Former SBS broadcaster Mary Kostakidis has defended her actions after the Zionist Federation of Australia lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission accusing her of breaching racial discrimination laws in social media posts.
The complaint alleged Kostakidis posted anti-Semitic hate speech on social media to her 30,000 followers, including reposting a video of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in which he said there was no place for Jews in Israel.
In a statement on Sunday, the chief executive of the Zionist federation, Alon Cassuto, said it was “irresponsible and dangerous” for Kostakidis to repeat “calls by a terrorist for Jews to be ethnically cleansed.”
Cassuto alleged Kostakidis had breached section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which makes it unlawful to publicly offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate a person or group on the basis of race, colour or national or ethnic origin.
He said he is taking the action in the context of the current situation in which since 7 October 2023, thousands of Jewish Australians have been victimised, harassed and racially vilified, businesses have been boycotted and people’s safety threatened.
The Zionist Federation said the decision to launch an action in the Human Rights Commission – under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act – came after lawyers for Cassuto had written to Kostakidis seeking “an acknowledgement that what she has done is unlawful, along with an apology to the Australian Jewish community.” They said they received no response.
Kostakidis has since spoken out against the accusations, saying the complaint was an attempt “to silence people like myself,” and that her posts were taken out of context.
“Of course, I wasn’t promoting it. I was informing people. That’s what I’m supposed to do [as a journalist],” she told Guardian Australia.
Kostakidis, who has been a vocal critic of the Israeli government over the Gaza war, said she was “pretty pissed off” about the complaint and indicated she would fight the case.
“If they can put me in my box, that’s going to frighten everyone else. People will think twice. All you can do is focus on what you think is right – that’s what I’ve done all my career and that’s what I’ll continue to do,” she said.
Source: Guardian Australia.
