Consequences finally arrive for public hate speech

Finally, there are now consequences for those who publicly espouse hate.

For too long after October 7, 2023, there weren’t. When extremists were allowed to celebrate the Hamas massacre in western Sydney, and a night later were allowed to chant “f**k the Jews” and “where’s the Jews?” at the Sydney Opera House, thus began a pattern where there was no price to pay for slandering Jews and the Jewish state.

And so the hatred mounted. The antisemitic propaganda increased. The blood libels accumulated.

And we know where that led.

Which is why, though it may have come too late to save 15 souls, it is critically important that finally, in just the last two weeks we have seen two examples of there being consequences for crossing the line.

The antisemitic scandal-plagued Biennale of Sydney is the first. After platforming a performer who referenced “the Zio-Australian-Epstein empire” and proclaimed “Glory to all our martyrs”, the arts festival lost the support of one of Australia’s largest consultancy firms.

PwC is to be commended for showing leadership and clarity in drawing a firm line. For its part, the Biennale issued a grovelling apology, distanced itself from the remarks, and committed to looking into the matter. Time will tell if it has truly learnt its lesson.

Which brings us to the second example, where a lesson seems to have not been learned, at least not by the perpetrator.

One-time Australian of the Year Grace Tame found that calling to “globalise the intifada” in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack is not good for her public speaking business.

We can only hope others may heed her misfortune, because as you read this week, Tame has only doubled down, calling Hamas’s mass rapes on October 7 “propaganda” that has “been debunked”.

It is beyond the pale for a sexual violence survivor and advocate to deny the testimonies and lived experience of other women, simply because they are Jews living in the Jewish state.

It is blind hatred, pure and simple.

Tame needs cast off her shackles of radicalisation and take a good, hard look at herself. Until she does, may her disgrace serve as a warning to others: hate speech against Jews will no longer be consequence-free.