A city grappling with weekly protests and antisemitism
The Age | Sophie Aubrey & Kieran Rooney | 13 July 2025
For a year and a half, many of Fiona Cochrane’s Sundays have looked much the same. She boards a train, often with her children and grandchildren, and joins hundreds – sometimes thousands – of others outside the State Library to march in protest against the mass killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces.
At these rallies, the Melbourne-born doctor is shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other protesters of all ages, races and religions, all motivated by the same cause. “I don’t want to be in my generation, watching another genocide, and not doing anything,” Cochrane says.
This month, the pro-Palestine protest movement that began in October 2023 rallying every Sunday faces its biggest challenge yet. On the night of July 4, a fire-bombing of East Melbourne Synagogue and the storming of Israeli restaurant Miznon horrified the nation.
Charges have been laid over both incidents. The events sparked rapid federal and state action to stamp out antisemitism, together with widespread crit cism – including by this masthead – of the protests that take place every Sunday in the city.
Alarmed by the uproar, advocates of the pro-Palestine movement fear their demonstrations have been weaponised and stress that this month’s events should not be conflated with their weekly protests.
Last weekend, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan slammed protesters for sticking to their plans to march on Sunday, two days after the incidents, and labelled chants of “death to the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces]” as “odious”.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler goes further, arguing the right to protest should not infringe on the right of others to feel safe in the city. “If you allow people to march through the streets of Melbourne, week after week, chanting ‘globalise the Intifada’ [an Arab word meaning ‘uprising’], what happened on Friday night at the synagogue and at the restaurant is what that looks like,” Leibler says.
The state government says it has no plans to introduce protest permits in Victoria, but has committed to new laws that would ban the use of masks, symbols of terrorist organisations and the use of “dangerous attachment devices” such as glues and rope.
Following the July 4 incidents, Allan established an anti-hate taskforce which dis cussed with Jewish community leaders how Victoria Police will enforce strengthened anti-vilification laws, passed this year, and may consider further measures over coming months.
“We agreed if there was further action we needed to take to keep Victorians safe, we will not hesitate to take it,” the premier said in a statement. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese separately announced on Thursday that his government would accept many of the recommendations of a major antisemitism report.
The suggested action plan includes withholding funding from institutions that fail to combat Jewish hatred, screening visa applicants, embedding antisemitism education in school curriculums and funding Jewish cultural programs.
Pro-Palestine activist groups have strongly condemned the synagogue attack and any act of antisemitism. And while Miznon was deemed an appropriate boycott target, the organised groups oppose violence and the prevailing view is that the restaurant rampage went too far.
The Age reported on Friday that the actions at Miznon were instigated by a small fringe group that often hijacks peaceful protests with more aggressive tactics. Miznon is part owned by Shahar Segal, who until recently was spokesman for the Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been widely criticised for its aid distribution facilities in Gaza, after taking over from usual relief agencies.
Witnesses, including UN officials, say Israeli forces have fired on starving Palestinians seeking food. Fiona Cochrane says that the Free Palestine protesters know violence won’t serve their goal to move the Australian government to take measures against Israel.
She also isn’t comfortable with the chant “death to the IDF”, which spread after rap group Bob Vylan led crowds to repeat the phrase at Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK two weeks ago, which is now being investigated by British police. But she adds: “We need to think about our priorities here. Chanting something is completely different to actually killing 60,000 people.”
Gaza’s health ministry says more than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed, over half of them women and children.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched attacks on Israeli communities that killed 1200 people and took 251 others hostage, according to Israeli tallies. At least 20 hostages are believed to still be alive in captivity. Cochrane says the riotous way the protests are sometimes portrayed does not reflect her experience.
She has never witnessed violence coming from demonstrators. There is music, poetry and, sometimes, performances by children. People are draped in keffiyehs, wave handwritten placards and wear watermelon symbols in a sea of colours of the Palestinian flag.
Some carry posters showing photos of some of the thousands of Palestinian children who have died. They discuss their anguish at the starvation and spread of deadly illness in Gaza, where aid is controlled by Israel, and where schools, health facilities and cities have been turned to rubble.
“I love the protests,” Cochrane says. “It’s people just being able to express their ab solute frustration and despair at what is happening in the world.”
Nachshon Amir is a former Israeli military officer whose treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank in the 1980s would eventually turn him into a pro Palestine ally. The Israeli-born former Zionist recalls entering family homes in the middle of the night and terrifying children.
“I oppressed Palestinians with my own hands,” he says. Amir is now a Free Palestine Melbourne protest organiser and as a Jewish man – one of many who attend, including his children he has always felt welcome at the rallies.
He gets emotional as he describes how moved he is to hear Palestinians share their stories with the crowd. He says the protest leaders and speakers condemn violence and support inclusivity. “Sometimes two people among thousands will [do the wrong thing], we can’t control every one of them.”
As a former IDF soldier, he says he has no problem with the “death to the IDF” chant. Some say the phrase is antisemitic and calls for deaths of Jewish people, pointing out that all Israelis are conscripted to do military service. Amir disputes this: “It doesn’t mean death to people. The call is to dismantle and stop this big army of death. It has nothing to do with Judaism.”
But like with the chant “all Zionists are terrorists” – which Amir doesn’t support – he thinks protesters should choose their words wisely to avoid getting caught in a political firestorm.
Yamama Shourbaji agrees. The Syrian-born mother has marched almost every Sunday since October 2023 with her husband and three children, aged 20, 16 and 8. She says the meaning of the chant has been misrepresented and she questions why there isn’t more horror over language that has been used by Israeli officials, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who vowed in May: “Gaza will be entirely destroyed.”
Still, Shourbaji says the chant should not be used. Instead, she believes protest leaders should encourage language that doesn’t give others a reason to distract from the big ger issue of Palestinian lives.
