AUSTRALIA 2007

 

The 765 reports of anti-Jewish violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation logged in Australia in 2007 represented the highest total since national record-keeping began in 1989. It was more than 20 percent above the previous highest total and well over double the average of 312 incidents. There was a decrease in anti-Jewish propaganda and anti-Jewish material in the mainstream media and from Islamic and left-wing sources, while far right wing activity increased. One complaint of antisemitic propaganda was determined under Federal Racial Hatred legislation, legal proceedings were initiated in another and individuals involved in the assault of a Jewish man in 2006 were sentenced under state law.

 

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 and 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 leading professional advocacy organization is the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. 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 characterize Australian Jewry. The community has also built an impressive network of institutions to serve its needs.

 

EXTREMIST ORGANIZATIONS

A plethora of small groups in Australia promote antisemitism, and for some it is their raison d’être. The groups vary in membership, activities and target audiences. Besides extreme right organizations, some groups identified with quasi-New Age and Islamist philosophies also feed a steady stream of anti-Jewish propaganda to their followers, while a number of extreme left-wing groups disseminate crude anti-Zionist material.

 

The Far Left

Although the many small groups that 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, evil Jewish ‘internationalism’, almost indistinguishable from that depicted by the far right.

The myth of Jewish power is depicted by some left-wing groups as the force behind globalization; some also portray Jews as malevolent forces controlling Western governments. A number of small political groups self-styled as communist, socialist or anarchist, such as the Socialist Alliance, Resistance, the Communist Party of Australia, the International Socialist Organisation 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 the “enemy” and therefore a fair target for abuse, delegitimation and defamation (see below).

 

Extreme Right Organizations

Traditional far right organizations are supplemented by a changing array of individuals and minute groupings, including some that have established their presence primarily through 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, was reduced to minimal representation in the parliaments of Western Australia and Queensland, as well as in active membership. Some organs of the party, in Queensland and South Australia, published anti-Jewish material during the period in review (see below).

The theme of Judaism as anti-Christian plays a part in the conspiracy theories of several extremist groups, particularly the Australian League of Rights, the Bible Believers and “Identity” churches. 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 misinformation appeared in numerous unsolicited emails, as well as in publications produced by these organizations.

The Bible Believers’ website publishes a full copy of Henry Ford’s The International Jew and a great deal of other overtly antisemitic material, resulting in a complaint lodged in 2004 under Australia’s anti-racism laws for adjudication in the Federal Court. The Bible Believers’ Newsletter no. 414 from 2006, which remains on its website, includes the claim that the Internet is a Jewish plot. Newsletters in 2007 included Talmud defamation and Holocaust denial.

The Adelaide Institute, a loose conglomeration of individuals around self-styled Holocaust revisionist Fredrick Toben, has in recent years disseminated arguably the most 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 continues to publish antisemitic material and to maintain an international profile, with support from the state-sponsored Iranian media. A website based in Adelaide, Australia Free Press, containing a great deal of similar propaganda, was reportedly considering taking over publication of Toben’s material in the event that the Adelaide Institute would be unable to continue functioning if Toben is unsuccessful in his defense against a claim that he has breached court orders by continuing to disseminate antisemitic material.

The Citizens’ Electoral Councils (CECs), based in suburban Melbourne, engage in mass mailings of literature reflecting the antisemitic conspiracy theories of their American 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 raised from supporters on electoral campaigns, the CECs have had no success whatsoever. Over the years, members of the Jewish community in all Australian states have complained about the distribution of LaRouchite conspiracy theorist CDs, booklets and leaflets, particularly on campuses.

Far right activists, including members of White Pride Coalition of Australia, White Nationalist Resources, the Australian Nationalists Movement, Church of the Creator, the National Socialist Movement and Australian National Action, participate in discussions in forums of the neo-Nazi Stormfront Downunder site.

