Commissioner calls for Jewish community testimony

Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell has called on Jewish Australians to share their experiences of antisemitism as the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion held its opening hearing on Tuesday.

Bell said she was “interested in hearing from Jewish Australians who’ve experienced antisemitism, whether at school or at university or in the workplace or elsewhere” and that submissions could be made through the commission’s website.

“Making a submission does not commit a person to giving evidence in public, and no person will be pressured to do so,” Bell said.

“But I am confident that there will be members of the Jewish community who are willing to give evidence in public about their experiences of antisemitism, and that their accounts may be illustrative of wider patterns.”

Bell said the commission would seek to assess the impact of antisemitism on the daily life of Jewish Australians as an important aspect of its first term of reference.