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Antisemitism is feeding all forms of extremism: Peter Hartcher on ASIO boss’ striking speech
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- [00:07]
A
In December last year, Australia was confronted with its worst ever incident of anti Semitic violence when gunmen killed 15 people on Bondi beach at a Hanukkah gathering. That came after the firebombing of the Adas Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and an arson attack on the Lewes Continental Kitchen in Sydney. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, or asio, has now warned that hatred of Jews is one thing virtually all violent extremist cohorts have in common. How do we reach a point where so many Jews now say they feel unsafe in Australia? I'm Benjamin Price filling in for Samantha Selinger Morris, and you're listening to the morning edition on the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Today's guest is international and political editor Peter Harcher. It's Thursday, July 2nd. Peter, in your latest column, you covered the 2026 threat assessment by ASIO Director General Mike Burgess. What were some of his points that you found most striking?
- [01:16]
B
Well, it's always an interesting annual statement. ASIO Director General General were completely invisible people pretty much, until Mike Burgess came along. He's raised the profile of asio, which, if people need an analogue, is Australia's FBI, as the nearest equivalent domestic spying and security agency. One point that he made stood out to me very powerfully. I hadn't heard it put this way before. And it's not anybody trying to inflame passion. This is a cool analysis from the guy who runs an agency responsible for all of our security, giving an analytical appraisal of what we glibly call anti Semitism, which is kind of a euphemism, I think, for what it really is, which is Jew hate. But it was the way in which he approached this that really struck me. So Burgess said this sadly and illogically. Hatred of Jews is one thing virtually all the violent extremist cohorts have in common.
- [02:22]
C
Neo Nazis are anti Semitic. Islamic extremism is anti Semitic. Issue motivated groups can be anti Semitic, particularly when they subscribe to conspiracy theories and stereotypes about the Jewish community. Nation states can be anti Semitic, as we saw with the arson attacks against the Jewish communities in Melbourne and Sydney perpetrated by criminals directed by Israel's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Anarchist and revolutionary groups can be anti Semitic, and this gets surprisingly little media coverage. But Australian companies with perceived links to Israel are being subjected to repeated acts of vandalism and arson by far left activists. Now, I recognise the criticism of the government of Israel is not of itself anti Semitic, but some of the threatening statements made by the perpetrators go well beyond political protest or commentary. All these groups have different ideologies. They do not associate with each other. Indeed, for the most part, they despise each other. The way they operate, their tactics and techniques are all different. And yet they are united by a common hatred
- [03:41]
B
that is striking. That is a new analytical framework that marks out anti Semitism, marks out Jew hate as a unique phenomenon because it is not a standalone phenomenon. According to his analysis, anti Semitism is the hate that feeds all the other forms of extremism, inflames and empowers them.
- [04:07]
A
Can you take us a little bit further into what you mean by anti Semitism inflaming other hatreds? Is it the case that anti Semitism comes first and then others follow? Or does it mean something, something else?
- [04:20]
B
Well, it means many things to many types of extremists. And as Mike Burgess said, it is something that they have all latched onto and that they all use.
- [04:32]
C
Why?
- [04:33]
B
Well, that's a point that he didn't address, but I think we can see that it is. First, it's an ancient and amorphous and highly illogical hate. Most of it is based on complete nonsense or conspiracy theories. Some of it of course, stems from hatred of the Netanyahu government and Israel's conduct, which is a separate matter entirely. Hating the Netanyahu government is a political act. Hating Jews is a racial and religious act of bigotry. And extremist groups latch onto this because they figured out that it gets people worked up, it gets attention, and it's surfing in on a much larger and older tide of emotion which they can exploit for their own causes. Everything from the far right to the far left, state sponsored terrorism, whatever the cause may be. And it also can be a useful way, as it is in the case of Iran, of disguising true motives. Sure, the Iranians probably don't love the Jewish people, but that's not the reason that they're conducting terrorist operations and state sponsored operations of violence in Australia.
- [05:50]
A
Can you help me understand why the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps seems to have an interest in attacking Jewish targets in Australia?
- [06:01]
B
Well, ever since the revolution and ever since the Islamic Republic was founded in 79, the explicit stated purpose has been to spread the revolution, to spread the revolution around the world and now to use that. Their most valuable tool and a clever way of avoiding direct responsibility for its actions has been through proxies. As we know, Iran has created or co created, continues to sponsor, fund, organize and direct Hamas, which operates of course in Gaza. It sponsors Hezbollah, which operates as we speak from Lebanon against Israel it sponsors the Houthis in Yemen and it sponsors an international movement above and beyond those groups that has spread its tentacles around the world. We know that they had a plot to assassinate Donald Trump a few years ago. Get in the queue, I suppose, and some of his advisors and officials, John Bolton for example. And it's operating wherever it can. It murders targets in London if it can get them. It murders in Europe, it murders wherever its revolutionary tentacles reach. And although we can be pretty safe that the Islamic uprising that it purports to sponsor is not going to break out spontaneously in Australia just because of some IRGC sponsored arson attacks or other acts of violence or vandalism, it is a core part of their operating mechanism to justify the rule of the Ayatollahs and the IRGC at home, justify its budget and activities to and to destabilise the us, Israel and everybody it sees as their allies.