Shourbaji is deeply troubled by the prospect of restrictions on pro-Palestine protests, with the right to demonstrate being a pillar of democracy. “We are always saying repeatedly at the protest that we are against all forms of violence and racism, including antisemitism,” she says. “It can be emotionally heavy, especially when we hear stories from Gaza, but it’s also deeply uplifting to stand together.”
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni is among the protest organisers. He is exasperated by what has played out this month, and says criticism of pro-Palestine demonstrators since July 4 is hurtful.
“It’s hard to see … the complete and utter dis connect between what my community is experiencing and the way the government has re acted,” he says. “It’s abhorrent that what our community is witnessing in Gaza … continues to be second fiddle to the feelings of Australian Zionists.”
Mashni says he is vehemently against antisemitism and at tacks on religious sites. And while Miznon is a legitimate protest target, he says, he does not back violence. As for the “death to the IDF” chant, Mashni says the outrage is misdirected: “The fixation on words while our children are being butchered continues to exacerbate the pain of our people.”
Mashni says the protests must not be curtailed. He describes them as restorative spaces filled with community spirit while calling for Australia to sanction Israel. “That is what community is all about. We’re supposed to empathise with the suffering of others in the world. We’re supposed to care about our fellow humans,” he says.
Mashni says he has only met once with the Victorian premier since October 2023, labelling it a failure of her leadership. “All we’ve seen are crack downs on protest and the ongoing threat of repressive new laws,” he says. “No one group’s experience should be elevated above the other’s.”
A spokeswoman for the Allan government says its action plan to tackle antisemitism includes proposed laws protecting places of worship and banning terrorist symbols. “Antisemitism is a cancer, and we are leaving no stone unturned to eradicate it here in Victoria,” she says. “The taskforce will meet again in the coming weeks to discuss the progress of our plan.”
The Coalition does not propose to ban protests outright, and Opposition Leader Brad Battin this week instead announced he would introduce a protest permit system if elected in 2026.
“We will encourage people to continue to have their protests in this state, but if you can do it by working with the Victoria Police, it may mean that businesses won’t get blocked [so frequently],” Battin said. The Coalition has also pledged tougher move-on powers for police, giving them greater control to break up rallies without a permit and setting up exclusion zones.
Jeremy Leibler backs the Coalition’s proposed changes. He says the fact that the protest movement began “in sin” on October 8, 2023 – while the bodies of Israel’s dead were still being counted – strips away its legitimacy.
He acknowledges there are well-meaning protesters, but says the use of the term “genocide” is modern-day “blood libel” and the rallies have facilitated incitement against the Jewish community by supporting the dismantling of Israel and using hateful imagery and chants.
“It became very obvious, very quickly, to the Jewish community that this [protest movement] was not really about Israel. This was about Jews,” Leibler says.
“It shouldn’t have to be a normal thing for me to tell my child when he’s going to the footy, ‘Hide your Star of David that you wear around your neck on the train’. I can say with absolute conviction that the suffering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza is a terrible tragedy. I say that with no ‘buts’. Where is the unequivocal condemnation of the 7th of October?”
Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Philip Zajac says people should have the right to protest, but that right is not unfettered. He wants stricter state regulation.
“Melbourne, because of its lack of controls, is really recognised as a protest capital of the world. And I think not only the Jewish community, but the wider community is now totally fed up with the interference with their quiet enjoyment of the city,” he says. “Enough is enough. Allow them to … do what they do, but do it in a way that doesn’t interfere with the other 99 per cent of Melbourne.”
Zajac recognises the regular protests are non-violent, but he is concerned by aggressive chants such as “death to IDF” and “all Zionists are genocidal baby-killers”. “I’m a proud Zionist and what that means to me is that I believe in the existence of the state of Israel. Zionism is a be lief that a land for the Jewish people should exist,” he says.
“Does that mean that I support the government of Israel? No, not necessarily. I think it’s time for the war in Gaza to stop … The violent words and the hate speech and the offence in the expressions that are used at these rallies encourage rogue operators.”
The Jewish Council of Australia has a different perspective. The organisation sup ports Palestinian freedom, and executive member Ohad Kozminsky attends and has spoken at the Free Palestine protests. “These are important for demonstrating to the broader public that it is essential we keep talking about Israel’s genocide,” he says. The council has slammed the antisemitic synagogue arson attack, however Kozminsky argues it is “extremely dangerous” to lump this with the restaurant rampage. Intimidating diners is wrong,
Kozminsky says, but targeting Miznon is a political act. Kozminsky worries about antisemitic attacks being linked to the pro-Palestine protest movement, as he has witnessed how the rallies welcome Jewish people and they consistently call out antisemitism.
He warns that conflating political protest with antisemitism risks misrepresenting the diversity of views within the Jewish community, while also exacerbating antisemitism because it suggests all Jews represent the state of Israel and its actions.
Gemma Cafarella is vice president of Liberty Victoria, a non-profit focused on safe guarding civil liberties. She calls for careful differentiation between acts of vilification and discrimination of Jews and legitimate criticism of Israel, the IDF and Zionism (a political ideology). That distinction was reinforced in a Federal Court judgment on July 1.
Throughout history there have been protests that were viewed as hugely unpopular at the time, such as the suffragette and anti-Vietnam war movements, but Cafarella stresses that these are often later looked back on as essential vehicles of change.
“Protest can be inconvenient and disruptive and annoying, but it must be protected if we’re to call ourselves a democracy,” she says. Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari says he will never sign a protest permit, and it is “fundamentally wrong” for any government to pursue such restrictions.
“Protest is about disruption, and that is how you help make change,” he said. “The right to protest must be … preserved and protected. If you have to ask permission for it, it’s not really a protest.” Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra says protests have become normalised.
“Because of that, now we’re seeing clear racist actions and violence out of those protests,” Guerra says. “Everybody has the right to protest, but they should be both peaceful and respectful. Guerra calls on all levels of government to find a better way to run the events, reiterating his previous calls for a dedicated space for rallies.
