This is Australia
“I write to you today with deep admiration for your incredible resilience during these challenging times,” wrote srael’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli.
Over a single weekend, cars, homes and a Jewish school were vandalised with antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas and numerous “f**k the Jews” slurs.
This is Australia, 2025.
In Sydney, children preparing to return to primary school at Mount Sinai College had to be shielded from the hate, including “Jews are real terrorists”, scrawled on the walls of their school. Later that weekend, homes and cars were defaced with more hate, while a 21-year-old man was arrested after allegedly yelling out antisemitic abuse at a woman. He was staying at Jewish House in Bondi, a Jewish-run facility that provides crisis accommodation for those in need.
In Perth, a wall outside a home in Dalkeith was sprayed, again with a swastika and “f**k Jews”, and in Melbourne, Jews were compared to a virus, COVID.
Also in Melbourne, a 68-year-old man was charged over painting Magen Davids on a prominent Jewish family’s beachfront home in Middle Park. The offender allegedly also spat at a passer-by and threw a packet of bacon at him.
These and other hateful incidents in 2025 alone are too many to count, with the alarming rise in antisemitism prompting Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli to write a message of support to Australia’s Jewish community.
“I write to you today with deep admiration for your incredible resilience during these challenging times,” he said.
“Throughout history, you have been steadfast in your support for Israel, even during our most challenging moments. Now, it is our turn here in Israel to stand with you, the Jewish community of Australia, as you face these difficult times.”
Chikli said the resilience of Australia’s Jewish community is a “beacon of inspiration to all of us” and he ended the letter by sending “strength, support, and heartfelt solidarity from across the globe”.
A welcome letter of support, but what a shame it needed to be penned in the first place.
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