Dvir Abramovich

Dvir Abramovich (born 1971) is an Israeli-Australian Jewish studies academic, columnist and editor. Abramovich is a graduate of Monash University and The University of Melbourne and is director of the Program for Jewish Culture and Society at The University of Melbourne. Abramovich's areas of study take in Hebrew language, Israel and Holocaust studies.^[1]

Early years

Abramovich attended Monash University 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.

Career

Abramovich began teaching Hebrew language and literature at The Centre for Jewish History and Culture. He was appointed Centre Director in 2006. He 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.^[2]

An area of interest are the works of Israeli author Amos Oz, Abramovich nominated Oz for an honorary Doctor of Letters which the writer was awarded at The University of Melbourne in August 2011.^[3] Abramovich has also served as editor of the Australian Journal of Jewish Studies (from 2002 to 2010) and as President of the Australian Association for Jewish Studies.^[4]

He has authored a number of books. He has been co-editor of the 2008 book Testifying to the Holocaust^[5] and author of Back to the Future: Israeli Literature of the 1980s and 1990s,^[6] as well as Hebrew Classics: A Journey Through Israel Timeless Prose and Poetry^[7]

Criticism

Abramovich has received criticism from a number of sources for his stances in various publications, such as the AJDS,^[8] New Matilda,^[9] and Galus Australis.^[10] The main criticism is that he has become a mouthpiece for Israeli government positions and he is using his platform at the Anti-Defamation Commission to push back against anti-Zionist sentiment, rather than focusing on racism and bigotry.

Other activities

Abramovich has been a columnist at The Australian Jewish News since 2001, authoring the Counterpunch column.^[11] He has also contributed opinion pieces for both Fairfax and News Ltd publications.^[12]

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 Film Festival as well as being interviewed at times on ABC Radio.^[13][14][15]

Abramovich is also the head of the Anti-Defamation Commission, whose purview is to fight all racism and hate,^[16] although Abramovich has shifted the focus of the organisation to Antisemitism, Holocaust trivialization and Israel advocacy.^[17][18]

Exploitation of the Holocaust

Abramovich has been a regularly speaks out against Holocaust trivialization and any perceived exploitation for ideological and artistic purposes.^[19] He has criticized the tendency to use the Holocaust as material for Hollywood films,^[20] and opposes the use of Holocaust imagery by artists and comedians.^[21]

One of Abramovich's targets in preventing the use of Holocaust imagery are comedians, since he does not think the topic should ever be used in comedic settings

Abramovich took issue with a skit by John Safran 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. 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?"^[22]

Abramovich's focus on the use of the Holocaust elicited this response in an Australian Jewish News column, posing the question "IS Dvir Abramovich kidding? The question popped into my head while reading his thunderous attack on John Safran. For a moment, I wondered if Abramovich’s case against the Melbourne comic was, in fact, a satire of an outraged columnist".^[23]

The Sensible Jew

In May 2009, a blog called The Sensible Jew was set up. Its aim, primarily, was to provide commentary on the failings of the Melbourne Jewish community's leadership but to also offer observations about Jewish identity and Israel. At first anonymous, it was revealed in an August interview in the Age^[24] that the blog was the brain child of Alex Fein.

One of Fein's early entries took issue with Abramovich's stance on Holocaust representation following Sam Leach's portrait of himself in Nazi attire imitating Hitler. Abramovich's stance on what he saw as the cheapening, commercialising and commodifying of the Holocaust.^[25] Fein responded to the article Abramovich, labeling his piece as diatribe and his views repugnant.^[26]

Abramovich responded by attacking Fein claiming that "Alex Fein's evidence-light prosecutorial indictment of the entire Jewish community is riddled with grandiloquent contentions, distortions and omissions that fly in the face of objective reality." ^[27]

Fein responded to Abramovich's article, by ignoring his attacks and thanking him for the free publicity he had given the blog.^[28]

Published works

References