“We are shutting businesses down because a few people want to protest. That’s not respectful.” Acting Melbourne Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell says the right to protest does not ex tend to those who incite violence or hatred.
“Protests in Melbourne do not change the situation in Gaza, but they do create angst for traders, residents, workers and visitors in the CBD,” she says. For trader Michael Togias, there are much bigger issues for CBD businesses than the protests.
Every Sunday, he gets a front-row view of the pro Palestine protests. Togias owns Mr Tulk, the cafe at the State Library, where protesters congregate at midday. Not only is the rally good for his business – he knows by heart the coffee and food orders of some of the regulars – he has always found the protesters respectful and courteous.
“If people are trying to portray them as anything but peaceful, concerned protesters, it’s out of context,” Togias says.
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Inaction is consent
The Age | Letters | 13 July 2025
Inaction is consent
On reading the article on East Jerusalem “There’s nothing the world can do about it” (12/7) I couldn’t stop thinking about the words of the man who watched his home be flattened: “They are trying to break people, they want us to be nothing.”
It stayed with me, not just because of its heartbreak, but of how those words contrasted with the voices of those working to make that outcome a reality.
Australian-Israeli settler Daniel Luria, who proudly leads Ateret Cohanim’s efforts to evict Palestinians and “reclaim” homes, denies that Palestinians even exist as a people. They are “illegal squatters”; he praises the use of courts to transfer land, and describes his mission as one of national rebirth.
This is a slow-motion war, and it is being waged with bull dozers and land deeds instead of bombs.
Australia recognises these settlements as illegal. So why is our outrage so well-mannered? I don’t know what the world will do. But I know inaction is a form of consent.
Fernanda Trecenti, Fitzroy
Treading carefully
Our leaders will have to tread carefully in considering any implementation of the points raised in Jillian Segal’s antisemitism plan (Editorial, 12/7).
The risk here is that a misjudged implementation of such strong measures carries a strong risk of hindering rather than enhancing our quest for continued cultural unity and understanding, which is one of the successful hallmarks of Australian society.
Perhaps most difficult of all will be our achieving a better national understanding of the appallingly tragic Gazan situation beginning with an acceptance of the fact that it is this which in large measure lies at the heart of our destabilising antisemitism and Islamophobia.
What is needed now is a better understanding of extremism and moderation on all sides in the Middle East – and the problematic role of the West in the Middle East so ably written about by highly regarded British journalist, the late Robert Fisk.
So, we must tread carefully here, favouring educative understanding over punitive coercion lest the cure prove to be as bad – or worse – than the complaint.
Terry Hewton, Henley Beach South, SA
Violence no answer
The treatment of non-Jewish residents in East Jerusalem is one ongoing issue within an intractable problem of history, religion and politics. Leaders of Israel and many other countries, plus organisations like Hamas and the PLO, have not done all they could to reach a compromise solution.
Jerusalem, a Holy City for Jews, Muslims and Christians, should be under international governance, protecting access for all. A vote on this special status for Jerusalem, was passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1947, within a two-state solution.
It might not be accepted by the extremists on either side, but there is no realistic alternative. Neither side can “win” this forever war with more violence.
John Hughes, Mentone
Gift status at risk
Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal has recommended to the government that deductible gift status should be removed from charitable organisations that promote antisemitism.
Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres, and Human Rights Watch have all published lengthy reports finding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Given Segal’s adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism that conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, the deductible gift status of these independent organisations would be at risk if the government adopted Segal’s recommendation.
Angela Smith, Clifton Hill
Echoes of Trumpism
I consider it unconscionable even to propose, let alone impose, the defunding of universities that have difficulty dealing with student protests on cam pus, such as those we’ve seen in connection with Israel and Gaza. That is the kind of threat that Donald Trump has actually carried out against Harvard University, and its ultimate effect is to stifle free speech and legitimate protest.
I’m also troubled by the woolly definition of antisemitism that is before the federal government. If I criticise Israel’s current prime minister or his government, my views may well be shared by around half of Israel’s own citizens. But in Australia I may risk being accused of denigrating a “Jewish individual” (Benjamin Netanyahu) and a “Jewish community institution” (his government), and find myself in court trying to explain that my criticism was not directed at their being Jewish as such.
If we cannot criticise Israel’s government or its policies without being called antisemitic, we may as well sign up to Trumpism at once.
Anthea Hyslop, Eltham
Moral equation
I am about to turn 81 and one of my earliest memories is listening to the news on 3LO. Dad would tell us to be quiet so that every word could be heard. I have continued to listen, watch and read the world news ever since.
But now I am finding it impossible to do so. Antisemitism, the bombing of innocents, starvation of a population just go around in circles every day. Of course, it is necessary to remain acutely aware of the Holocaust but that doesn’t mean atrocities can occur in Gaza. Two wrongs never did make a right.
Libby Gillingham, Outtrim
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Albo fiddles while our synagogues are burning
Daily Telegraph (& Herald-Sun) | Peta Credlin | 13 July 2025
The Prime Minister would be a lot more credible on the anti-Semitism he deplored last week if there’d been some specific actions the government was about to take, rather than just welcoming yet another report with official hand-wringing.
Almost all of the recommendations in the report from his own anti-Semitism special envoy Jillian Segal can be acted upon now, including the deportation of people spreading hate. And yet for months and months, the bile being spread in some mosques goes unchallenged while overseas, we’ve seen examples of zero-tolerance in the case of Italy, which expelled a pro-Hamas imam despite him being a resident in Bologna for 30 years.
When a synagogue is firebombed with worshippers inside and when a mob ransacks a Jewish restaurant with the police on hand making just three arrests, our country doesn’t just have a Jew hatred problem but a general challenge to the rule of law from people who think they can intimidate others with impunity.
