Antisemitism continues to rise
The rate of antisemitic incidents in Australia appears to be slowing down, but the figures continue to rise, with 478 cases recorded by The Executive Council of Australian Jewry and its constituent and associated organisations.
The year ending September 2021 resulted in a 35% increase on the previous same period, but the figures up for the year to the end of September 2022 showed a further 6.9%.
During the year ending 30 September 2022, the number of antisemitic postering and stickering incidents in Australia increased by 70% over the previous year (from 72 to 173). Graffiti incidents were up by 18% (from 106 to 125).
There were decreases in three categories: physical assault (down from 8 to 5), verbal abuse (down from 147 to 138), and messages (down from 103 to 76). Vandalism remained the same at 11.
Julie Nathan, ECAJ Research Director and author of the ECAJ Antisemitism Report said that these incidents are “the tip of the iceberg”, as many go unreported.
She said: “A study by Monash University in 2017 showed that almost one in ten adult Jews (9%) had said they witnessed or experienced verbal insults and harassment or worse over the previous 12 months. This would suggest that the actual number of antisemitic incidents in any one year could be up to 17 times the number reported.”
Julie Nathan attributed the significant 70% increase in incidents in the poster category (which includes hate propaganda material such as banners, clothing, flags, leaflets, posters, placards and stickers) to two factors.
“Firstly, the COVID-19 regulations which produced mass street protests, particularly in Victoria, and the antisemitic conspiracy theories associated with the anti-vaxxer, anti- lockdown camp, resulted in large numbers of antisemitic placards at protests and antisemitic stickers on the streets.
Secondly, there was an increase in neo-Nazi activity, propagating antisemitic propaganda material in the form of posters, stickers and the like.”
She expressed increasing concern at the rise in neo-Nazi activity and the proliferation of neo-Nazi groups.
Julie Nathan explained: “Most of these groups are connected to each other and share propaganda material, especially posters and stickers.
Many neo-Nazis are becoming brazen in their activities. Over the last 12 months, groups of young men performed Nazi salutes outside a Holocaust Museum in Adelaide and held their neo-Nazi flag in a public park in Sydney. They also targeted synagogues with antisemitic posters and stickers. Neo-Nazis are not just a threat to the Jewish community but also to Australian democracy and our tolerant and liberal way of life.”
She also accused anti-Israel activists of undermining the fight against antisemitism by campaigning against the adoption of the internationally recognised and accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism by parliaments, universities, and community organisations.
She said” “This campaign has falsely claimed that the IHRA Definition prohibits any criticism of Israel, despite the fact that the Definition states explicitly that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.
To fight antisemitism, you first need to define it. With antisemitism on the rise, the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism is a vital educational tool in identifying and calling out contemporary antisemitism in all its forms.”
Julie Nathan called upon political leaders, the media, law enforcement, academics, faith leaders, and others in positions of power or influence, to “show leadership and take decisive action against antisemitism by personal example, including the adoption of the IHRA Working Definition, and through education.”
She added: “We need education not only about World War II and the Holocaust but also about contemporary antisemitism and the multiple forms that it takes, as well as anti-indigenous, anti-African, anti-Asian (east and south), anti-Muslim, anti-Hindu and anti- LGBTIQA+ animosity. These are commonly-held prejudices in Australia and we can only begin to address them when students learn about the specifics of each of them and why they are false and harmful to all of us.”
The report states “The Jewish community is the only community within Australia whose places of worship, schools, communal organisations and community centres need, for security reasons, to operate under the protection of high fences, armed guards, metal detectors, CCTV cameras and the like. This necessity is recognised by Australia’s law enforcement agencies. It arises from the entrenched and protean nature of antisemitism in Western and Middle Eastern cultures, resulting in a high incidence of physical attacks against Jews and Jewish communal buildings over the last three decades and continuing threats.”
The report outlined common anti-Jewish rhetoric in 2021/22:
- Jews as Christ-killers; Jews and Judaism as anti-Christian and Satanic; Christianity as a Jewish plot to destroy the European races; Jews plotting to destroy Islam; killers of prophets; cursed by G-d; a cursed and damned people; the Chosen People concept mischaracterised, mocked and denied; the Talmud portrayed as evil; Jews as bloodthirsty for gentile blood; Jews as the enemy of humanity.
- Jews as powerful, influential, and wealthy; Jews as having and exercising undue and disproportionate power and influence, usually against the interests of non-Jews, especially through the “Jewish Lobby” (aka Zionist or Israel lobby).
- Jews portrayed as conspiring to rule the world through control of international finance, media, and politics; manipulating events; fomenting wars; unleashing pandemics; aimed at subjugating the non-Jewish population of the world; an existential threat to non-Jews; and possessing enormous power and drive aimed at world domination.
- Jews as ‘the other’, not ‘real Australians’, foreigners, with dual loyalty.
- Jews and Jewish organisations being accused of concocting false accusations of antisemitism to gain an advantage, especially in order to stifle criticism of Israel.
- Holocaust denial, minimisation, distortion and denigration; Jews deserve to be killed; Hitler was right to kill Jews; the Jews must be killed.
- Israel as an inherently racist and apartheid state; Jewish/Nazi analogy; Israel as a Nazi state; Jewish Star of David = Nazi swastika; Israeli Jews as terrorists; committing genocide against Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and other non-Jews.
- Jews characterised as barbaric, bloodthirsty, callous, cruel, dirty, evil, foreign, greedy, hateful, malevolent, money-hungry, murderous, nefarious, racist, selfish, and stingy.
- Jews described as apes, bacillus, demonic, devils, disease, dogs, filth, germs, leeches, monkeys, parasites, pigs, rats, scum, vermin, a virus.
The ECAJ report is 282 pages long.
Sample of assault:
Sample of abuse:
Sample of e-mail abuse:
The samples given are horrible to read, increasing the heart rate at such vehement ugliness. So, imagine the effect on those exposed directly to the abuse.
It’s a real worry to see how much antisemitism has increased and thank you to ECAJ and Julie Nathan for keeping such a good eye out for it.
As a Western liberal democracy, Australia should be a cohesive society which promotes justice, tolerance and equality. Carly Douglas has highlighted an ugly side of the ‘lucky country’, the blight of religious bullying. Poignantly, on this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, she highlights the rise of anti-semitism.
Religious intolerance and bigotry is not new. It has deep and age-old roots. Anti-semitism in particular has been associated with some of the darkest periods of human history.
The passage of time should not mean that we distance ourselves from the enormity of these past events or confine them to the annals of history. Rather, we should learn from them and heed the warnings they provide.
Yesterday’s celebrations of Australia Day remind us of what our nation should be. Pluralism calls us to respect people of all faiths, and of no faith at all, This respect of others is at the heart of all religions.
Bigotry and bullying has no place in this country and each of us must work to ensure that we nurture a culture of dialogue and respect, especially with those who are different to ourselves.