Never again: anti-Semitism must face full force of law

At last, after 14 months of faltering and a disastrous week in which he mishandled the burning of one of the nation’s busiest synagogues, Anthony Albanese has begun to treat the scourge of anti-Semitism with the rhetorical gravitas and import it needed from October 7, 2023, onwards. In Sydney, after another anti-Semitic attack in the city’s east, the Prime Minister unequivocally condemned acts “aimed at promoting fear in the community”. That, by any definition, he said, was “what terrorism is about”. This was not a time to look for distinction or difference. Announcing $8.5m to redevelop the Sydney Jewish Museum, visited by 55,000 people a year including 35,000 schoolchildren, Mr Albanese said: “We need to make sure we learn the lessons of history which this museum shows us. It says to us all: Never again. In this time of grief and pain, we must all work together to heed the lessons of the past, to consign the evil of anti-Semitism to history.”

The anti-Semitic attack in Woollahra – where for the second time in a fortnight a car was burned out and graffiti was plastered – was designed to “strike fear” into the Jewish community, NSW Premier Chris Minns said in his welcome forthright style on this harrowing issue. “This is not the Sydney we want.” Sugar-coating or downplaying the rising level of anti-Semitic attacks in Australia would be pointless, as he said. In terms of stamping out anti-Semitism as opposed to merely calling it out, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb’s response was significant. The attackers, she said, could face 10 years’ jail. As such atrocities have become habitual, unnerving the Jewish community, authorities’ promises to apply the “full force of the law” need to be more than platitudes. They must be acted on consistently by police, security services and the courts regardless of the culprits’ ages. That has not been the case to date. But real deterrence is essential.

As we reported in November, a 17-year-old charged over a pro-Palestinian ­attack that caused more than $100,000 worth of damage to ­Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns’ Melbourne electorate office was allowed to avoid a criminal conviction. The boy and an 18-year-old woman were charged after windows were smashed and slogans, including “Zionism is fascism”, spray-painted on Mr Burns’ St Kilda office in June. Small fires were lit at the front of the building, potentially endangering residents upstairs. In court, magistrate Elizabeth Langdon heard the boy had been found suitable for diversion, which the prosecution supported. She gave him until February 10, the day before he turns 18, to complete four diversion activities.

Leniency, however, can stir others to act out their hatreds. Such criminality must be strongly discouraged among young Muslims by families, teachers, preachers and imams. Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, the Grand Mufti of Australia, has a good lead on the Australian National Imams Council Facebook page. He condemned “the heinous attack on the Jewish synagogue in Melbourne”. The great Islamic faith, he said, “teaches us that all humans share the same origin and are equal, categorised into two types: a brother in faith or an equal in humanity”. Islam viewed the beliefs of others as sacred spaces that could not be violated or disrespected, he said.

In working to eliminate anti-Semitism, authorities should be conscious of the effects of wider rhetoric about Israel’s war for survival. Executive Council of Australian Jewry chief executive Alex Ryvchin makes a valid point when he says Foreign Minister Penny Wong likening Israel to the despotic regimes of China and Russia sent a message that “it’s OK to feel hatred against Israel”. As Mr Albanese tries to put Labor’s response to the anti-Semitic crisis on track, people with good values would agree with Robert Menzies’ view in 1960: “There is a long history in Australia of distinguished service to our country by Jewish citizens. The Jews in Australia are good Australians. Any attempt to create an anti-Jewish feeling in Australia is doomed to failure.”