There’s now a tactical partnership between recent migrants who haven’t left behind the hatreds of their homeland and cultural Marxists who want to turn Australia upside down.
Jews are the initial target, but the real enemy is western civilisation itself. Without strong action, it soon won’t just be one community that’s targeted but every law-abiding Australian and history is our lesson here; look at Europe in the 1930s and look at what’s happening again in Europe today. This is why the Prime Minister’s response to the report released last Thursday was so underwhelming, because we still have time to turn this around, but it’s as though he’s only half-interested. I was staggered to hear Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan admit at her press conference on Monday that, despite a weekend of racial violence, she had not spoken with Albanese.
Can you imagine John Howard or even Kevin Rudd being asleep at the wheel like this, treating the prime ministership as a part-time gig?
Take the example of defunding institutions that react inadequately to anti-Semitic eruptions and removing their charitable status. If the government is as serious about these recommendations as it claimed to be last week, the PM should have been at the press conference with a list of universities and arts bodies that he was defunding immediately and yet all we got were just more words.
On so many issues, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the Prime Minister is a modern version of Nero, fiddling while Rome burns.
He’s about to embark on a leisurely six-day tour of communist China, that will include his fourth meeting with President Xi Jinping; while eight months after Donald Trump’s re-election, Anthony Albanese has still not had six minutes with the leader of the free world. While in Beijing, our PM will doubtless join the communist dictator in espousing the merits of free trade – that will be an obvious slap at Trump – while saying nothing about Xi’s boycott of $20 billion of our trade in response to Australia’s call for an inquiry into the Wuhan virus.
Then there’s the PM’s obstinate refusal to increase defence spending even though our armed forces are obviously being hollowed out and Australia is gaining a reputation as a weak ally that expects to freeload on others as NATO countries take the global threats seriously and scale up. And given he’s been a hard-left antinuclear activist for much of his life, I am fast coming to the view that Albanese wants Trump to walk away from AUKUS because nuclear power at sea (in our subs) makes his opposition to nuclear power on land increasingly unsustainable.
Even on childcare, the subject of understandable public alarm after the revelation ten days back that a worker employed at some 20 centres was on charges including the rape of children aged between eight months and two years, with 1200 infants now being tested for STIs, it turns out that the Albanese government’s training manual for childcare workers prioritises “cultural safety” (including sexual orientation) over the safety of children. And despite ending last week with yet another male childcare worker charged over sex crimes at a NSW centre, we still have not seen any action to better protect our most vulnerable.
All this is quite apart from the fact that we’ve had two years of declining GDP per person and an 8 per cent fall in living standards exacerbated by the government’s pro-union workplace changes and climate policy obsessions that are sending business bankrupt or offshore. Our country is drifting backwards fast under a Prime Minister who seems to think that his election victory was a personal endorsement rather than just the rejection of an Opposition that plainly wasn’t ready for government.
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Talks on Gaza to continue
Daily Telegraph | 13 July 2024
Ten Palestinians were reported killed Friday while waiting for food, as negotiators from Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas were locked in indirect talks in Qatar to try to agree on a temporary ceasefire in the more than 21-month conflict.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped a deal for a 60-day pause in the war could be struck in the coming days, and that he would then be ready to negotiate a more permanent end to hostilities.
Hamas has said the free flow of aid is a main sticking point in the talks, with Gaza’s more than two million residents facing a dire humanitarian crisis of hunger and disease amid the grinding conflict.
In Gaza’s south, a witness said Israeli tanks were seen near Khan Yunis, reporting “intense gunfire, intermittent air strikes, artillery shelling, and ongoing bulldozing and destruction of displacement camps and agricultural land”.
Israel’s military said troops were operating in the area against “terrorist infrastructure sites, both above and below ground”.
Hamas has said that as part of a potential truce deal it was willing to release 10 of the hostages taken during its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
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Border insecurity and divisions created by Albanese’s juvenile government are unlikely to be fixed
Daily Telegraph |Piers Akerman | 13 July 2025
Anthony Albanese always says he is acting in the national interest, but that claim is as phony as his Medicare card-only clinic visits and his electricity price cuts.
He may be a “handsome boy” to the Chinese government as he encourages the communists to sell us more solar and wind factories (likely built by slave labour) but he is not serving the national interest.
Our national interest depends on foreign and domestic security.
The Prime Minister and his inept government fail on both fronts.
He definitely won’t remind his fawning hosts this week their navy endangered the lives of Australian divers, and he won’t mention the live-fire exercises by the CCP’s ships in the Tasman Sea, the underwater survey of submarine cables by their submersible robots or holding Australians as political hostages.
His hosts will clap him on the back and congratulate him for his false claims about our historical reliance on our only serious defence ally, the US, and his proclamation of our sovereignty, just as President Xi Jinping sides with such respecters of national sovereignty as Russia, Iran and North Korea. Serious leaders of Western nations do not permit themselves to be duchessed by authoritarian regimes, but the Albanese government has turned its back on the allies with who we once claimed to share common values.
On Tuesday, in her first major speech to the European Parliament since Denmark took up the presidency of the EU, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, once the heroine of Leftist Euro-progressives, aggressively called on member states to close the door on asylum seekers and increase military spending.
“European citizens have a right to feel safe in their own countries,” she said. “That is why we need to strengthen our external borders. We have to lower the influx of migrants to Europe. We need to help stabilise EU’s neighbouring countries. And make the process of returns easier and, of course, more efficient.”
Albanese’s government has done just the opposite. The fact Australia finally appointed a special envoy to combat the toxic surge in Jew hate that arose after October 7, 2023, is a clear demonstration of this failure to control our borders.
The Albanese government offered 3000 tourist visas to Gazans approved by terrorist organisation Hamas after it invaded Israel.
