World
Australian printer refuses to laminate Jewish newspaper due to ‘Pro-Palestine’ stance
There have been calls for the staff member to be dismissed
August 1, 2024 14:47
There have been calls for the staff member to be dismissed
August 1, 2024 14:47Jewish groups in Australia have called for a printshop employee to be sacked after she refused to serve a Jewish customer because of her “pro-Palestine view.”
The man went into the Australian office supply store to request to laminate an article from the Australian Jewish News which had a photo showing an Israeli flag on it. But he was refused service by an indignant employee who said her pro-Palestine views entitled her to refuse service.
In a viral video posted to social media earlier this week, the Officeworks employee said: “I’m Pro-Palestine.”
To which the customer replied: “That’s okay – you’re here to do a job of laminating.”
But the worker interrupted him saying “Yeah we have the right to deny jobs” and added she “was not comfortable proceeding with” the request because of the headline and photo attached to the story.
OfficeWorks employee in Australia refuses to print Australian Jewish News paper because it featured a photo of the Israeli and Australian flag and she is ''pro-Palestinian'' pic.twitter.com/VnHYmDEjY5
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) August 1, 2024
The incident occurred at the store's Elsternwick branch which is based in the heart of Victoria’s largest Jewish communities.
Dvir Abramovich from the Anti-Defamation Commission, an Australian antisemitism watchdog, said the article was about a reflection by a local Rabbi who recently visited Israel. And focused the story on “his impressions post the atrocities of October 7th”.
The incident has shocked Melbourne’s Jewish community and its leaders have said the company's response does not go far enough.
Abramovich added: “This is an absolute and clear moral failure of leadership by Officeworks. They have to dismiss that particular employee.”
Officeworks has since apologised saying it takes the incident “extremely seriously” and that its “policies were incorrectly applied”.
The store admitted the laminated request should have been completed and that staff members will receive education on discrimination laws.
The Jewish customer involved in the incident said he was handed a $100 voucher as compensation.
Staff involved in the incident have received extra education through the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.