{"id":2402656,"date":"2026-05-05T05:38:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2402656"},"modified":"2026-05-05T05:38:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:38:58","slug":"firefighter-threatened-to-skin-jewish-paramedic-antisemitism-royal-commission-told","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/firefighter-threatened-to-skin-jewish-paramedic-antisemitism-royal-commission-told\/","title":{"rendered":"Firefighter threatened to &#8216;skin&#8217; Jewish paramedic, antisemitism royal commission told"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">A firefighter pulled a hunting knife on a Jewish paramedic and threatened to &#8220;skin him&#8221; at a music festival in regional Victoria, a royal commission into antisemitism has heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Victorian paramedic Joshua Gomperts told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion he experienced antisemitism for the first time when he was glassed as a teenager while wearing a kippah.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The royal commission was called to assess the circumstances surrounding the Bondi terror attack, which killed 15 people on December 14 and the spread of antisemitism that preceded it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Mr Gomperts on Tuesday said some years after being glassed he volunteered as a paramedic at a New Year&#8217;s Eve music festival in regional Victoria and was relaxing with other emergency service personnel when a firefighter made a comment about Mr Gomperts&#8217;s Jewish heritage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">He said the man pulled out a large hunting knife and told him: &#8220;I would skin you the way my family skinned yours in the camps.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The comment was overheard and responded to by police, with the firefighter&#8217;s managers arriving later to replace the music festival crew.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP Heading_heading__VGa5B heading_heading__kjfxC Heading_default__Z3p_p Typography_sizeMobile20__NUDn4 Typography_sizeDesktop32__LR_G6 Typography_lineHeightMobile24__crkfh Typography_lineHeightDesktop40__BuoRf Typography_marginBottomMobileSmall__6wx7m Typography_marginBottomDesktopSmall__CboX4 Typography_bold__FqafP Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx Typography_normalise__u5o1s\" data-component=\"Heading\">Patient performed Nazi salute<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Mr Gomperts experienced antisemitism in the workplace again when he was called to conduct a patient transport from a hospital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">While he was reading the patient&#8217;s medical notes, Mr Gomperts said the man in his 90s performed a Nazi salute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">When he asked the patient why he had done so, Mr Gomperts said the man told him he was an &#8220;old Nazi&#8221; and did not want a Jewish man to touch him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Mr Gomperts said he and his colleague left the scene and another crew took over.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP Heading_heading__VGa5B heading_heading__kjfxC Heading_default__Z3p_p Typography_sizeMobile20__NUDn4 Typography_sizeDesktop32__LR_G6 Typography_lineHeightMobile24__crkfh Typography_lineHeightDesktop40__BuoRf Typography_marginBottomMobileSmall__6wx7m Typography_marginBottomDesktopSmall__CboX4 Typography_bold__FqafP Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx Typography_normalise__u5o1s\" data-component=\"Heading\">Unable to change exam date<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The 33-year-old said he also experienced antisemitism at university when he requested to sit an exam on another date due to the test being scheduled on a Jewish holy day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Mr Gomperts said he was asked to meet with the university board, who advised they could not move the exam based on religious grounds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"EmphasisedText_emphasisedText__McMdj ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL\" data-component=\"EmphasisedText\">\n<blockquote class=\"EmphasisedText_quote__TE6kn\"><p>&#8220;I was quite shocked. I went and sought legal advice,&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"EmphasisedText_attribution__L6Ebw\"> <!-- --> he said.<\/span><\/div>\n<aside class=\"ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_floatRight__nfR_t RelatedCard_relatedCard__4Im5s interactive_focusContext__yRhc_ interactive_defaults__AKxUU interactive_hoverContext__LDUDX interactive_defaults__AKxUU\" data-component=\"RelatedCard\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106644142\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-05-05\/nsw-royal-commission-sydney-hearings-antisemitism-children\/106640404\" data-component=\"FullBleedLink\" class=\"RelatedCard_link__rsgR9 FullBleedLink_root__lTw_U interactive_focusContext__yRhc_ interactive_defaults__AKxUU FullBleedLink_showVisited__g3Xvz\"><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RelatedCard_heading__S_nm2 Typography_sizeMobile18__eJCIB Typography_lineHeightMobile24__crkfh Typography_bold__FqafP Typography_serif__qU2V5 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Jewish mother says &#8216;olden-day&#8217; antisemitism risks safety of her children<\/h3>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RelatedCard_synopsis__cFwMW Typography_sizeMobile14__u7TGe Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Jewish woman Natalie Levy had an idyllic childhood growing up singing songs on Bondi Beach, but her children now attend school surrounded by heavy security and swastikas graffitied on buildings.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Mr Gomperts said once he had informed the university he had a barrister on call, his request was accommodated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">He said he sat the exam with about four other students who could not attend the scheduled test due to family functions, not religious reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">He said none had experienced issues with their requests or been asked to meet with the university board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The first set of hearings at the royal commission will run until May 15 with a final report due a year from the date of the Bondi attack.<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"EmbedBlock\">\n<div data-component=\"Tracking\">\n<aside aria-labelledby=\"abc-_R_1ahhf79aum_\" class=\"RecirculationRecommendations_container__7nH0U\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/dynamiccollection\/106619612\" data-component=\"RecirculationRecommendations\">\n<h2 class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RecirculationRecommendations_title__2J5c2 Typography_sizeMobile24__GzKLB Typography_sizeDesktop32__LR_G6 Typography_lineHeightMobile28__58YCp Typography_lineHeightDesktop36__PAEA8 Typography_bold__FqafP Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" id=\"abc-_R_1ahhf79aum_\" data-component=\"Typography\">More on the royal commission<\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.abc.net.au \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A firefighter pulled a hunting knife on a Jewish paramedic and threatened to &#8220;skin him&#8221; at a music festival in regional Victoria, a royal commission into antisemitism has heard. Victorian paramedic Joshua Gomperts told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion he experienced antisemitism for the first time when he was glassed as a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2402658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[424508,462656,463906,469359,393045,469361,469360,469362],"class_list":["post-2402656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-bondi-beach-shooting","tag-bondi-beach-terror-attack","tag-bondi-beach-terrorist-attack","tag-bondi-royal-commission","tag-hearings","tag-royal-commission-on-antisemitism-and-social-cohesion","tag-the-royal-commission-on-antisemitism-and-social-cohesion","tag-virginia-bell"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Firefighter-threatened-to-skin-Jewish-paramedic-antisemitism-royal-commission-told.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2402656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402659,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402656\/revisions\/2402659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2402658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2402656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2402656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2402656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}