In December 2023, 72 per cent of Gazans supported that attack, yet our government issued visas without basic security checks. The disgusting anti-Semitic ravings by Islamist clerics and the unchecked outrageous demonstration by a mob outside the Sydney Opera House before any Israeli counteroffensive had been launched were the trigger for the anti-Jewish protests in our cities and on our university campuses.
Had Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke shown decency and courage then, there would have been no need for special envoy Jillian Segal’s appointment. But he didn’t, and nor did any of the Labor ministers, including Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, or Education Minister Jason Clare (all of whom have significant Muslim populations in their electorate) call out the hate speech. Segal’s comprehensive report makes a number of sound recommendations that Albanese has said the government would consider.
Good luck with that. Another review, spare us all. The national interest demands that the divisions created by Labor, whether it be its failure to protect its Jewish citizens, or the continuing pandering to Islamists, or activists promoting separatist Indigenous policies, be dealt with maturely.
Unfortunately, this juvenile government and its obsession with undergraduate ideologies lacks the maturity and courage to confront the shameful issues it has created.
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Political weakness
Daily Telegraph | Letters | 13 July 2025
On the same day that the federal government’s anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal delivered her report on measures to combat the rise of anti-Semitism in this country, we have American-Jewish author and broadcaster Shmuley Boteach calling for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to be banned from entering the US, due to his lingering inaction dealing with the problem. (“Blueprint to stamp out hate at home”, DT, 11/7).
Therein rests the dilemma for Albo.
The contrary portrayal of the day’s events is a stark reminder of the PM’s “each-way” persona.
Albo’s tepid response to Segal’s “blueprint” doesn’t inspire much confidence that his government will adopt all, or any of the recommendations.
It’s true the worm is turning, albeit at a pedestrian pace, as the resounding election victory means the government no longer needs to tread softly when dealing with the anti-Jewish unrest that prevails.
The Segal report provides an opportunity for a belated correction to the government’s previous apathy in dealing with the hateful bile infecting the community.
Albo infers there needs to be forensic thought given, before making any decisions.
The government has had 22 months to perform due diligence.
Leadership is now imperative.
I would also vehemently reject Boteach’s call to unilaterally ban Albo from entering the US.
The premise of the rabbi’s proposal is clear, but the PM shouldn’t be singled out, as his ministerial coterie of Tony Burke, Penny Wong and Jason Clare are just as culpable for the failings we have witnessed since October 7, 2023.
Graeme West, Marks Point
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Chorus of intimidation derails singer’s career
Herald-Sun | Shannon Deery | 13 July 2025
Renowned singer-songwriter Deborah Conway says anti-Semitism has left her career in the balance because of her outspoken support for Israel.
Amid growing tensions over the war in the Middle East the Jewish performer says music venues are being targeted and threatened over hosting shows for Jewish creatives.
She told the Sunday Herald Sun she had been refused bookings by Melbourne venues in recent weeks, and had one show cancelled.
Conway, who is promoting a new album, says she is not the only creative to be cancelled.
“Right now Victoria is not safe for Jewish creatives,” she said. “This is true of many places in Australia, and of course many creatives, myself included, are questioning if we have a career to pursue in this country if targeted threats of violence against us in our workplace
are not taken seriously.
“I am fortunate enough to have enjoyed a four-decade career but I am horrified for emerging Jewish talent and the barriers they’re now facing.
“At every event we must discover the hard way what kind of support versus antagonism we face when we are performing to audiences. I dearly hope we are allowed to play our music for people who want to hear it without the intimidation tactics used by people who want to silence us for factors not linked to our art or our skills.”
The Sunday Herald Sun has seen emails from venues and councils advising they will not host Conway’s performances.
In one she was told: “Public commentary by the artist has attracted widespread attention, including instances of protest and event disruption. As part of council’s arts and culture programming, we must consider the potential impact on community wellbeing and cohesion.”
In another, after publicly announcing her tour, she was told the show could not go on in the interests of her safety.
Conway said she felt she had a target on her back.
“I never expected that standing up for my community in the weeks following the October 7 attacks would ever put a target on my back here in Australia,” she said.
“These activists that we have seen take over our streets don’t just disagree with you, they will abuse, threaten and support violence against innocent people if you have a different opinion to them.
“The people calling themselves pro-Palestinian are not about finding solutions or engaging in legitimate activism. Rather than promoting peace or lobbying political figures who can actually make a difference, they promote conflict in Australia towards people who have nothing to do with the situation and can have zero impact on bringing the war in the Middle East to a close.”
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Divided by hate
Herald-Sun | Letters | 13 July 2025
Divided by hate
Your front-page story “Stop this hate” (SHS, 6/7) told it all.
Australia now is a most divided country with our governments out of solutions to the problem.
Our current situation had its genesis on that fateful day of October 7, 2023.
The outrageously and cowardly response by all Australian governments, especially the Albanese government, began the current rot all in the name of capturing the Muslim vote in last year’s federal election.
Now that the election has been won, the pigeons are coming home to roost and finally we are seeing condemnation of anti-Semitism beginning to appear.
We are now seeing senior Labor figures beginning to condemn acts of anti-Semitism, although for most Jewish communities the damage has been done.
Acts of anti-Semitism are getting worse.
Obviously this anti-Semitic activity is not going to abate with the current government’s attitude.
There is no doubt that this government is in huge trouble.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has to work very hard on many fronts to prevent himself going down in history as the worst PM Australia has ever had.
Peter D. Surkitt, Sandringham
Learn from history
People of my generation were taught about anti-Semitism in Germany in the 1930s and its culmination in the Holocaust, yet here we are in 2025 with our very own Kristallnacht in Melbourne (“Fear, despair as violence reigns”, SHS, 6/7).
Violence against civilians in pursuit of political aims is terrorism, and I hope that our authorities will have the courage to charge the perpetrators with terrorism offences and that the courts will have the wisdom to jail them so that this scourge is stamped out before it becomes too late.
However, even that will not be enough.
History and civics education must be compulsory up to Year 10.
