Antisemitism surges 300 per cent, says Executive Council of Australian Jewry – MASHAHER

ISLAM GAMAL7 October 2024Last Update :
Antisemitism surges 300 per cent, says Executive Council of Australian Jewry – MASHAHER


There were numerous alleged physical and verbal assaults on Jewish people, including on a 77-year-old woman who was kicked and spat at, at rallies against antisemitism.

Antisemitic graffiti in Adelaide.

In November, a convoy of about 20 cars and motorcycles allegedly drove from Lakemba to Coogee, waving flags and calling out “F— the Jews” on a loudhailer.

The dossier contains some incidents which are substantiated by police reports and multiple eyewitness accounts, and others which are difficult to verify.

It includes the alleged chanting of the phrase “Gas the Jews” at a protest on the Opera House forecourt on October 9 last year, although analysis of video footage could find no evidence the phrase was used.

A lawyer and researcher with the Jewish peak body, Simone Abel, said reports gathered by the group included Jewish students at universities being spat on, told to “go home to Europe” and threatened.

“Today being a Jewish student, academic or employee at an Australian university is a toxic experience,” she said at a press conference at Double Bay in Sydney’s east.

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Ryvchin claimed many people attending pro-Palestine demonstrations in Australia were engaged in antisemitic behaviour and questioned whether they were really concerned about civilian casualties in Gaza, where over 40,000 people have been killed and at least 101,000 wounded by Israel’s military since October 7.

“The 40,000 is a Hamas figure,” Ryvchin claimed. “Before citing 40,000 you need to understand that we’re dealing with 18,000 to 20,000 Hamas fighters.”

“I think the line of all civilisation and humanity was crossed on October 7,” he said. “The fact that a single civilian has died is a tragedy, but it’s the fault entirely of Hamas.”

The number of casualties suffered by people in Gaza is mostly sourced from hospital statistics produced by the Hamas-controlled health ministry, but are accepted as broadly accurate by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations.

Graffiti in Brisbane.

Graffiti in Brisbane.

A separate community group, the Jewish Council of Australia, said it agreed antisemitism was widespread in Australia but said the data presented by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry was unreliable.

“I really object to this idea that the free Palestine movement is somehow inherently antisemitic,” said the group’s executive officer, Max Kaiser. “A lot of the university encampments have involved Jewish organisers and Jewish speakers.”

Sydney’s Jewish community marked the anniversary of the October 7 attacks with a vigil at North Bondi at 6.29am – exactly a year after Hamas fighters crossed the border into Israel.

Another Jewish community event is scheduled for Monday evening in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, along with a separate pro-Palestinian vigil.

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Source Agencies

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