Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

London’s Times asks today, ‘So, why kill the rabbi?’ All Australians were outraged at the murder of our countrymen Brett Taylor and Doug Markell and the other people foully murdered in Mumbai a few days ago, and I cannot surpass the arguments of the columnist from the London Times about the people who make excuses for those who, with murderous ideologies, single out people who are Australians, British or Americans, who are Jewish.

The fact that nine people died in synagogue and outreach centre the Chabad house in Mumbai is a particular tragedy for many Australian Jews who knew the couple who ran it, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, both of whom were murdered there. Terrible reports in various international papers today indicate that some of the victims were tortured before they were killed. These are very hard things to face up to, but they have to be faced because they are well known in the international press. This religious young couple were very peaceful and had dedicated themselves to serving the tiny Jewish community in Mumbai and helping people who were suffering from drug addiction and poverty. They took in Israeli backpackers and Jewish visitors and treated them with uplifting spiritual experiences. Their Chabad house, their synagogue, served as an island of yiddishkeit for Jewish people travelling through Mumbai and through India. Any visitor could stay and attend free, kosher food was offered and visitors could participate in a service over Shabbat. Rabbi Gavriel and Rebbetzin Rivkah represented the ultimate in human kindness. Their presence in Mumbai and on earth will be sadly missed.

Also killed in the Chabad house were Yocheved Orpaz, Rabbi Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum and Rabbi Bentzion Chroman. Rabbi Teitelbaum was murdered as he was studying a book of Jewish learning in the synagogue. He was found slumped over an open Talmud. Norma Shvarzblat-Rabinovich was also killed in those terrible events. It is important to remember the names of all of these individuals. As Sherri Mandell, the mother of 13-year-old Koby, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists, explained in the Jerusalem Post:

Don’t let others tell you that your loved ones died for nothing. They died because they were innocent victims of … Islamic hatred. They died because—

this ideology—

is vicious and evil and worships destruction … It is paramount that you seek justice—but do not seek revenge. Revenge embitters you while justice elevates you. Justice is motivated by love; revenge is motivated by hatred …

Keep speaking about the evil that was perpetrated against your loved one. Don’t allow the media or others to call the murderers militants or freedom fighters.

Insist that your loved one’s murder be remembered.

I repeat her wisdom and praise the memory of those innocent people who were killed in the Chabad house in Mumbai only because they were Jews.