False narratives still drive anti-Semitism

Renee Heath I 2 August 2024 I Spectator Australia

Like many in the West, I was horrified on October 7 when reports came in that Hamas terrorists had invaded Israel and massacred over 1,000 innocent civilians, taking many hostage in Gaza.

Horrific scenes of violent murders, battered women, and families with terrified children being herded up by terrorists filled our social media feeds.

Shortly afterwards, those images were replaced with a narrative. It was a thinly veiled attempt at claiming that the women we saw with bloodied pants were not the real victims. The kids who were killed or kidnapped were not the real victims. The multitudes who were murdered or tortured were not the real victims. If Israel could be labelled the aggressor, Hamas terrorists could be the freedom fighters.

Had the same inverted perception of reality been applied to a barbaric terrorist attack on any other racial group, it would have been unequivocally condemned. But not when it involves Jews.

Throughout centuries, anti-Semitism has taken root through false accusations. From the baseless claim that Jews were responsible for ritualistic child murders in the Middle Ages, to the falsified Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the early 1900s, Jewish people have been subjected to feverish witch hunts, persecution, and killing sprees legitimised through lies. Centuries of conspiracies, suspicion, and contempt ultimately enabled a dictator to pave a path to the gas chambers with little resistance.

Today, Holocaust survivors warn the level of anti-Semitism breaking out across the world resembles the lead-up to the Second World War. We have seen Islamists in Dagestan, Russia, murder a priest, attack an ancient Jewish community and set fire to a synagogue. A 12-year-old Jewish girl was the victim of anti-Semitic gang rape in Paris. A Jewish girl’s school in Toronto was shot at.

In Victoria, an elderly Jewish man was violently bashed in Chapel Street. Threats to kill Jews were painted across Mt Scopus school and the Melbourne University library, and the office of a Jewish MP was firebombed. A list of 600 Jews has been published, resulting in many receiving death threats, including to a child.

A Victorian Islamic leader said October 7 was genuine resistance. A protest leader on Spring St promised there would be many, many more October 7s. We have heard chants of ‘gas the Jews’ and ‘f— the Jews’ at Sydney Opera House.

This is anti-Semitism unprecedented in our lifetime. Why? Because once again, false narratives are legitimising racial hatred.

I visited Israel because I wanted to know the truth of what happened on October 7. The trip was part of small delegation of Victorian Members of Parliament, supported by the Australian Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. We visited many sites, including Kibbutzim and the site of the Nova music festival. We spoke to dozens of people and met political leaders, including representatives from the Palestinian Authority. It was an eye-opening experience that I will never forget.

Our first stop was the Kibbutz Kfar Aza. What was home to over 900 people a year ago is now a ghost town. Residents were either murdered, taken hostage, or too traumatised to return.

We would stand in front of homes spattered in bullet holes while a survivor explained what happened.

‘In this house, the parents were both murdered,’ one explained.

‘Their twins were both left by the terrorists to act as a magnet for the soldiers to come and free them, because screaming children attract soldiers; and that’s what happened.’

At the Nova site there were more stories that left you heartbroken. What was once billed as a place of friendship, love, and infinite freedom is now a memorial of young lives raped, savaged, and murdered. I met Mazal, who is only alive today because she played dead. She described seeing a woman being gang raped by four terrorists to the sound of machine guns.

One horrific story after the other became tragically real when surrounded by the evidence of these atrocities. Every victim was an innocent person going about their daily life and brutally slaughtered or attacked. The inescapable reality we must face is that these barbaric acts are being celebrated on our streets.

Cowardly leadership has allowed the tension of the Middle East to escalate to unacceptable levels in our own nation. October 7 has become a Litmus test of leadership, governments, systems, institutions, law enforcement, and justice – and we have failed spectacularly. It is shameful that our suite of hate speech, anti-discrimination, incitement and racial and religious vilification laws haven’t been enforced against the greatest threat to safety and social cohesion in our lifetime.

Don’t make the mistake many before us have made – this is not just a Jewish problem. It’s a problem for all of us. As Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller’s famous poem says:

‘First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.’

Now is the time for everyday Australians to speak. Governments, leaders, and institutions need to hear the voices of everyday Australians who want to fully restore peace and freedom to this great country. Today it’s the Jews who are under attack, but who will it be tomorrow?

It’s time for the silent majority to find its voice now while it still can.

AUTHOR Renee Heath MP, Member for Eastern Victoria Region