Human rights commission hits back at accusations of inaction on anti-Semitism

Australia’s human rights chief has refuted accusations it has failed to condemn a rise in anti-Semitism after the October 7 attacks.

President of the Australian Human Rights Commission Professor Rosalind Croucher. Picture: Ryan Osland/The Australian

Australian Human Rights Commission president Rosalind Croucher has declared that “all racism is of equal concern”, after her organisation was accused of a “false equivalence” against the prevalence of anti-Jewish hatred and Islamophobia in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks.

Emeritus Professor Croucher defended herself against criticism from Liberal MP Julian Leeser that the AHRC had gone “AWOL” since the terror attack, saying “racist, hateful incidents” against the Jewish community were a source of alarm for the commission.

Mr Leeser, one of parliament’s most senior Jewish MPs, attacked the AHRC in a speech to the Cook Society on Wednesday, criticising the human rights body for failing to take a stand against ­“racism and prejudice”, arguing that it should be put on notice.

Professor Croucher said the AHRC had been “consistently active in condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other racism linked to the conflict”, and had repeatedly called for human rights to be upheld “both here in Australia as well as in Israel and Palestine”.

“Racist, hateful incidents against Australia’s Jewish communities are of great concern to the commission,” she said. ­ “Suggestions to the contrary are untrue and harmful to those ­communities.

“All racism is of equal concern, no matter which community is targeted.”

Liberal MP Julian Leeser has criticised the human rights commission for not condemning anti-Semitism. Picture: NewsWire/Ben Symons.

Professor Croucher said the AHRC had met with people and communities affected by the conflict, and was working with the “Jewish community and others to understand and address the ­racism directed at them”.

“The commission has also met, and continues to meet, with a range of Australian community leaders and grassroots organisations affected by the conflict, to understand their experiences and concerns and to provide support,” she said.

“This support is additional to that provided through the commission’s dedicated information and complaint handling services.”

Mr Leeser criticised the government for projecting a “false equivalence” between Islamophobia and anti-Semitism since the conflict began, accusing Labor of “always having to add the word Islamophobia as if they are embarrassed about defending Jewish Australians”.

Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash backed Mr Leeser’s criticism that the AHRC had failed to act, arguing that there was no need for “false equivalence, ‘contextualisation’ or double standards in this discussion”.

“We are seeing an unprecedented and abhorrent rise in anti-Semitism across Australia,” she said. “But since October 7, it is as if a long pall of silence has fallen over the human rights commission. They have been silent about the horrors of the Hamas attacks, and about the effects felt here at home.”

Former human rights commissioner and lawyer Graeme Innes said the AHRC’s focus had always been on domestic issues as a priority.

He defended the commission’s response since the October 7 attack as being appropriate.

“There are strong views on both sides, and that’s very understandable,” Mr Innes said.

“The initial attacks were appalling and what’s occurring now isn’t any better from the Israeli government.

“So any behaviour in Australia that is of a racist nature, whether it’s anti-Semitic or anti-Arab, is concerning and disappointing, but that’s where the commission’s focus is … I thought its comments and its reactions were appropriate in the circumstances.”