History must include the horrors of the 1930s, so that the current generation knows where anti-Semitism leads.
Civics education must inculcate support for the democratic process and inoculate against street violence as the way to achieve one’s aims.
Chris Curtis, Hurstbridge
Sincere congratulations on your brilliant Editorial “These attacks are intolerable” (HS, 6/7). Exactly what so many are thinking. Thank you for the unambiguous and uncompromising stand you take. I stand with you.
Judy, Ararat
What are we, the Third Reich? (”Stop this hate”, SHS, 6/7). Jew-hating activists must be repelled by Victorian state law. Jewish communities warrant protection and safety, not the scourge of an awry “democracy”.
Julie Rogers, Bentleigh
Our government needs to bring in zero tolerance for all racial attacks by feral activists.
Nicky, Sunshine
There are many who are adamant they are anti-racist unless, of course, it’s against the Jews. Strange that.
Rags, Greensborough
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Gaza truce talks falter, 17 die in latest aid shooting
Canberra Times / AAP | 13 July 2025
Progress is stalling at talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, with the sides divided over the extent of Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha said.
The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire continued throughout Saturday, an Israeli official told Reuters, seven days since talks began. US President Donald Trump has said he hoped for a breakthrough soon based on a new US-backed ceasefire proposal.
In Gaza, medics said 17 people trying to get food aid were killed on Saturday when Israeli troops opened fire, the latest mass shooting around a US-backed aid distribution system that the UN says has resulted in 800 people killed in six weeks.
Witnesses who spoke to Reuters described people being shot in the head and torso. Reuters saw several bodies of victims wrapped in white shrouds as family members wept at Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots, but that its review of the incident had found no evidence of anyone hurt by its soldiers’ fire.
Delegations from Israel and Hamas have been in Qatar pushing for an agreement which envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals and discussions on ending the war.
The Israeli official blamed the impasse on Hamas, which he said “remains stubborn, sticking to positions that do not allow the mediators to advance an agreement”. Hamas has previously blamed Israeli demands for blocking a deal.
A Palestinian source said that Hamas had rejected withdrawal maps which Israel had proposed that would leave around 40 per cent of Gaza under Israeli control, including all of the southern area of Rafah and further territories in northern and eastern Gaza.
Two Israeli sources said Hamas wanted Israel to retreat to lines it held in a previous ceasefire before it renewed its offensive in March.
The Palestinian source said aid issues and guarantees on an end to the war were also presenting a challenge. The crisis could be resolved with more US intervention, the source said.
Hamas has long demanded an agreement to end the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would end the fighting only when all hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled as a fighting force and administration in Gaza.
Saturday’s reported mass shooting near an aid distribution point in Rafah was the latest in a series of such incidents that the United Nations rights office said on Friday had seen at least 798 people killed trying to get food in six weeks.
“The shooting was targeted. It was not random. Some people were shot in the head, some in the torso, one guy next to me was shot directly in the heart,” eyewitness Mahmoud Makram told Reuters.
“There is no mercy there, no mercy. People go because they are hungry but they die and come back in body bags.”
After partially lifting a total blockade of all goods into Gaza in late May, Israel launched a new aid distribution system, relying on a group backed by the United States to distribute food under the protection of Israeli troops.
The United Nations has rejected the system as inherently dangerous and a violation of humanitarian neutrality principles. Israel says it is necessary to keep militants from diverting aid.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, displaced almost the entire population of more than two million people, sparked a humanitarian crisis and left much of the territory in ruins.
Thousands of Israelis rallied in central Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding a deal that would release all remaining hostages being held by Hamas.
Protester Boaz Levi told Reuters here was there to pressure the government, “to get to a hostage deal as soon as possible because our friends, brothers, are in Gaza and it’s about the time to end this war. That is why we are here.”
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Israeli settlers kill American-Palestinian visiting relatives in West Bank, says family
Ambulances were reportedly stopped from reaching Sayfollah Musallet after attack in which another Palestinian man was shot dead
The Guardian | William Christou, Sufian Taha & Joseph Gedeon | 13 July 2025
A 20-year-old Palestinian-American was killed by Israeli settlers while visiting relatives in the occupied West Bank, his family have said.
Sayfollah “Saif” Musallet was reportedly beaten by Israeli settlers while he was on his family’s farm in an area near Ramallah. A group then prevented ambulances from reaching Musallet for three hours, according to the family, who said he died of his injuries before reaching hospital.
“I was the first one to reach Saif,” said Mohammed Nael Hijaz, a 22-year-old friend of Musallet. “He was not moving when I got there and he could barely breathe. There was time to save him.”
Another Palestinian man, 23-year-old Razek Hussein al-Shalabi, was fatally shot during the attack and was left to bleed to death, the Palestinian health ministry said. The funeral for both men will be held on Sunday so they can be buried together, according to a cousin of Musallet.
The attacks come amid a wave of increasing Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinians in the West Bank – more than 1,000 Paestinians have been killed and at least 9,000 injured since Hamas militants launched a murderous assault in southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
The Israeli military claimed stones were thrown at Israelis and that “a violent confrontation developed”. It added that it was “aware of reports concerning a Palestinian civilian” and that it was looking into the incident.
A spokesperson for the US Department of State said that it was aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank and that it was “ready to provide consular services”, declining to comment further “out of respect for privacy of the family”.
In a statement, the family demanded an investigation by the US state department into the killings and called on it to “hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes”. Witnesses of the confrontation claimed that Israeli soldiers were present during the confrontation.
Three Palestinian-American teenagers have been killed in the West Bank since 7 October. As yet, no one has been punished for the deaths.
Mussalet was born and raised in Florida, and had just opened an ice-cream shop in Tampa with his father. He had travelled to the West Bank to visit relatives at the beginning of June, family said.
“He was a very sweet guy, full of hopes and dreams,” said Hijaz, who mourned the fact that they were unable to save his friend.
