‘We were lost’: Jewish MP revisits office arson attack
KHjw.org en Josh Burns awoke in the middle of the night to be told that his workplace had been violently attacked. His first concern was his community.
“I felt almost guilty,” the Macnamara Labor MP, who is Jewish, told the royal commission about the events in June 2024.
Anti-Semitic slurs were graffitied on the front of the voter’s office. “Zionism is fascism” was written on his face in red, on a picture of him with horns spray-painted.
Breaking windows and lighting fires in telecommunications pits outside the building caused disruption to surrounding businesses for hours.
Families living in nearby apartments, including one with a newborn baby, were evacuated at 3 a.m.
This was the moment when he realized that the “golden medina” (or golden lands) was over for the Jewish people of Australia, who had previously felt safe for generations.
“I felt like we were lost. What was this part of democracy that we were all working for? How was this going to solve everything in the Middle East?” Mr. Burns said.
“All it did was cost $100,000 to fix it and scare a lot of people.”
He said an “us and them” narrative had emerged online, suggesting that all Australian Jews were loyal to the state of Israel and its actions in Gaza.
“Many of the comments directed at me suggest that I am somehow celebrating the deaths of Palestinian children.
“That is absolutely not the case,” he said. “This is the complete dehumanization of the Jewish people.”
The politician said criticism of certain Israeli policies or Australia’s actions in the Middle East was “fair game”, even encouraged as a sign that people were exercising their democratic rights, but condemned harassment of Australian Jews as a result of these policies.
Online anti-Semitic abuse was also directed at his non-Jewish partner, Victorian Legislative Council member Georgie Purcell, adding a “layer of misogyny” on top.
“It’s devastating to see someone police this kind of harassment (just because they’re around you),” Mr. Burns said.
The royal commission into anti-Semitism resumed in public on Monday after tensions behind closed doors focusing on security issues.
Over the next two weeks, commissioners will be trained on the role of the media – particularly the ABC and SBS – and the nature, prevalence and drivers of antisemitism and other hate speech on social media.
The commission heard how Australian Jewish schoolchildren were sent death threats and attacked with Nazi slurs.
A father known by the pseudonym ACF told an anti-Semitism inquiry that his son had been unusually glued to his phone since the attack on Israel by the terror group Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The boy, who was seven years old at the time, was told by his friends that his “Israeli” family should be killed by a terrorist organization.
“I hope Hamas bombs your fat asses,” one post read.
“You should kill yourself,” another said.
Parents of Jewish children have called for tightening social media monitoring to target abuse.
Mr Burns, who defended his government’s social media ban on under-16s, also called for the rules to be strengthened.
On Tuesday, the commission will be chaired by a number of witnesses, including Ben Adler, a leading musician with the Sydney Youth Orchestra.
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