Antisemitism in Australia is the manifestation of hostility, prejudice or discrimination against the Australian Jewish people or Judaism as a religious, ethnic or racial group. This form of racism has affected Jews since Australia's Jewish community was established in the 18th century. There are a number of organisations that track antisemitic activities, including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, that publish an annual list of all reported antisemitic activities.[1] [2] [3] According to the Anti-Defamation League's 2014 Global100 survey, an estimated 14% of Australians harbour antisemitic views.[4] Antisemitism in Australia is perpetrated by a variety of groups,[5] and it has manifested in the publication of antisemitic publications, in efforts to prevent Jewish immigration, and in attacks on Australian Jews and their religious and communal institutions.
According to Sol Encel, anti-Jewish prejudice in Australia dates back to the first arrival of British convicts, eight of whom were Jews.[6] Nonetheless, the colonial period was marked by the absence of institutionalised antisemitism found in Europe. Jews in Australia were never formally barred from entering the professions, sciences, academia, and arts. Despite being British subjects, Jews were permitted to run for political office in Australian parliaments even before it was legal for Jews to do so in the United Kingdom.[7] In the case of the Solomon family, whose members arrived in the early 19th century and helped form a mercantile network composed of Jewish and non-Jewish members, correspondences concerning their entrepreneurial efforts contain occasional complaints over antisemitism they experienced in Australia.[8]
Suzanne Rutland argues that antisemitism started to become prevalent in the country in the 1880s alongside the rise of Australian nationalism and the campaign to establish the Federation of Australia. Trade unions, politicians and the media were hostile to the small number of Russian Jewish arrivals in the country.[9] In 1917 the Labor Party politician, Frank Anstey published a pamphlet, The Kingdom of Shylock, which caused critics to accuse him of antisemitism.[9] During the wave of Jewish immigration in 1938–39, Frank Clarke, president of the Victorian Legislative Council, offered graphic depictions of refugees as "rat-faced men".[10]
The second wave of Jewish refugees arrived between 1938 and 1939 and again endured an antisemitic Australian press and anti-Jewish statements by politicians.[9] Pressure groups such as the Australian Natives' Association and Returned and Services League of Australia spearheaded resolutions against Jewish immigration.[9] Nevertheless, the state of Australian antisemitism did not rise to the levels that were taking place in Europe at this time.[11] Nevertheless, there were reports of antisemitic attacks on Jews stemming from local Nazi sympathisers.[12] In 1941, there were reports of antisemitic propaganda being circulated across Sydney suburbs.[13] The Social Crediter, a publication run by C. H. Douglas, produced in England and circulated in Australia, was accused of promoting antisemitic propaganda.[14] [15] The New South Wales division of the social credit movement denounced the antisemitic material in The Social Crediter.[16] A related publication, New Times, published by Eric Butler, was accused of promoting antisemitism.[17] After the war, The Bulletin published antisemitic cartoons, pushing against Jewish immigration.[9] By 1950, the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism (JCCFAS) observed that 80,000 copies of a single antisemitic pamphlet were distributed in Australia, and alleged that the Jewish community was often uninformed of these developments.[18] In response, JCCFAS published and distributed 30,000 copies of a pamphlet titled "Anti-Semitism: A Menace to Australia".[19] Also in 1950, a North Carlton Synagogue and Talmud Torah was vandalised by local youths.[20]
During this period, Arthur Calwell, the minister of immigration adopted measures to ensure that Jews would not constitute more than 0.5% of the country's population.[9] [21] Calwell also halted all immigration of Jews of Middle Eastern origin.[22] There was a 25% cap on Jewish passengers travelling on Australia-bound ships and planes.[9] [23] In the late 1940s, Australian antisemitism continued to involve a strong focus on the prevention of Jewish immigration.[24] In 1959, Sam Goldbloom, a prominent activist and a federal Labor candidate, was specifically targeted in the publication and circulation of antisemitic pamphlets.[25] [26] Also in 1959, the World Jewish Congress reported that antisemitic literature produced in Australia had turned up in Turkey.[27] In January 1960, a series of antisemitic graffiti was reported in Melbourne including at a Jewish community centre.[28] The incident was condemned by Melbourne's two archbishops.[29] Also in January 1960, antisemitic grafiti in Canberra targeted a Jewish bakery,[30] and other buildings.[31] And later, the Central Synagogue in Sydney was targeted by antisemitic graffiti.[32] And later, antisemitic graffiti appeared in Queanbeyan.[33] By the end of January, Jewish community groups reported that 20 to 30 antisemitic acts had taken place.[34] This period saw similar incidents elsewhere around the world and became known as the Swastika epidemic of 1959–1960.
