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| An Open Letter to the Jewish Community of Australia |
June 2009
I am a freelance documentarian of Jewish communities worldwide (www.JewishPhotoLibrary.com).
My mission is to contribute to the preservation of Jewish communities by documenting
them photographically. I recently spent a month making arrangements for a photo
tour of Australia's Jewish Communities (AJC), the first of several visits to
document every synagogue, Jewish cemetery, and aspects of Jewish life Down
Under. My 80 or so query emails initially met with plaudits and approvals.
Then responses turned to "no thank yous" and permission retractions
(though not all). I was confounded. Then a few kind souls brought Community
Security Group (CSG), an organization that oversees matters of security within
the AJC, to my attention. In short, I was ultimately left with no choice but
to cancel my project.
This letter has two aims: 1, to highlight CSG's inflexible policies and underhanded
procedures, and, 2, to encourage discussion by ordinary members of the AJC
on matters of security, access, documentation, and community image.
"Whilst the CSG does not consider Mr. David himself to be a security
concern," emailed Gavin Queit of CSG Victoria to all Jewish communities, "the
subsequent publishing of such photographs does pose a risk to the Jewish Community.
As such, it is our recommendation that Jono David be denied permission to photograph
Victorian Jewish institutions." In a follow up email to me (after I had
initiated contact), Mr. Queit stated that emails were "sent to all Jewish
community institutions in Australia (by the CSG's in each state) [sic]." A
similar email had also been, unbeknown to me, sent by David Rothman, head of
CSG Sydney.
There was no reason to inform anyone, much less everyone, that my
work "poses
a security risk" (Gavin Queit) because there is indisputably no such evidence.
In fact, I challenge anyone to name a single incident -- worldwide -- in which
photographs played an integral part in an attack on a synagogue or a Jewish
institution.
While I have on rare occasion been denied photo requests, I could never have
imagined being blacklisted on an entire continent. CSGs emails at once sabotaged
my project and, for all intents and purposes, maligned me, a fellow Jew, as
a threat to the AJC. Their words are, in effect, defamatory. I am open to photo
conditions. In the extreme, I am happy to document an institution and keep
the images safeguarded for at least a generation. But, alas, I was deemed unworthy
of even a courtesy email. I fail to understand such treatment.
I am a stranger in every community I document. Naturally, verifying
and vetting outsiders is necessary. Jewish community security concerns worldwide
are justified and do not need explaining. I do not "map out" synagogues
or other Jewish institutions. Nor do I not make images available if an institution
has issues with said images. No exceptions. I am aware of a recent rise in
anti-Semitic sentiment in Australia. But documenting Jewish life is important
even in times of adversity -- perhaps more so. By restricting documentation,
the AJC is going to wake up in a generation and realize there is no photographic,
no film, and no video record available to them. That is a real shame. CSG's
blanket no-photo policy, therefore, is actually a detriment to the AJC. Moreover,
a hyper-sensitive security measure is a victory for the terrorists. But by
photographing a vibrant community, the Jewish people win.
Perhaps the AJC ought to ask itself just what CSG is aiming to achieve.
Do they wish to see the AJC go underground? Do they desire shutting down
community websites which, contrary to their own "advice", display
for the world vital community information such as addresses, names, maps,
prayer times, events, even photographs similar to those I wish to take? Does
CSG desire stopping the presses too? The Australian Jewish News, and publications
like it, is a portal into the life and times of the AJC. It is replete with
community news and affairs past, present, and future -- information that
can be employed by the savvy terrorist. What is the point of "securing" a Jewish community, particularly in a free
nation, if it cannot thrive openly? With so much Jewish history destroyed over
the millennia, why surrender now? Jewish communities of the world have always
been resilient in times of adversity and always emerged stronger because of
it.
I am not giving up on Jewish Australia. I hope the AJC is not giving
up on itself. Isaiah 41:6 says, "Each helped their neighbor and everyone
said to his brother, be strong and courageous."
Jono David
www.JewishPhotoLibrary.com
jono@gol.com
Osaka, Japan