The monthly newspaper The Strategy, published in regional Victoria, draws its inspiration from US-based racists of the Patriot Movement. Extracts from LaRouche news services and the antisemitic US magazine Spotlight, as well as praise for the activities of Australian right-wing extremists, are typical of its content; a cross-section of extremist groups also place advertisements in its pages (see below).

Hard Evidence, formerly Exposure, continues to publish bizarre, sometimes antisemitic, conspiracy theories, 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. A number of issues in 2007 contained articles asserting Bolshevist crimes were Jewish crimes. Several New Age magazines, such as Nexus and New Dawn, promote extreme right writers, organizations and conspiracy theories.

 

Arab and Muslim Communities

Australia’s Muslim and Arabic-speaking communities are large and vibrant. While Jews are not their main preoccupation, discussion of the Middle East can cross the line from lively political debate to the realm of religious and racial stereotyping; in fact, as in previous years, a disturbingly large volume of overt antisemitism emanated from Islamic sources in Australia (see below).

While books promoting terrorism overtly are subject to official censorship, anti-Jewish material can only be dealt with under the various state and territory anti-racism l laws, which are generally not well-framed to deal with this type of situation. Despite public criticism, including from prominent Islamic groups, some Muslim bookshops continue to stock material such as copies of The Protocols.

            The online independent publication Nida’ul Islam and the web-based group Mission Islam, as well as the Islamic Association of Australia, publish antisemitic material while groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir use violent anti-Israel rhetoric . Notably, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the roof body of Australian Muslims, is among those that have condemned antisemitism in the Islamic community (see below).

 

ANTISEMITIC activity

During 2007, the ECAJ logged 765 reports of anti-Jewish violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation. Reports of physical attacks on persons or property exceeded the previous highest totals recorded in 2001 and 2006 by 45 percent. Moreover, incidents of face-to-face harassment (not involving violence) exceeded the previous highest total recorded in 2006 by 89 percent. Vilification of Israel and by extension Jewish supporters of Israel and a decline in civil behavior generally are assumed to be among the contributing factors to this increase. Graffiti vandalism, on the other hand, was 17 percent below average. The combined number of telephone threats, hate mail, abusive and threatening emails, leaflets, text messages and faxes was also the highest since national record-keeping began − 4 percent above the 2002 total. Hundreds of Jewish individuals and organizations were targeted, some several times, by persons seeking to intimidate or harass them. Most of the incidents were anonymous. Email accounted for approximately 60 percent of reports of incidents of anti-Jewish harassment and intimidation. Around the Jewish high holydays, an unprecedented number of reports of persons yelling abuse at congregants walking to and from synagogues and at synagogue personnel was recorded.

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

 

Violence, Vandalism and Harassment

Almost all violent attacks occurred in Melbourne or Sydney. For example, in Melbourne on January 2, two Jewish men were abused by a group of men in a car, who then left it to assault them, while on May 30, a Jewish man was assaulted while traveling on a commuter train. In addition, a kosher café was vandalized and a Jewish youth attacked on August 18. In Sydney, a Jewish day school student was insulted and then assaulted on a public bus on February 8. On November 17, a group of Jewish teenagers were abused and threatened with the curse “F--king Jews we’ll kill you” and one of them was punched, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. On November 24, an Orthodox Jew was taunted and had his hat stolen while walking down a main road, also in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, while on December 11, a Jewish day school student was abused with antisemitic insults and assaulted by students from another school while on a school excursion in Sydney.

In Melbourne, a beer bottle smashed through a window at a Jewish girls’ school on January 11, while on March 19, bricks were thrown through the windows of a classroom of another Jewish school. On September 7, a concrete block was thrown at the door of a synagogue in Sydney which had been similarly damaged a year earlier. On March 16, vehicles parked outside a Sydney synagogue were spray-painted with swastikas..

Throughout the year eggs or other objects were reportedly thrown at individuals walking to or from synagogue.

 

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; however, some commentaries and letters to the editor in the mainstream media in 2007 contained antisemitic and anti-Zionist motifs.

