WEBVTT - Justice Michael Lee tackles antisemitism

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<v Speaker 1>From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, November twenty two. Australia has no capacity to

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<v Speaker 1>make wind turbines on shore thanks to cheap Chinese imports

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<v Speaker 1>which have destroyed the local industry. That's the claim from

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<v Speaker 1>Manufacture at Kepel Prince, which is mothballing its plant because

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<v Speaker 1>it says it can't compete with heavily subsidized foreign steel imports.

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<v Speaker 1>That exclusive is live now at the Australian dot com

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<v Speaker 1>dou A heartfelt plea to tackle anti Semitism from the

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<v Speaker 1>nation's most prominent judge, Michael Lee of the Federal Court

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<v Speaker 1>has shared his family's deeply personal story in a powerful

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<v Speaker 1>call to action delivered on Thursday night. That's today's story.

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<v Speaker 1>Justice Michael Lee is a titan of Australian law. He's

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<v Speaker 1>the erudite, funny, razor sharp judge who presides over the

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<v Speaker 1>biggest Federal Court defamation trials. Today, we're bringing you something

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<v Speaker 1>a little different from the judge a thoughtful, deeply personal

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<v Speaker 1>speech he made on Thursday night to a dinner hosted

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<v Speaker 1>by the charity Jewish House. Jewish House in Sydney's BONDI

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<v Speaker 1>started as a drug and alcohol crisis service, and now

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<v Speaker 1>it serves the whole community, not just people of the

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<v Speaker 1>Jewish faith, with crisis accommodation and support for people experiencing homelessness,

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<v Speaker 1>domestic violence and mental illness. The judge started by HARKing

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<v Speaker 1>back to a speech he gave twelve years ago at

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<v Speaker 1>one of Sydney's synagogue'es, we've used a voice actor to

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<v Speaker 1>bring you his words.

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<v Speaker 2>I remarked that when I was a boy learning public

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<v Speaker 2>speaking at a Marris Brother's school, I was confident that

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<v Speaker 2>there were a number of opening words of a speech

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<v Speaker 2>that I would never utter. One form of opening words

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<v Speaker 2>was I proudly accept your nomination for President of the

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<v Speaker 2>United States. Another equally unlikely were the words I opened

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<v Speaker 2>with on that occasion, being welcome to my son's bar

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<v Speaker 2>Mitzvah for justice.

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<v Speaker 1>Lee raised a Catholic in the western suburbs of Sydney.

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<v Speaker 1>The story of Jewish experience is now deeply personal.

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<v Speaker 2>I was introduced to the richness of the Jewish lived

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<v Speaker 2>experience through my wife's family. When I came into Penny's family,

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<v Speaker 2>I was accepted immediately and was welcomed into the light

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<v Speaker 2>and richness of a cultural and spiritual heritage I have

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<v Speaker 2>grown to love. Incidentally, Penny was also welcomed with open

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<v Speaker 2>arms and love. And when I told my father I

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<v Speaker 2>had fallen in love with a girl who was Jewish,

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<v Speaker 2>his response was to say, well, thank goodness, she is

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<v Speaker 2>not a Methodist.

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<v Speaker 1>Penny's family were the Landers, a Sydney Jewish family of

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<v Speaker 1>long standing. Her grandfather, Abraham Lander, was born in Belfast

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen oh two to a family of Russian Jews

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<v Speaker 1>who'd fled the Pograms that is a wave of terrifying

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<v Speaker 1>persecution that swept Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth century.

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<v Speaker 1>After coming to Sydney with his widowed mom, Abe Lander

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<v Speaker 1>won a scholarship to study law at Sydney University, and

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<v Speaker 1>he became the state MP for the seat of Bondai,

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<v Speaker 1>representing labor. He was a prominent voice in support of

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<v Speaker 1>one of the Jewish community's great causes in the post

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<v Speaker 1>Second World War era, the creation of Israel. Through the

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<v Speaker 1>United Nations General Assembly. Abe Lander rose to be a

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<v Speaker 1>new South Wales Cabinet minister, with portfolios including Labor and housing.

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<v Speaker 1>Abe's son, David Penny's father was also a lawyer and

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<v Speaker 1>rose to be New South Wales as ombardsman and Chief Magistrate.

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<v Speaker 1>Lee said his beloved father in.

