Marrickville theatre “racist and discriminatory”
A THEATRE in Marrickville has told a Jewish group it could not hire the premises because it does “not host groups that support the colonisation and occupation of Palestine”.
Hillel assistant director Shailee Mendelevich contacted The Red Rattler in Marrickvile to hire the theatre for a “live storytelling series that features poetry, musicians and actors on stage, creating meaningful performances to educate the audience on the theme of the evening”.
She noted in the email to the Red Rattler that Hillel was a not-for-profit that support Jewish students and young adults.
The response was short, vile and may have breached the race-discrimination laws.
“Hi, Our policy does not support colonialism/zionism. Therefore we do not host groups that support the colonisation and occupation of Palestine. The Red Rattler Team.”
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff wrote to the manager of the Red Rattler when he was told about the reply.
“The organisation in question is an apolitical body which provides educational, cultural and social activities for Jewish students and young adults, and it was therefore extremely taken aback to receive a response from your team,” Alhadeff wrote.
He asked the manager for a meeting to discuss misconceptions about the Hillel, Israel and the Jewish community.
“To categorically reject an approach by a Jewish organisation to hire your premises because of a political position that your team holds in relation to an overseas conflict is at best ill-informed and at worst racist and discriminatory.”
Alhadeff told The AJN that it’s sad to see the theatre practise outright discrimination and worse, importing divisiveness based on conflicts taking place far from Australia.
“We ought to be able to get along and work with each respectfully, despite political views or differences of opinion,” he said.
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JOSHUA LEVI
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