A Pro-Palestinian group has been condemned for calling on Australians to boycott local retailers with links to Israel.
In a social media campaign, Stand For Palestine Australia calls for its supporters to boycott Spotlight and Anaconda stores.
“Spotlight Foundation is a proud sponsor of Zionist activities in Australia and abroad,” the post reads.
It said supporters should leave negative reviews for the stores and sign a change.org petition, which has been signed by 1368 people.
The Spotlight Group, which operates the charitable Spotlight Foundation, owns Spotlight, Anaconda, Mountain Designs and Harris Scarfe, and was founded by brothers Morry Fraid and Reuben Fried, whose parents migrated from Israel.
Commenters on the post also called for supporters to boycott fashion retailer Cue Clothing Company and pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse.
Cue was founded by Rod Levis, whose Iraq-born Jewish parents fled Baghdad in the late 1930s and Chemist Warehouse co-founder Jack Gance is the son of Polish Jewish parents who fled the Holocaust.
Another social media post from the group champions flyers identifying Israeli citizens that have been killed in the conflict being stuck to Chemist Warehouse shopfronts.
It follows the targeting of a Melbourne restaurant for posting a message of support for its Jewish customers on social media.
Prominent Jewish Australian businessmen Paul Bassat and Mark Leibler have condemned the campaign, with venture capitalist Mr Basset telling The Australian Financial Review: “These businesses are being boycotted simply because they are owned by Jews.”
“It is bringing a level of antisemitism to the surface I never thought I would see in Australia.”
Arnold Bloch Leibler senior partner Mark Leibler described the “ugly campaign” as “pure unadulterated antisemitism”.
“It is reminiscent of the tactics employed in Germany in the 1930s, where Jewish businesses were vandalised as part of a very effective campaign to dehumanise Jewish citizens. I would never have imagined it possible in Australia,” he said.
The 2021 Census found approximately 100,000 Australians – or 0.4 per cent of the population – identify as Jewish, although their representation among the echelons of power is much higher.
Of the top 20 richest Australians in The Australian’s Richest 250 2023, seven – or 35 per cent – are Jewish.
Among those with strong ties to Israel are Anthony Pratt, executive chairman of Visy Industries, Harry Triguboff, founder and managing director of property developer Meriton, Westfield founder Frank Lowy and John Gandel, principal of the Gandel Group, which co-owns Chadstone Shopping Centre.
Jewish-Australians have a long history of success in Australian business and in particular, in the retail business.
Among them are Premier Investments chair Solomon Lew, whose brands include Smiggle, Peter Alexander, Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Jacqui E and Dotti, as well as owning major stakes in Myer and Breville.
Other Aussie retail businesses with Jewish roots include Kogan, Catch, Sussan, Sportsgirl, Suzanne Grae and Afterpay.
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The local calls echo a global campaign for boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) against companies and products alleged to support Israel.
The BDS movement has targeted businesses such as supermarket chain Carrefour, which it alleges has “doubled down on their complicity by donating thousands of personal packages to the Israeli occupation army, thus directly supporting its commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza”, according to the BDS Australia website.
Also in its sights are Dominos, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s Pizza, which BDS Australia claims “made generous donations to Israel’s genocidal army”.
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