Janet, if only people would show their disgust at anti-Semitism

Janet Albrechtsen’s column on why we should not use section 18C to silence anti-Semitic language is – as is all her writing – thoughtful and thought provoking (“Free speech is not meant to be easy, Bill knew that”, 16-17/3).

Her argument falls over, however, by virtue of the fact she places undue faith in humankind.

Her concluding paragraph says when we hear someone make a disgracefully racial or religious or anti-Semitic slur, rather than being invited to racial, religious or anti-Semitic hatred, it is just as likely, or probably even more likely, that we will be disgusted.

If only that were so. Sadly or, more accurately, frighteningly, the tsunami of anti-Jewish racism that we have witnessed in this country in recent months – an upsurge of more than 700 per cent – is the most all-pervasive and terrifying in the history of this nation and in the lifetime of any Jew born after the Holocaust. If most of us are disgusted by it, as per Albrechtsen’s expectation, where are the voices expressing that disgust? They sure aren’t making themselves heard.

Vic Alhadeff, Kirribilli, NSW