Australian Jews detail ‘unfair’ backlash linked to Gaza
Australian Jews have described being harassed in schools, workplaces, sports fields, university campuses and online.
Many people say they no longer feel they can practice their religion openly, especially in the wake of the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Bondi targeting Hanukkah.
Members of the Jewish community shared their experiences during the first week of the rally public hearings By the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Harmony, which was established in response to the Bondi massacre.
The commission was told there was a huge increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Australia following Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Many of the more than 50 people who testified at the hearings said they never imagined they would encounter such prolific anti-Semitism in Australia, a place where they grew up feeling safe and accepted.
Holocaust survivor Peter Halasz told the commission he feared being identified as a Jew for the first time since he fled Nazi-occupied Hungary.
Mr Halasz told the inquest on Monday: “For the first time since I was a child, I realized I was afraid to wear my Star of David in public.”
A Jewish nurse has spoken of her fear of being hospitalized after footage emerged of two NSW healthcare workers claiming they had killed Israeli citizens and would do it again.
The woman said she tried to hide her Jewish identity at the time, including canceling kosher meals, but still feared she would be identified and targeted.
Sheina Gutnick, the daughter of one of the victims of the Bondi attack, said she was pointed at and called a “fucking terrorist” while shopping with her baby before the mass attack.
A former high school teacher told the inquiry that schools had become hotbeds of anti-Semitism, with students “parroting” what they saw online.
A 10th grade student said he was given a Nazi salute while studying the Holocaust. The students threw coins at him and asked if he would take them.
Jillian Segal, Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, told the inquiry that the fastest growing form of antisemitism in Australia was the conflation of the Israeli government’s actions with the Jewish people.
Ms. Segal said it was a “trendy” form of anti-Semitism spread by online influencers, but she believed it could be combated with education.
Jewish college student Mia Kline said she felt “judged” for Israel’s actions.
The 22-year-old said that when Jewish students reported feeling unsafe on campus, senior university administrators refused to take action because there was a difference between what was “hurtful” and what was “hateful”.
“No senior university official would tell a student from another minority community that, no, what you feel is not actually suffering against your people,” Ms. Kline said.
In the second block of public hearings, from May 25 to June 12, the commission will investigate the intelligence and law enforcement response that led to the attack, including what was known about the attackers and what was done with that information.
These sessions will also examine security arrangements at the festival targeted by the attack and how intelligence about individuals is used and shared to inform decisions, including the issuance of firearms licences.
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