Attitudes in wartime
"Australian Jews in the shadow of war" was conducted by the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation (ACJC) at Monash University in conjunction with JCA NSW.
Three quarters of Australian Jews felt upset on a “daily basis” by social media content during the early days of the current Israel–Hamas war, a survey has found.
“Australian Jews in the shadow of war” was conducted by the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation (ACJC) at Monash University in conjunction with JCA NSW between November 10 and 17, 2023.
A recently released report authored by the ACJC’s Adina Bankier-Karp and JCA’s David Graham found 74 per cent of respondents felt upset, 54 per cent felt offended and 38 per cent felt frightened by social media content relating to the conflict.
Six out of 10 Jews were concerned or upset by reactions of non-Jewish friends since October 7, while 48 per cent were concerned or upset by reactions of non-Jewish colleagues.
Sixty-four per cent of Australian Jews felt that antisemitism was “very much” a big problem in Australia, with one in five having personally experienced insult or harassment because they were Jewish since the beginning of the war. Among 18 to 29 year olds, the latter figure was 43 per cent.
One in five had been less open about their Jewish identity in public.
More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of Jewish university students had personally encountered hostility towards Israel from other students, while 46 per cent had experienced it from university lecturers and staff.
Three quarters of those surveyed said they were “very” emotionally attached to Israel, with a further 16 per cent “somewhat” attached, a total of 91 per cent with some level of attachment. 98 per cent were following the news about the war closely, with 63 per cent consuming Israeli news sources.
Eighty-two per cent have personal connections to the country through close family and friends. Almost one in three with close family and friends in Israel had been in regular contact with them since October 7.
A large majority (91 per cent) felt “very much” concerned for the lives of the Israelis, with eight out of 10 (79 per cent) feeling concerned about the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.
In the 40-day period since the start of the war, almost three quarters (73 per cent) of Australian Jews had made charitable contributions because of the conflict.
The final dataset comprised responses from 7611 Australian Jews aged 18 and above. The study was funded by JCA and the Loti and Victor Smorgon Family Foundation, in partnership with Australian Jewish Funders.
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