From 1960, Eric Butler's far-right and antisemitic Australian League of Rights, became a national movement.[35] The organisation promoted The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and other antisemitic libels.[9] The League assisted Holocaust denier David Irving with his visits to Australia. And Veritas, the League's publishing company, published Irving's work in Australia.[36] [37] There were also strong antisemitic sentiments from some non-Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe that had settled in Australia.[9] They established Australian branches of the fascist, antisemitic movements such as the Ustaše from Croatia and the Hungarian Arrow Cross.[9]
Other incidents during the mid-1960s involved public Nazi-related displays. In 1965, Prime Minister Robert Menzies attended the inaguaration of a new synagogue in City of Kew, a suburb of Melbourne where he laid the foundation stone. Notably, two months later, in October, the synagogue was targeted with antisemitic vandalism.[38] On May Day, in 1966, individuals claiming affiliation with the National Socialist Party of Australia conducted a public march wearing Nazi uniforms and carrying a Nazi flag near the Yarra River in Melbourne. The group was attacked by a large group of local residents.[39] [40] In June 1966, a Jewish centre in East St Kilda associated with the Hashomer Hatzair youth group was targeted with swastikas and Nazi slogans.[41]
Following the Six-Day War, some far-left activists pushed an anti-Israel agenda influenced by anti-Zionist propaganda from the Soviet Union, which impacted some Australian university campuses. In the 1970s, the Australian Union of Students was under Trotskyist and Maoist influences and proposed anti-Israel resolutions and Jewish students who opposed these resolutions were physically attacked.[9] Attacks on Jewish property and institutions increased with tensions in the Middle East, with corresponding increases in security precautions. In 1975, ASIO documents revealed that Palestinian terrorists planned to kill high-profile Jewish figures including the Israeli ambassador and Jewish communal leader Isi Leibler and journalist Sam Lipski. Former prime minister Bob Hawke, who was deemed a vocal supporter of Israel, was also considered for attack.[42] In his 1989 review of early history of antisemitism in Australia (colonial period through the immediate postwar period), Sol Encel, observed that aside from its impact on immigration policy, antisemitism in Australia in this period can be viewed as a relatively minor social problem.[6]
In 1982, the Sydney Israeli Consulate and Hakoah Club bombings occurred. In this event, an explosive device was detonated inside a vehicle parked outside of a Jewish centre in Bondi, NSW. Initial police investigations led to the arrest of a 31-year-old man who was charged in relation to the Hakoah Club explosion. The case went before the court, however, charges were later withdrawn by the NSW Attorney General.[6] [43] [44] [45] [46] Other threats against Jewish community institutions stemming from Arab terrorist groups arose in the late 1980s.[6]
In 1988, a speech by Taj El-Din Hilaly, a prominent Muslim cleric, at the University of Sydney was treated by the Australian Jewish community as a significant attack against Jews. In a lecture to a group of Muslim students at the university, Hilaly made statements that aligned with major antisemitic tropes concerning Jews. Despite the subsequent critical coverage of the incident, Hilaly refused to apologise or retract his comments.[47] [48] [7] [49] The following year, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry began tracking antisemitic incidents across the country.[50]
Significant attacks on synagogues occurred during the 1990s. These include a 1991 arson attack on the North Shore Temple Emanuel in North Sydney.[51] That same year an arson attack targeted the Bankstown Synagogue in Western Sydney which resulted in the total destruction of the synagogue building.[52] [53] The Bankstown Jewish community had been active since the first decades of the 20th century and had first established a synagogue in 1914.[54] The site was redeveloped and serves as a Uniting Church Aged Care facility.[55] Three other synagogues in Sydney were also targeted that year.[51] In 1993, on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Newtown synagogue, Sydney's second oldest synagogue, was subjected to an arson attack.[56] In 1995, an arson attack took place on the Adass Israel synagogue in Glen Eira (in South East Melbourne).[57] Other incidents include a 1990 attack where petrol bombs were thrown at a synagogue in Melbourne.[58] And attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools occurred through the 1990s and continued during the 2000s.[59]
| Year | State | Local area | Synagogue | Date | Incident | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | New South Wales | North Sydney | North Shore Temple Emanuel | 28 January 1991 | Arson | |