- [08:05]
A
Mike Burgess said Australian companies with perceived links to Israel were being subjected to repeated attacks of vandalism, arson from far left activists. Why do you think this is happening?
- [08:18]
B
It's an extension of the anti Israel and, you know, mistaken connection to anti Israel, anti Semitic and Jew hating foment that has been running in Australia for, well, it's been running everywhere in the world for centuries, but has particularly accelerated since the Hamas violent raids on Jewish settlements on October 7, 2023 that has inflamed the, the whole anti Semitic movement worldwide. Activists have difficulty striking at Israel itself, of course, so that's why they fall back on MPs, electoral offices or Australian companies that are perceived to have. And sometimes the connections to Israel are so attenuated that it's difficult even to really seriously connect them in any serious way. But it doesn't stop these people because they need. If you're running a cause, if you're an activist in a cause, your cause needs continuous momentum, needs continuous efforts at enlarging itself in recruiting, promoting, demonstrating effects. Of course, Ben Netanyahu is a deeply unpopular man around the world, including in his own country in Israel. And he's got a big problem coming up with an election due by the end of October. His non stop disproportionate violence in this last phase in particular, but in Gaza, in Lebanon, has not only brought even Donald Trump out in criticism of him, saying Trump said just in the last week, you know, Bibi, every time you want to get some guy from Hezbollah, you don't need to blow up an entire apartment block to get him and called him crazy. But he's also managed. Netanyahu has also managed to turn the entire majority US population against himself. Now that's a terrible self inflicted wound, strategic wound, for Israel to lose majority support in its biggest and most important ally. So Netanyahu, we all know, is a very unpopular figure whose tactics and motivations for a lot of the violence that he wages are completely abhorrent and unjustifiable. But how does that in any way justify attacks against Jews in Australia? Especially because nearly all of them, they're not Israeli citizens, they're Australian citizens, they're fellow Australians. I think, Ben, this is the most quixotic of all the many protest movements and all the many veins of hatred and extremism that run through our society and course through social media and pollute our societies. I think this is, I think Jew hate is the most quixotic, as in literally Don Quixote, where they're attacking a windmill. Don Quixote thought he was attacking a monster to protect a maiden. They're attacking, they're not attacking Netanyahu. Makes absolutely no difference to Netanyahu. Doesn't even know that people attacking Jews in Australia exist and doesn't care. So they're attacking the wrong target. They do absolutely no damage to their intended target. All they do is damage their own society, their own country, by harming fellow Australian citizens and sowing fear and distrust in their own society. This is an act of self harm. When Australians attack Jews, they are attacking fellow Australians almost exclusively, almost entirely. And whether they're attacking them directly or rhetorically, they're instilling fear in fellow citizens and that has awful effects across our society. So it's truly quixotic and insane and self harming. And I think Mike Burgess, overwhelming point and overarching point here, and what was really novel, was to say that it's not only having those effects, it's also spreading extremism and doing the work of extremists by spreading poison throughout all the other causes that are using antisemitism to empower them. After the break, Australian citizens of all creeds, colours, genders, we are all Australians and all deserve equal respect and equal protection and safety in our homes and in our country.
- [13:04]
A
So when does legitimate criticism of the Netanyahu government and indeed some of the more ugly acts of the more extreme ministers in his government, when does criticism of those things cross over into anti Semitism?
- [13:18]
B
Well, criticize Netanyahu, criticize the state of Israel, the government of Israel, by all means. That's a political act. We all, we all criticise the difference here is that when you or I travel abroad, nobody's holding us to account for the political decisions of the Albanese government, or what the Scott Morrison government did, or some, you know, historical act that Australia committed, however horrendous it might be. But uniquely, we hold Jews responsible. They might not even be citizens of Israel, but why are we holding them responsible for the actions of a particular politician who happens to be leading Israel at this moment? And as you say, one of the reasons that Netanyahu has been so ceaselessly and disproportionately violent in recent years is because of Ben GVIR and Smotrich, the two far right and extremist ministers in his government whose support has been fundamental to Netanyahu holding power. Now, that's all. They're all legitimate targets. The moment you post something about Jews being horrible or Jews being responsible for some evil or some misstep, or whatever it is, that's when you have crossed the line from a legitimate attack on a government, a legitimate criticism of a Prime Minister, a cabinet, an army, whatever it is, into a mindless, hateful, hurtful act of unthinking bigotry that harms not Netanyahu, it harms your fellow citizens and empowers not just the anti Semitic movement in itself, but empowers all the extremist movements that are currently attempting, with some success, to poison our social harmony, our social cohesion, and to damage a small, tiny but vulnerable and important part of our society, Jewish Australians. And we need to protect all our minorities because we are all, we are all part of this project of modern Australia. There's not, despite what Pauline Hanson might be telling us, Australian citizens of all creeds, colours, genders, we are all Australians, and all deserve equal respect and equal protection and safety and in our homes and in our country.
