The man behind those newspaper ads condemning antisemitism

VIC ALHADEFF meets TIM ROSSANIS, the driving force behind the initiative that called on Australians to speak out.

Tuesday, November 28, 2023, was a day unprecedented in the annals of Australian Jewry: double-page advertisements in the front of the nation’s major newspapers condemning antisemitism.

“A NEWSPAPER AD CAN’T END HATE,” declared the headline on the advertisement in capital blue letters; “BUT YOU CAN.” In the centre, an inclusive statement denouncing the spike in antisemitism and other forms of bigotry which were, and still are, threatening social cohesion across the nation. 

More than 600 men and women from Australian corporate and public life, from a range of faiths and backgrounds, agreed to sign the advertisement, although space limitations meant only about 400 names were printed. But almost 20,000 people signed online variations of the theme.

The impetus for the initiative? The alarming surge in antisemitic incidents across the nation in the aftermath of the barbaric Hamas assault of October 7, generating profound concern across the Jewish community, as well as disquiet at the silence of many of the interfaith leaders with whom the community had been engaging for decades. 

The driving force behind the campaign was Tim Rossanis, whose name is little-known within the Jewish community but whose enterprise will be long remembered.

“My hope is that the campaign shone a light on the reality of the experience that thousands of Jewish employees had been having,” reflects Rossanis. “The objective was also to prompt employers to think about what was happening in their workplace and to focus on their human resources policies and how they impacted Jewish employees.