Jewish Australians are experiencing an alarming rise in threats, vandalism, and violence, leading to a profound sense of insecurity, according to Australia's antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal.
Her statements, made Thursday and quoted by AFP, underscore a "deeply troubling" increase in antisemitic incidents since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which ignited the conflict in Gaza.
Segal, appointed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a year ago, released a series of recommendations aimed at combating this surge, noting a 300-percent increase in reported antisemitic incidents over the past year. "We've seen cars being torched, synagogues being torched, individual Jews harassed and attacked, and that is completely unacceptable," Segal stated at a news conference.
The envoy highlighted recent incidents, including an arson attempt at a Melbourne synagogue, along with approximately 20 protesters swarming an Israeli-owned restaurant and antisemitic graffiti defacing cars in another part of the city, all occurring on the same day.
"These are not isolated events, and they form part of a broader pattern of intimidation and violence that is making Jewish Australians feel very unsafe," Segal emphasized. "This should concern every Australian, because the safety and dignity of one community affects us all."
The incidents in Melbourne last week are the latest in a long series of antisemitic attacks which have been on the rise in Australia since October 7, 2023.
In early December, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed, in an incident that is being treated as an act of terrorism.
Days later, a car was set on fire, and two properties were vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, which has a substantial Jewish population.
In another incident, the words "F— the Jews" were spray-painted on a car in Sydney.
In early January, the Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah, a suburb of the city, was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.
A day later, the Newtown synagogue, located in Sydney’s inner west, was vandalized with red swastikas that were spray-painted across the building’s front wall.
In another incident, a home in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, previously owned by Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was vandalized.
In February, a video surfaced of two Australian nurses, Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, stating they would refuse to treat Israelis and would send them “to hell”.
As a result of the video, the two have been banned from working with or providing services to participants of the country’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for two years.
Segal's 16-page report calls for strengthening hate and intimidation laws and improving education, including Holocaust awareness. It also recommends holding universities accountable for antisemitism on campuses, with potential funding repercussions for non-compliance, and urges efforts to combat online hate speech.
"Antisemitism in Australia has reached a tipping point that threatens social harmony, undermines trust in institutions and marginalises Jewish Australian citizens," the report warned, according to AFP.
Prime Minister Albanese affirmed his commitment to working with Segal on her recommendations, stating, "There is no place in Australia for antisemitism. The kind of hatred and violence that we've seen on our streets recently is despicable and it won't be tolerated."