Australia to host J7 Task Force against antisemitism
“None of us could have anticipated how timely and relevant it would become”, said Daniel Aghion.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) will chair the global J7 task force from July 1 and host the next international meeting later this year here in Australia.
Formed in July 2023 in response to increasing rates of antisemitism around the world, the J7 consists of representatives from Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Argentina. It marks the first coordinated effort by the world’s largest Jewish diaspora communities to address rising hatred and violence.
ECAJ Co-CEO Alex Ryvchin attended the J7 meeting in Berlin last week where he painted a grim picture of Australia’s escalating antisemitism crisis, revealing a shocking 317 per cent surge in incidents across the nation in 2024.
“When J7 was established, none of us could have anticipated how timely and relevant it would become in so short a time”, ECAJ president Daniel Aghion said.
“The recent meeting of J7 representatives in Berlin featured the release of the J7 report on global antisemitism which has highlighted the surge in antisemitism post-October 7, 2023 and the elevated levels of antisemitism which persist.
“It is rare for Australia to host international meetings of Jewish communities from multiple countries,” he said.
“The J7 meeting at the end of 2025 will be an opportunity to showcase how J7 members, through their regular meetings over the last two years, have been sharing best practice ideas in legal and legislative responses to antisemitism; effective responses to online hate and harassment; school and public education that is specifically directed against antisemitism; and fighting antisemitism on campuses.”
Speaking last week in Berlin, Ryvchin described how Australia’s once “healthy multicultural society” had been “captured by networks of extremists” since the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.
“The situation in Australia presents a particularly staggering depiction of how healthy multicultural societies can be captured by networks of extremists who succeed in fundamentally altering relations between Jews and non-Jews,” Ryvchin said.
The comprehensive report showed Australia’s 317 per cent increase in antisemitic incidents dwarfed rises in other countries, including a five per cent increase in the United States.
Ryvchin warned that insufficient action from authorities had allowed antisemitism to “escalate into devastating violence” and attract “the most vicious elements of society ranging from religious and ideological fanatics to organised crime.”
“The Australian experience illustrates that when antisemitism is not met with sufficient force of policing, law and political leadership, it can escalate into devastating violence,” Ryvchin said.
The Berlin summit coincided with the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
comments