Authorities’ failure to act leaves Jewish community in peril

We Australians need to stand up for Israel and the Jewish people in our community.

When remembering the Holocaust, we must recall that six million innocent Jewish people were murdered in that war.

How can we stand by and do nothing once again? It can’t be ignorance this time.

Our current government does not seem to represent our community spirit. Australians do not hate Jewish people or any other nationality, it is not out way.

The terror in Australia now is a direct result of the lack of action by the police and the government on the night of the disgusting rally at the Sydney Opera House in October 2023.

I am ashamed of this government as I believe that most of us support our Jewish citizens and want to see them protected.

Rae Harvey, Griffith, ACT

Chris Merritt’s article leaves us up the creek without a paddle in its summary of how almost daily anti-Semitic terrorism has overtaken the Dreyfus Hate Crimes bill (“Hate Crimes bill needs to address new threat level”, 31/1).

The bill’s focus on mere incitement to violence can’t keep up with the escalation of hate crimes.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim’s suggested amendment to the bill to broaden it to criminalise those who “promote, advocate or glorify” the use of force or violence sounds spot on.

But that too is rejected as it’s deemed too vague for criminal law.

The article handballs the problem back to civil law, meaning what? The nation and the so-called Human Rights Commission can continue to do nothing.

Surely, our fleets of highly credentialed lawyers in all our institutions can bite this bullet if our current politicians can’t, or won’t, for reasons they never explain?

Betty Cockman, Dongara, WA

It seems oddly curious that Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, hasn’t increased Australia’s terrorism threat level given the discovery of a bomb-laden terror plot with possible links to intentions of harming Jewish Australians.

The Labor government has for 15 months played down the importance of the ever increasing incidents of anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish Australians, and the weakness of this reckless attitude will increase the chances of domestic attacks.

Strong leadership will give our security agencies the backing they need to stamp out this threat to all Australians.

Lynda Morrison, Bicton, WA

The discovery of a caravan loaded with high-level building site explosives, coupled with an indication of possible Jewish targets, is a sure sign that the containment of terrorist activity in Australia is a little more serious than many of our political leaders admit.

Leading this cohort is our Prime Minister, whose most important duty is supposed to be the safety of all Australians.

So far, NSW Premier Chris Minns is one of the few political leaders to have shown any genuine desire to tackle the terrorism on our shores.

He is courageous in more ways than one in being proactive. He would, at great personal risk to his political career, be upsetting many on the radical left of the ALP.

He has put people before politics – something Albanese and his team have great difficulty in doing.

The situation is pretty dire when you have a premier acting like a prime minister should.

Peter D. Surkitt, Sandringham, Vic

If it is found that the people who were intending to blow things up are not Australian citizens or have dual citizenship, why can’t we deport them back to their country of origin? There is obviously no respect for life and as such they do not deserve to stay here.

If they are Australian citizens, then they should be imprisoned.

Shane Phillips, Loxton, SA

Anthony Albanese must be worried, he knows he can’t afford to have a major incident happen on his watch.

Over the past few weeks, it’s become obvious that the police have been told to increase their surveillance in the areas with relatively more Jewish population.

The leader of our nation is trying to circumvent a problem of his own government’s making: migration without the checks and balances to assure a homogenous and cohesive society.

Christopher Woodley, Vaucluse, NSW