A community activist group’s banner labeling Israelis as “dumb white dogs” has cost their center the support of a prestigious law firm.
Aboriginal group This Mob Arts Collective has faced fierce criticism since displaying the racist banner, which reads: ‘Free Palestine from the colonizing stupid white dogs!!! Abolish Israel!!! P***ya** baby murder b***ha*** Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu)!!’.
Now major law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler is withdrawing its financial support from the Collingwood Yards community arts centre, where the banner was produced as part of a protest workshop organized by community radio station Hope St.
The collective art space also has a wine bar on the roof.
A community radio station has come under fire after hosting a pro-Palestine event for an indigenous group that set up banners with vile anti-Semitic statements
Arnold Bloch Leibler senior partner Mark Leibler wrote to Miriam Silva, chairman of Collingwood Yards, to end their partnership, the Australian Financial Statement reported on Tuesday.
“I and my partners are deeply disappointed that Collingwood Yards was unwilling to demonstrate the required moral clarity and condemn Hamas and the atrocities it committed on October 7,” the Jewish community leader wrote.
“Accordingly, and with great despair on our part that it has come to this, we have made the difficult decision to end our partnership with Collingwood Yards, including our representation on the board.”
The move was made despite Hope St Radio issuing a statement in which – contrary to the sign the workshop produced – it ‘strongly condemns anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all racism’.
Mr Leibler said this was not enough, despite his firm providing advice on the statement.
“We accept that the board was not aware of the workshop or the contents of the banner and that, if you had been, you would have prevented the workshop from going ahead,” Mr Leibler wrote.
The banners produced at This Mob Arts Collective in Melbourne were made for a protest in support of Palestinians
“It is my understanding that one of my partners was asked for advice on the appropriate wording of a statement you were planning to make in response to the banner.
However, Collingwood Yards went on to issue a statement noting that anti-Semitism is unacceptable, but made no mention of the context in which the banner was produced and promoted, namely the torture, murder and kidnapping of Israeli Jews, as if this had never happened occurred and did not relate to the offensive behavior facilitated by your tenants.”
Mr Leibler said his company had received widespread criticism over its support of groups producing the offensive banner, and wanted all their branding removed immediately.
Collingwood Yards acting CEO Nail Aykan told the Australian Financial Review that due to the brevity of the banner, no reference was made to Hamas’s actions.
“Word count matters,” Mr. Aykan said. ‘It was really a matter of keeping it short and sweet and counting down the word count; otherwise it goes beyond people’s attention span.”
Arnold Bloch Leibler senior partner Mark Leibler wrote that the banners lacked “moral clarity.”
The law firm was a founding partner of Collingwood Yards in 2021 and has donated more than $1 million in pro bono legal advice, along with cash donations and long-term partners serving on the board.
After photos of the banner workshop and the final products began circulating on social media, the condemnations started pouring in.
The chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Dvir Abramovich, destroyed the contents of the main poster.
“All the moral guardrails we took for granted have fallen away and it is no surprise that the Jewish community feels under siege and under attack,” Dr Abramovich told Ny Breaking Australia.
“Such ugly and overt expressions of anti-Semitism, which cross all red lines, tear apart the values we hold dear as Australians.
“I never thought I would see such hate-fueled events unfold in the country I love, and the ripple effects of such demonization are deeply felt by us.
“This toxic poster, calling for the erasure of Israel, is fanning the flames of hostility at a dangerous time when anti-Semitism is skyrocketing in Australia.”