Allegra Spender on October 7
Spender said the need for a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at universities is “absolutely critical”.
The federal government has not done enough to combat antisemitism, Member for Wentworth Allegra Spender told The AJN last week.
On the eve of the anniversary of October 7, The AJN conducted a wide-ranging interview with Spender about how to tackle Jew hatred, her work in the Jewish community, the legitimacy of Israel’s right to self-defence and a range of other topics.
On the federal government’s record on Antisemitism, Spender said it had been slow to condemn expressions like “from the rive to the sea”.
“I think the Prime Minister got to it eventually, But, you know, seven, eight months after the actual protests started,” she said.
“I think it’s a tragedy to hear families saying, ‘I’m not sure if my kids should go to uni here. I’m not sure if we’re welcome here’.
“So the thing that I’m most worried about is antisemitism. The second thing, and it is linked, is parts of the Australian community that don’t see Israel as a legitimate state.”
Spender said the need for a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at universities is “absolutely critical”.
“Universities need to be the place where everyone is welcome, where everyone feels safe, and where the most challenging ideas and issues of the day can actually be constructively engaged with,” she said.
“It is a tragedy for all of us if any one religious or ethnic group feels unwelcome and unsafe at universities, and it is unacceptable that is the case with Jewish students.”
Looking back to October 7, she said she still thinks back to where she was that day and “how much it shocked all of us”.
“The most most powerful moments, actually for me in the last year have been meeting the Nova festival survivors as well as families of hostages,” she said.
“To hear from those people … the sort of trauma that they’re living with, but also how they’re trying to use that to help the world understand what happened.
“The other thing I still remember very vividly is what was happening at the Opera House. And I think unfortunately, this is for so many of the Jewish community, when it all started to go horribly wrong.”
Discussing her record on behalf of the Jewish community over the past year, Spender pointed to reiterating Israel’s right to defend itself in public forums, voting in favour of pro-Israel resolutions in parliament, advocating for security funding, working with law enforcement to help keep the community safe, speaking out against antisemitism in the media and advocating for the appointment for a Special Envoy on Antisemitism, which was realised in July.
As a co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), she has been working with Jewish MPs Julian Leeser and Josh Burns as well as AUJS to tackle antisemitism on campus.
“I think one of the most practical things I did was a survey late last year about antisemitism, and using that information to write to all the vice chancellors, saying, ‘You can’t deny this. These are the words of the Jewish students in your in your universities’,” she said.
“I am a friend of the Jewish community, and I am proud of that. I’m a friend of Israel, and I am proud of that, and I will continue to be.
“I want people to know that this isn’t just about words. This is about actions that I’m taking.”
Asked her view on the recent UN General Assembly resolution demanding Israel’s withdrawal from pre-1967 lands within a year, Spender said, “Australia was absolutely right not to vote for that resolution, but should have voted [no] with the US.
“We need to be moving towards peace and security and I don’t feel any of these votes and actions are doing anything towards that.”
She also lamented the lopsided amount of General Assembly votes against Israel compared to Iran.
“Myself and others have been calling for the IRGC [Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] to be recognised as a terrorist organisation, which it is,” she said.
“You can’t pretend it’s not the same country that is supporting Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. So, you know, we need to be clear.”
She added that “Israel absolutely has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah”.
“We need to remember, there are 60,000 plus Israelis who have not been able to be in their homes for over 11 months now,” Spender said.
“This is a tragedy, I think, for the Lebanese people as well.
“And I think there’s a lack of recognition that Hezbollah has been bombing Israel solidly for almost a year now.”
On the subject of conjecture that the government may soon move to recognise a Palestinian state, Spender said, “It’s not going to help us to peace, and I share the concerns of many that what message does it send to Hamas and others.
“I want to see a secure and safe Palestinian state, and a secure and safe Israeli state,” she said, but “there is a process to get to that”.
Concluding, she said, “I believe you can be horrified by October 7, support Israel’s right to defend itself, and be desperately concerned with loss of life and the impact on civilians across the conflict.
“I see no contradiction between being desperately concerned about the lives of Palestinian and Gazan people, and at the same time supporting Israel’s right to exist and it’s right to have security for its own people.”
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