In a letter to the editor of the Australian, Paul Heywood-Smith attributed terrorism against the West to the Balfour Declaration, which he claimed, “gave a green light to the colonisation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine by the Zionists” (Feb. 27), while Kenneth Griffiths in a letter published in the Canberra Times equated Israel with Nazi Germany (May 30). The online comment section of ABC television’s Media-Watch program, which is vigorously moderated, published the following comments “The only understanding I can make is that MediaWatch carries the torch for Globalism and maybe even Zionist groups as they are known to push Hate Speech laws so they can’t be questioned themselves in crime. ABC is starting to show a disproportionate numbers of Jews in the places of power in the ABC.” In response to a news item (Oct. 3) on then opposition leader Kevin Rudd’s condemnation of Iran, a number of offensive comments were posted on the letters blog of the Australian, including: “Demonstrates how the local Jewish ‘Israeli firster’ community is setting the agenda through Zionist mouthpiece IAR [sic]”; “Highlights the bizarre elevation of the capital H Holocaust to an event so uniquely brutal that REAL evaluation of the facts is not allowed”; “So Kevin [Rudd] is just another proxy Zionist… Anyone who has cared to do a little research outside the mainstream media knows that Ahmadinejad has not threatened to wipe Israel off the map. It took you a while for Kevin to reveal his true self, he is just another… puppet, you don’t make it to the top any other way.”

ABC Radio’s Religion Report (March 21) featured a long interview with the far left anti-Zionist Jew Lenni Brenner, whom the interviewer, Stephen Crittenden, had sought out in order “to open up the question of historical links between forms of Zionism in the early twentieth century and racism and Nazism.” Brenner claimed, inter alia, that when the Nazis came to power, “it was a Zionist dream” and that “there are Israeli spies all over the American government.” Although the ABC acknowledged publicly that “some statements made by Mr. Brenner during the interview could be considered disparaging towards some Jews,” the organization defended the broadcast.

 

Left Wing

Increasingly, analogies between Israel and Nazi Germany are made at left-wing gatherings. In addition, comments implying the existence of an immensely powerful “lobby” are promoted or implied, particularly in Green Left Weekly. John Pilger (a leading left-wing writer and film-maker with a long history of anti-Israel activity), for example, claimed Israel was committing “genocide in Gaza” and alleged that “almost the entire US Congress is in thrall to or intimidated by a vicious Zionist ‘lobby’” (Jan. 31). Green Left Weekly journalist Doug Lorimer supported Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s calls for the destruction of Israel, claiming complaints were “based on a frame-up that perpetuates the Zionist myth identifying the interests of all Jews with those of the Israeli state” and that the state of Israel was based on “brutal dispossession of, and racist discrimination against, their indigenous inhabitants.”

 

Right Wing

The official newsletter of One Nation in South Australia linked the world water crisis to Zionism: “Like global warming and peak oil scams, they are part of UN Agenda 21 designed to fill the coffers of the wealthy Zionist bankers who run the UN (One Nation, April 2007). Network News (April 2007), another One Nation newsletter, basing itself on The Rulers of Russia, by “the Rev. Denis Fahey CSSP, DD, DPh, BA,” claimed that “the most vital element in the creation of the Soviet Union were the Zionists without whose brains and finance, Lenin would have failed to achieve his aim.” Under the heading “National Crises,” One Nations’s Update Beenleigh Branch Regional News Letter (no. 49, May 21), asserted: “Our nation is under threat from two sources, the first is radical Islam and the second is from Zionism and Internationalism.” Zionism, it alleged, “came from the wealthy Khazar Jewish families, mainly the Rothschild’s and Rockefellers who control the European and US banks and most of the financial institutions… they set up the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ensure the debt of most of the world’s countries to their profit.” Discussing the federal government’s indigenous affairs policy, the newsletter asserted: “Aborigines are used as pawns by Zionist global interests, causing division and disruption, as they have done in African countries. These people profit from the destitute [sic] of aboriginals…” (July 20). The Beenleigh update also referred in several issues to the US Council of Foreign Relations as “the invisible world government.”

