Conference apologises for banning Israeli specialist

Conference organisers said there was too much risk in allowing trauma expert Dr Moshe Farchi to speak at the Gold Coast event, following an abusive pro-Palestinian campaign.

The Executive Director of the Australia New Zealand Mental Health Association has apologised for withdrawing an invitation to keynote speaker Dr Moshe Farchi after a boycott campaign.

Professor Philip Morris made the apology at a Zionist Federation of Australia webinar, where he had been invited to speak about  the decision to disinvite Dr Farchi from the Frontline Mental Health Conference earlier this month.

Professor Morris apologised to both Dr Farchi and the Australian Jewish community, labelling the decision to cancel Dr Farchi from the conference in early March as "wrong" and "a big mistake".

Jewish community leaders welcomed the apology.

Dr Farchi was forced to withdraw at the last-minute from the Frontline Mental Health Conference in Queensland, following a boycott campaign against platforming the Israeli trauma specialist.

Conference organisers said they had received a “high volume of online abuse and telephone calls” from pro-Palestinian protestors and activists demanding they ban Farchi, who had been advertised as a keynote presenter.

The campaign, is the latest in a long line of doxing incidents against Jewish organisations and individuals in Australia, as tensions stemming from the Israel-Hamas war increase.