Many in Australia’s Jewish community say political polarisation is fuelling a new wave of antisemitism. How are Jews responding in the face of high-profile incidents of hate?
Associate Professor David Slucki, Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, told SBS Examines that antisemitism is typically defined as the “hatred of Jews or racism against Jews”.
“It could be in antisemitic abuse, symbols, epithets, graffiti. It could be intimidating Jews on the base of their Jewishness. It could be excluding them from social, cultural, political life. It’s basically anything that prevents Jews from being fully fledged equal members of the societies in which they live,” he said.
Nomi Kaltmann is an Orthodox-Jewish woman living in Melbourne. She says there’s been a greater sense of fear within her community since the October 7 attacks in 2023.
“We're still proud Jews and we still live as Jews. We are just a little bit more vigilant than we were previously,” she said.
“In any synagogue across Melbourne, there will be an armed guard outside just to protect the congregants. And I think most Australians will be surprised to hear that this is how Jewish are living in this country. But I would say it's quite upsetting to live like this, and I've gotten used to it, but I don't accept that this is how Jewish people should live in this country.”
In this episode of Understanding Hate, we look at the impact of antisemitism in Australia today.
Additional production by SBS Hebrew
