Ugly face of anti-Semitism growing more widespread

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are rapidly undermining their cause with the public with increasing incidents of anti-Semitism. After ugly scenes in western Sydney and on the steps of the Opera House within a day or two of Hamas terrorists killing 1200 people in Israel and capturing 250 on October 7, anti-Semitic protests have become more widespread. Two lectures at Sydney University were disrupted last week by pro-Palestinian protesters – one by director of European Studies Peter Morgan, who arrived to find protesters haranguing his students, and one by a Jewish psychology lecturer. The university has reportedly offered for security personnel to attend her lectures, a sign of how dangerous the situation has become. University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott’s condemnation in The Australian of anti-Semitism is to be welcomed. But the issue has gone way beyond free speech. It is about harassment and intimidation.

Likewise, the baying mob, faces covered in keffiyehs, bellowing “intifada, intifada” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and banging drums outside the Victorian parliament on Sunday. Their poster promoting the protest was alarming – bloodstained writing and a jackboot stomping on the Star of David. Liberal senator James Paterson summed up the reaction of most Australians when he told a nearby rally against anti-Semitism: “This city belongs to all of us. We are not afraid. We will not be bullied. And the good news is they are an isolated fringe. They don’t speak for Australia.’’

While members of Australia’s Jewish community and their supporters make their views heard clearly and logically, many pro-Palestinian protesters do not hide their rancour and their desire for the violent destruction of Israel. That was evident in the behaviour of the pro-Palestine activists who gatecrashed the Victorian Labor state conference at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

Police had to move violent and aggressive protesters from the building. The conference carried contentious, one-sided motions on Gaza, unfortunately; one demanding that the Albanese government support the “inalienable right of self-determination for the Palestinian people”, and another calling for the end to Israel’s “perpetual military occupation and human rights violations” in Gaza. Some of the motions were drafted by pro-Palestinian supporters within Labor’s Socialist Left. But Nick Dyrenfurth, co-convener of Labor Friends of Israel, was heckled – “sit down, Zionist” – when he addressed the conference. The one-sided motions passed will add to concerns that many in the Labor Party, since October 7, have been eager to expedite Palestinian statehood with none of the internationally accepted requirements in place. The motions agreed to, despite the unacceptable hectoring, Labor Jewish MP Josh Burns said, would “cause division and hurt”.

The protests are spreading at a crucial time. Former army commander Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, has threatened to quit the government in June if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not articulate a plan for ending the war, bringing remaining hostages home, toppling Hamas rule and demilitarising the Gaza Strip while retaining Israeli security control and creating a civilian governance mechanism for Gaza, with US, European and Palestinian members, but excluding Hamas and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. Most Palestinians, enduring horrendous suffering, would welcome a safer future. But after Israel has taken a beating over civilian casualties in Gaza, it is worth noting, for the sake of accuracy, that on May 8 the UN almost halved the child fatality toll in Gaza from 14,500 to 7800, and the figure for fatalities of women from more than 9500 to 4959. The revised tolls are painfully high. The war must end with the defeat of Hamas, to give hope for lasting peace and guarantee Israel’s future.