Sydney NSW – A Jewish school was denied the lease of a jumping castle because the company owner boasted: ‘There’s no way I’m taking a Zionist booking’.
The Instagram account for Western Sydney Jump, which was founded by corporate events planner Tanya Jones in 2013, shared a screenshot of a booking enquiry from Masada College, a co-educational Jewish school in St Ives on Sydney’s Upper North Shore.
‘There’s no way I’m taking a Zionist booking. I don’t want your blood money. Free Palestine,’ the response to the school read, accompanied by a Palestine flag.
It is unclear who wrote the message but the Western Sydney Jump Instagram account has since been deleted.
Daily Mail Australia approached Ms Jones and Western Sydney Jump for comment.
Masada College was also contacted.
David Ossip, President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and an alumnus of Masada College, branded the refusal ‘sinister and disturbing’.
‘These are Australian kids, not participants in a foreign conflict,’ he said.
‘The business, through its correspondence and social media posts, has sought to dehumanise Jews and then boasted about its despicable behaviour.
‘It is deeply repugnant and inconsistent with the values we hold dear as Australians.’
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia’s leading civil rights organisation fighting antisemitism, said he was ‘shocked by this hateful and ugly outburst of exclusion which is un-Australian and tears to shreds our shared values;.
‘What’s next? Being refused entry into a restaurant, a club or a medical clinic because you wear a Star of David, or you have a Jewish-sounding name?,’ Dr Abramovich asked.
He added: ‘Who would have thought that in Sydney 2023, people would be denied a booking because of their support for Israel? We should have zero tolerance for this kind of profiling and indefensible prejudice.
‘No one should be singled out or denied entry because of their ethnic origin, the country they support, gender, creed, faith, or sexual orientation.’
Dr Abramovish, whose cousin, Police inspector Chen Amir, was murdered in a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv in August, and whose family in Kibbutz Reim hid in a safe room while Hamas terrorists stalked and killed their neighbours, called for Human Rights Commission to investigate the business.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the situation was ‘outrageous’.
‘It’s not in keeping with any part of our multicultural community. I condemn it completely. This must be investigated by federal and state authorities,’ Mr Minns told The Daily Telegraph.
The Australian Jewish Association also condemned the booking refusal.
‘This isn’t 1930’s Germany, it’s Western Sydney in 2023,’ it wrote.
‘The government has allowed a violent and racist hatred to fester in a certain community.
‘This hatred doesn’t belong in Australia. The government needs to speak up.’
Western Jump Sydney claims it is a ‘celebration and event hire company providing a range of equipment to help entertain guests of all ages and abilities’.
‘We serve a large range of events – council, corporate, schools and private social functions,’ the company claims.