- [15:42]
A
So, Peter, I just want to steer you back to the Royal Commission into Anti Semitism. You've been following it and I was wondering what stood out to you this week from the commission hearings.
- [15:55]
B
I'll just pick out two points, if I may, Ben. One is the way that Stephen Lowey described his family's experience of Jew hate in Australia, because his father, Frank Lowy, who's still alive but he's now 95, migrated to Australia in the 1950s as a refugee from the Holocaust, arrived with nothing, set up what was to become one of the country's greatest and most successful businesses, Westfield Shopping Centres, which became an international success when John Howard invited him to reorganise Australian soccer. He took what used to be called Pejoratively Wogball and restructured it into the modern professional success that it has become. The performance of the Socceroos today owes some not little to that legacy. He went on to become one of the country's most important philanthropists. And what is his thanks for doing all of this for our country? Well, his son, his youngest son, Stephen, this week at the Royal Commission said that Frank is held responsible, bizarrely for by anti Semitic activists and nutjobs around the world, apparently for the 911 terrorist attacks on the US and every September, there's a peak in abuse, online attacks and criticism, death threats to Frank Lowy. Stephen said his own family, his wife, his kids, his personal safety are threatened every day for the sole crime, the sole crime of being Jewish. And that's it. He said in a single year, his family has received 15,000. In one year, 15,000 hostile or threatening posts, almost continuously referring the worst and most dangerous to the police. There was an Iranian found conducting hostile surveillance of his home without innocent explanation. It just struck me that no matter how good a citizen you may be, no matter how effective you, you created this giant business that employed 5,000 people, you made a lot of shareholders rich, you're a great philanthropist. You did all these things above and beyond the call of duty, like reorganizing the soccer in Australia. And his children, and his children's children are being abused and threatened. It doesn't matter how successful, how kind, how good, how rich you are, you can never be forgiven for the original sin, apparently, of being Jewish. And it's just so bizarre and so wrong and so shocking that that stood out. Second thing that stood out was that we learned that in the first block of hearings for this royal commission, 26 of the witnesses who took the witness box and addressed the Royal Commissioner were subjected to online hatred, vitriol and threats, where even the act of speaking in a formal setting, to give formal evidence to a Royal commission, is being deemed illegitimate somehow by these people because it relates to the subject of anti Semitism. This is a mania beyond any possible logic, without any possible good outcome here. This is so hateful and harmful that those two points stood out. Not only is nobody safe for the sole crime of being Jewish, but that these people even want to shut down discussion about whether it's even legitimate to discuss the problem society. Look, Stephen Lowey said to me after he'd given his testimony, he said, what gives me optimism is that Australia is a country showing itself. It's a country that can examine itself. These people even want to shut that down.
- [19:44]
A
Anthony Albanese often says we need to kind of tone it down. We need to cool the temperature a little bit. Is there a point to that? Is there a way that we need to be able to better have these sort of intellectual debates without crossing over into the personal? Is there a way that we need to do this better? I know there's work going on at some universities about how to argue and disagree better. Is there an art to disagreement that we seem to have lost?
- [20:13]
B
There absolutely is. There are structured ways to have conflict and yet to maintain it within the bounds of civil society and a socially functional country. If every one of us indulges every angry or violent thought and impulse we have, our country would be ungovernable. No family would be safe. The place would be a complete disaster. And we have many countries, societies and precedents in world history which show us how easily that can happen. So for that reason, we have structures. So, for example, we have political parties who can argue vehemently with each other. When they stand in the House of Representatives in Australia, they stand across a table with dispatch boxes on either side. The table is an exact replica of the original from Westminster, which is designed to be two swords lengths across so that they cannot reach to stab each other. This is a symbol of the need to structure our larger arguments in a way that allows for difference of opinion, even furious difference of opinion in a contained way that does not produce bloodshed or self harm or complete collapse of order. On the sporting field, bitter rivals, you know, will shake hands or jump over the tennis net in some cases to greet a victorious or defeated combatant. These things are possible. The concept that beyond the argument, beyond the issue and the passion of the moment, there is a larger equity which is called our country, our society, and the mutual respect that we all benefit from.
- [21:56]
A
Peter, thank you very much for joining us.
- [21:58]
B
Our pleasure, Bill.
- [22:10]
A
Today's episode was produced by Chee Wong. Our executive producer is Tammy Mills, and our podcasts are overseen by Lisa Muxworthy and Tom McKendrick. If you like our show, follow the Morning Edition and leave a review for us on Apple or Spotify. Thanks for listening.