On October 7, 2023, the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust took place. Hamas slaughtered more than 1,200 men, women and children and took some 240 civilian hostages. A war between Israel and Hamas followed.
On 10 January, the Australian Federal Police revealed that just in the previous month, it had received 124 reports of anti-Semitic attacks targeting Australia’s Jewish community, attacks that may constitute crimes under the commonwealth legislation. Also, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has documented a significant increase in these incidents over the past few
years.
In fact, there has been an alarming nationwide escalation in antisemitic incidents. Just following the Hamas terrorist attack, prominent Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun celebrated the killings of Israelis at a rally in front of Lakemba Mosque, and a few hundred Hamas supporters rallied in front of the Sydney Town Hall and marched without the required permits to the Opera House with shouts allegedly including “Shame, shame Australia!”, “Gas the Jews!” and “Kill the Jews!”.
Antisemitism also impacted Australian universities, with Sydney University being described as: “probably one of the worst places to be a Jewish student right now”. The head of Sydney University Professor Mark Scott, while fronting a Senate inquiry into anti-Semitism on campuses, apologised to Jewish students and staff, admitting he “failed them” in his handling of
a pro-Palestinian student encampment. More recently, we witnessed arson and swastika vandalism attacks on synagogues and cars, vandalisation of Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns’s electorate office, physical and verbal assaults on individuals wearing Jewish symbols, anti-Israel graffiti on schools and homes and online racist abuse.
The antisemitism that emerged post-October 7, 2024, clearly impacted national cohesion in Australia and undermined our multicultural consensus. More decisive leadership by the government and its agencies is needed to ensure its impact on social cohesion is curtailed and limited in time.
To start with, Australia needs to enforce the existing racial discrimination and counter-terrorism laws better. It needs also to establish additional policies and programs to combat antisemitism and support social cohesion. In addition, the Australian Human Rights Commission should undertake a national inquiry into antisemitism in Australia as the current response through the National Anti-Racism Framework and free access to justice services are not adequate. Finally, our multicultural approach requires a better whole of government policy coordination. A central bureaucratic body modelled on the previous Hawke’s Office of Multicultural Affairs could provide such a response.