In a statement, his family said: “Saif was a brother and a son, just starting the prime of his life. He was a kind and hard-working and deeply respected young man. Saif built a successful business in Tampa and was known for his generosity, ambition and connection to his Palestinian heritage.”
Mussalet was attacked on a farm owned by his family in the town of Baten al-Hawa, near Jerusalem. The area is within Area B, which is under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority but the security control of the Israeli military.
Settlers had attacked two journalists working for DW, a German broadcaster, in the same area a week earlier, prompting condemnations by the German ambassador to Israel. Settlers had attacked them by throwing rocks at them, despite them wearing well-marked press jackets, severely damaging their car. The Israeli military said it would look into the incident.
The Israeli military has been accused by rights groups of standing by or even helping as settlers raid Palestinian villages, where they vandalise property and attack residents. Arrests of settlers are rare.
Two weeks earlier, more than 100 settlers rampaged through the village of Kafr Malek, near Ramallah, killing three men and injuring several more people.
At a funeral for Abraham Azulay, an Israel Defense Forces soldier and settler killed in south Gaza on Wednesday, mourners called for revenge against Palestinians for their friend’s death.
“We want redemption,” a friend said. “We want the temple, we want revenge.”
The Biden administration had placed sanctions on several figures within the settler community in an effort to curtail the violence, but those sanctions were repealed by Donald Trump after becoming the US president.
“The settlers want to take over our land,” said Hijaz. “Their aggression is increasing by the day. The Israeli army comes to protect them and don’t do anything to stop them from attacking us. No one can hold the settlers accountable.”
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The special envoy’s plan is the latest push to weaponise antisemitism, as a relentless campaign pays off
The omissions are as important as the inclusions in Jillian Segal’s plan, which is guilty of overreach
The Guardian | Louise Adler | 12 July 2025
One must acknowledge the remarkably effective Jewish community organisations in Australia behind the latest antisemitism report. Collectively, with their News Ltd megaphone, they have successfully badgered the government of the day, cowed the ABC, intimidated vice-chancellors and threatened to defund arts organisations.
With the ability to garner prime ministerial dinners, a battalion of lobbyists has gained access to editors, duchessed willingly seduced journalists keen to enjoy junkets and corralled more than 500 captains of industry to subscribe to full-page ads against antisemitism and thereby blurring political argument with prejudice and bias. It is no surprise that this relentless propaganda effort has paid off.
The appointment of Jillian Segal to special envoy to combat antisemitism, routinely described as an “eminent corporate lawyer”, does not seem to bring scholarly expertise to the role. With respect one might argue that Segal’s previous position as president of ECAJ, an unequivocal advocate for Israel as the Jewish homeland, should have disqualified her for the role.
Numbers have been cited as evidence of an escalation of antisemitic incidents that had apparently occurred after 7 October 2023. Of course, nuance or accuracy isn’t paramount in this campaign. So, 16 students at Sydney University feeling intimidated by the slogan “from the river to the sea” was reframed as 250 complaints submitted to parliamentary inquiry. A childcare centre that was not in fact a Jewish centre was added to the list of terrifying antisemitic attacks. The individuals police believe were hired by criminals seeking a reduction in their prison sentences who allegedly placed combustible material in a caravan became a “terrorist plot”, the hooligans (still unidentified seven months later) who firebombed the Addas Israel synagogue brought out a rash of politicians to deplore the incident.
This isn’t a full list of incidents, and it should not be necessary to make clear that I deplore all racist attacks and that people should be free to worship, protest, identify in whichever way they choose, in our society. But we do need to insist on contextualising these antisemitic attacks: some are genuinely antisemitic, some are opportunistic byproducts of other, unrelated conflicts and some are by pro-Palestine activists.
The publication of the special envoy’s plan is the latest flex by the Jewish establishment. The in-house scribes have been busy: no institution, organisation or department is exempt from the latest push to weaponise antisemitism and insist on the exceptionalism of Australian Jewry. One might pause to wonder what First Nations people, who are the victims of racism every day, feel about the priority given to 120,000 well-educated, secure and mostly affluent individuals.
The omissions are as important as the inclusions in the plan. Zionism is mentioned only once, in the section demanding the adoption of the IHRA definition. The IHRA is a contentious document, a word salad as a consequence of editing by committee; but that has not stopped Jewish representative bodies advocating for its adoption. The campaign has not been entirely successful, in significant instances actually stiffening the resolve of some to insist that antisemitism, just like all other forms of racism, is to be emphatically rejected. The plan “requires” the adoption of the IHRA definition by all levels of government, institutions and regulatory bodies. The examples proffered plainly conflate Jewishness with the State of Israel. The plan says “The IHRA definition is key to distinguishing legitimate criticism from hate, especially when anti-Zionism masks antisemitism”. There you have it. So antisemitism is anti-zionism and anti-zionism is antisemitism. QED.
The plan is certainly guilty of overreach. The envoy wants to strengthen legislation apparently. Isn’t that the role of the government of the day? Who is to be the arbiter? Who is to be the judge, for example, of universities and their report cards? Who will adjudicate “accountability” in the media? Who will recommend defunding which artist? Should this government endorse this proposal, it will clearly be the envoy.
Fortunately, a suite of laws protecting us from racism, discrimination, hate speech and incitement to violence are already deeply embedded in our civil society. No university is oblivious to these laws, no public broadcaster, no arts organisation.
Educating future generations about the Holocaust has long been a priority. I hope the envoy is aware of the work done engaging thousands of school students at such institutions as the Melbourne Holocaust Museum where my own mother was the education officer for over a decade. If the envoy is concerned that school students aren’t sufficiently well versed in the horrors of the Holocaust, she might take heart from such evidence as the sales of Anne Frank’s diary continue unabated, in the past five years more than 55,000 copies were sold in Australia.
