IN THE MEDIA
Aussie leaders and laws turn against antisemitism
May 2, 2025 | Rabbi Ralph Genende
South African Jewish Report – May 1, 2025
More than 30 years ago, my wife and I left South Africa with our first-born son to escape the cruel injustice and racism of apartheid. We came to Australia delighting in its openness to diversity, its freedom and acceptance of difference, its dazzling multicultural palettes, and its respect for its first peoples. We embraced Victoria as a model of multicultural harmony in a world of disharmony.
Nothing prepared us for the pandemic of antisemitism unleashed in Australia by the events of 7 October. Its trajectory from the antisemitic demonstration at the Sydney Opera House on 9 October has been well documented, as has the agony and anxiety of the Jews of Australia. Here on naked display was the kind of venomous “racial” hatred we thought we had left behind, notwithstanding the fact that the kind of anti-Jewishness we had experienced growing up in South Africa was relatively muted. My chaplaincy in the South African Defence Force attuned me to both the Afrikaner love of one lucky Jood, and the hostility towards Jews who had too much money and not enough faith in their Dutch Reformed Jesus – one Jew in a platoon was considered a lucky sign, two were trouble!
Sadly, the arson attack on the Melbourne Adass Synagogue last December was as predictable as it was awful. When vile anti-Jewish words – often concealed as anti-Zionism/Israelism – go unchallenged beyond pious pronouncements, violent attacks on people and property are inevitable. It is epitomised by the Talmudic dictum that when you’re kind to the cruel, you will ultimately be cruel to the kind.
This was the Jewish community’s perception of the Australian government, of Australian academic and political leaders, and their response to the vicious antisemitism that had been unleashed. The government’s response was parev, apologetic, and confused. For too long, the vituperative barrage of Palestinian anti-Zionism and its conflation with obvious anti-Jewishness was tolerated. Freedom of speech was confused with the freedom to be hateful and threatening. Our city streets became off limits – many still are – to Jews every Sunday, when they were taken over by mass pro-Palestinian protests. As Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld, retired major general of the Australian Defence Force, put it at an Anzac Day commemoration: these hatreds are poisoning the wellspring of our national character of tolerance and respect for fellow citizens.
Our elected leaders procrastinated even as Jewish schools, properties, and businesses were targeted for attack, universities became unsafe for Jewish students, and the online world became a feeding frenzy for antisemitic doxxers and hate merchants, even as the Liberal-led opposition offered strong support for the Jewish community and argued for much stronger action.
There have, however, been significant rays of light more recently.
The federal government established a high-level taskforce against antisemitism and appointed an antisemitism envoy; local governments introduced laws to curb some of the hatred; and our universities have agreed on a definition of antisemitism close to the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s) definition. Substantial funds have been allocated for the security of Jewish institutions.
I work in the interfaith field. Unlike the stunning silence of much of the multifaith community after 7 October and worse, the refusal of most of the Islamic and Palestinian bodies even to acknowledge the horror, over the past year, most of my interfaith colleagues have spoken out with promptness and unequivocal clarity. Many Aboriginal leaders, like former senator and Olympian Nova Peris, have also been articulate supporters.
Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Peter Comensoli, who did speak out after 7 October, messaged from the airport after the Adass attack, saying, “My heart is broken. I realise you are now in Sabbath, but be assured of my full and strong support, and my prayer for all the Jewish community in Melbourne.”
Shortly afterwards, he issued a heartfelt public video on all his social media.
Members of the diverse Multifaith Advisory Group and Multicultural Commission, which include the various churches, the Bahai, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sikh communities, put out a statement which read in part, “The trauma of this incident will resonate deeply within the Jewish community, already grappling with the impact of events in the Middle East. We stand with them in solidarity. News of the fire, on the eve of Shabbat prayers, is especially heartbreaking for people of faith.”
Most significantly, the Multifaith Advisory Group signatories included a Muslim organisation.
I was heartened to see that the Board of Imams of Victoria – as opposed to the vitriolic Islamic Council of Victoria – signed the document. I was even more encouraged by a personal note I received from my colleague, Ahmed, of ANIC (the Australian National Imams Council), which read, “My heart and prayers are with you and fellow Jewish community in the aftermath of the arson attack on the synagogue. No matter what both our differences are regarding the situation in the Holy Land, I believe we wholeheartedly agree on the sanctity of our communities and places of worship. It is a no-go zone.”
You may say these are just words and, even worse, these kind of statements are simply empty posturing. Some possibly are. However, as People of the Book, we believe in the power of words. We know too well that words wound and have led to the intimidation and death of so many Jews throughout our history. If we believe unchallenged slurs led to the burning of the shul, then we must also believe that positive statements can lead to its rebuilding and the mending of tattered relationships.
Ahmed alluded to our differences and the fierce exchanges we have had in some of our public meetings and private conversations about Israel, Palestine, and Gaza. Genuine interfaith interactions don’t overlook or minimise differences but, in fact, lead to real respect for one another.
The Jewish community of Australia will never be the same. We feel more insecure, more unsure of our future in this lucky land. However, I like to think that most of us are neither intimidated nor in despair. I still believe in the solidarity and allyship of most Australians, many of whom are worried about the future of our proud multicultural country. A spirit of “mateship” and kinship runs deep in this ancient land of ours.
Martin Luther King Jr put it powerfully: it is only when it is dark enough that we can see the stars. We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope. This is one of the enduring messages of Jewish history, this is part of the eternal strength of the Jewish people. And this spirit of determination needs to inform not only the Jews of Australia but Jews worldwide, including the Jewish citizens of medinat Yisrael.
