Three quarters of Australians believe the threat of violent extremism is rising as the Jewish community prepares to give evidence at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion this week.
Polling Reveals Growing Concern
New polling by the JS Utting Research group found 25 per cent of people believe Islamic extremist groups pose a greater problem than neo-Nazi groups (11 per cent), while 49 per cent say both are equally serious.
The survey results come as Jewish groups and individuals prepare to appear before the Commission which was established in the wake of the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil — the Bondi massacre.
Historic Inquiry Underway
From Monday, the Commission will hear evidence describing the tensions and antisemitic sentiment building in Australia long before the atrocity.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive officer Peter Wertheim said the inquiry marked a historic moment.
“This Commission is the most significant national examination of antisemitism in Australia’s history,” Mr Wertheim said.
“Over the next fortnight, the country will hear from the people who lead our community alongside ordinary Australians who have lived through what happens when words of hatred go unchallenged long enough that they stop being only words.”
Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Philip Zajac said the process would give voice to those directly affected.
“Australians want their Jewish friends, colleagues and neighbours to feel safe in this country,” Mr Zajac said.
“The witnesses giving evidence in this first block include people whose ordinary lives have been turned upside down. Our community is engaging with this process constructively and in good faith, because that is how lasting change is made in this country.”
Broader Conditions Examined
However, the hearings will also examine the broader conditions that led to the current environment.
“What we are witnessing in Australia is a contemporary form of an ancient hatred,” Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said.
“History teaches us with terrible consistency that when this hatred is normalised - when it moves from the margins into the mainstream unchallenged - violence follows, as we witnessed in Bondi.
“The Commission opens with an opportunity to hear directly from Jewish Australians about what they have been experiencing, to understand how we arrived here, and what needs to be done to ensure that all Australians can live, and participate fully in this country, free from hatred and free from fear.”
A representative from the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia said the inquiry would highlight the human impact behind the data.
“Behind every statistic the Commission will examine is a parent doing the school run, a student walking onto a campus, a woman deciding whether to wear her Star of David in public – all of them worried whether that day is the day they will be abused or attacked for who they are,” the representative said.
“We know that lived experience is not fair and not what our great country is all about.”
National Turning Point
The inquiry is being referred to by the Dor Foundation chief executive officer Tahli Blicblau as a “devastating” national turning point.
“It is a devastating reality that people had to lose their lives for Australia to have this reckoning,” Ms Blicblau said.
“But this Commission is now the most powerful mechanism we have to ensure the country learns from Bondi and acts before another tragedy occurs.
“Our hope is that the Commission hears the daily lived experience of being Jewish in our country and makes recommendations to make the lives of all Australians safer.”
Witnesses are expected to present first hand accounts of the conditions.
“The witnesses in this opening group – faith leaders, professionals, and parents – are not presenting an abstract argument; they are giving direct testimony on how conditions in this country have markedly deteriorated in recent years,” Australia, Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive manager Joel Burnie said.
Public Confidence Low
The survey also found 64 per cent of respondents are not confident in the government’s response to extremism, while 58 per cent believe antisemitism is worse than five years ago.
When asked about priorities for the Commission, 36 per cent said the main focus should be on Islamic extremism, followed by online hate and extremist content at 33 per cent and neo-Nazi and far-right activity at 30 per cent.
More than half of respondents — 51 per cent — said they do not believe the Royal Commission will make Jewish Australians safer, with 34 per cent unsure and 16 per cent saying it will.
Upcoming Hearings
During the next hearings, the Commission is expected to hear from Jewish Australians across a range of professions and communities, including university students, teachers, artists, musicians and health care workers.
Witnesses are set to describe campuses where hostility has become routine, school communities grappling with hate speech directed at children and families, and workplaces where individuals say they have faced pressure and exclusion because of their identity.
