AUSTRALIA 2003-4

 

Although the 500 reports of anti-Jewish violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation logged in Australia in 2003 represented a decline from 2002; the combined number of incidents of physical assault, property damage and face-to-face harassment was the highest ever recorded. The Federal Court rejected the appeals of Fredrick Toben and Olga Scully who were found to have been carrying out unlawful activity through their promotion of antisemitism.

 

The Jewish community

The 115–120,000 Jews in Australia out of a total population of almost 20 million constitute the largest Jewish community in the East Asia Pacific Region. The great majority of Australian Jews live in Melbourne (50,000) and Sydney (45,000), but there are also significant communities in Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Adelaide. Australia is a favorite destination of Jewish emigrants from the former Soviet Union and from South Africa. Jews were among the first convicts who settled Australia in the eighteenth century. After World War II, many Holocaust survivors were admitted into the country and today it has the largest per capita number of survivors of any community in the Diaspora.

The leading communal organization is the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ). The community is served by two Jewish weeklies and several other periodicals. High enrollment in Jewish day schools and a comparatively low rate of intermarriage are characteristic features of Australian Jewry.

Jewish Australians have twice been appointed governors-general, the country’s military forces have included Jewish Australians in their senior leadership ranks and the community has been able to build an impressive network of institutions to serve its needs.

 

EXTRMIST ORGANIZATIONS

A plethora of groups in Australia promote antisemitism, and for some it is their raison d’être. The groups vary greatly in membership, activities and target audiences. It should be noted that, besides extreme right organizations, some groups identified with quasi-New Age, Libyan-inspired ‘Third Way’ and political Islamist philosophies also feed a steady stream of anti-Jewish propaganda to their followers.

 

The Far Left

Although the many small groups which comprise the Australian far left often make declarations critical of racism in all its forms, demonization of Israel is a common thread and the extremes of language used to condemn Zionism and Israel promote a mythology of a powerful and evil Jewish ‘internationalism’, almost indistinguishable from that depicted by the far right.

The myth of Jewish power, wielded nationally and/or internationally, is espoused and/or tolerated by a number of self-styled left-wing groups. Alleged Jewish power is depicted as the force behind globalism; some left-wingers also depict Jews as malevolent forces controlling western governments. This was particularly evident in Sydney, during the last quarter of 2003 after mainstream Jewish organizations opposed the award of the Sydney Peace Prize to PLO propagandist Hanan Ashrawi. The statements of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad in October 2003 (see Arab Countries) boosted this view of fringe left-wing as well as Islamic groups.

A number of small political groups which describe themselves as communist, socialist or anarchist, such as the Socialist Alliance, the Communist League, the Communist Party of Australia and Socialist Alternative, share with the far right a vigorous opposition to the ’establishment’ and the perceived power holders. Although there are some differences in the approach to Israel taken by these groups, the general attitude is that Israel, and sometimes, more ambiguously, the Jewish community, is clearly in the camp of their enemies and is therefore a fair target for abuse, delegitimation and defamation.

Some far left groups such as the Socialist Alliance have made common cause with extreme anti-Israel Islamist groups, which promote social and economic agendas which would logically be repugnant to social progressives. Even more common is the drawing of analogies between Israel and Nazi Germany (see below).

 

Extreme Right and Religious Groups

Traditional far right-wing organizations are supplemented by a changing group of individuals and minute groupings, including some which have established their presence primarily through their activities on the Internet. The existence of Labour state governments in all Australian states has fed the paranoia of ‘socialist’ control which is central to these organizations.

The theme of Judaism as anti-Christian plays a part in the conspiracy theories of several extremist groups, such as the Australian League of Rights, the Adelaide Institute, the British-Israel World Federation, ‘Identity’ churches and some self-styled Biblical Fundamentalists. The Talmud is a subject for distortion and misrepresentation by these groups and others aiming to vilify Jews, and in the rhetoric of the far right symbolizes a code of living implacably opposed to ‘Christian justice’. During the year such misrepresentations appeared in leaflets, hate mail and abusive telephone calls, and were evident in much cross-borrowing from the Internet.

The Adelaide Institute, a loose conglomeration of individuals around self-styled Holocaust revisionist Fredrick Toben, has in recent years disseminated arguably the most vicious and malicious anti-Jewish propaganda of any Australian group. Even British Holocaust denier David Irving wrote in his Action Report that Fredrick Toben’s “blatantly… antisemitic website” was a liability to Holocaust revisionists.

