by Michael Starr
DIASPORA AFFAIRS: Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler on how Australian Jews were shocked by both the wave of antisemitism post-October 7 and the silence that followed.
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The wave of antisemitism that sprang in the wake of the October 7 massacre shocked Australian Jews who believed that antisemitism was an endangered rather than dormant sentiment after the Holocaust, Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler explained in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.
Australian Jewry has been confronted by the reality that antisemitism never went away, as they have endured ostracization from polite society, arson and vandalism, and the acceptance of the situation by a silent majority.
Australia was a “goldene medina” for Holocaust survivors after World War II, with thousands migrating to the land Down Under, bestowing it with the largest proportion of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel. It was a community where many grew up without “experiencing any real antisemitism,” according to Leibler.
Shift in perspective after October 7
Before the 2023 Hamas-led pogrom in southern Israel and its global reaction, Leibler rejected the idea that antisemitism “never goes away.”“I grew up living in a society that was easygoing and never experienced it [antisemitism] at all, even though I was very visibly Jewish,” said Leibler. “But I think that they were probably right, that while we didn’t feel it [antisemitism], it was there, because [of] the speed at which those who harbored these feelings were then given permission to allow them to be ventilated and articulated, because of these false accusations of genocide thrown at Israel and Zionists – and we are a very Zionist community. It didn’t take much for the memory of the Holocaust, which perhaps kept that antisemitism under the table, to [be superseded]. And once it’s out of the bag, it’s very difficult to put back in.”
The most troubling manifestation of antisemitism, in Leibler’s opinion, was not the arson, vandalism, or graffiti, but the disdain shown in otherwise “polite circles around the dinner tables, around the boardrooms, in progressive spaces, in universities, in the arts sector.
“I actually find that a lot more confronting because these are people who otherwise are the beneficiaries of enormous Jewish support, not just philanthropic support, but in many, many respects they work with us,” said Leibler. “I’m a lawyer and my firm has a very, very large public interest law pro bono practice where we do work both for the Jewish community, but also in the arts. And we found very, very quickly after October 7, within a week or two before Israel had even responded, we found a very significant proportion of that client base were explicitly antisemitic. They were accusing Israel of genocide before they’d responded. They issued statements attacking Israel without condemning Hamas.”
Leibler related that one artist facility that was built in partnership with the Victoria state government and Jewish philanthropy had an exhibit in the days after the October 7 massacre in which a fringe indigenous group held signs stating “white dog Jews” and that “Israel should be wiped off the map.”
The institution called the incident antisemitic, but refused to condemn Hamas, on the basis that art shouldn’t be political – but Leibler finds that principle applied only one way. Jewish artists have found themselves unable to get work, facing a “silent shadow banning.” Venues are canceling shows because they are targeted on social media and can’t afford a boycott.
“These are industries that Jewish donors, artists, have really built in Victoria,” said Leibler. “And that sense of betrayal from people – not from the Muslim community, not [from those] that have skin in the game – people who have been in our houses, often artists whose paintings are hanging on our walls in our offices, in our homes, forget picking up the phone to say, ‘Are you okay? Are your family and your friends okay?’ but turned on us in a way.”
The ZFA president said that this “betrayal” had been traumatic for the community, in some ways more so than physical acts of violence.
Others have remained silent when confronted by the anti-Israel campaign in Australia. Leibler thought that the protests that erupted after October 7 would backfire, as Australian streets were “effectively invaded” by marches of tens of thousands of people with no Australian flags. The protests made cities impassable on weekends, extracting tolls on small businesses. He expected ordinary Australians to demand an end to them.
“What I didn’t appreciate was the extent to which ordinary well-meaning people would be intimidated by the mob,” said Leibler. “They would be intimidated into silence, to turning the other way. And I think that’s one of the most disappointing aspects of the way in which the Australian Jewish community has experienced the post-October 7 world.”
Those who held their tongues on the protests represented a silent majority, in Leibler’s estimation, who were outraged by the protests and recognized Israel was fighting a war on behalf of Western democratic values. He had conversations to that effect, but only in private.
Leibler argued that the protests created an environment in which arson attacks were inevitable. Chanting for a globalized intifada was violent, and intifadas feature the bombing of synagogues.
“That is what globalizing the intifada looks like,” said Leibler. “Once it’s out of the bag; once you’ve normalized this; once you’ve normalized the idea that anyone who is a Zionist is now a genocide supporter; once you stop calling those things out, it’s difficult to put back in, back in the box.”
