AUSTRALIA 2004

 

Although the 425 reports of anti-Jewish violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation logged in Australia in 2004 represented a decline from 2002 and 2003, the number of incidents remains the third highest on record. The Federal Parliament and the parliaments of the two most populous states unanimously adopted resolutions condemning antisemitism and calling for local and international action. Two new complaints against antisemitic activities were lodged by the Jewish community under federal Racial Hatred laws.

 

The Jewish community

The 115–120,000 Jews in Australia out of a total population of over 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.

The elected representative organization of the Jewish Community is the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ). The community is served by two Jewish weeklies and several other periodicals. High enrolment 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.

 

EXTREMIST 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 Islamist philosophies, also feed a steady stream of anti-Jewish propaganda to their followers, while a number of extreme left-wing groups have disseminated crude anti-Zionist material and actively promoted the analogy of Jews with Nazis.

 

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. 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 therefore a fair target for abuse, delegitimation and defamation.

Most far left groups invoke the Nazi Holocaust in their attacks on Jews and Israel. For example, the Socialist Alternative, openly opposes Israel’s existence and promotes the myth that ‘Zionists’ worked ‘hand in hand’ with the rulers of Nazi Germany (Socialist Alternative, 2 June 2004) and The Guardian, published by the Communist Party of Australia, includes direct analogies between Israel and Nazi Germany (see, for example, 15 Sept. 2004).

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 supposedly would be repugnant to social progressives.

 

Extreme Right and Religious Groups

Traditional far right-wing organizations are supplemented by a changing array 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 One Nation party, which enjoyed a brief period of electoral success in the late 1990s but has been in decline ever since, still had representatives in the Federal Senate (until 30 June 2005) and in the parliaments of Western Australia and Queensland, as well as a small number of active members. In 2004, both the Western Australian and Queensland branches were criticized publicly for promoting antisemitism, the former via its web page and the latter through a blatantly antisemitic article and an accompanying cartoon in their party newspaper The Nation.

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.

One Internet site Bible Believers, published a full copy of Henry Ford’s The International Jew and a great deal of other overtly antisemitic material, resulting in a complaint being lodged under Australia’s anti-racism laws for adjudication in the Federal Court.

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. Despite a series of findings by the Human Rights Commission and the Federal Court against the Institute’s website, Toben continued to publish antisemitic material and sought to maintain an international profile, with support from state-sponsored Iranian media.

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. Throughout the period in review, members of the Jewish community in all Australian states complained about activities of LaRouchite propagandists distributing conspiracy theorist propaganda, particularly on campuses.

            The Australian Civil Liberties’ Union (ACLU) continued to advocate Holocaust denial. 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.

In the period in review, a number of the most virulent far-right wing activists participated in discussions on Stormfront Downunder Internet discussion groups. Representatives of White Pride Coalition of Australia, the Australian Nationalists Movement, Church of the Creator and Australian National Action jostled for authority on that neo-Nazi website.

The newspaper The Strategy, published in regional 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 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.

 

ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITY

During 2004, the ECAJ logged 425 reports of anti-Jewish violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation. Although the total was down from 2002 and 2003 (when 625 and 500 incidents were reported, respectively), it was still close to twice the average for the previous 15 years, when the national database came into operation.

Although many of the incidents were threats rather than physical attacks on persons 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. Most of the attacks were anonymous.

Individual antisemites or those associated with far left publications and extreme right organizations may have been the sources of inspiration or justification for these attacks. The Internet facilitated anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, which occasionally reached the mainstream media and broad audiences. The virulence of some public criticism of Israeli actions, as well as continued misrepresentation of those actions and of Israel’s history and politics served to encourage and rationalize anti-Jewish bigotry.

 

Violence, Vandalism, Harassment and Insults

Incidents of assault, arson and vandalism in 2004 were recorded at a rate of just above the average of the previous 14 years, but well below the previous three years. The combined number of incidents involving physical assault, property damage, vandalism, graffiti and face-to-face harassment was 28 percent above average. Threats, conveyed by telephone, mail, leaflets, posters or e-mail, were recorded at a rate of almost 50 percent above the previous average.

