Mark Dreyfus defends Labor anti-Semitism stand
The nation’s highest-ranked Jewish Australian, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, has made a passionate defence of Labor’s handling of anti-Semitism in parliament.
The nation’s highest-ranked Jewish Australian, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, has made a passionate defence of Labor’s handling of anti-Semitism in parliament, as Labor comes under pressure to list the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine as a terrorist organisation.
The Coalition failed in an attempt to silence Mr Dreyfus during question time on Monday after he accused them of politicising the anti-Semitism crisis in Australia.
At the time, Mr Dreyfus had been answering a question from Liberal MP Michael Sukkar on recently passed laws legislating minimum mandatory sentencing terms for terror offences.
Mr Dreyfus, who recently visited Israel and represented Australia at the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, said he knew the horror of anti-Semitism and did not want to be lectured by Liberal politicians on it.
“In the past few months, I’ve stood in the shadow of the main gate at the Auschwitz death camp,” he told parliament.
“I’ve stood on the field where a music festival in Israel was turned into a bloodbath, and I’ve stood in the ruins of a burnt-out synagogue in my home town. I do not need the Leader of the Opposition or any of those opposite to tell me what anti-Semitism is, or how seriously I should take it.”
The flag of the internationally recognised terrorist organisation was seen flying amid the placards and banners at an “anti-Zionist” pro-Palestine demonstration in Melbourne on Sunday, with a Jewish journalist reportedly harassed and told by Victoria Police to “move on” when concerns were raised.
The PFLP is a designated terrorist organisation in the US, the EU, Japan and Canada, while Australia has the group on its consolidated list of organisations subject to financial sanctions.
It was the first time the flag was spotted in Australia since May 2024, when activists unfurled it at the University of Queensland’s “Gaza Solidarity” encampment in Brisbane.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson urged the federal government to step in after the flag was spotted at the rally, saying the event marked a potential loophole in the Prohibited Hate Symbols legislation.
“The PFLP is clearly a terrorist organisation, as recognised by their inclusion on Australia’s United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism regime since 2001 for the purpose of financial sanctions,” Senator Paterson wrote in a letter to Mr Burke.
“This event highlights a potential unintended loophole in the Prohibited Hate Symbols legislation, which only explicitly outlaws publicly displaying the symbols of terrorist organisations listed under the Criminal Code.”
Senator Paterson said displaying the PFLP flag and symbols caused just as much concern and intimidation for members of the Jewish community as Hamas or Hezbollah. “They, and all Australians, should be free to walk the streets of Australian cities and towns without being intimidated by the glorification of terrorist organisations,” he wrote.
“However, given Australia’s failure to list the PFLP under the Criminal Code as a terrorist organisation, some Australians may mistakenly believe that it is lawful to publicly display this group’s flag and logos.”
The FELP played a documented role in the second intifada – a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel in 2000 – and has been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the first being Fatah. Unlike Fatah, however, the group does not recognise the state of Israel and promotes a one-state solution to the conflict.
They are held responsible for the assassination of an Israeli minister in 2001, while two years later they planned and executed the Christmas Day suicide bombings in Israel.
“The PFLP’s ideology and actions are deeply anti-Semitic, demonstrably comparable with other listed terrorist organisations. Their role in the planning and conduct of terrorism is not in dispute,” Senator Paterson said
A spokesman for Mr Burke said the government “doesn’t speculate on prospective listings” and “takes its advice from security agencies.”
So far, 14 people are being investigated for displaying prohibited terrorist symbols at pro-Palestinian protests in Melbourne, with 15 young people charged by federal police with terror-related offences in 2024.
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