 

Arab and Muslim Communities

The Arabic-speaking and 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, Nida’ul Islam prints extreme views of members from the Islamic community in Australia and from a range of overseas commentators. The tone toward Jews is often hateful and inflammatory. Much of the material accessible on the website infers the existence of an anti-Islamic conspiracy devised by Jews but also including most rulers of Arab and Islamic states.

The web-based Mission Islam is even more extreme. As well as promoting The Protocols of Zion and various Muslim-authored works hostile to Jews, the website of this group includes a section “The Truth about the Talmud,” with a list of sub-headings, such as “Sick and Insane Teachings of the Talmud,” “Genocide Advocated by the Talmud” and “Moses Maimonides: Advocate of Extermination.”

Journalist Tim Blair documented on his weblog (June 24) comments from Muslim Village Forums (containing submissions from a range of Muslim groups and individuals), after the site boasted of supplying material to the mainstream ABC Media Watch. They include: “May every Zionist be cut-off at the elbows and develop a lifelong itch in their shorts that they’re not able to scratch.. damn them all...”; “our prophet has prophesised [sic] that eventually every single Jew will be eliminated from the face of the earth by the Muslims, after a major war between us and them (kafirs).” In the “General Media” section of Muslim Village, various posters implied Holocaust denial was acceptable as Jews “deny the most slow motion and painful Israeli Holocaust in Palestine” (Jan. 28). A large number of antisemitic, anti-Zionist and Holocaust denial comments were posted on this site during the period when the mainstream media were covering a series of Muslim DVDs which, amongst other things, claimed the Jews were pigs. For example: “The Zionists have deceived many well meaning Jewish people via terror, trickery and false propaganda…Whoever attempts to criticize them puts his livelihood and, at times, his very life in danger.” The Office of Film and Literature Classification was criticized for giving a “Parental Guidance” rating to the series.

Depictions of Judaism as existentially opposed to non-Jews, in general, and/or to Islam, in particular, continue to be published on the discussion forums of the Islamic Association of Australia; Mission Islam (Australia); Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah’s Islamic Information and Support Centre of Australia, Mecca News and the Gold Coast Muslims

The website Gold Coast Muslims posted antisemitic material circulated by US white supremacist David Duke, which included the claim that “Talmudic prophecies” were behind the establishment of Israel, as well as general disinformation about the Jewish state (May 5).

Shaykh Muhammad Fa`iz, an Australian-born imam now living in Lebanon was exposed as the source of vicious antisemitic material circulating in the UK and available in Sydney.

 

Internet

The submission of pieces from Australia defaming Judaism in online discussion groups on religion, which began in 1994, continued throughout the period in review. As noted above, the discussions on Islamic and Arabic Internet forums and the content of postings to newsgroups testify to a vigorous anti-Jewish sub-culture. Extreme right groups have also used Internet discussion groups to maintain their sense of community, and to encourage followers to be involved in campaigns.

Among the Australian-based discussion groups and web-based antisemitic propagandists are Australia Free Press, which posts titles such as “6 million FILTHY LIES,” “The Holy Book of Adolf Hitler” (showing that “the German religion will rise again to liberate the world from the bonds, spiritual and material, of Jewish Mammon”), and “The Psychology of Holocaustianity,” as well as direct quotes from Mein Kampf and promotion of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

The website “uputoo” printed a series, “Project for the New Australian (Zionist) Century: A disgraceful episode in the political history of Australia,” which claimed there was ongoing “Zionisation of Australia.” It alleged that a company led by prominent figures in the Jewish community including Mark Leibler, Jeremy Jones and Colin Rubenstein had effectively taken over Australia.

