Walk For Right to Security

10 December 2023, Herald Sun, by Tamar Paluch

For eight weeks running, the Jewish community has been denied the right to assemble peacefully in the CBD due to security concerns. Security and law enforcement experts have advised avoiding pro-Palestinian rallies, where calls for the annihilation of Israel are du jour.

This past Sunday, 3000 community members rallied together against anti-Semitism and hate in Kings Domain. We did so under heavy police guard.

Nonetheless, the Walk was almost scuppered by the arrival of less than 50 counter-protesters who were held at bay by police.

Security has always been a major concern for Jewish schools, events and groups, but since October 7 a dark cloud has passed over our community.

Global Jewish communities watched in horror as Israelis experienced the worst single day of violence since the Holocaust – pillaging and destruction, rape and slaughter, with 240 Israelis and other foreign nationals taken hostage. We were plunged into deep grief for our people, only to find ourselves hit by unrelenting waves of anti-Semitic sentiment which reached Australia’s major cities.

This week, Israel released travel advice suggesting Israelis beware a surge in anti-Semitism in Australia. An entire community has been made to feel unsafe and intimidated.

Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens, sanitised his involvement in pro-Palestine rallies as a “movement for peace”.

Nasser Mashni, of APAN, coolly explained “from the River to the Sea” – historically a genocidal chant calling for the elimination of Jews from the land between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea – as a call for human rights and peace.

Cushioned by growing ranks of well-intended peace-seeking protesters, they march under a flag of social justice.

The reality is the city has been taken over by a group who obsessively discredit our right to self-determination, yet insist “we’re only anti-Zionist, not anti-Semitic”. These protesters are emboldened by the absence of counter-protesters and the lack of consequences for what has somehow become a grey area of hate speech.

The organising committee of Sunday’s Walk for Unity chose to respond to these manifestations of hate. We call upon our political and community leaders to support the Jewish community as we reclaim our sense of self and safety, and continue contributing to multicultural Australia.

Tamar Paluch is a member of the Walk for Unity organising committee