‘Error of judgment’: Swans admit to script change before pre-game Bondi tribute

The Sydney Swans have admitted to changing the script of a pre-game tribute to victims of the Bondi terror attack to remove reference to the Jewish community, and say the AFL was not involved in the decision.

The Swans said their intention was to use “inclusive language” that recognised the impact the attack had on members of the Jewish community, other heroes and first responders in the ceremony before the March 5 season-opener against Carlton at the SCG.

Sydney chief executive Matthew Pavlich led a moving tribute to victims in front of families and first responders before the game, but the Jewish community was not referenced.

“As we mentioned on Saturday night, in statements from both our chairman and CEO, we were made aware that our on-field tribute neglected to specifically name the Jewish community. We apologised for this omission and have taken full responsibility for it,” Sydney said in a statement on Monday.

“There was no directive or instruction from the AFL to remove or change the reference to the Jewish community in the script.

“That script change was made within our club in a genuine effort to use inclusive language by referring to the whole community.

“We acknowledge that was an error of judgment, and again we apologise.”

Pavlich reiterated the club’s apology at a press conference on Monday. He took full responsibility as chief executive, given he ultimately gave the speech.

“It went through many different edits and in the end, I saw the speech, obviously gave it and so I take responsibility for that,” he said.

“The focus of last week’s Bondi tribute was to honour those impacted by the tragedy and to stand with the Jewish community as we did in December and continue to do so.

“Whilst we didn’t specifically reference the Jewish community in the script, this was in the context of those people that were on the field with us that evening, which included many of the brave first responders, community heroes, and of course, those impacted the most, the Jewish community. And it was through that lens in which we finalised the words spoken.

“We apologised on Saturday night for this, and we do so again today. To be very clear, there was no directive from the AFL to remove reference to the Jewish community in the script, and we’ve never suggested this was the case.”

After being asked if it was a group decision to remove specific reference to the Jewish community, Pavlich said: “I own it, as a CEO, that’s on me, I take full responsibility. We were workshopping it, clearly, and as I said, it was about trying to be as inclusive as we could for many people affected as of the tragedy of 14 December.

“But, clearly, because we’re here today [at Monday’s press conference], that’s an oversight that we got wrong and we own that.”

Earlier on Monday, federal Liberal senator James Paterson confirmed he wrote to former High Court judge Virginia Bell, who is leading the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, calling for the AFL to explain the error.

On Monday evening he told this masthead that the Swans’ admission was “further evidence of deeply ingrained cultural problems in our sporting institutions that must be probed thoroughly by the royal commission”.

“It is incredibly disappointing to learn that someone at an AFL club believes it was ‘inclusive’ to remove all references to Jews in a script about the antisemitic Bondi terror attack, whose victims were overwhelmingly Jewish,” he said.

Paterson had earlier accused the AFL of insulting Jewish victims of the attack.

“It is not an accident that the attack at Bondi occurred at a Jewish community event marking the first night of Chanukah nor that the overwhelming majority of victims were Jewish,” Paterson said.

“Erasing their Jewish identity, as it appears the AFL has sought to do, is a travesty and an insult to the families of the victims.

“A key task for the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is to understand why so many of our institutions and leaders failed to understand and address growing antisemitism in our society prior to Bondi. It is incredibly disappointing that even after Bondi, influential institutions like the AFL are still clearly failing.”

In his letter, Paterson called on Bell, the royal commission head, to request that the AFL “preserve all documents and communications, including correspondence with the Sydney Swans”.

“It would be unfortunate if answers cannot be provided as to who ordered the removal of any references to the Jewish community or why they did so because documents were not retained by the AFL,” he said.

But the request for the AFL and Swans to be scrutinised by the royal commission was rejected by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

“The royal commission is charged with addressing serious and substantive issues of antisemitism in this country. The tribute by the Sydney Swans to the Jewish community and the victims of the Bondi terrorist attack – as well as the care extended to the Jewish community more broadly over the past three months – was motivated by the purest of intent and warrants gratitude, not sanction,” said president David Ossip.

“This is particularly the case after [Swans chairman] Andrew Pridham’s strong and unambiguous clarifying remarks on Saturday night.”

Bondi hero Ahmed Al Ahmed and Rabbi Mendy Litzman from Hatzolah, a Jewish community emergency medical response group, were at the SCG for the ceremony.

In radio interviews on Saturday, AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said he did not know what had happened to the script.

The AFL was contacted for comment on Monday.

Litzman said the Swans had made the Jewish community emergency medical response group feel welcome.

“I want to thank the Swans for welcoming us in and making us feel really welcome and special. We had survivors there as well [at the game] and we had those children there as well that were affected by it and some children that no longer have parents,” he said.

“They [the Swans] were extremely welcoming and so very, very nice to us, and we thank them from the bottom of our heart, and it meant a lot to us and to everybody ... they treated us like VIPs, and it was very nice to welcome us into the locker room after the game as well.

“We only had praise for the Swans, so what they did was definitely above and beyond what we expected. They provided kosher food, and they literally went above and beyond.”

Litzman deflected any questions about the specific wording of the script.

“I don’t really have anything [to say] to be honest. We only have praise for the Swans, I’m not getting involved in what was said and what wasn’t said,” he said.

“We didn’t feel any of that on the day. We felt very loved and welcomed and grateful.”

On Monday, after being asked about the response from the Jewish community over the past two days, Pavlich acknowledged some would not be supportive of the Swans.

“We’ve had the NSW Premier’s Department, we’ve had the NSW Jewish community, and representatives from their department, both on the night, on Saturday night, both last Thursday, and again today, be very supportive of us,” he said.

“We acknowledge that that won’t necessarily be the case for everybody. But, hopefully, they understand it’s from the lens that we were coming from, [which] was to include everyone on the night, clearly the Jewish community because they were the ones most impacted by this, but also many other people who were involved in the tragedy.”

With Hannah Kennelly

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