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<v Speaker 2>Law suffered the sort of establishment anti Semitism so common

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<v Speaker 2>in those days, particularly as the son of a prominent

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<v Speaker 2>Jewish minister living in the eastern suburbs. In his autobiography,

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<v Speaker 2>he tells the story of being acutely embarrassed as a

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<v Speaker 2>young man when the fact of him being blackballed from

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<v Speaker 2>joining an exclusive Palm Beach surf club became a newsworthy scandal.

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<v Speaker 2>As it happened, he was put up at around the

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<v Speaker 2>same time as a man who later was exposed as

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<v Speaker 2>a notorious sex offender. Unlike David, the pedophile sailed through

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<v Speaker 2>the election process.

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<v Speaker 1>For this family just getting on with life. The reality

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<v Speaker 1>of antisemitism came crashing home after October seven, twenty twenty three,

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<v Speaker 1>when her maass fighters swarmed from Gaza into Israel, massacring

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<v Speaker 1>civilians and taking hostages, including babies and elderly women.

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<v Speaker 2>The revelation for both of us since seven October is

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<v Speaker 2>the stark and discomforting realization that despite living our whole

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<v Speaker 2>lives in this country and thinking we knew it so

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<v Speaker 2>well we do not now recognize an aspect of it.

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<v Speaker 2>Connected to this was the realization that some people we

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<v Speaker 2>thought we knew well did not understand or did not

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<v Speaker 2>want to understand a more complex narrative than that presented

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<v Speaker 2>by simplistic and historically flaw declamations on social and some

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<v Speaker 2>other media. Nor were they empathetic to the trauma the

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<v Speaker 2>events of last year and its consequences have occasioned.

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<v Speaker 1>Lee calls it the growth and mainstreaming of antisemitism, and

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<v Speaker 1>his speech is an attempt to suggest how we might

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<v Speaker 1>as a community first understand and then tackle it. Critical

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<v Speaker 1>to that is how we balance two important values, the

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<v Speaker 1>right to free expression and the right to live free

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<v Speaker 1>of antisemitism. It's apparently the only kind of racism that

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<v Speaker 1>has to explain itself. Lee points out that freedom of

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<v Speaker 1>speech is not explicitly written into Australia's constitution, but it

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<v Speaker 1>is rather understood by the courts to be implied. The

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<v Speaker 1>Commonwealth has anti discrimination laws, but they don't explicitly ban racism.

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<v Speaker 1>What the Racial Discrimination Act says is it is unlawful

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<v Speaker 1>to do an act in public that is reasonably likely

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<v Speaker 1>in all circumstances to offend, insult, humiliate, or intimidate another

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<v Speaker 1>person or a group of people, and the act is

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<v Speaker 1>done because of the race, color, or national or ethnic

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<v Speaker 1>origin of the other. Lee notes that in the recent

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<v Speaker 1>case of a school student who sued the State of Victoria,

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<v Speaker 1>the Federal Court's Chief Justice found the state vicariously liable

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<v Speaker 1>because the school principle had failed to respond adequately to

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<v Speaker 1>anti Semitic bullying.

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<v Speaker 2>But the law has gone and will only go so far.

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<v Speaker 2>No one in this room would be under any misapprehension

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<v Speaker 2>as to the scope of the present problem. When one

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<v Speaker 2>compares the nation in which I was born with the

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<v Speaker 2>nation I now see around me, one must conclude that

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<v Speaker 2>what has occurred over the last half century amounts to

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<v Speaker 2>what might be described as a soft revolution in values

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<v Speaker 2>within numerous institutions, including the university's unions, the arts, and schools.

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<v Speaker 2>In universities, it can be seen in courses focused on

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<v Speaker 2>what is described as critical legal studies, but is most

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<v Speaker 2>evident in the social science, history, and education faculties. It

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<v Speaker 2>is a world where the difference between fact and opinion

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<v Speaker 2>seems increasingly blurred or obliterated. It is a world which

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<v Speaker 2>so often simplistically divides mankind into the so called oppressors

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<v Speaker 2>and the oppressed, and wallows in ahistorical criticism of the

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<v Speaker 2>achievements of Western civilization, the rule of law, and Judeo

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<v Speaker 2>Christian ethics Influenced by this narrative from the start, it

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<v Speaker 2>is unsurprising that many students now seem to use school

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<v Speaker 2>and university to proclaim rather than to learn.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's the problem. What does Justice Lee think is

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<v Speaker 1>the solution? That's after the break. It's not a secret

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<v Speaker 1>that it's on university campuses where anti Semitism has been

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<v Speaker 1>at times most visible of all, in encampments of tense