| 1991 | New South Wales | Eastern Sydney | Sephardi Synagogue | 26 February 1991 | Arson | |
| 1991 | New South Wales | Western Sydney | Bankstown Memorial Synagogue | 5 March 1991 | Arson | |
| 1991 | New South Wales | North Sydney | North Shore Synagogue | 12 March 1991 | Arson (averted) | |
| 1991 | New South Wales | South East Sydney | Illawarra Synagogue | 28 March 1991 | Arson |
In the 2000s, Islamic terrorist threats appeared to be thwarted by Australian authorities. Instances include a Al-Qaeda plot to attack the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Israeli embassy in Canberra, as well as Jewish community targets. The plot was discovered after a raid on the house of Jack Roche who would be convicted in 2004.[60] In 2003, Bilal Khazal, a Lebanese Australian, a former baggage handler for Qantas Airways at Sydney Airport, and a prominent figure in the Islamic Youth Movement, was arrested for on terrorism charges including producing propaganda encouraging attacks on the Australian Jewish community.[61]
The sale and distribution of antisemitic literature is one area of concern for the Australian Jewish community. In 2000, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) found that Fredrick Töben had engaged in unlawful conduct in contravention of the Racial Discrimination Act (1975) in publishing material that was racially defaming of Jewish people on the Adelaide Institute website. Töben was ordered to remove the contents of the Adelaide Institute website from the internet and not to re-publish the content of that website in public elsewhere. He was also ordered to make a statement of apology.[62] In the following years, Töben was unsuccessful in his efforts to appeal the ruling. In 2009, after Töben's website continued to house antisemitic material, Töben was sentenced to prison for three months for contempt of court.[63] In 2011, during an open day event at the Lakemba Mosque, a visitor reportedly discovered that copies of the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion were available for sale at the mosque.[64] [65] [66] The same year, reports were made of extensive antisemitic literature being housed by the Australian League of Rights.[66]
Attacks on Jews also appeared linked to conflicts overseas, such as the 2014 Israel-Gaza war. Incidents included various acts of violence and harassment of Jews on the street, at universities, the use of newspaper cartoons relying on Jewish stereotypes, and the use of anti-Israel discourse to intimidate Jews.[67]
A notable case of antisemitism directed at Jewish students involves the allegations raised by Jewish students at Brighton Secondary College. Jewish students alleged that they faced extensive antisemitic bullying and harassment and that the school administration was notified on multiple occasions but took no action.[68] [69] [70] Victorian MPs David Southwick and James Newbury advocated for an investigation into the school's response. Subsequently, former students filed a lawsuit against the school and alleged that the school principal, Richard Minack, had referred to Jews using derogatory language,[71] and had spoken positively about his father who served in the German army in World War Two.[72]
Between 2000 and 2023 (prior to 7 October, see below), synagogues across Australia were targeted in acts of vandalism or arson. Attacks have occurred in 2000 (Sydney, Canberra),[73] [74] 2001 (Canberra),[75] 2002 (Melbourne, Sydney),[76] 2004 (Perth),[77] [78] [79] 2005 (Melbourne, Newcastle),[80] 2006 (Sydney)[80] [81] 2008 (Melbourne, Sydney),[82] [83] 2010 (Perth),[84] 2011 (Brisbane),[85] 2016 (Sydney),[86] 2018 (Canberra),[87] 2019 (Brisbane),[88] 2020 (Launceston),[89] 2022 (Melbourne, Launceston),[90] [91] and 2023 (Maitland).[92]
Other incidents involving anti-Jewish prejudice and synagogues have come to public attention. In one case, in 2017, the likelihood of attacks on Australian synagogues led a NSW council to block the construction of a new synagogue over security concerns.[93] In one instance, a public menorah, a large religious display placed in public, organised by a Melbourne synagogue was vandalised in December 2022.[94] [95] [96]
| Sydney | New South Wales | 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2016 | |
| Maitland | New South Wales | 2023 | |
| Newcastle | New South Wales | 2005 | |
| Melbourne | Victoria | 2002, 2008, 2022 | |
| Brisbane | Queensland | 2011, 2019 | |
| Canberra | Australian Capitol Territory | 2000, 2001, 2018 | |
| Perth | Western Australia | 2004, 2010 | |
| Launceston | Tasmania | 2020, 2022 |
