Anti-Semitism down but hate continues
THE number of anti-Semitic attacks in Australia has dropped by 39 per cent according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s (ECAJ) annual anti-Semitism report.
THE number of anti-Semitic attacks in Australia has dropped by 39 per cent according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s (ECAJ) annual anti-Semitism report.
And for the first time since 2009 there has been no “serious” anti-Semitic incidents of “violence, vandalism, serious intimidation, harassment and threats directed against Jewish community institutions or individuals”.
In the 12-month period up until September 30, ECAJ research officer Julie Nathan, who compiled the report, found eight physical assaults, 119 cases of abuse, harassment or intimidation, seven cases of property damage and vandalism, and 21 cases of anti-Semitic graffiti. She also found a further 35 threats via email, postal mail, telephone or leaflets, posters and stickers.
The total number of incidents dropped from 312 in 2014 to 190 this year, but that was expected because of the conflict in Gaza last year, when the number of incidents spiked.
“Although Australia remains overwhelmingly a safe and secure place for Jews to live in, these figures are a very conservative representation of the levels of anti-Semitism that exist here, and we can never be complacent,” Nathan said.
“The figures do not include a very large number of anti-Semitic publications in the general media, online and in social media which do not rise to the level of a clear threat to harm people or property.
“There is also much anecdotal evidence of incidents which go unreported.”
Some of the most concerning incidents were when Jewish people had eggs thrown at them, and when a man smacked a rabbi on the shoulder and made anti-Semitic remarks.
The report was released at the ECAJ annual general meeting on Sunday and did not include two very recent incidents of anti-Semitism.
Late last month anti-Semitic comments were found written on the dust of a car at the Strawberry Fields festival. Organisers said the “behaviour is entirely unacceptable and completely against the ethos of this event”.
The second was at Broken Hill in western NSW, where vandals defaced a synagogue with anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian graffiti.
Police believe the synagogue was graffitied on Monday morning, which was also the 105th anniversary of the synagogue’s foundation.
JOSHUA LEVI
comments