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<v Speaker 1>daubed with anti israel slogans, in protests on the large

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<v Speaker 1>scale you don't tell me again, and the small scale,

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<v Speaker 1>like the Jewish professors who find themselves sitting behind locked

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<v Speaker 1>doors to protect them from abuse and harassment from the

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<v Speaker 1>students who are supposed to show respect. Lee says university

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<v Speaker 1>leadership is part of the problem, pointing out there were

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<v Speaker 1>no encampments at Western Sydney University, where he happens to

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<v Speaker 1>be on the board of the Whitlam Institute, a think

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<v Speaker 1>tank and public museum devoted to the legacy of former

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<v Speaker 1>PM Goff Whitlam. Western Sydney University, Lee points out, has

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<v Speaker 1>the largest Muslim population of any UNI in Australia, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's had a strong stance against anti Semitism and no encampments.

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<v Speaker 1>In May. Western Sydney UNI's chancellor Jennifer Westcott wrote this

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<v Speaker 1>in an opinion piece for The Australian.

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<v Speaker 3>Western Sydney University's position is simple. It is guided by

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<v Speaker 3>its principles. Our Charter of Academic Freedom supports the right

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<v Speaker 3>of staff and students to academic freedom and freedom of speech.

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<v Speaker 3>It requires that freedoms and rights be exercised responsibly, with

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<v Speaker 3>zero tolerance for anti Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, hate speech or intimidation.

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<v Speaker 1>Western Sydney Uni a side. Lee is concerned anti Semitism

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<v Speaker 1>has flourished in higher education, where the CEOs, teachers and

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<v Speaker 1>politicians of the future are right now being formed.

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<v Speaker 2>What this community and all non Jews of goodwill need

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<v Speaker 2>to confront is a deep and profound challenge. How to

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<v Speaker 2>educate and communicate effectively with a generation exposed to a

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<v Speaker 2>system producing an apparently significant number of future leaders whose

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<v Speaker 2>lack of a traditional Western historical education is matched by

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<v Speaker 2>their sense of self righteousness and their willingness to sprout slogans.

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<v Speaker 2>This is a worrying combination, further exacerbated by access to

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<v Speaker 2>a bulcanized legacy media and social media, resulting in preconceived

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<v Speaker 2>notions being reinforced by the like minded. There are no

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<v Speaker 2>simple answers, but that does not mean that one must

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<v Speaker 2>despair justice.

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<v Speaker 1>Lee referenced a former President of the United States, George H. W. Bush,

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<v Speaker 1>referring in his inauguration speech to one thousand points of light.

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<v Speaker 3>I've spoken of a thousand points of light of all

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<v Speaker 3>the community organizations that are spread like star throughout the

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<v Speaker 3>nation doing good.

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<v Speaker 1>Bush was talking about those in the community spread like

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<v Speaker 1>stars doing some good. Lie says the Jewish House, charity

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<v Speaker 1>for which he made the speech, is a very bright

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<v Speaker 1>star in that firmament.

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<v Speaker 2>Every person of goodwill can be a point of light.

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<v Speaker 2>Each can do their best to combat the dark forces

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<v Speaker 2>that have emerged in our own way. Each of us

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<v Speaker 2>can confront ignorance and play some role in pointing out

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<v Speaker 2>and combating anti Semitic prejudice and any conduct contrary to

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<v Speaker 2>legal norms prohibiting discriminatory conduct when we encounter it. Let

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<v Speaker 2>me conclude on a personal note. In a speech made

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<v Speaker 2>on twenty eight November nineteen forty six to the Legislative

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<v Speaker 2>Assembly of New South Wales, Abe Lander, in responding to

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<v Speaker 2>instances of anti Semitic rhetoric that were then occurring in

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<v Speaker 2>this state, said I shall treat any attack on the

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<v Speaker 2>Jews as an attack upon my wife and my children.

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<v Speaker 2>Although unlike Abe, I cannot say I spring from your

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<v Speaker 2>faith over the sweep of almost eighty years, I can

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<v Speaker 2>say I feel exactly the same way.

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<v Speaker 1>Those are the words of Justice Michael Lee, spoken by

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<v Speaker 1>a voice actor. You can read more of the speech

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<v Speaker 1>right now at the Australian dot Com dot A. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for joining us on the front. Our team is Jasper League,

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<v Speaker 1>Kristen Amiot, Leat Zammaglue, Tiffany Dimak, Joshua Burton, Stephanie Combs

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<v Speaker 1>and me Claire Harvey.