AJN pulls article criticising abuse of Sarah Schwartz

The Australian Jewish News has removed an article calling for respectful debate about Israel-Palestine. The article by Nomi Kaltmann criticised the treatment of Jewish Council Executive Officer Sarah Schwartz and argued that abusive language runs contrary to Jewish values.

The Jewish Independent understands that Editor Gareth Narunksy was told to remove the article by Publisher Bob Magid and Director Anna Pasternak after they received complaints about publishing an article that mounted any kind of defence of Schwartz.

Schwartz, who is an outspoken critic of Israel, gave evidence to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion last week that she had been subject to abuse by other Jews, including being called a “kapo” and a “Judenrat” and having her picture superimposed on the image of a train bound for a concentration camp.

Kaltmann's article argued that the abuse levelled at Schwartz breached the principle that all Jews are one people. “If you call a fellow Jew a kapo or compare them to a rat, you have lost the moral high ground. No matter how strongly you disagree with someone's politics, using language like this means that you have become part of the problem,” Kaltmann wrote.

Kaltmann emphasised that she disagreed with Schwartz's views on the Israel-Palestine conflict but said she was ashamed of how Schwartz has been treated. “To Sarah, and to every other Jew who has been abused in this way by fellow Jews, I want to say: I am sorry. I am ashamed that you have been treated like this by members of our own community,” she wrote.

Kaltmann offerred the article to Narunsky last week and he published it on the AJN website on Friday morning. It was removed on Monday morning. Narunksy told Kaltmann he could not tell her why the article had been removed. Both Narunsky and Magid declined a TJI request for comment.