from a client list on the website.
Charles Sturt University and Macquarie University also said they had no record of using Advision’s services, despite being listed.
“Even if Advision had provided design services to the university, this would not constitute an endorsement of Advision’s opinions on the war in Gaza … The university will reach out to Advision and request they remove any reference to Western Sydney University,” a spokesperson said.
The 40-year-old business claims to have worked with those institutions and businesses many years and decades ago.
Owner and graphic designer Michael Agzarian, who has been using his regional shopfront to protest against Israel since October 7, said he “rejected the notion any of my artwork or post designs are ‘anti-Semitic’.”
Mr Agzarian said he had “never been anti-Jewish but instead always directed my messages at the state of Israel and its controversial Prime Minister”.
Another window design included a quote attributed to Canadian physician Gabor Mate that said: “Take the worst thing you can say about Hamas, multiply it by 1000 times and it still will not meet the Israeli repression and killing and dispossession of Palestinians.”
Numerous posters were removed from the website following the backlash, including one that showed Mr Netanyahu as Hitler and included the words “Zionist not human”.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said it was “further evidence of how normalised anti-Semitism is becoming in our society”.
“The owner is pushing this lethal nonsense and attempting to pass it off as mere criticism of Israeli policy. But no one will be fooled. I hope the shop’s customers take their business elsewhere and this odious individual faces the consequences of vilifying a people and using a place of business to peddle racist filth.”
Federal Nationals MP for Riverina Michael McCormack said he had received countless calls and letters about the “un-Wagga Wagga” displays.
“The difficulty is people in country towns aren’t prepared to say something because they’re too scared to. But I do – the standards you walk past are the standard you accept,” he said.
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