Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Filip Muller, a sonderkommando in Auschwitz whose enslavement task was to carry the bodies of murdered men, women and children from the gas chambers to the crematoria, bore witness to one of the remarkable moments of the holocaust. As a group of Czech Jews was marched to the gas chambers, a voice suddenly began to sing, with others joining. Soon a mighty choir swelled. First, the Czechoslovakian national anthem and then a Hebrew song named 'Hatikvah' were chanted.

Enraged SS officers attempted to halt the act, which represented both defiance and despair, savagely beating and murdering those Czech Jews as they continued to sing but did not yield. Filip was so moved that he attempted march into the chamber with them, only for a woman to stop him, convincing him to survive not for his sake but for theirs. He was instructed to bear witness to the atrocities taking place. This was his burden to carry. 'Hatikvah', which translates to 'the hope', later became the anthem for the state of Israel. Its lyrics speak to the desire for self-determination that comforted a nation even in its darkest moments. The state of Israel is a miracle.

This memory and desire were embodied in the spirit of Jeremy Jones AM, a righteous man who was a faithful servant to his Jewish community here in Australia for more than four decades and a lifelong friend of Israel. Sadly, he passed away on Wednesday night this week, after a battle with cancer. Jones was the director of international and community affairs at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, AIJAC, and a former president and life member of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. He dedicated much of his work to promoting interfaith dialogue and was a renowned expert on antisemitism. In 2002 he won a landmark case against Fredrick Toben, proving that holocaust denial is a form of antisemitism, which resulted in a world-first order from the High Court that the content on Tobin's website must be taken down. Toben was later imprisoned for contempt.

Jones was a firm believer in establishing dialogue and affairs between individuals and groups of different faiths. He was the first Australian to serve on the board of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, an organisation that represents world Jewry in dialogue with the Vatican, the World Council of Churches and the Muslim World League.

Jeremy also brought to all his affairs a deep sense of humility, virtue and the inalienable rights of people. He was known to make a habit of wearing kippot and ties decorated with Indigenous artwork, demonstrating his solidarity with the First Nations people of Australia while also pointing to how his Judaism enlightened his compassion towards humanity. This advocacy did not go unnoticed, with Jeremy being awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal in 2007 and the prestigious Stepan Kerkyasharian AO Medal for Community Harmony in 2016.

In my role as chair of the parliamentary friends of Israel group, I personally interacted with Jeremy in my visits to Israel. I found him to be a kind, incredibly thoughtful, and gentle man who was a proud member of his community. I'd like to share a few words from Peter Wertheim of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, who said, for more than four decades:

Jeremy was a faithful servant of the Australian Jewish community and a consummate professional.

There is hardly any area of Jewish communal life that did not benefit in some way from his expertise and dedication, and he worked in a range of key communal organisations.

To the Jones family, I say, in the Jewish tradition: I wish you a long life. We have lost a titan of the community. Jeremy Jones will be sorely missed. May his memory be a blessing.

Senate adjourned at 17:45