australia 2009
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 and Sydney, but there are also significant communities
in Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.
During 2009 the
central database of the Jewish community received 835 reports of assault,
vandalism, harassment, intimidation, hate mail, offensive, abusive or
threatening telephone calls, emails, graffiti, leaflets, posters and faxes. This
was more than twice the average over the previous 19 years (the period national
records have been kept) and almost 10 percent higher than the previous
worst year, 2008. Of this total, however, 591 reports related to receipt of
emails. Incidents of vandalism and assault were 12 percent below the average
and constituted the second lowest rate in 12 years. Further, there were no
serious incidents such as arson attacks on synagogues or assault leading to hospitalization.
The number of reports of individuals being subjected to verbal abuse while
walking to or from synagogue or while on synagogue premises, however, was the
second highest on record.
Sections of the
Islamic community, the Arab Australian community and the radical left openly
supported the overtly antisemitic Hamas, both in its attacks on Israel and in
internecine Palestinian struggles (where, for the far left, the PLO represented
the West-leaning establishment). Most of the rallies in December and January
during Israel’s military operation in Gaza were openly pro-Hamas. In addition,
the pro-Hamas demonstrators were reinforced by supporters of Hizballah.
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 serve to
promote a mythology of a powerful and evil Jewish “internationalism,” which is almost
indistinguishable from the rhetoric of the far right. It should be noted that
most of the groups in this sector are ambiguous, if not internally
contradictory, on questions of Jews and Middle East politics, but the
publication of articles promoting the concept of Zionism as an “international
conspiracy” and of Jews as Nazis undoubtedly crosses the line to antisemitism.
At an anti-Israel rally in Melbourne (January 4, 2009), for example, placards
with slogans such as “Chosen dirty people of the earth,” were not treated as
problematic by most participants. Further, there were many examples of
antisemitic slurs and stereotypes in the online forums of Aussie Muslims and
Muslim Village.
In May, Australians
for Palestine hosted a public performance in Melbourne of Caryl Churchill’s
play Seven Jewish Children, which was widely criticized for promoting
anti-Jewish tropes (see UK),
while their website published articles with comments such as, “Just like the
Poles and Jews who found ways through tunnels and barbed wire to circumvent the
Nazi plan to starve 400,000 people walled up in the Warsaw Ghetto, these
Palestinians too are finding ways to bring succor to their people” (June 30). A
second performance took place in Perth in late November, in the context of a
public debate on the responsibility of public institutions to lease premises
for racist purposes.
However, there
is little evidence to support the contention that there was a sustained or
substantial growth in antisemitism in Australia in 2009. As noted, the increase
in numbers of incidents was attributable to a large volume of reports of
abusive and offensive emails, mostly concentrated in the early part of the
year. While there are occasional examples of mainstream personalities
promoting anti-Jewish stereotypes, when these occur, such as when television
presenter Richard Wilkins linked Jewish celebrations with the sound of cash
registers (November 30), public responses are generally condemnatory.
The demonization
of Israel and its equation with Nazi Germany was confined to relatively small
circles of extremist groups. It appeared predominantly in talkback sections of
print and electronic media rather than in other forums for political debate. When
such charges were made they were countered, even within the Islamic community.
Nativist political movements and neo-Nazi fringe groups of the far right gained
no traction in electoral politics or in public debate. The virulently
anti-Israel line was espoused mainly by the radical left and by fundamentally
anti-Jewish segments of the Protestant churches.
Most mainstream
Australian media outlets provide platforms for the expression of a wide range
of views. More extreme and intellectually indefensible items, which in past
years may not have reached publication or broadcast, can now be published
online, some on sites with an institutional relationship to the public
broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). or the main
newspaper publishers, News Limited and Fairfax. A recurrent theme on these
sites was the analogy between Israel and Nazi Germany. Other anti-Israel
slanders, such as the allegation that Israel practices apartheid or that
Israeli officials are war criminals, may emanate from some extremist
organizations but they rarely reach mainstream audiences. One exception was the
Canberra Times newspaper, where religion columnist Graham Downie claimed
“the Palestinian refugee camps now replicate the ghettos for which the Nazis
are so rightly condemned” (November 22).
Australia has a
culturally diverse society with a high proportion of first-generation immigrants
and close to half the population having one or both parents born in another
country. Despite efforts by far right-wing groups to portray immigration
from non-Anglosphere societies as socially deleterious, the largest and
most comprehensive survey of attitudes to cultural diversity, released in June
2009, found that only 6.5 percent of respondents declared themselves opposed to
multiculturalism. Perhaps uniquely, Jews have not only been part of the
dominant, mainstream community since the earliest days of European settlement
(in 1788) but the two first Australian born governors general, the most
prominent military personality, many well-regarded politicians and other public
personas have been Jewish. This has led to a situation where proponents of
antisemitism could be represented as seeking to revise rather then protect the
established historic social narrative. Notably, almost all active advocacy of
antisemitism as public policy has been imported – first by English migrants not
accustomed to a society imbued with a multicultural and multi-religious ethos, then
by European immigrants, particularly from eastern and southern Europe who imported
quasi-Christian or local cultural antisemitism themes, and more recently by
those from Arab and Islamic-majority countries, where anti-Jewish theories and
rhetoric are the societal norm. At present, this latter group is a disproportionate
source of anti-Jewish rhetoric and propaganda, although it is far from being the
cause of the majority of antisemitic incidents in Australia.
In a
significant development, the Uniting Church in Australia issued a major
theological statement “Jews and Judaism,” at its Twelfth Assembly in July 2009.
The Statement directly rejected the requirement for Jews “to become Christian” and
declared that “antisemitism in all its expressions is an affront to the gospel of
Jesus Christ.”
A textbook
for New South Wales high school students published by the prestigious Cambridge
University Press was withdrawn from sale after passages on Judaism were
identified as being antisemitic (October 27).
In October, an
Iranian immigrant calling himself “Sheikh Haron” faced trial in Sydney for
sending hate-mail and threatening faxes to recipients, including Jewish
Australians. In November, Perth resident Brendon O’Connell was charged under
West Australian racial vilification laws for harassing a Jewish student and for
subsequently posting a video recording of his actions online.
