Avi Yemini
Avi Yemini | |
|---|---|
| Born | Avraham Shalom Waks[1] 17 October 1985 |
| Nationality | Australian, Israeli |
| Citizenship | |
| Education | Yeshivah College, Melbourne[1] |
| Occupations |
|
| Employer | Rebel News (since 2020) |
| Political party | Liberty Alliance (2018–2019)[1][3] |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Israel |
| Service/ |  Israel Defense Forces |
| Years of service | 2004–2007 |
| Unit | Golani Brigade |
| Part of a series on |
| Far-right politics in Australia |
|---|
 |
Avraham Shalom Yemini (né Waks; born 17 October 1985)[4][5][6] is an Australian-Israeli far-right political activist.[7][8][9][10] From 2020 onwards he has worked for Canadian far-right website Rebel News[11] and is currently their Australian Bureau Chief.[2]
Early life[edit]
Yemini was born in Melbourne, Victoria to Zephaniah (formerly Stephen) and Hava Waks,[12] and grew up in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East.[1] He is one of seventeen children.[1] One of his elder siblings is Manny Waks.[6]
Activities[edit]
Yemini served with the Golani Brigade in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from 2005 until 2008. Most of his active duty was spent along the border of the Gaza Strip.[2][13]
After returning to Australia, Yemini opened his first IDF gym in Caulfield, Victoria followed by a second in Melbourne's CBD in 2016.[14][15] In 2018, the gyms were sold to a private buyer.[citation needed]
On 4 March 2018, Yemini joined the Australian Liberty Alliance to run as a candidate for the Southern Metropolitan Region at the 2018 Victorian state election.[16] He was unsuccessful, receiving 0.49% of the vote.[17] Through the party and his collaboration with Tommy Robinson and Rebel News, he has been affiliated with the counter-jihad movement.[18] He has described himself as "proudly anti-Islam", Islam as a "barbaric ideology", and Muslim countries as "Islamic shitholes".[19]
In August 2022, Yemini was denied entry to New Zealand due to his 2019 criminal conviction for assaulting his ex-wife.[9] Yemini claimed the decision was due to an article in The New Zealand Herald that described him and fellow personality Rukshan Fernando as "Australian conspiracy commentators".[20][21] Yemini was allowed entry to New Zealand in 2023.[22]
Legal issues[edit]
One of his brothers, Manny Waks, sued Yemini for defamation after he claimed that Waks and their father were harbouring a known paedophile in the family home.[23]
In July 2019, Yemini admitted to throwing a chopping board that hit his former wife on her forehead. He also pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to harass by sending abusive text messages to her, and one charge of breaching an intervention order relating to a video of a man. Yemini's lawyer argued he had not meant to hit her.[24][25]
In 2021, Yemini took legal action against three Victorian parliamentary officials − including former Legislative Assembly speaker Colin Brooks − after he was denied media accreditation in July of that year.[26] Yemini subsequently lost the case.[27]
In 2023, Yemini sued Facebook fact-checkers RMIT FactLab for labeling Rebel News content as "misleading". The case was dismissed as he had "failed to make any formal inquiries via appropriate channels with relevant persons".[10]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Elliott, Tim (18 February 2023). "'He's exploiting people who are genuinely scared': Avi Yemini and the art of outrage". The Age. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ a b c "Avi Yemini joins Rebel News". Rebel News. 4 September 2020. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ Martin, Lisa (15 November 2018). "Victorian Liberal party candidate asked to resign over 'anti-Muslim' video". Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ Chobocky, Barbara (2002). "Welcome to the Waks Family". Jewish Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "Welcome to the Waks Family". The Age. 18 March 2004. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ a b Levi, Joshua (6 October 2016). "Manny Waks sues brother". The Australian Jewish News. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ McGowan, Michael (24 September 2021). "Workers' rights or the far right: who was behind Melbourne's pandemic protests?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
- ^ "Far right activist Avi Yemini convicted and fined for assaulting ex-wife". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Far-right conspiracy theorist Avi Yemini denied entry into New Zealand because of criminal conviction". Newshub. Archived from the original on 25 December 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
- ^ a b Sibthorpe, Clare (18 August 2023). "Controversial activist Avi Yemini pulls out of legal fight with RMIT over fact-checking article". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ Rebel News:
- Perry, Barbara; Scrivens, Ryan (19 August 2019). Right-Wing Extremism in Canada. Springer International. p. 37. ISBN 978-3-030-25169-7. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2020 – via Google Books.
In 2015, he established Rebel Media, a far-right outlet that regularly features global and domestic "stars" of the nationalist movement.
- Titley, Gavan (2 July 2020). "The distribution of nationalist and racist discourse" (PDF). Journal of Multicultural Discourses. 15 (3). Taylor & Francis: 7. doi:10.1080/17447143.2020.1780245. S2CID 221521303. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
Far-right Twitter accounts come and go, often generating significant traction without any obvious relation to organised movements. As a stage of his reinvention of self after the EDL, its leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon ('Tommy Robinson') reinvented himself as a journalist, working for the Canadian far-right media company Rebel Media.
