Sabra Lane: During the past two years, many Jewish community members have sounded the alarm about rising anti-Semitism in Australia. The worst examples have made news, but many day-to-day instances haven’t and they say have become normalised in daily life. Kimberley Price reports.
Kimberley Price: In the two years since the October 7 attacks and throughout the Israel-Gaza war, Melbourne resident Alexandra Culshaw has seen increased anti-Semitism.
Alexandra Culshaw: I saw a barrage of Jew hatred online in the comments of social media posts shared by non-Jewish friends. The synagogue in Perth in which I grew up was targeted with vandalism and they received a bomb threat. I’ve almost lost count of the amount of anti-Semitic graffiti that I’ve seen around Melbourne.
Kimberley Price: Alexandra Culshaw says many in the Jewish community aren’t strangers to anti-Semitism, but the rise in prejudice has made the 29-year-old lawyer rethink her identity.
Alexandra Culshaw: I’ve always worn a Star of David necklace, but after October 7th I took my necklace off for a few months because I was worried about being publicly Jewish.
Kimberley Price: In Sydney, a high-profile Jewish bakery has closed its doors after the Bondi Beach terror attack, with a message posted on the shop’s window saying it can no longer ensure the safety of its staff and customers. Avner’s bakery in Surrey Hills described two years of almost ceaseless anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and intimidation. Meanwhile, Sydney resident Lynda Ben-Manshe says her daughters have at times hidden their identity.
Lynda Ben-Manshe: My daughter who works in a hospital in Western Sydney is told not to wear her name badge, which is identifiably Jewish. It’s a Hebrew family name.
Kimberley Price: Lynda Ben-Manshe is the president of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia. She says many Jewish families are taking precautions.
Lynda Ben-Manshe: We did a survey very recently asking women, like, how are you feeling? And more than one in two felt unsafe in this country. Two in five Australian Jewish women said they hide their identity. People are afraid to send their kids to school in a Jewish school uniform.
Kimberley Price: Sydney-based Rabbi Yitzchok Barber already takes certain measures to avoid anti-Semitism.
Yitzchok Barber: There are certain taxi stands in the city I will not go to. So the carefree Australia has gone. We’ve lost our innocence.
Kimberley Price: Simon Tedeschi is a concert pianist and writer. He believes people holding anti-Semitic views have become more confident expressing them.
Simon Tedeschi: Words lead to violence and this is what Jews have been saying for two years. We are scared and that something is going to happen and now something has happened. This is not a Jewish problem as much as it is an Australian problem. If you notice something that makes you uneasy, it’s important to name it. Words so easily lead to violence and the normalisation of stereotypes and scapegoating.
Sabra Lane: Pianist and writer Simon Tedeschi. Ending that report by Kimberley Price.