Despite the verdict of the Federal Court concerning the Institute’s website (see below), Toben continued to participate in international gatherings of Holocaust deniers in the US, and also spoke at an anti-Jewish conference in Iran.

The Citizens’ Electoral Councils (CECs), based in suburban Melbourne, engage in mass mailings of literature reflecting the antisemitic conspiracy theories of their guru Lyndon LaRouche. Anti-racist groups in general and Jewish organizations in particular have been amongst the CECs’ favorite targets. Although the LaRouche organization spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on electoral campaigns, the CECs have had no success whatsoever.

The CECs established a new political party, the Curtin Labour Alliance, in an attempt to attract votes from the Labour Party’s constituency. The move was condemned by leading Labour Party figures, who responded to the announcement of the party’s registration by highlighting the true nature of the LaRouche cult.

Throughout the period in review, members of the Jewish community in Victoria, ACT, Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales complained about activities of LaRouchite propagandists distributing conspiracy theorist propaganda, particularly on campuses.

            The Australian Civil Liberties’ Union (ACLU) continued to advocate Holocaust denial. A number of public announcements from this organization were directed at protecting the ‘rights’ of Holocaust deniers or other racists. John Bennett, the Union’s motivating force, sits on the editorial advisory committee of the Journal of Historical Review, published (but temporarily suspended) by the Institute for Historical Review in California.

Racist skinheads not necessarily aligned to any formal organization are present in small numbers in cities and towns throughout Australia and have allegedly been involved in racist violence against Asian students and harassment of members of left-wing groups. Attempts by extremists, notably, those identified with National Action over the years, to exploit these groups or direct their violence toward Jews and other minorities are common.

The leader of the white supremacist group Australian National Action Michael Brander claimed on his website that he was being persecuted “because… he does not think that the plan to exterminate Europe’s Jews in the Second World War is proven.” Brander failed, in 1999, in an attempt to sue a journalist for defamation, with the Adelaide magistrate noting that “denial of the Holocaust and failure to condemn the principles espoused by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party” were proof of his racism.

The newspaper The Strategy, published in Victoria, draws inspiration from the US-based racists of the Patriot Movement. Extracts from LaRouche news services, the antisemitic US-magazine Spotlight and praise for the activities of Australian right-wing extremists Graeme Campbell and Pauline Hanson and for Australians against Further Immigration are typical, while a cross-section of extremist groups places advertisements in its pages.

Hard Evidence, formerly Exposure, continues to publish bizarre conspiracy theories, some antisemitic, and aggressively advertises past copies of the magazine, which include material of Australian and US far right groups and publications, as well as antisemitic tracts such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Several New Age magazines, such as Nexus and New Dawn, promote extreme right writers, organizations and conspiracy theories.

 

Arab and Muslim Communities

Australia’s Arabic-speaking community is large and vibrant. While Jews are not a major concern or pre-occupation for this community, discussion of the Middle East can cross the line from lively political debate to the realm of religious and racial stereotyping.

Both the Arabic-speaking and the Islamic communities are served by a vigorous media, in Arabic and English, which generally avoid inflammatory or offensive language, but reflect the existence of extremist and antisemitic viewpoints within the communities they serve. For example, the publication Nida’ul Islam, which is available on the Internet and as a glossy magazine, prints extreme views of members of the Islamic community in Australia and of a range of overseas commentators. The tone towards Jews is often hateful and inflammatory. Much of the material published in Nida’ul Islam infers the existence of an anti-Islamic conspiracy run by Jews but allegedly also includes most rulers of Arab and Islamic states.

Some individuals and organizations within the Islamic and Arabic communities, such as the Australian Arabic Communities Council (see below), express anti-Jewish stereotyping and hostility. However, the Jewish and Islamic communities in Australia enjoy a generally positive relationship and there is little evidence that anti-Jewish sentiment is widespread.

 

ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITY

During 2003, the ECAJ logged 500 reports of anti-Jewish violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation. Although the total was down from 2002 (when 625 such incidents were reported), it was still well over twice the average for the previous 14 years, when records began.

Most of the attacks were anonymous. Although many of the incidents were threats rather than physical attacks on person or property, they reveal that hundreds of Jewish individuals and organizations were targeted, some many times over, by persons seeking to frighten or harass them.