Antisemitism and other forms of hostility to Jewish interests found in contemporary Australian politics is determined in part by Jewish advocacy organisations. In some instances, concern over political parties being positioned as hostile to Jews and Jewish concerns is viewed as arising from different ends of the political spectrum, such as the Australian Greens, a left-wing party, and One Nation, a right-wing party.[97] The case of the Greens involves allegations that the party fostered antisemitism.[98] Some charges against the Greens appears to hinge in part upon the assessment of these events in light of competing definitions of antisemitism.[99] In July 2023, the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, criticised the Greens party for not sufficiently condemning the rise of antisemitism in Australia following the October 7 attacks.[100] Jewish members of the Greens have alleged that party leaders ignore internal efforts to ensure a response to antisemitism is incorporated in the party's anti-racism response, and to ensure that opposition against the policies of the Israeli government does not provide cover for antisemitic sentiment.[101]
Since the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, antisemitic attacks and other incidents surged in Australia.[102] [103] [104] Incidents centred in Sydney and Melbourne as well as other regions such as the Sunshine Coast and Perth. Included in this round of antisemitic incidents were death threats to prominent Australian Jews, bomb threats to synagogues, and vandalism of Jewish owned shops.[102] In November 2023, hundreds of prominent Australians signed a letter condemning the rise in antisemitism. The signatories included Daniel Andrews, Gladys Berejiklian, Lindsay Fox and Anthony Pratt.[105]
In one notable incident, on October 9, a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney organized by Palestine Action Group took place in front of the Sydney Opera House with rally members chanting anti-Jewish statements. The event led to widespread criticism of the rally.[106] This rally was widely covered with special attention to the alleged use of the chant "Gas the Jews".[107] [108] Months later, a police review concluded that it was not possible to verify the chant, positing the possibility that the phrase being chanted was "where's the Jews". At the same time, the police acknowledged that there was evidence of other chants used at the rally that were deemed offensive and socially unacceptable.[109] [110]
On October 10, several individuals in Melbourne made death threats against Jews, one group harassing a rabbi and his son, and another asking where to find Jews, saying they were "hunting for Jews". On October 11, a man in Bellevue Hill, New South Wales threatened to kill four Jewish teenagers in a car with an Israeli flag draped on it. He was later arrested and charged.
In another notable incident, a New South Wales Member of Parliament was condemned for her use of antisemitic language. At a Palestine Justice Movement forum in late 2023, Jenny Leong, Greens Member for the Electorate of Newtown in the NSW Legislative Assembly, launched the accusation that “the Jewish lobby and the Zionist lobby are infiltrating into every single aspect of what is ethnic community groups ... they rock up and they’re part of the campaign and offer support for things like the campaign against the 18C racial discrimination laws, they offer solidarity, they rock up to every community event and meeting to offer that connection because their tentacles reach into the areas that try and influence power. We need to call that out and expose it."[111] After condemnation of the remarks, Leong apologised for her statements.[112] Australian Jewish press and community leaders described the incident as exposing Leong's use of a 'vile antisemitic slur' and criticised her attempt to minimise the incident.[113] [114] The pejorative term is reported to be historically associated with Nazi propaganda.[115] Leong's comments were condemned by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.[116] Jewish community members subsequently protested in front of Leong's office, with some protesters dressed as inflatable squids.[117] [118]
In November 2023, a Jewish school in Sydney was allegedly denied services from a local jumping castle business with the business owner boasting of their response on social media. The incident prompted Chris Minns, Premier of New South Wales, to condemn the business owner's actions. NSW Police conducted an inquiry although no action was taken.[119] [120] [121] [122]
