Australia is supposed to be a nation of tolerance and acceptance – the one place in a troubled world where people of different ethnicities, cultures and faiths can get along.
That no longer feels like the case. Since the Hamas atrocities of 7 October 2023, and the conflict in Gaza and Israel, Australia has been exposed as a simmering hotbed of ethnic and religious hatred.
The ugliest strain of all is anti-Semitism. It may have been breathed into life by Hamas’s evil, but it has been latent in Australia’s communities, as they have become ever more ethnically and religiously diverse, for some time. To many Jewish Australians, our city centres have become no-go zones. Every Sunday since October 2023 they have been occupied by noisy, abusive and hate-filled anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies. As in London, New York and other major western cities, it has been fashionable to protest vehemently and violently against Israel, Zionism and, quite simply, Judaism.
These acts of anti-Semitism show no sign of abating
Soon enough, the protests turned into violence against the property of the Jewish community and threats against Jews.
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