Fringe far left publications and extreme right organizations were responsible for much of the anti-Jewish imagery. The Internet facilitated anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, which occasionally reached the mainstream media. The virulence of some public criticism of Israeli actions, as well as continued misrepresentation of those actions and of Israel’s history and politics, has provided sources of encouragement and rationalization for anti-Jewish bigotry.

 

Violence, Vandalism, Harassment and Insults

During 2003 incidents of assault, arson attacks, face-to-face harassment and vandalism were recorded at a rate of 75 percent above average and more than 30 percent above the previous year. The combined number of incidents involving physical assault, property damage and face-to-face harassment reached the highest level ever recorded. This was the third successive year in which new records were set. Threats, conveyed by telephone, mail, leaflets, posters or e-mail, were recorded 68 percent above the previous average.

Abusive and threatening mail was received at private homes or by Jewish institutions at a rate of four per month. Some letter writers have mailed the same or similar antisemitic letters to different recipients over a long period of time. One person, who was active for a number of years, wrote to Jewish people in their private homes telling them they are “the vermin of humanity” and concluding with the call “Death to Jews.” Many letters in 2003 referred to events in the Middle East as the pretext for writing.

            Incidents of anti-Jewish graffiti were reported at the highest level since records have been kept. This was the fourth successive year in which the number of reports of graffiti rose sharply. There has been a continuous increase in reports of e-mail harassment. There is no discernible difference in the themes contained in e-mail messages from those sent through the postal service or communicated by telephone.

 

Propaganda

Mainstream

Coverage of issues relating to the Australian Jewish community by the mainstream media is extensive and out of all proportion to the community’s size. However, it is generally responsible and does not play unduly on the ‘Jewishness’ of individuals or of issues. There are no overtly antisemitic radio stations, newspapers or television broadcasters with any general audience; however, some letters in mainstream publications contained antisemitic references. They included: an attack on “the Jewish presence in the administration and financial circles of the United States,” in the West Australian; the claim that the US president was “no more than the puppet of a shadowy clique of far right loonies and Zionists,” in the Canberra Times; direct comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany, in the Adelaide Advertiser, the Herald Sun, the Central Coast Herald and the Northern Star; and the allegation that “funding from the Israel lobby” had changed Labour Party policy and that the Australian Labour Party was “kowtowing to the pro-Israel lobby” because “the pro-Israel lobby is very wealthy, and donates significant amounts of money to both the major political parties,” in the Australian Financial Review. In smaller and regional newspapers, even more freedom was permitted to correspondents with extremist views.

            There were similar comments on a number of talkback radio programs, such as ABC Tasmania , although complaints were not as numerous as those regarding extremist views in the print media. Program producers regularly responded to complaints with: “It’s what a lot of people believe these days.”

            There were also concerns with Internet bulletin boards associated with mainstream media. Following a television feature on alleged nefarious Jewish influence over US foreign policy, for example, a number of antisemitic messages were posted on the station’s bulletin board, including one by Fredrick Toben (see above). Postings denied the Holocaust and applauded the station for “exposing” the “centrality of the Holocaust” as a malevolent ideology (ABC Television, “4 Corners,” 10 March 2003). Similarly, following a broadcast of a UK-produced anti-Israel pseudo-documentary on the ABC, many postings on its bulletin boards and guest books included comments such as: supporters of Israel depend on “racist propaganda”; Jews are “the new Nazis”; and “there is no evidence” that “6,000,000 died” (23 June 2003).

            It is also noteworthy that the Nazi organization Stormfront, based in America but with a “Downunder [Australian]” section on its website, hosted a discussion following an Australian “60 Minutes” report on Israel on 2 August. One contributor, “Aussie Nationalist,” wrote: “The Jews/Isreal [sic] are thieves and have an evil agenda for all non-jewish peoples…” He urged readers to use “Zyklon B” on “vermin.” Other contributors praised the presenter of the program, Richard Carleton, and referred to “the jewish filth,” “yid soldiers” and “what the jews have been and are still up to.”

The volume of antisemitism in public discourse, particularly in the wake of the terrorist bombings in the US and Bali, had few precedents in Australia. The most disturbing feature of the debate in Australia on the Middle East was the way in which overt anti-Jewish comments went uncriticized by those who proclaim that their censure of Israel is in no way related to criticism of Jews. Such detractors of Israel often responded by invoking anti-Jewish motifs. For example, a member of the House of Representatives claimed that “the Jewish lobby” effectively controlled Australian political debate and makes critics go “through hell.”

