Liberal MP Julian Leeser calls for national cabinet to convene to tackle spike in anti-Semitic crime
One of the nation’s most prominent Jewish MPs has called on national cabinet to convene this week and bring in mandatory sentences for criminals who attack synagogues, as multiple incidents of hate are referred to counter-terrorism police.
One of the nation’s most prominent Jewish MPs has called on national cabinet to convene this week and bring in mandatory sentences for criminals who attack synagogues, as multiple incidents of hate are referred to counter-terrorism police.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and NSW police commissioner Karen Webb are vowing to bring anti-Semites to justice, with the counter-terrorism command brought in to investigate what is now being treated as an attempted arson attack on the Newtown Synagogue in Sydney’s inner west on Saturday morning, after it was also hit with anti-Semitic graffiti.
Liberal MP for Berowra Julian Leeser said national cabinet should meet this week and set out mandatory prison sentences for those who target Jewish synagogues, community centres and communities with anti-Semitic language and symbols.
“I am deeply concerned about the failure of the government to properly check for 3000 people coming out of a terrorist controlled war zone. Such actions do nothing to make the Jewish community feel safer in this country,” Mr Leeser said.
He targeted Anthony Albanese, saying there had been a “terrible failure of leadership”.
“Occasionally the Prime Minister says the right thing but his words haven’t been matched with actions. Sadly, his leadership has been weak. On decisions like visas, votes at the UN, and actions to curtail anti-Semitism in Australia, the government has been weak. On every measure Anthony Albanese has followed and not led,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s office would not comment on whether he would consider calling national cabinet, but a spokesman said Mr Albanese “unequivocally condemns anti-Semitism – there is simply no place for it in Australia”.
“We’ve acted strongly to combat these abhorrent incidents including criminalising the Nazi salute, display of hate symbols and doxxing, introducing legislation to criminalise a broader range of hate crimes and anti-Semitism, and providing more than $57m to improve safety and security at Jewish schools and synagogues,” he said.
Police are also searching for those responsible for an attack on the Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah, which was graffitied with swastikas, references to Hitler and other hate-speech on Friday morning; they have not ruled out both attacks being linked.
“This is an escalation in anti-Semitic crime in NSW; police and the government remain very concerned that an accelerant may have been used in Newtown on Saturday morning,” Mr Minns said on Sunday. “This would lead everyone to believe that this escalation is very concerning, not just for the Jewish community but for the wider community.
“There is never any justification for this kind of racist anti- Semitic targeted attacks on members of our community,” he said.
The Prime Minister, Mr Minns and Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan were approached to comment on the potential to call an emergency session of national cabinet.
When asked whether he would back such a move, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said his government “will support a national approach to stamp out these deplorable actions before they take a larger foothold in our country”.
In December, there were also multiple anti-Semitic incidents in Sydney’s eastern suburbs involving graffiti attacks on properties and cars, and fire bombing of cars.
The Adass Synagogue in Melbourne was also burnt to the ground in December, leading to the launch of an AFP taskforce dubbed Special Operation Avalite aimed at investigating threats, violence and hatred towards the Australian Jewish community.
Since December 9, the operation has received 124 reports of anti-Semitic attacks targeting Australia’s Jewish community.
It comes as outraged Sydney Festival patrons walked out of a taxpayer-subsidised act targeted at children following the broadcast of the widely accepted anti-Semitic term “from the river to the sea”.
Audience members walked out of the Air Time show at the University of Sydney’s Seymour Centre after the show opened with a welcome to country, then followed by a pro-Palestine monologue voiced by activist Feras Shaheen.
“My name is Feras Shaheen, I am one of the artists in the Air Time. I was born to Palestinian parents; one side of me is from Gaza, and another from Al-Lid,” he began.
“As we make art and perform for you today, Palestinian people are experiencing a genocide implemented by Israel, as well as the sustained destruction of Palestinian culture, people, and land.
“We call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and we stand in solidarity with all oppressed people around the world. From the river to the sea, always was, always will be,” he said as the crowd started cheering and clapping.
Air Time, described as a “fearless” production involving BMX, skate, dance and parkour was organised by not-for-profit performing arts group Branch Nebula, which has received more than $1.4m in taxpayer funding through Create NSW since March 2016.
Use of the ‘from the river to the sea’ phrase and the genocide claim led to multiple people leaving the shows early, the issuing of refunds, and the Sydney Festival adding a “content warning” on its website.
In an email obtained by The Australian, Sydney Festival said they requested Branch Nebula to “withdraw or modify the messaging”, a request that was denied.
One high-profile Jewish barrister, in a letter sent to the organisers of the Sydney Festival, said it was “entirely inappropriate” that political views were broadcast at an entertainment event.
“Having paid money to be entertained at this event, it is completely inappropriate for one of the cast to be permitted to use the opportunity of a captive audience to broadcast his own sectarian political views about the conflict in Gaza. How would he feel if I, as a member of the audience, then stood up and insisted on having my say about any political issue, including voicing my views about Hamas having breached a truce with Israel and invaded that country, massacring and torturing 1200 people, and about how Hamas has a deliberate policy of using civilians and civilian institutions to shield their military infrastructure,” the barrister said.
“It is entirely inappropriate for the Sydney Festival to allow a cast member to broadcast political views at an entertainment event. If everybody was allowed to use such an opportunity to broadcast their political views about a whole host of issues, entertainment as such would completely disappear.”
Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said the Sydney Festival had “crossed a red line” by allowing for the personal political views of a performer to “disrupt the sanctity of the stage”.
“Allowing the stage of Air Time to become a soapbox for anti-Israel lies and inflammatory propaganda is an unforgivable debacle that exposes a catastrophic failure of leadership and judgment by the Sydney Festival,” Dr Abramovich said.
“The performer’s grotesque accusation that Israel is committing genocide, coupled with the incendiary rallying cry of ‘From the river to the sea’—a known slogan advocating for the eradication of the Jewish state—is nothing short of hate speech masquerading as art designed to demonise Israel and the Jewish people.
“This incident has left the Jewish community reeling. Sydney Festival’s claim to celebrate diversity and inclusion rings hollow when they allow a performance to push falsehoods and polarisation,” he said.
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