The envoy helpfully proposes to nominate “trusted voices” to refute antisemitic claims – yet again seeking to prescribe who speaks and which views are deemed acceptable. One hopes that media organisations are resolute against the plan’s determination to monitor, oversee and “ensure fair reporting to avoid perpetually incorrect or distorted narratives or representations of Jews”. It seems that the envoy wants to determine what is legitimate reportage. Freedom of the press is of less importance. Independent journalism that is factual and speaks the truth is lightly abandoned.
Universities appear to be on notice: adopt the IHRA definition, act on it or be warned that in March 2026 a judicial inquiry will be established as the envoy demands.
Cultural organisations be warned – your funding could be at risk too. There isn’t a cultural organisation in the country that doesn’t have well-argued codes of conduct for staff, artists and audiences – in place well before the 7 October attack to combat homophobia, racism and hate speech. Now it is proposed that a Jewish Cultural and Arts Council is to advise the arts minister. To privilege one ethnic community over others is deeply offensive and dangerous.
The glaring absence here – a tactical move – is the question of Israel and its war on Gaza, as if antisemitism is a particular problem absent of any connection to Middle Eastern realpolitik. One oft repeated concern in the document is that younger Australians are more susceptible to antisemitism than older generations. The reason, clearly unpalatable to the authors of this document, is that younger, media literate Australians recognise the steadfastly uncritical advocacy of Israel by Australia’s Jewish leadership. Young people see the death and destruction in the occupied territories and cannot avoid the blindingly obvious connection. If the actions of Israel in the past 20 months or indeed the past 75 years doesn’t engender any dissent in the diaspora, it’s unsurprising that critics of Israel conclude that Jews are to be condemned for their appalling myopia and lack of moral clarity.
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Netanyahu flies home without a Gaza peace deal but still keeps Trump onside
Israeli PM manages to avoid breach with US president through high-profile assurances he is seeking end to war
The Guardian | Andrew Roth | 12 July 2025
Benjamin Netanyahu arrived back in Israel on Friday without a ceasefire in the Gaza war despite heady predictions from US and Israeli officials that this week could provide a breakthrough in negotiations. But he did not come home completely empty-handed.
The Israeli PM’s visit was his third since Donald Trump’s inauguration, with several high-profile meetings at the White House, a nomination for Trump to receive the Nobel peace prize, and suggestions from Trump and the special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, that peace could be achieved in a week.
But as Netanyahu’s trip ended, no clear results had been achieved. Witkoff postponed a trip to Doha on Tuesday as it became clear that the negotiations had not reached a point where they could produce a ceasefire agreement.
While Netanyahu repeated a refrain that a ceasefire could be announced within days, a deal to bring peace to more than 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip remained elusive.
“I hope we can complete it in a few days,” Netanyahu said during an appearance on Newsmax, a conservative, pro-Trump news network on Wednesday. “We’ll probably have a 60-day ceasefire. Get the first batch [of hostages] out and then use the 60 days to try to negotiate an end to this.”
By Thursday, when he attended a memorial service for two Israeli embassy staff killed in Washington, Netanyahu said Israel would not compromise on its demands for Hamas to disband. “I am promoting a move that will result in a significant liberation, but only on the conditions Israel demands: Hamas disarm, Gaza demilitarise,” he said. “If it is not achieved through diplomacy, it will be achieved by force.”
Several officials suggested during the week that only a single sticking point remained between negotiators in Doha: the extent of a withdrawal by the Israel Defense Forces that would follow the release of some of the hostages being held by Hamas. The White House had pushed back against an initial map that would have left Israel with significant zones of control in Gaza, which Witkoff had compared to a “Smotrich plan”, referring to the hardline Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. Israel reportedly redrew that map to make it more palatable to the US administration.
But Hamas has said there were other disagreements, including negotiations over whether the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, an Israeli and US-backed logistics group, would be allowed to continue to deliver food to the territory (the UN said on Friday that 798 people had been killed trying to reach GHF sites since its introduction in May) and whether Israel would agree to a permanent truce, which it has said it would not. US mediators sought to bridge the gap by telling Qatari intermediaries they would guarantee the ceasefire’s continuation after 60 days as negotiations continued.
The upshot is that while Netanyahu leaves the US without a ceasefire, he has managed his relationship with Trump through high-profile assurances that he is seeking a peace in Gaza, while maintaining a status quo that members of his right-wing coalition, including the ministers Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, have said is preferable to a peace deal.
For Netanyahu, the trip produced images that reinforced Israeli claims there was “no daylight” between him and Trump, and came as the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, announced a decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the occupied Palestinian territories, for urging the international criminal court to investigate Israeli officials and US companies over the Gaza war.
Trump’s frustrations with Netanyahu appeared to be boiling over a month ago as the US president sought to negotiate a truce between Iran and Israel, which had been trading airstrikes and missile barrages as Israel sought to dismantle the Iranian nuclear programme.
“I’m not happy with Israel,” he said on the White House lawn. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
That recalled remarks by Robert Gates, a former US secretary of defence, about successive White House administrations’ difficulties in managing an ally in the region that also had considerable political influence in the US.
“Every president I worked for, at some point in his presidency, would get so pissed off at the Israelis that he couldn’t speak,” Gates said.
But a full breach with the US would have been disastrous for Netanyahu, who is managing his own difficult coalition and has been targeted in a graft investigation at home that was again delayed as a result of his international travel. And, after joint strikes against Iran, the Israeli PM was keen to show that the two men were in lockstep, while giving the Trump administration an opportunity to show it was working toward a Gaza peace.
Elliott Abrams, the senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, said the Trump administration had sought, as it did during the first short-lived ceasefire, to bring “pressure to bear on Israel directly” through discussions with Netanyahu and his chief lieutenant, Ron Dermer, and “trying to bring pressure on Hamas mostly through the Qataris, when there are these talks in Doha”.
He added: “Whether that pressure is effective is unclear.”