Jewish leaders showed us their best under pressure

Our Australian of the Year Award celebrates the achievements of men and women who give us evermore reasons to rejoice that we are one and free, and who work to ensure our nation stays so. Across the decades we have gratefully acknowledged athletes and artists, entrepreneurs and activists, scientists and public servants – people from all walks of life who make Australia a better place by their work and through their values.

People such as 2023 winner Cheng Lei, the journalist who lived her commitment to freedom of the press, enduring three years of imprisonment by the Chinese government. And Sydney GP Jamal Rifi, our 2015 Australian of the Year for his leadership of the Muslim community when the Islamic State terror organisation was keen to recruit young Australians.

And on this Australia Day weekend they are joined in defence of our nation’s values by three Jewish Australians: Deborah Conway, Josh Frydenberg and Alex Ryvchin, who stand for the social cohesion that comes from a culture of tolerance and respect by all, for all.

As a nation of immigrants Australians intuitively understand that for our great experiment in nation building to work we must celebrate what unites us – a belief that everybody deserves the chance to make the most of their abilities, that the content of our character is all that our neighbours should need to assess us. If there is a code that defines what Australians should and generally do live by it is succinctly summed up as a “fair go” for all.

In essence this is what our Australians of the Year are appealing for by standing up and speaking out against a hatred that has no place in our inevitably flawed but always improving nation. They have spoken up – in the absence of strong political and institutional leadership – to defend our unity from the threat of anti-Semitism that has metastasised out of opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza into violence against Jews.

This newspaper has always championed Australia’s civic culture as the foundation of prosperity and unity. It is the sole sure foundation of success as a nation of immigrants and it must – must – always be defended against all who would divide us. As editor-in-chief Michelle Gunn puts it: “Our Australians of the Year stood up for their values, their community and their country at great personal cost.”

At great personal cost. Ms Conway has faced a concerted campaign to destroy her singing career, with concerts disrupted and cancelled because of her vocal defence of Israel. Mr Frydenberg, a former federal treasurer familiar with the rough and tumble of public life, acknowledges serious threats against him but they did not deter him from taking a leadership role against the rise of anti-Semitism after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Mr Ryvchin’s work as a Jewish community leader includes ensuring the Holocaust is not forgotten; there was an arson attack on his former home on January 17. They are patriots all.

As Mr Frydenberg puts it: “This is about much more than Jewish people and their safety. I … see this as Australia’s fight. We are defending Australian values.” Values that are indisputably under escalating attack. As the war in Gaza dragged on, the abuse of Jews for being Jews grew louder, the torching of homes and offices, synagogues and preschools grew bolder, campaigns to drive Jews from university campuses more brazen. Views about the conduct of the war in Gaza must never be used to justify anti-Semitism.

It is more than 15 months since anti-Semitism has changed from a distasteful trope among the morally malformed into a challenge to the rule of law and to the right of all Australians to walk where they choose, speak their minds without threat and to sleep safely in their own beds, not fearing the actions of arsonists or worse.

This newspaper is unswerving in its commitment to Israel’s right to exist but anti-Semitic violence is a threat to Australians and should be treated as such – firebombing a preschool in suburban Sydney is a straightforward law-and-order matter and must be dealt with as such.

Jennifer Westacott, chancellor of the University of Western Sydney, also understands. Other university leaders tacitly accepted anti-Semites running riot on campuses, cowering behind claims that they had to allow free speech. But Professor Westacott spoke truth to mob power – that hate speech and anti-Semitism at universities were assaults on the principles of multicultural Australia.

Likewise Indigenous Australian Nova Peris, an Olympic gold medallist and former Labor senator who calls for Labor Party people to stand against the “moral decay” of anti-Semitism. And pre-eminent scholar of Indigenous Australia Marcia Langton, who is appalled by the circumstances of civilians in Gaza but still speaks out against terrorists. As well as Jewish community leaders such as Steven Lowy and Mark Leibler, who speak up to defend Australia as it should be, an open society where hatreds based on religion or ethnicity have no place.

This is all our fight, as Professor Westacott wrote in The Australian on Friday: “Turning a blind eye to one type of hatred unleashes a culture of hatred or opens the door to other hatreds such as Islamophobia, homophobia and racism in all its forms.”

Ms Conway, Mr Frydenberg and Mr Ryvchin speak for all Australians with fairness for all in their hearts. As Dr Rifi put it a decade ago, “our shared values must unite us all”.