Fans make disgraceful comments about Jewish player Harry Sheezel ahead of AFL Draft in Melbourne

Harry Sheezel may be a prodigious footy talent on the cusp of being one of the first players picked up in tonight’s AFL Draft, but some fans have reacted to the young Jewish lad’s success with a series of disgusting comments.

If, as expected, the 18-year-old is picked up by North Melbourne at three or four, he will become the first Jewish player to be called up since Ezra Poyas in 1999.

It’s a feel-good story about a young man who represents a community not often associated with Australian rules football.

Unfortunately, not everyone felt that way, with a host of keyboard warriors flooding The Age’s Facebook post telling their story with a series of anti-Semitic comments.

The post has since been removed, but not before prominent Jewish author Alex Ryvchin drew attention to some of the racist comments on Twitter.

“A Jew who actually exercises? Fake news,” one wrote, while another said, “Zionist media selling a story like the Holocaust” – in one of the most disgusting remarks.

Other repulsive comments asked if the rising star had enough “gas in the tank,” referring to the horrors endured by the six million Jewish people killed by Adolf Hitler in World War II.

Unfortunately, and incredibly in 2022, this is not a rare occurrence.

Dr. Dvir Abramovich, chair of the anti-defamation commission and Australia’s leading anti-hate activist, said the “climate for Australian Jews” is very dangerous right now.

“Australians must accept that the genie of anti-Semitism is out of the bottle and the lid has been taken off the sewer as people who may be our neighbors are pouring their anti-Semitic poison and venom on a young man who is just trying to play the game where he loves,” he said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

“This is the reality of being a Jewish person in Victoria, and even for someone who fights anti-Semitism 24/7, the past few years have shocked me deeply. They paint a very disturbing picture and anti-Jewish bigotry takes a firm hold in our daily lives and the climate for Australian Jews becomes very dangerous.

“The number of abhorrent posts on Facebook targeting Harry Sheezel is alarming and indicates a widespread normalization and acceptance of bigoted, hate speech that characterizes today’s social media,” said Dr Abramovich.

Dr. Abramovich said the incredibly racist comments reflect age-old stereotypes about Jewish people being led by Nazi leaders in the worst humanitarian disaster of all time.

“Some of the ugly, hurtful expressions I’ve seen about Mr. Sheezel not only fan the flames of bigotry, but repurpose age-old blood libels and stereotypes of Jews that neo-Nazis would be very proud of,” he said. in the damning statement.

“One wonders if these individuals who spew virtual abuse and harassment take their online activities into the real world when they encounter Jewish people on the street or at work, and what they teach their children about acceptance and respect.

“I hope every AFL team takes the time to see if these trolls are club members, and if they are, rule them all out,” Dr Abramovich said.

Sheezel attended the prestigious Mount Scopus Memorial College (where former Aussie Test cricketer Michael Klinger is one of its esteemed alumni), one of the world’s top Jewish day schools; where he learned to speak Hebrew.

Before playing in the highest junior NAB League, he played his junior footy at the Jewish club AJAX, the club where his father Dean played more than 150 senior games.

99,956 Australians, of which 46,645 lived in Victoria, identified as Jewish according to the 2021 census – so the fact that Sheezel is already making waves in footy has already made him somewhat of a celebrity in the community.

Although he is not specifically religious, his family practices traditional Jewish customs and traditions every year, and it has made him determined to be a role model in his community.

You get these kids that you’ve never seen come up to you and say, ‘Oh, you’re Harry Sheezel,’ I’m going to Scopus too. You see these kids, they look at me like I used to look at Lance Franklin. And it’s like, wow, I can be such a positive role model and make an impact on these kids,” he shared Code sports recently.

“It’s a little busy sometimes, if you don’t perform, will I let them down?” But I think I have faith that I think I can make it more positive than negative.

“I think it’s kind of real now that it’s going to happen. So now I can relax a little bit and just try to give back to the community and show them it’s possible.

“I think I’m going to look like this, I just want it to be more common, I think it definitely can,” Sheezel said of the chance of more Jewish players making a name for themselves in the AFL.

Only a handful of Jewish players have played in the AFL, with 1966 premiership player Ian Synman easily the cream of the crop after a stellar 154-game career.

Current North Melbourne All Australian ruckman do have a Jewish father but do not qualify as Jewish ancestry traditionally comes from the maternal side of the family.

Poyas was the most recent, playing in the 2001 Richmond Preliminary Final, but only eight Jewish players are believed to have played at the top level.

However, there will definitely be another member of those ranks now, and Sheezel just might prove himself to be the best choice.

The 186cm striker was brilliant alongside the much hyped Will Ashcroft at Sandringham, scoring 36 goals from 14 games as the side won the NAB League premiership earlier this year.

His four crucial goals in that grand final against Dandenong in September cemented his spot as a top-10 draft pick, and it’s highly likely the Kangaroos will get him at pick three, adding him to an already talented young forward.