            Incidents of anti-Jewish graffiti were reported at 15 percent above the annual average. 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 comments and letters in mainstream publications in 2004 contained antisemitic references. They included: a direct comparison between “what the Nazis did and what Israel is doing” (a letter in the Melbourne Age, 15 Feb. 2004); the claim that Jews persecuted early Christians and “if post-Holocaust history has taught us anything, it is that the persecuted can very easily become the persecutors themselves” (in a review of Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ, in Brisbane’s Courier-Mail, 26 Feb. 2004); the statement, “while some of the Jews are manipulating world opinion by harping on about the past others are busy building walls and taking pot shots at Palestinian children” (letter in The Bulletin, 9 March 2004); the suggestion, “I wonder whether the Israeli lobby is becoming too strong for Australia’s democratic health” (letter in The Age, 6 May 2004); and an opinion piece criticizing “the appalling little man in the White House” who refused to condemn “Israel and its equally appalling government… with relentless savagery, week after week, month after month, year after year… stealing another country and assassinating its people” (Sydney Morning Herald, 29 May 2004). In smaller and regional newspapers, even more freedom was permitted to correspondents with extremist views.

            There were also concerns about Internet bulletin boards associated with mainstream media. Examples included “This is Israeli democracy, where all Jews are created equal, and Palestinians are animals without rights (The Age online, 3 May 2004); a web columnist writing that “the fundamentalist Zionist lobby controls politics and the media in the US and Australia” (Sydney Morning Herald online, 26 July 2004), and a reference to “primitive Talmudic pig like Sharon” in a letter (Canberra Times online, 30 Sept. 2004). Moreover, the SBS television website provided a link to the racist Australian Nationalist Database (12 Sept. 2004).

            On radio, a presenter in Sydney, who was attempting to be humorous, referred to a person she felt was miserly as “you Jew” (2UE, Kayley Harris, 21 June 2004).

 

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 from 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.

During the year in review the May-June issue of Salam, the magazine of the Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth, included articles on the “false delusions” of the Jews who allegedly used all “efforts to obstruct the message of Islam,” as well as on “the inevitability of the Islamic Solution”; the latter article concluded: “the Quran said ‘never will the Jews nor the Christians be pleased with you till you follow their religion’.” It also publicized the sale of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in an Islamic bookshop in Sydney and an antisemitic campaign run by extremist Muslims in Sydney and Melbourne as part of attempts to raise funds for a new mosque.

 

Internet

Antisemitic individuals and groups in Australia 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, the Islamic Sydney forum hosts postings which claim: 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.”

Extreme right-wing groups have also used Internet discussion groups to maintain their sense of community, and to encourage followers to be involved in campaigns. A number of far right wing groups are only visible due to their web presence.

In both 2003 and 2004, e-mail accounted for more than half the number of incidents of anti-Jewish harassment and intimidation. It was also revealed in 2004 that the most popular search engine in Australia produced antisemitic links for the search term ‘Jew’. After a complaint from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the results were changed.

 

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE HOLOCAUST AND THE NAZI ERA

Although there is little evidence to suggest Holocaust denial has an 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. They also 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. The Australian Justice Fund, for example, leafleted a Sydney suburb housing a large number of Holocaust survivors with material promoting Holocaust denial.

 

RESPONSES TO ANTISEMITISM and racism

Official and Public Activity

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 diplomatic service to take up the 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 five 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.

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 participated in all four Stockholm forums against intolerance since their inception in 2000, as well as the Durban UN World Conference Against Racism and members of the Jewish community have been on the official Australian government delegations at all five of these events.

In December 2004 the Australian and Indonesian governments co-hosted a major regional inter-governmental meeting to promote inter-religious cooperation for tolerance and against extremism. The Australian government and the New Zealand government both included Jewish community representatives.

During the course of 2004 there was active collaboration, particularly in youth interfaith projects, between leading Jewish, Christian and Muslim organizations, both federally and in the states of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

           

Legal Activity

While no new matters relating to antisemitism were determined under Australia’s anti-racism legislation, two new complaints were lodged with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 2004, namely, concerning the publication of overtly antisemitic material on the website of the Bible Believers organization and in the Queensland newspaper of the One Nation Party.