ASIO chief warns of ‘spontaneous violence’, growing threat at home

Jewish and Islamic communities fear a growing threat at home from extremists reacting to Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel and the war in Gaza, after US and Australian intelligence chiefs issued a rare public warning about the danger of spontaneous violence.

The joint warning intensified concerns in the wake of murders by suspected Islamist radicals in Belgium and France, and the fatal stabbing in Chicago of a six-year-old Muslim boy and the wounding of his mother by an assailant who yelled Muslims must die.

ASIO director-general of security Mike Burgess says the agency is braced for “spontaneous violence”. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

With Israeli troops and tanks ready to cross the border into Gaza in a bid to eradicate Hamas, the Australian political debate escalated with the Greens, some teal independents and one Labor senator urging Israel to avoid a war that would kill Palestinian civilians.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton backed Israel in remarks to their MPs in party room meetings on Tuesday, but comments by Labor senator Fatima Payman highlighted divisions within Labor on support for Israel, in contrast to the unequivocal message from Liberal and Nationals MPs.

Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess sent the warning about potential violence during a rare press conference with FBI director Christopher Wray in Palo Alto, California, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

“We, of course, recognise this is a moment that drives feelings and attitudes in our respective countries and in Australia, so we’re on the lookout for that as we see protests and counterprotests … but we do anticipate spontaneous violence around these,” Burgess said.

“We do see a direct correlation between language that inflames tension and out of that tension does grow a small number of people who think violence is the answer.

“It’s something that we all have to be mindful of, and that’s for all Australians to play their part.”

Asked if this was a message for Australian politicians – some of whom have been accused of stoking tensions with their rhetoric – he replied it was “for everybody”.

“There’s no question the level of alert in our community has gone way up,” said Colin Rubenstein, the executive director of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.

“We’re very concerned and we appreciate the vigilance of the authorities. Unfortunately, the concern is well-placed – there’s no doubt about it.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Peter Wertheim said there had been an outpouring of sympathy since the Hamas attacks, but also a surge in acts of hatred and threats from neo-Nazis, some on the extreme political left and extremist Islamists and jihadists.

“They all converge in their common hatred of Jews, and in relation to this latest situation, their open or tacit support of Hamas, a genocidal Islamist movement,” he said.

“We need federal and state governments to work together to build a program of counter-prejudice education into the core curriculum from an early age with a clear and specific focus on the most prevalent forms of hatred in our society, including anti-semitism.

“In the long run, a small investment in counter-prejudice education would be less costly and more effective than extra security measures.”

The executive director of Islamophobia Australia, Shahara Attai, said reports of Islamophobia had increased four-fold since the latest conflict.

“The current climate in Australia, which dehumanises and devalues Palestinians, is emboldening racists and Islamophobes to commit acts of hate,” she said.

The Islamophobia Register Australia said on Monday that some incidents included direct references to the Israel-Palestine situation, backing Burgess’ earlier warning that everyone should consider the implications for social cohesion when making public statements.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Australian National Imams Council and others were approached for comment.

Albanese described the Hamas attack as “horrific” and told Labor MPs of the government’s support for Israel and its right to defend itself, but he emphasised Labor’s support for a two-state solution for the Israeli and Palestinian people.

Dutton delivered an “absolute condemnation” of the Hamas attack during a Coalition party room meeting where Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, was invited to address the Liberals and Nationals MPs.

“I was in Israel when Hamas attacked the people of Israel in the southern border,” the ambassador told the MPs in Parliament House.

“We’re in a war, a war that we didn’t start, nor ask for, but we are determined to win.”

There was no similar invitation from the Labor caucus to hear the ambassador, although he has thanked the prime minister as well as Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles for their responses to the Hamas attacks.

The divisions in federal parliament were laid bare on Monday when Greens leader Adam Bandt gained initial support from two teal independents, Kylea Tink and Sophie Scamps, to amend a motion on the Hamas attack to condemn Israel and accuse it of war crimes.

Their move was rejected on Tuesday by their fellow independent, Allegra Spender, whose seat of Wentworth has a substantial Jewish population. She said she was concerned about the danger to all civilians but “appalled” that the Greens had voted against the motion in support of Israel.

In contrast with the Greens, Tink and Scamps voted for the prime minister’s motion in the end.

“I voted against the Greens amendment, and I disagree with Kylea and Sophie’s decision to vote for it. I’ve spoken to them about my concerns and the concerns of my community, and I’m pleased they voted in support of the motion for Israel,” said Spender.

Payman, a Western Australian senator who was born in Afghanistan, said Israel’s right to defend itself could not equate to the destruction of Palestine or the annihilation of Palestinian civilians.

“The killing of innocent civilians in Israel should be condemned, and we condemn it,” she told the Senate on Tuesday afternoon.

“The killing of innocent civilians in Palestine should also be condemned. And we must condemn it.

“Yet today, the world watches, the state of Israel deprives an entire population – men, women and children – of the basic necessities of life: food, water, electricity, gas and medicines. We must condemn it.”

Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, the Muslim child stabbed to death because of his faith.Credit: AP

Burgess’ comments came as news broke that US President Joe Biden would visit Israel on Wednesday in a high-stakes trip designed to show support for the country, while sending a broader message to all nations not to escalate the situation.

Earlier, the ripple effects of the war came to the fore in Chicago at the funeral of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, who police say was stabbed 26 times by his family’s landlord on Saturday.

The assailant attempted to choke his mother and said “You Muslims must die,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a report from Associated Press.

Two Swedish nationals were shot dead and a third person was wounded in Brussels on Monday night by a man who identified himself as a member of the Islamic State.

In France last Friday, a man suspected of Islamic radicalisation used a knife to kill a teacher and injure three other people at a school in Arras.

The FBI director said there had been an increase in reported threats against Jewish and Muslim Americans since the war began.

“We’re particularly alert to the potential that these events have to inspire violence against Jewish Americans, against Muslim Americans, institutions, houses of worship here etcetera,” Wray said.

“And I will say over the past week, we’ve seen an increase in reported threats to those groups right here in the United States, and we’ve been working with our partners all across law enforcement and with faith-based communities to assess those threats as they come in and to mitigate them.”

Burgess said Australia’s threat level was at “possible” and ASIO did not see any reason to change it at this point in time.

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