Nothing to see or hear on website detailing anti-Semitism
Last Friday night a synagogue in East Melbourne was targeted by a man who allegedly poured flammable liquid on the front door and set it on fire and a mob stormed an Israeli restaurant in the CBD. The aim appears to have been to terrify the Jewish community and target people because of their faith.
There is a federal government body tasked with documenting racism and discrimination of Jewish and Muslim communities: the Australian Human Rights Commission through its Seen and Heard project launched after October 7, 2023, and funded by the Department of Home Affairs.
Australians of all backgrounds should be proud such a commission has been established to monitor our multicultural society. This $2m initiative promised to listen to affected communities and translate those insights into meaningful anti-racism interventions.
Do I think the recent anti-Semitic attacks will be documented by Seen and Heard? Do I think the project will develop any meaningful anti-racism interventions? I doubt it. As a child and adult psychologist I’ve spent much of my professional life listening to stories of pain, trauma and resilience. Since October 7 and the war in Gaza, the impact of trauma on individuals and communities has been immense.
Sadly, the discourse has often been polarised, with so many people unable to feel compassion for the pain on the other side.
I’m also a filmmaker and author. My recent documentary, The Narrow Bridge, follows four bereaved Israelis and Palestinians who lost a child or parent in the conflict. Instead of choosing hate, these people transformed their grief into peace activism. It was with this commitment to nurturing balance that, when approached by Seen and Heard, I agreed to be interviewed. I spoke about how I was doxxed and called a “baby-killing Zionist”, about the threats to my psychology practice and intimidation about my film. But my initial optimism about the project was replaced by lack of trust: Seen and Heard presents data in a way that is unbalanced and misleading.
As we know, presentation shapes perception. The website has three categories for anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, while anti-Semitism is listed as a single category. There is no category documenting racism targeting the Israeli community generally. This creates a misleading impression that the impact on Arab, Muslim and Palestinian communities is far greater than on the Jewish community. Anyone visiting the site would conclude that Jewish Australians are far less affected by hate than these other communities. This is not only inaccurate; it is a distortion of the reality on the ground.
Most Australians are aware of anti-Semitic attacks such as the arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December last year, the vandalising of a Sydney childcare centre, the “Jew Die” graffiti on the walls of a Melbourne Jewish school, the smashing of federal Labor MP Josh Burns’s electoral office. But many more Jewish Australians have experienced racism and discrimination to the extent it has damaged businesses, professions and careers as creatives. Jewish students and academics have faced intimidation, harassment and even physical threats.
Here are three reports I would have expected Seen and Heard to refer to in its work. A recent report by the Australian Academic Alliance Against Anti-Semitism found 67 per cent of Jewish students and staff reported experiences of anti-Semitism that had a significant impact on their lives.
Since October 7, anti-Jewish attacks in Australia have more than quadrupled to more than 2000 incidents in the past year. A recent report by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria describes the effects: Jewish Victorians said they were excluded from public life or voluntarily retreated to avoid harassment and racial targeting. Many reported post-traumatic symptoms and a high level of personal strain. Increased security has been needed at Jewish venues and events.
Moreover, there has been a tidal wave of hatred against Jewish people on social media. Reports from the Online Hate Prevention Institute shows a 539 per cent increase in online anti-Semitism and a dramatic rise in incitement to violence against Jews since October 7.
Although Seen and Heard claims to be documenting anti-Semitism, the above reports do not seem to have been incorporated into its findings. Its section on anti-Semitism is so vague as to be virtually meaningless. It has engaged in a woke form of equivalence regarding anti-Jewish hate, such that it is unable to document and denounce this growing form of hatred clearly and unequivocally without ritually suggesting an equivalence with Islamophobia and other forms.
This is a denial of the experience of most Australian Jews. Australia deserves better than a $2m project that risks misleading the public and wasting taxpayer money.
Rather than building social cohesion, the project is dangerous – it misrepresents the realities of racism, undermines trust and alienates the communities it claims to support.
In a time of rising polarisation and hate, this selective hearing is not just disappointing, it is unacceptable. More than ever we need institutions that uphold the values of integrity and empathy for our multicultural society.
Esther Takac is a filmmaker, author and psychologist.
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