Media Releases

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) today expressed its deep disappointment at statements from Education Minister Jason Clare regarding Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism, apparently linking the Government’s response to it to a forthcoming report on Islamophobia.

Clare told reporters yesterday, “I don’t intend to look at this report in isolation. Next month the Government will receive a report from the special envoy in combating Islamophobia… We wait to see his recommendations.”

AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said, “AIJAC is deeply disappointed with Minister Clare’s statement linking the implementation of the antisemitism plan the Government itself commissioned with the completely unrelated forthcoming report on Islamophobia. These comments suggest a flawed approach and lack of seriousness on the Minister’s part in tackling the antisemitism crisis in the country that Ms Segal’s report identified, and proposed a series of measures to remedy.

“First of all, while no one denies that Islamophobia is a serious problem, or that government action to do more about it is warranted, there is absolutely no reason to conflate the antisemitism crisis with this separate issue. Doing so risks giving the impression that politics, not best policy outcomes, are motivating the Government’s response to the antisemitism plan.

“Secondly, the antisemitism crisis remains urgent in this country, as both the statistics on hate crimes and events in Melbourne two weeks ago illustrate. Any suggestion that the Government will wait for another unrelated report, and consider that before making decisions about implementing Ms Segal’s plan, implies delay and hesitation that neither the Australian Jewish Community nor broader Australian society can afford.

“Finally, we thought we were over the days when some in the Government seemed incapable of talking about the antisemitism crisis without also talking about Islamophobia in the same sentence. The two problems are not the same and not related, and insisting on bracketing them together frankly implies a lack of seriousness about either. Surely antisemitism is a pressing enough problem to warrant consideration on its own.”

Dr Rubenstein added, “We are also concerned about Minister Clare’s comments promising to take account of backbencher Ed Husic’s criticisms of Ms Segal’s plan, because some of the latter’s comments about it were frankly the result of factual misinformation or misunderstandings. While Mr Husic is entitled to his opinion of the plan, he is not entitled to misrepresent either what the IHRA antisemitism definition, which is a key part of the plan, says, or what the research shows about growing antisemitism among young Australians. Minister Clare should correct his friend and colleague when he makes errors like these, rather than appearing to tacitly endorse them.

“As we have said before, given the perilous situation of the Jewish community today, the Government should be considering the antisemitism report it, to its credit, commissioned as quickly as possible, before hopefully adopting its recommendations in full and then implementing them rapidly and vigorously. Any suggestion it may not do so would not only be deeply disappointing, but profoundly worrying in terms of both Australian national social cohesion, and the security and well-being of the Australian Jewish community,” Dr Rubenstein concluded.