- Mirrlees, Tanner (3 August 2018). "The Alt-right's Discourse on "Cultural Marxism": A Political Instrument of Intersectional Hate". Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice. 39 (1). Mount Saint Vincent University: 61. ISSN 1715-0698. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
The Rebel Media, a far-right news organization, published articles by Canadian alt-right propagandists such as: "Want to sop cultural Marxist indoctrination? Cut public funding of universities" (Nicholas 2017); "Social justice is socialism in disguise" (Goldy 2016); and "How progressives use our kids for Marxist social experiments" (Goldy 2017).
- Perry, Barbara; Mirrlees, Tanner; Scrivens, Ryan (27 February 2019). "The Dangers of Porous Borders". Journal of Hate Studies. 14 (1). Gonzaga University: 61. doi:10.33972/jhs.124. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
Far-right Canadian media outlets, for instance, have bombarded its subscribers with all kinds of pro-Trump, racist and xenophobic dialogue, both before and after Trump's victory. Rebel Media, a popular far-right online media platform run by Ezra Levant, a controversial Canadian far-right political activist, writer and broadcaster, has been an outright supporter of Trump, publishing countless extreme-right leaning articles on why to support him.
- Zhang, Xinyi; Davis, Mark (7 June 2022). "E-extremism: A conceptual framework for studying the online far right". New Media & Society. SAGE. doi:10.1177/14614448221098360. ISSN 1461-4448. S2CID 249482748. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
Beyond US-based far-right news websites such as Breitbart, Infowars and Epoch Times, other alternative online media outlets include Australia-based XYZ and The Unshackled, Canada-based Rebel News and UK-based Politicalite.com and PoliticalUK.co.uk, just to name a few, which operate as far-right metapolitical channels and counter-publics that strive to influence mainstream culture and discourse (Holt, 2019).
- Gilligan, Andrew (5 August 2018). "Tommy Robinson winds up bigots and the cash floods in". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
All four, including Robinson himself, were employees of The Rebel Media, a Toronto-based far-right website.
- Scott, Mark (16 May 2017). "U.S. Far-Right Activists Promote Hacking Attack Against Macron". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
Jack Posobiec, a journalist with the far-right news outlet The Rebel, was the first to use the hashtag with a link to the hacked documents online, which was then shared more widely by WikiLeaks.
- Craig, Sean (19 August 2017). "A fight over a four-bedroom house: The Rebel Media meltdown and the full recording at the centre of the controversy". Global News. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
With politicians including Conservative heavyweights Andrew Scheer and Brian Jean swearing off appearances and a raft of exits by prominent contributors, Ezra Levant's far-right video and commentary network The Rebel spent the last week in damage control, trying to distance itself from the extremist alt-right movement whose values many have alleged the site's content too often sympathized with.
- Perry, Barbara; Scrivens, Ryan (19 August 2019). Right-Wing Extremism in Canada. Springer International. p. 37. ISBN 978-3-030-25169-7. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ Manny Waks sues brother for defamation over paedophile claims Archived 2024-01-29 at the Wayback Machine, theage.com.au. Accessed 29 January 2024.
- ^ Hall, Bianca (2016-04-08). "Jewish business IDF Training banned from Facebook after sharing anti-Semitic post". The Age. Archived from the original on 2023-06-28. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ Hall, Bianca (2015-11-01). "Melbourne gym recruits members for Israeli army". The Age. Archived from the original on 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ "Self Defence Classes, Martial Arts Melbourne, Muay Thai Melbourne, Boxing Melbourne". www.idftraining.com.au. Archived from the original on 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ "Avi Yemeni is joining forces with ALA" Archived 2019-03-06 at the Wayback Machine Australian Liberty Alliance
- ^ "State Election 2018: Southern Metropolitan Region results summary - Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
- ^ McSwiney, Jordan (2024). Far-Right Political Parties in Australia: Disorganisation and Electoral Failure. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781003848929. Archived from the original on 2024-03-21. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
- ^ Halliday, Josh (7 December 2018). "Anti-Islam activists get key roles in 'family-friendly' Brexit march". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Parliament protest: Australian conspiracy commentator reportedly denied entry". The New Zealand Herald. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-09-23. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ^ Wilson, Cam (2022-08-23). "Right-wing commentator Avi Yemini denied entry to New Zealand over domestic abuse conviction". Crikey. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ^ "Far-right conspiracy theorist allowed entry into NZ after originally being denied". Newshub. Archived from the original on 2024-04-11. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ^ Hall, Bianca (2016-09-27). "Manny Waks sues brother for defamation over 'harbouring paedophile' claims". The Age. Archived from the original on 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- ^ Andrews, Jon. "Far-right political player Avi Yemini admits unlawful assault on ex-wife by throwing chopping board". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 2023-06-26. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ "Avi Yemini, 'spokesperson' for Tommy Robinson, convicted of assaulting his ex-wife". The Jewish Chronicle. July 31, 2019. Archived from the original on 2024-04-12. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ^ "YEMINI V ELASMAR - TRIAL". Supreme Court of Victoria. Archived from the original on 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ Antrobus, Blake (18 December 2022). "'Press freedom is dead': YouTuber's complaint after Supreme Court dismisses press pass legal fight". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.