Media Releases

“The attack on a childcare centre in Maroubra yesterday again underscores the reality that violent antisemitism is not a passing malady, but has become a chronic illness in Australia.

“It also shows the immediate need for stronger government action to confront this profound challenge to Australia as a multicultural liberal democracy.

“On an almost daily basis, arsonists and vandals are striking synagogue after synagogue, and in incident after incident, targeting Australia’s Jews.

“Up to now , too many of our opinion leaders have dismissed incidents of hate, incitement to violence and violence itself as mere anti-Israel or anti-Zionist political activism. But these attacks are escalating and have become a clear and present danger first and foremost to Australian Jews, but also to the wider community.

“We welcome the Prime Minister’s belated decision to call a National Cabinet meeting on this crisis, as his own antisemitism envoy has repeatedly urged.

National Cabinet should now declare all recent attacks on Jewish communal and individual targets as acts of terrorism – the pursuit of political objectives through the use of violence against civilian targets.

The National Cabinet should also consider how to improve law enforcement coordination between the Federal Police and other relevant counter-terrorism agencies and their state counterparts, while greatly increasing the resources available to the relevant law enforcement task forces. And there should be Australia-wide coordination to strengthen existing laws that target both racist hate speech and racially-motivated violence and terrorism.”

Dr Colin Rubenstein, Executive Director, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).