by Julie Nathan,
Research Officer,
Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry
2^nd December 2013
The assault on a Jewish family in Bondi in Sydney in late October publicly high­lighted the issue of antisemitism in Australia. Even though most Aus­trali­an Jews, as indi­vidu­als, are able to lead a life rel­at­ively free of har­ass­ment, abuse, and assault, the spectre of antisemitism remains a troubling feature of life for Jews.
Jews in Australia, as elsewhere around the world, worship, study, and work, under the pro­tec­tion of high fences, armed guards, and other security apparatus. This will remain the case for the fore­see­able future.
During the 1991 Gulf war, one in four syn­agogues and a Jewish kinder­garten in Sydney were attacked by arsonists. Since 2000, violent attacks on Jewish communal buildings have spiked whenever fighting has broken out in the Middle East. Vigilance and security remain central concerns in Jewish communal life.
The Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry (ECAJ) recently published its annual Report on antisemitism in Australia. The report, which I authored, covers the 12 month period ending 30 September 2013.
The 202-page report repro­duces antisemitic content in the main­stream media, Christian, Muslim, far Right, far Left and other pub­lic­a­tions. It also covers antisemitism on websites, Facebook, YouTube, and within the anti-Israel movement.
Anti-Semitic incidents rose by 21% from 543 incidents in the previous 12 month period to 657 incidents during the current 12 month period. Incidents include assault, face-to-face abuse, property vandalism, graffiti, hate mail, and other forms of antisemitic har­ass­ment. Around 22% of the 657 incidents comprise physical assault and abuse and property destruc­tion. The criteria used to classify an incident as antisemitic are con­ser­vat­ive. An incident is excluded from the stat­ist­ics unless there is clear evidence of anti-Jewish hatred.
Violence does not occur in a vacuum. As former Canadian Justice Minister, Irwin Cotler, stated, “the Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers – it began with words”.
In addition to physical attacks and threats, the sense of security of Aus­trali­an Jews is affected by such factors as hostile media coverage of Jewish and Israeli issues, political and online com­ment­ary, as well as anti-Israel pro­pa­ganda and protests.
It is words, when given free reign, which create a poisonous atmo­sphere for those targeted by racism. It is words that incite hatred and violence.
Whilst there are many Aus­trali­an organ­iz­a­tions and websites which are dedicated to express­ing and spreading antisemitic hate, many of these have little traction and audience. Although vile in content, they have little influence.
In contrast, well-traversed and popular print media and online outlets, whether main­stream or not, can be influ­en­tial in trans­form­ing or rein­for­cing peoples’ beliefs about a range of issues.
Online comments such as “The Quran tells us that the Jews are prophet-killers, that they are cursed and that they are worst of Creation” on a website, or “omg I’m gana bash a Jew 2moro” on Facebook, or “Jews are the parasitic germ that con­tam­in­ates humans” on Youtube clearly vilify and incite violence against Jews.
Even our national broad­caster, the ABC, has published and aired antisemitic comments. Some of these include “I was once puzzled as to why the Jews were disliked so much, but am now beginning to understand.….they’re behaving like Gestapo!” on an ABC Facebook page, and the factually baseless claim that “some Yeshiva religious schools, which are also segreg­ated on the basis of skin colour” on the ABC website. Another ABC airing was the audience comment in reference to Jews that “ ‘You have a religion of racism, hate, homicide and ethnic cleansing.’ Something I fully agree with.” All these cited incidents were only edited or removed after the ECAJ had submitted com­plaints to the ABC.
Antisemitism is increas­ingly expressed and incited by the anti-Israel movement. This movement includes uni­ver­sity students and socialist organ­isa­tions, as well as advocacy groups composed of a small number of Christian clergy, trade unionists and academics. Many par­ti­cipants in these groups do not them­selves espouse anti-Semitic pre­ju­dices but their pub­lic­a­tions and activ­it­ies non­ethe­less act as a magnet for avowedly antisemitic indi­vidu­als. The anti-Israel movement is attract­ing hard-core anti­semites to its ranks from neo-Nazis and radical Islamists both openly advoc­at­ing genocide against Jews.
There are two par­tic­u­larly dis­turb­ing aspects of the anti-Israel movement. Firstly, they often deny that any criticism of Israel can be antisemitic, and tend to accuse Jews of using antisemitism as a means to stifle debate on Israel. Secondly, the anti-Israel movement tends to avoid accepting any respons­ib­il­ity for anti-Semitic com­ment­ary posted on the online media of their respect­ive organ­isa­tions and displayed at their events.
Public con­dem­na­tion and counter-measures by leaders and organ­isa­tions in the Aus­trali­an community of antisemitism and of antisemitic incidents is paramount in combating this insidious form of racism. This sends a clear signal to anti­semites and other racists that racism and racially motivated violence are not accept­able in Australia.
For a diverse society, such as Aus­trali­a’s, to be har­mo­ni­ous, it is imper­at­ive that all Aus­trali­ans, regard­less of race or religion, are able to live without har­ass­ment and hatred, without vili­fic­a­tion and violence. Antisemitism is pervasive and per­ni­cious. It targets Jews but continues to be a destruct­ive force to all others in its reach. Speaking out against it is therefore in every­one’s interests.
This article was ori­gin­ally published at On Line Opinion