Jewish group launches campaign against Greens ahead of Queensland election
A grassroots Queensland Jewish group has joined with Hindu and Iranian groups to launch a campaign against the Greens, declaring the party ‘no longer stands for all minorities’.
A grassroots Queensland Jewish group has accused the Greens of stoking anti-Semitism and hatred in the wake of the October 7 attacks in Israel, launching a billboard and letterbox campaign against the minor party in key seats ahead of the state election.
The Australian can reveal the Queensland Jewish Collective has registered as a third party for the October 26 election, and has already raised more than $20,000 in community donations to fund 12,000 pamphlets and erect billboards in Brisbane electorates targeted by the Greens.
A first wave of advertisements compares the Greens protesting dams in the 1980s to today’s pro-Palestine movement, accusing the party of abandoning its core environmental message to support terror, indoctrinate children to hate, and undermine Australian values.
This week, the QJC will launch another series of billboards in partnership with the Australian Hindu Association and local Iranian community to take a stand for marginalised groups.
“They no longer stand for all minorities,” reads one of the QJC flyers. “They support our persecutors and terrorisers here and overseas. We’re putting them last.”
The collective is attempting to unseat Queensland’s first elected Greens MP, Michael Berkman, from the inner-west electorate of Maiwar, which he won in 2017, and is also targeting Moggill, held by the LNP’s Christian Rowan on a margin of 3.59 per cent, to blunt the Greens after it collected the overlapping federal seat of Ryan in the 2022 Brisbane “Greenslide”.
At the last Queensland election in 2020, the Greens held Mr Berkman’s seat and won a second, South Brisbane, after the LNP preferenced Amy MacMahon above Labor’s former deputy premier Jackie Trad.
One of the QJC’s three organisers Hava Mendelle said Queensland had become increasingly unsafe for Jewish Australians since October 7, and that danger had been exacerbated by Greens politicians appearing at pro-Palestine rallies.
“I’ve been living here for 25 years, and (being Jewish) was never something that I had to fear, because I knew that my government was behind me,” Ms Mendelle said.
“The rhetoric that has been coming out of the Greens, not just candidates, but the members, has been so one-sided with no nuance … it’s actually making Jews scared.
“Over the last 12 months, it has been so pro-hate and divisive that we couldn’t just sit here and not do anything.”
Ms Mendelle declined to appear in photographs for The Australian because of fears about her safety and that of her children.
She and non-Jewish organiser Joshu Turier have each voted for the Greens in the past but no longer feel they can.
“Many Jews in Brisbane actually vote for the Greens because we care about the environment, we care about social justice,” she said.
“But the Greens are not that party anymore.”
Mr Turier said he believed anti-Semitism had “absolutely corrupted” the Greens.
“If someone can show me another reason why there’s this obsessive focus on demonising Israeli actions, then I’m happy to consider it, but nobody’s been able to,” he said.
One of the figures in the new advertisement campaign, Hesam Orouji, said he moved to Australia eight years ago to live in a secular society for greater security. The Iran Novin Party member said he had to take a stand after being re-traumatised by people yelling anti-Semitic chants and carrying terrorist flags.
“I don’t know why they support this politics, which is against the Australian values and against humanity,” Mr Orouji said.
“I’m not in Iran anymore, but I can see same things happening here.”
Greens strategists say four suburban Labor-held seats could fall to the Greens: Cooper, McConnel, Greenslopes and Miller. The LNP seats of Clayfield and Moggill are also possible targets.
A Queensland Greens spokesman said the party “stands with Jewish people across the world who do not want to watch a genocide unfold, who want to see the hostages returned and want a ceasefire” and opposed anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism.
“Criticising the war crimes of the far-right extremist government of Israel is not anti-Semitic.”
On Wednesday, federal Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather emailed party members, stating the party was under attack “from a massive right-wing scare campaign” and that lobby group Advance Australia was spreading “lies and misinformation in the lead up to the state and federal election”.
The email’s call for donations page highlighted an image of QJC’s billboard, as the party attempted to fund its won counter-advertisements.
The grassroots Jewish group and Advance had each denied having any connections. The lobby group is not registered as a third party in Queensland.
QJC was previously accused of being a front for Advance by Mr Berkman in an email to members.
“The conservatives have started dropping anti-Greens attacks like confetti across Maiwar, with huge billboards on Moggill & Milton Roads – and ridiculous flyers in Maiwar letterboxes,” the email said.
“They’re using Advance’s exact messaging, and it seems clear their rich right-wing lobby group is behind it, masquerading as a local group.
“The LNP and their rich mates are stooping to new lows, doubling down on Trump-style, misleading attack campaigns.”
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