In February 2024, a group of anti-Zionist activists shared a leaked transcript of a private Whatsapp group of over 600 people called 'J.E.W.I.S.H creatives and academics', doxing[123] hundreds of Jewish people working in academia and creative industries by leaking their names, images, professions and social media accounts. The leakers referred to it as a "leaked zionist group chat"[124] and described the leak as an act of pro-Palestinian activism, stating the information had been leaked from the WhatsApp group by pro-Palestinian anti-Zionist Jews.[125] The leakers referred to the list as the ‘Zio600’, with Professor David Slucki noting that the term ‘Zio’ is an ethnic slur for Jews that was popularised by American white supremacist David Duke.[126] The group involved in the doxing included the writer Clementine Ford.[127] [128] Leaders of Australia's Jewish community condemned the incident, including Alex Ryvchin, the co-CEO for the peak body for Australian Jews, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry,[129] the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies[130] and MP Josh Burns, who stated members of the leaked group had faced death threats, including a five-year old child[131] and one family had been forced into hiding.[132] Several Jewish Australians whose details had been included in the leak reported on the personal and professional toll the leak had taken on them, including being forced to close their businesses[133] and saw the leak as part of growing antisemitic intimidation that had previously been absent in Australia.[134] [135] The Albanese government was strongly critical of the publication of the list, and shortly thereafter announced new laws to combat doxing, the malicious release of personal information.[136]
In January 1960, Prime Minister Robert Menzies condemned recent manifestations of antisemitism in the country: "I think that I should now say that there is absolutely no room in Australia for anti-Semitism..."[137] [138] In 1995, Prime Minister Paul Keating condemned an incident where dozens of Jewish graves in Adelaide were vandalised.[139] [140] [141] In a 2013 speech delivered by Malcolm Turnbull on an attack on a Jewish family in Sydney, described the importance of condemning antisemitism in Australia.[142] In 2023, following the attacks conducted by Hamas on October 7, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the majority of the Australian Parliament passed a motion concerning hate speech targeting Jews and others in Australia in the aftermath of the attack.[143] Shortly thereafter, six out of seven of Australia's living former prime ministers (John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison) signed a statement against the rise of antisemitism in Australia in the wake of the attack and the threat to national cohesion, stating that "the there is no more tenaciously evil race hatred than antisemitism".[144] [145] Howard, Gillard, and Albanese later appeared on a 2024 documentary Never Again: The Fight Against Anti-Semitism.[146]
In 1942, the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism (JCCFAS), a Melbourne-based group, was founded to combat antisemitism and fascism. The group operated until 1970.[147] Another Jewish group based in Melbourne, known as Research Services, was formed in 1960 and operated until the 1970s. The group involved itself in gathering information on antisemitic activities in Australia. The groups members included Jewish ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen.[148] Since then, other Australian Jewish organisations have responded to antisemitism including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) which produces annual incident reporting of antisemitism in Australia (starting from 1989),[50] the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), which was originally formed by B'nai B'rith, and the Community Security Group (CSG). Other organisations approach the issue through educational programming such as Courage to Care (C2C) which focuses on upstander behaviour, and Moving Forward Together (MFT) which focuses on promoting harmony through multicultural activities.
Community experiences of and attitudes toward antisemitism have been reported on in community studies produced in partnership with Monash University's Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation. Findings from a 2017 study include reporting that direct or personal experience of antisemitic insults and harassment over the last 12 months was experienced or witnessed by roughly one in ten respondents, with higher rates for Hasidic and Haredi Jews.[149]
In the aftermath of the sharp rise of antisemitic incidents in Australia following 7 October 2023, Jewish communal organisations campaigned for the Australian government to create a position to oversee the response to antisemitism.[150] in response, on 9 July 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Jillian Segal, a former president of the ECAJ, as the special envoy on antisemitism to the Australian Government.[151] [100] A local development following 7 October 2023, involved Jewish House, a Sydney-based non-profit organisation, partnering with Lifeline, a crisis support service, to document how antisemitic incidents, including the public support for the October 7 attacks, and other anti-Jewish incidents, invalidate the experiences Jewish community members, leading to increased anxiety and require culturally-specific responses from mental health support workers.[152]
In December 2024, South Australia joined other states in enacted a ban against Nazi symbols and salute.[153]