An Independent candidate in the 2003 NSW State election declared publicly that “I am standing at the NSW elections to offer this to the people, to understand the fact that the US and China and Russia are the greatest threats to world peace. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the Zionist bankers, who appear to be financing all sides of the conflicts as well.”

Some comments in the mainstream media by individuals identified as Christian ministers aroused concern. In a letter published in a major tabloid, a priest claimed Christianity and Islam are religions of peace but “Zionists” are promoting “an apocalyptic show-down between the forces of Judeo-Christendom and Islam.” On national radio, a bishop said that the “problem with Israel” continues “because there is Judaism and there is Zionism and when these two things are brought together… [it] seems not compatible with the desire for peace and justice for anyone.” A letter published by a reverend referred to “the parasitical influence of Zionism on the US administration.”

Portraying Jews as unethical and stingy has had remarkable resilience in the repertoire of a number of humorists, including some within the mainstream media, and in areas as diverse as sport and gardening. Anti-Jewish humor in the social context in contemporary Australia also often revolves around such stereotypes. For example, a radio presenter on Sydney's 2UE, Kayley Harris, referred humorously to a person she felt was miserly as “you Jew.”

Stereotyping Judaism with the notion of the pursuit of vengeance appeared in some commentaries in the past few years on the issue of Nazi war criminals holding Australian citizenship.

 

Far Left

Virulent attacks on Israel appeared in the far left press. The Guardian, published by the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Australia, carried an article that stated: “Under the cover of a war against Iraq the Israeli government is preparing drastic measures against the Palestinian people in an outrageous act of suppression which, if they are implemented, could only be compared to the measures taken by the Nazis against the people of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and other countries during WW2” (19 March 2003). On 23 July it claimed that distortion of the Holocaust was used, and continues to be used, to justify the creation of the Zionist entity. The Australian Rationalist carried an editorial which claimed “the really big injustice in the world at the moment, and probably the one that generates the most terrorism, is of course that being perpetrated by the Israelis against the Palestinian Arabs. This is hard for us to recognize because we still feel very guilty about allowing the holocaust to occur” (No. 63, Winter 2003).

 

Arab/Islamic

Within the Arab/Muslim community, the Australian Arab Communities Council supported the circulation of a leaflet which called for a boycott of companies it alleged were ‘pro-Israeli’ (including some whose only supposed fault was to have a Jewish director on their board). In an article printed in two major Australian newspapers, a leader of the Council attacked the ADL for not “protesting against antisemitism directed at Arabs.”

Attempts to delegitimize Israel and Zionism by public spokespersons for the Palestinians included extreme allegations against Israel and Judaism. For example, Salam, the magazine of the Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youths, published an article on the “false delusions” of the Jews, who regarded non-Jews “contemptuously” and who used all “efforts to obstruct the message of Islam.”

            Ali Kazak, “Head of Delegation to Australia, State of Palestine,” wrote in a letter published in the Canberra Times: “It is unfortunate that Israel and its defenders have learnt so much from the deniers of the Holocaust.” The president of the Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth, Seyed Sherifdeen, was quoted as saying he was “deeply saddened by the genocide and collective punishment that is taking place against humanity in Palestine.”

In a troubling example of collaboration between a far right and a Muslim group, Australia’s most notorious racist organization, the Australian League of Rights, promoted its guest speaker, Keysar Trad of the Lebanese Muslim Association, as “an excellent speaker who will explain the implications of the pressure on Iraq.”

 

Internet

‘Identity’ groups and other anti-Jewish propagandists have been quick to appreciate the possibilities of the Internet, which has provided them with a great volume of defamatory literature and the facility to reproduce ‘state of the art’ antisemitism. The submission of pieces from Australia defaming Judaism in online discussion groups of religion, which began in 1994, continued throughout the period in review.

The discussions on Islamic and Arabic internet forums and the content of postings to newsgroups testify to a vigorous anti-Jewish sub-culture. For example, on the IslamicSydney forum, some postings claimed: that “Jewish power” in the US was the cause of most, if not all, of the world’s problems; that “antisemitism” has “nothing to do with Jews or Judaism,” and that Jews donate to American political parties on the basis of which party “allows Israel a free hand to drench the soil of peace in the Holy Land with Arab Christian and Muslim blood.” A Sydney academic posted a promotion of Jewish History, Jewish Religion, by the fanatical anti-Zionist Israel Shahak, with an alleged quote from Ariel Sharon, stating: “We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it.”