In the newsgroup aus.culture.true-blue a discussion took place under the heading “Antisemitic Means: What Jews Don’t Want You to Know! Shoah Business is still great,” which included Holocaust denial and claims of Jewish/Nazi collaboration (19 Jan.). In the newsgroups soc.culture.australia and soc.culture.true-blue, supporters of Holocaust denial posted items under the heading “ZYDS Trying to Shut Dr. Toben Down” (June 5-6 ; see below). One submission included an eight-page “compilation of Jewish Ritual Murders from before the time of Christ until 1932.” Soc.culture.australian also hosted a discussion on “Zionist Collaboration with Hitler” (Aug. 7).

Patriot Alliance Downunder’s website, promoted a video recommended by David Duke, claiming: “This short one minute and forty second video encapsulates the Jewish Supremacist/extremist attitude, not just of this settler but of the Supremacist Zionist movement around the world. It exposes their true anti-Christianism, their desire to kill the Palestinians and anyone who opposes them, and how they label anyone who opposes them as a ‘Nazi’ and ‘anti-Semite’.” Another article applauded the “one-third of young Germans” it claimed who “support National Socialism, disbelieve Holocaust” (Feb. 26).

Stormfront Downunder and Downunder Newslinks (Sept. 24) posted lengthy discussions on antisemitic themes, including “What World Famous Men Said about the Jews, Part I.” The Freedom Liberation Movement posts and provides links to hundreds of pages of antisemitic material.

 

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 that offends, ridicules and intimidates Holocaust survivors and their families is a key activity of extreme right-wing elements in Australia. Typical behavior of deniers is to write letters to newspapers demanding 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 identified as survivors or descendants of survivors of the Holocaust. Following the Federal Court findings against Fredrick Toben (see ASW 2002/3) and the Bible Believers (see below), most of this is now done by individuals, anonymously.

Of great concern is the equation of Israel’s behavior with that of Nazi Germany. In 2007 a prominent clergyman, Rod Benson, compared Israel to Nazi Germany after he visited Yad Vashem. He subsequently apologized and edited his web-diary.

           

RESPONSES TO ANTISEMITISM and racism

Official and Public Activity

Concerns about racism 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. National Harmony Day, on United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racism, is generally marked by the government and by honoring individuals and organizations active in promoting Australian multiculturalism.

Cooperation between religious communities continued, 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. A Christian, Muslim and Jewish educational project, “Children of Abraham,” visited a number of non-metropolitan locations.

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 has been promoting inter-religious and multi-faith understanding since the start of the new millennium. Relations between the Anglican Church and the Jewish community also seemed to be improving.

Racist and anti-Jewish groups are experiencing increasing difficulty in locating premises in which to meet and in finding respectable Australians to participate in their activities, due to the refusal of church and service organizations to let out their premises and their advice to representatives not to share platforms with known extremists.

The third Asia Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue took place in Cebu, the Philippines, in May 2007, and the Australian and New Zealand governments both included Jewish community representatives in their delegations.

             

Legal Activity

While no new matters relating to antisemitism were lodged under Australia’s federal anti-racism legislation, one complaint was settled and one court hearing conducted in another. On February 2, 2007, Justice Conti in the Federal Court found that Holocaust denial material on the Bible Believers website was in breach of the Federal Racial Hatred Act. An appeal was pending. As allegedly proscribed material was published on the website of the Adelaide Institute, contempt proceedings were initiated in 2007 by ex-ECAJ president Jeremy Jones, who had lodged the initial complaint.

In April, Simon Christian became the first person in the State of Victoria to be convicted for antisemitic assault, due to his part in an attack on Menahem Vorschheimer in late 2006. A Perth member of the neo-Nazi group Australian Nationalists Movement was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiring with three others to bomb four Chinese restaurants. Also in Perth, a man who admitted making a series of threatening antisemitic telephone calls to the Jewish community center received only a twelve month bond, due to his submission of a psychiatric report.

Ash Peake, a cricketer who set up a Facebook group “F.U. Ajax Cricket Club,” included a series of submissions calling for the gassing of Jews, with one writer apologizing that his German grandparents “didn’t get them all.” Peake was suspended by the Victorian Turf Cricket Association until 2015 and expelled from his club.