Australia pledges to combat anti-Semitism

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) — Australia’s prime minister signed a declaration about combating anti-Semitism, saying the bigotry “pollutes our world right now.”

In the presence of Jewish leaders in Sydney, Julia Gillard signed the London Declaration on Combating Anti-Semitism on Tuesday, a declaration first adopted in 2009 by 125 legislators from more than 40 countries.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Danny Lamm, who was present at Tuesday’s signing, said: “Australia, as a respected nation around the world, in joining this London Declaration, can only help in our battle against anti-Semitism. We are very grateful to the prime minister for making the declaration.”

Although Gillard did not speak at the signing, her office did release a statement. “Anti-Semitism did not end with the conclusion of the Second World War and the fall of Nazism,” she said. “It did not end with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It did not end with the foundation of the State of Israel. It pollutes our world right now.”

She added: “The London Declaration is, above all, a warning and a witness to those who hold offices of public trust. In the 1930s, another generation of leaders failed the test. We face the same test – and we must not fail it.”