WE’RE AN INDUSTRY BUILT ON SPEAKING … SO SPEAK!!!

It wasn’t the school my three children attend.

But thanks for asking. Not that anyone did.

Mine go to a different but similar school.

Just like the school that was attacked overnight in Sydney, my kids’ school also is a Jewish dayschool that has professional armed guards, volunteer unarmed guards from the community and also a roster of parents (like me) who provide extra eyes in the mornings and afternoons.

So, I can confirm that it wasn’t my kids’ school that was attacked by Jew haters last night. I just can’t confirm that it won’t be next.

I also can’t confirm that my kids’ school wasn’t on a list of targets found in an explosive-laden van in Western Sydney earlier this month.

I CAN, however, confirm, that my kids, their school staff, the pupils and staff at the school that was attacked, the owners of the houses and cars and businesses that have been set fire to and spray-painted in recent months in Sydney are NOT involved in events happening in the Middle East.

I can confirm that none of these people are responsible for any deaths or destruction in Gaza.

And I can confirm that the spate of attacks on my community (which often affect our wonderful neighbours) has not changed the direction of events in that part of the world.

But it HAS changed my world.

I now am extremely worried because my children went back to school today. Are you scared because your children are simply attending their school?

I fear that, when I wake up in the morning, the headlines will reveal another example of me, my family, my community having been the target of hate.

When I hear the helicopters flying low over my house, as they do each night now, I’m worried that it means someone who has never met me but hates me so intensely, is running around my neighbourhood.

Last night between the hours of 2am and 6am, I heard many flying past.

It bothers me that the security concerns of my community are SO acute that the small event I’m attending this evening, which is an event at which fellow Jews are gathering to discuss how we should deal with these ongoing attacks, has to be organised in such secrecy, that at the time of writing, they still haven’t been able to reveal the location.

What has happened to Australia?

I am also now deeply worried that the corporate events that I MC and speak at will feature a speaker or a slide who spreads hate or lies about us.

Because, as we saw at the Queensland University of Technology recently, that has begun to happen.

I'm not woirried that I don’t know how I would handle it. I’m a professional, and would never do anything to negatively impact an event. But I’m definitely worried that Jew hatred could casually slip into a presentation, and no-one blink an eye.

But I’m MOST concerned that, outside of my family and community, almost no-one seems concerned.

In March I will have been in the business events industry for thirty years, so I’ve met and connected with a lot of people, and I can count on one hand, with three fingers kept down, the number of people who have expressed to me their unease at these attacks.

Almost none of the wonderful conference organisers I deal with, who know I’m Jewish (because I don’t hide it).

None of the fellow speakers who I cross paths with as we flit from event to event throughout the year.

Not even any of my fellow members of a Men’s Shed-style industry discussion group who meet monthly, and know (because I told them months ago) that this has been the thing that worries me most in my world.

In our industry of speaking, why is no-one talking?

I’m someone who has invested a lot of time in researching the history of the hatred of Jews, the lying about Jews (and Israel) and where it has led the world in the past.

And, when I say ‘researching’, I don’t mean by parroting the content of Tik-Tok or You Tube clips. I read books. Proper books, written by qualified researchers and historians (both Jewish and non-Jewish).

Here’s a selection of some of my more recent reads. I especially recommend the books The Holocaust and Auschwitz by Laurence Rees, a BBC journalist and non-Jew.

And the overwhelming evidence shows that, the worst things happened when the most people stayed silent.

When people think, “Well, it’s not happening to us”.

I have news for you: we ARE us.

Or worse, when they think, “But if Israel stopped the war …”.

As though that’s a relevant factor in regards to whether my kids are safe at school or not.

People say the situation in the Middle East is complicated. It’s not, actually.

I don’t want to get into a history lesson here, but just one fact that is important here:

Me, my kids, my neighbours and my community aren't involved.

But, let me return to my main point: what am I asking that you do?

Firstly, we are an industry that is founded on people speaking, so speak.

Say, “This is not OK!”

Say it in reply to this article, on your social media feeds. In your conversations with colleagues and friends.

Ask your Jewish industry colleagues how they are doing and tell them you believe the constant attacks and harassment are wrong.

Do this even if you believe the people of Gaza deserve a life of better hope. These are not mutually-exclusive wishes.

I also suggest that you read books. Actual books based on historical fact. Noa Tishby’s Israel: A Simple Guide To The Most Misunderstood Country On Earth is a good place to start.

If you’re organising an event, do a little research about your speakers (especially if they are politicians, union officials or academic staff). Do their recent LinkedIn or Facebook posts sprout hatred? Do they hail from an organisation that does the same (like the Greens, the Labor Party, the Red Cross, the United Nations or the deviously mis-named Jewish Council Australia, which is a “Jewish Council” in the same way as the Democratic Republic of North Korea is democratic).

Make it clear to speakers that, should they include any content that vilifies … or that justifies acts of hate … their presentation will immediately be stopped.

Yes, it perplexes me too that in 2025, in Australia, this actually needs to be pointed out.

But my main point is, right now I’m feeling like I’m a delegate sitting at the back of a conference room with poor AV, and all I'm thinking is, “I can’t hear you!”

Please don’t make it look like you’re OK with things being not OK.

OK?

?

DARREN ISENBERG is a Conference MC, Speaker and Presentation Skills Coach based in Sydney, Australia.