A wave of violence against Australia's Jews
THE AUSTRALIAN Jewish community has been the victim of a wave of arson and vandalism targeting Jewish residences, vehicles, schools, and synagogues. On March 10, Australian authorities claimed that many antisemitic incidents in the greater Sydney area had been conducted by a criminal organization as part of a plot to distract and manipulate police into deals giving leaders reduced prison sentences. Yet on August 26 the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) revealed that Iran had orchestrated at least two of the attacks, including one that had previously been connected to the criminal organization.“We’re still waiting for some results on the investigation for what’s happened with the Iranian network,” said Leibler. “It is complex because it is not uncommon for foreign actors to use local criminals to carry out attacks.”
Australian Jews on the other side of the world becoming a target of a foreign actor was another unsettling element in the new Australian environment.
In response to the attacks and antisemitism, instigated from abroad or homegrown, law enforcement and state and federal governments have been protective, and while political leaders have been well-meaning, they have been slow to understand and respond, Leibler assessed. They face political pressure from a Muslim community that is larger than the Jewish constituency, and misunderstood how antisemitism on the Left could manifest.
“I think there is no question that the government failed to understand what was happening on the ground and how it was impacting the Jewish community. I don’t believe that the Australian government or either the federal level or the state level are motivated by antisemitism or are antisemitic. I know that to be fundamentally not true. But that doesn’t excuse failures to properly address antisemitism,” said Leibler.
“On the one hand, the federal government has announced and provided over $100 million in funding for the Jewish community for security for schools. And they have taken other steps. They appointed an antisemitism envoy. So they recognize that there is a problem.”
The right leadership early on in the post-October 7 protest phenomenon would have prevented the manifestation of the same degree of antisemitism and radicalism.
Though in Leibler’s estimation delayed, legislative packages against radicalism and aggressive protests had been passed in Victoria and New South Wales, and anti-Nazi and terrorism support laws had been passed at the federal level. The ZFA noted that NSW Premier Chris Minns had shown “outstanding” political leadership during trying times.
However, Leibler noted that legal reforms aren’t the key prescription.
“I think what we need is leadership. What we need is our political leaders to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘free speech is sacred,’ but when it crosses into incitement, violence, to have the clarity to be able to say, when we have people marching through the streets of Victoria, New South Wales, chanting, ‘globalize the intifada,’ and ‘from the river to the sea,’ that these are inherently violent calls to action,” said Leibler.
“Now, they got there eventually. The prime minister did say that chants like ‘from the river to the sea’ were inherently violent. The head of ASIO, the equivalent of Mossad, said the same thing. But it was too late. The genie was out of the box, and we didn’t have enough leadership at all levels, not just political, within our universities.”
Australia's shift in anti-Israel policy a 'death by a thousands cuts'
WHILE APPRECIATIVE of many of the domestic efforts of the Australian governments, Leibler said the shift in foreign policy toward Israel has been disconcerting.“There’s been a very noticeable shift in policy from the Australian government, really from before October 7,” said Leibler. “And it’s been slow, and it sort of, in some ways, felt like death by a thousand cuts.”
Australia’s August 11 announcement of intentions to recognize a Palestinian state set Canberra-Jerusalem ties into a tailspin, leading to an exchange of insults, including personal attacks on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese by his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. Leibler doesn’t think that such types of comments are productive.
“I think what we need to do is deal with these issues on their merits. And... we have legitimate criticism to make of these shifts in policies, and that’s where we should focus.
“The government has made several decisions which we fundamentally disagree with, but we also have to recognize that immediately after October 7, they were actually very strong, and they came out very strongly that Israel has a right to defend itself, Hamas has to be removed from power, the hostages must be released.
“And then we saw this sort of slow descent and increasing initially with increased focus on humanitarian aid. And then, I think, eventually, while their positions never really fundamentally changed vis-à-vis the role of Hamas or release of hostages, it was a question of rhetoric and emphasis. And what we heard was this constant focus on humanitarian aid, which is fine,” said Leibler. “One can be a supporter of Israel’s right to exist and express concern about the suffering of innocent Palestinians. Where we might disagree is where the moral blame lies for that suffering. But I think the government, and probably because of local political pressures, got that balance fundamentally wrong.”
Leibler also thought the government made a mistake when MK Simcha Rothman was denied entry into Australia on August 18, ostensibly due to the rhetoric that he used. Leibler said that one can disagree with Rothman’s positions and remarks, but banning a sitting democratically elected official when other far worse actors had been permitted entry was hypocritical. The decision also had a cooling effect on other Israelis, with a message that the country was not welcome to Israeli visitors.
“That basically sends us a message that Jewish life in Australia is not secure, because we all have friends, family, relatives in Israel. Our schools are entirely, and youth movements are entirely, dependent on shlihim [emissaries] and educators coming to Australia,” said Leibler.
For the Australian Jewish community, which is “overwhelmingly Zionist and connected to Israel,” it’s another concern as the uncertainty grows about the trajectory of the country, and what lies just beneath the surface.
Michael Starr
Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-876470
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