Dvir Abramovich (; ; born 1971) is an Israeli-Australian Jewish studies academic, columnist, and editor. Abramovich is the chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), a former division of

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the se ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and director of the Program for Jewish Culture and Society at The

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. Abramovich's areas of study are the Hebrew language, Israel and Holocaust studies.

Career

Education

Abramovich attended

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

where he earned his undergraduate degrees in Arts and Law. In 1995 he earned an MA in Jewish Studies and in 1999 a PhD from The University of Melbourne. He won the A.D. Hallam Prize for excellence in Hebrew studies in 1992.

Academia

Abramovich began teaching Hebrew language and literature at The Centre for Jewish History and Culture at the University of Melbourne. He was appointed Centre Director in 2006. While at the university, Abramovich has taught a range of subjects including Hebrew language at various levels as well ''Introduction to Modern Jewish Culture'', ''Israeli Film'', ''A History of Israel'', ''A History of the Arab Israeli conflict'', "Jerusalem in Jewish Literature", "Reading the Holocaust" and "Israel: Conflicts and Culture". He has helped foster links between Israeli and Australian tertiary institutions. Abramovich has served as editor of the Australian Journal of Jewish Studies (from 2002 to 2010) and as president of the

Australian Association for Jewish Studies The Australian Association for Jewish Studies (AAJS) is a scholarly organization in Australia that promotes academic Jewish Studies. AAJS was founded in 1987 and held its first annual conference that year in Melbourne. AAJS is Australia's natio ...

. An area of interest are the works of Israeli author

Amos Oz Amos Oz (; born Amos Klausner (); 4 May 1939 – 28 December 2018) was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onwards, Oz was a pro ...

, Abramovich nominated Oz for an honorary Doctor of Letters which the writer was awarded at The University of Melbourne in August 2011. He has authored a number of books. He has been co-editor of the 2008 book ''Testifying to the Holocaust'' and author of ''Back to the Future: Israeli Literature of the 1980s and 1990s,'' as well as ''Hebrew Classics: A Journey Through Israel Timeless Prose and Poetry''.

Anti-Defamation Commission

Abramovich is the chairman of the community group Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), whose purview is to fight all racism and hate, although Abramovich has shifted the focus of the organisation to Antisemitism,

Holocaust trivialization Trivialization of the Holocaust is the act of making comparisons that diminish the scale and severity of the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. The Wiesel Commission defined trivialization as the abusive use of comparisons with the aim of mi ...

and Israel advocacy. Originally, the ADC was a division of

. However, the organisation since became an independent entity. Commonly, Abramovich's activism involves protesting perceived actions that exploits or trivialises the legacy and memory of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and its victims. Abramovich has spoken out against Holocaust trivialisation and any perceived exploitation for ideological and artistic purposes. He has criticised the tendency to use the Holocaust as material for

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

films, and opposes the use of Holocaust imagery by artists and comedians. Abramovich has objected to the use of Holocaust imagery by comedians. In one instance, Abramovich took issue with a skit by

John Safran John Michael Safran (; born 13 August 1972) is an Australian radio personality, satirist, documentary maker and author, known for combining humour with religious, political and ethnic issues. First gaining fame appearing in '' Race Around the W ...

on his 2009 show ''Race Relations'' in which the presenter made out in Anne Frank's attic with his supposed girlfriend Katherine Hicks, whom Safran described as a "A Blonde haired Aryan". Abramovich wrote that "Safran's exploitative approach drains the Holocaust of its tragic context (the death camps, the starvation, the shootings, the burning of bodies, the mounds of hair, shoes and glasses)". Another comedic stunt by Safran that Abramovich reacted to was a mock-gassing of Holocaust denier

David Irving David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court ...

. Abramovich saying "Why didn't anyone tell him (Safran)... that there was no humour to be mined from atrocity, that trivialising genocide for silly comic pay-off is inexcusable?" In 2017, Justice Michael Kirby compared the same sex marriage plebiscite to aspects of the Nazi regime. On this matter, Abramovich was at odds with the

Executive Council of Australian Jewry The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) is a peak body representing the Australian Jewish community, and the umbrella organisation for over 200 Jewish organisations across Australia. It is the Australian affiliate of the World Jewish C ...

. Abramovich responded to Kirby that "invoking such inappropriate and offensive analogies to advance any agenda undermines the historical truth and the meaning of the Holocaust, and only serves to trivialise the extermination of six million Jews and millions of others, which, as we know, included gay people." while ECAJ responded that Abramovich's views were a "misconstruction of Justice Kirby's comments in the media and was manifestly unwarranted." Abramovich responded by criticising the ECAJ for increasing divisions in the community. Abramovich and the Anti-Defamation Commission under his leadership have been criticised for focusing too much on defending the Israeli government and targeting anti-Zionists rather than its original mission of challenging racism and bigotry. One of the critics, the

Australian Jewish Democratic Society The Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS), a secular organisation, was formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1984 to promote free discussion and action on Jewish and general social and political issues. It grew out of a profound concern at the ...

, have alleged that Abramovich has used his position in the ADC for self-aggrandisement.

Other activities

Abramovich has been a columnist at ''

The Australian Jewish News ''The Australian Jewish News'' (''AJN'') is a newspaper published in Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Since 2019, it has been a local partner of ''The Times of Israel''. History The ''AJN'' is descended from ''The Hebrew Stan ...

'' since 2001, authoring the ''Counterpunch'' column. He has also contributed opinion pieces for both Fairfax and

News Ltd News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The group's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television prod ...

publications. Abramovich is notable within the Jewish community and at times has been asked to speak at communal events, such as the

Melbourne Writers Festival Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) is an annual literary festival held in the Australian city of Melbourne, a UNESCO City of Literature. The Festival runs during early September each year. Melbourne Writers Festival is part of the Word Alliance, a ...

, Melbourne Film Festival as well as being interviewed on ABC Radio. In July 2024, Abramovich claimed on Melbourne radio station 3AW that a Hamas flag had been flown at Melbourne's Fitzroy Gardens. He called the display of the flag, which was later revealed by Media Watch to be a flag commemorating the martyrdom of the grandson of Muhammad, "a declaration of war ... against every Australian". While 3AW and the Herald Sun removed references to the story, the interview remains on Abramovich's Facebook page.

Published works

Books

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Chapters and articles

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abramovich, Dvir 1971 births 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Israeli emigrants to Australia Australian people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish Australian writers Jewish Australian journalists Jewish Israeli writers Living people Monash University alumni University of Melbourne alumni Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Presidents of the Australian Association for Jewish Studies