On MuslimMediaWatch, a senior Melbourne Islamic personality posted a long article alleging that the 9/11 attacks were part of a US government conspiracy to institute a fascist regime. A Sydney Muslim activist wrote “I never see frank lowy [wealthy Australian Jewish businessman] or jeremy jones [ECAJ president] attacking joe gutnick [wealthy Australian Jewish businessman and rabbi; supporter of the Israeli right] – the jewish community’s own home-grown ‘bin laden’ who funds and supplies terrorist settlements and extremist israeli parties that want to see christians and muslims expelled and Church land taken over by jewish seminaries [sic].”

 

attitudes toward the holocaust and the nazi era

Although there is little evidence to suggest Holocaust denial is having any impact on the way the Holocaust is taught or has any influence on scholars or scholarship, the dissemination of material which offends, ridicules and intimidates Holocaust survivors and the families of survivors, is a key activity of extreme right-wing elements in Australia. Typical behavior of Holocaust deniers is to write letters to newspapers requesting a debate on the facts of the Holocaust or asserting that since one or more details relating to the Holocaust is not correctly understood, a massive fraud has been perpetrated on humanity by those who can benefit from it; promote material for journalists, students and others claiming that they are being denied a fair hearing of ‘the truth’ or send Holocaust denial material directly to individuals who have been identified as survivors or descendants of survivors of the Nazi Holocaust.

 

RESPONSES TO racism and ANTISEMITISM

Official and Public Activity

With the increased volume of antisemitic incidents in 2003, the Jewish community paid a great deal of attention to formal and informal means of responding to antisemitism. The most encouraging feature during the year was the number of displays of support for the Jewish community from government and from religious organizations.

In the first half of 2004, the Federal House of Representatives, the Federal Senate, the NSW Parliament and the Victorian Parliament, all formulated strongly worded resolutions condemning antisemitism, with the federal houses of parliament instructing the foreign service to take up this matter at multilateral and bilateral international forums.

Racism concerns have prompted responses from opinion leaders, including politicians in state and federal parliaments. Most state and territory legislatures have passed motions condemning racism, calling for reconciliation and affirming the values of tolerance and diversity, during the past four years.

The federal government has instituted a National Harmony Day, on United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racism, which is marked by government and the community in various ways, but is generally used to honor individuals and organizations active in promoting Australian multiculturalism.

Cooperation between different religious communities was evident in the period in review with a number of joint statements condemning racism and intolerance, as well as supportive statements by one or another of the Australian religious denominations. The ECAJ, the National Council of Churches in Australia and the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils repeated a joint call for tolerance. A number of Christian groups and the Baha’i faith condemned antisemitic attacks and Jewish groups joined others in condemning racism against Australian Arabs and Muslims.

Churches were important proponents of diversity and tolerance, often in concert with the Jewish community. The Uniting Church in Australia is continuing to explore ways of taking joint action with the Jewish community to combat prejudice. The Catholic Church promoted inter-religious and multi-faith understanding as a particular focus in the lead up to the Year 2000 and continues to promote tolerance and understanding. Relations between the Anglican Church and the Jewish community also seemed to be improving.

One way in which church and service organizations assert moral leadership against antisemitism is by refusing to allow racist and anti-Jewish groups to hire their premises and advising representatives not to share platforms with known extremists. As a result extremist anti-Jewish groups are experiencing increasing difficulty in finding premises in which to meet and in convincing respectable Australians to participate in their activities.

Australia has participated in all three Stockholm forums against intolerance since their inception in 2000, as well as the Durban UN conference against racism.

           

Legal Activity

While no new matters relating to antisemitism were determined under Australia’s anti-racism legislation, in two cases in which the respondents had been found to have been carrying out unlawful activity through their promotion of antisemitism, appeals were unsuccessful: those of Fredrick Toben, operator of the Adelaide Institute website, and of Olga Scully (see ASW 2002/3). Unanimously rejecting Toben’s appeal on 27 June 2003, the Federal Court condemned his material, his motives and his “sophistry.” Toben was ordered to remove offending material and to pay costs. Although the website went through a series of modifications and alterations, serious consideration was being given to pursuing contempt proceedings against him.