Australian charged for YouTube anti-Semitism

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) — An Australian man has been charged with allegedly posting an anti-Semitic video on YouTube.

The 38-year-old from Perth was granted bail Wednesday and will appear in court May 19, charged with “conduct likely to entice animosity or racist harassment,” a police spokeswoman said.

In the 10-minute video, which has been taken off the YouTube Web site, the man says of the Jews: “Your days are numbered” and “I will put you in the camps with the rest of them,” according to the West Australian newspaper.

He is also shown harassing a Jewish man and calling him a “racist, homicidal maniac,” the newspaper reported.

An inflammatory description also allegedly appeared in the video: “I head up to Parliament House to ask how it is Jewish supremacism has continued unabated for 250 years to the point where to speak of it warrants abuse, threats, job loss and even jail for those that dare question the new religion of holocaustianity (sic).”

The man could become the first person convicted under Western Australia’s racial vilification laws since they were enacted four years ago. His name is not supposed to be released until he appears in court, although some local media have already named him.

The maximum penalty for the offense is 14 years in jail or fines of up to $18,000.

Keith Shilkin, president of the 9,000-member Jewish community in Western Australia, told J-Wire, a local Web site, “News of the video on YouTube swept through the community causing great concern,” he said. “Children at the Carmel Jewish day school have had counseling sessions … but we have had close liaisons with the police, who became quickly aware of the situation.”

John Hyde, a state parliamentarian, described the video as “a disgraceful, racist rant inciting violence.”