What we know about the rise in antisemitic attacks in Australia and around the world : NPR

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Half a world away from Australia, where people are in shock after what the Prime Minister calls a terrorist attack. On Sunday, during a celebration of the first day of Hanukkah, a father and son opened fire on Bondi Beach near Sydney, killing or injuring dozens of people. Today, Australia’s Jewish community is small, numbering just over 115,000 people in a country of more than 25 million people. Yet anti-Semitism poses a persistent and growing threat. Deborah Lipstadt led the office of the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism during the Biden administration. She is with me now. Ambassador Lipstadt, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

DEBORAH LIPSTADT: Thank you very much, Mary Louise.

KELLY: So this terrible attack on Sunday – this is one of many attacks that have happened since October 7, since the war – since the war between Israel and Hamas began. Can you just explain to us the types of threats that the Jewish community…

LIPSTADT: Of course.

KELLY: …Faces in Australia?

LIPSTADT: This is one of many cases in Australia, but it’s a global phenomenon. Since October 7, there have been synagogue burnings, arson attacks on synagogues on five different continents, including in Australia in Melbourne. There have been persistent attacks on Jews eating in kosher, Jewish-style or Israeli restaurants. There were attacks on Jews walking in the streets, notably in Manhattan and parts of New York City. Something is happening that is not a coincidence. I don’t want to suggest to your listeners that there is some kind of giant conspiracy, but there is an effort, which was illustrated by two events, one in Australia and the other on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

The Australian one took place on October 9, 2023, two days after the Hamas attack on Israel, where, in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House, protesters marched chanting, you know, globalize the Intifada – which most Jews interpret as harming Jews around the world – from the river to the sea. Some say they were chanting: gas the Jews. This is up for debate. But what struck me most was their chant: Where are the Jews? Where are the Jews? And that reminded me of last month when I watched the clips outside the Park East Synagogue in New York, where, again, they were chanting the chants that we’re used to, which are horrible. But then they also said: scare them. Scare them.

KELLY: So let me turn to Australia and the questions that emerge after this massacre. I think that’s the correct word.

LIPSTADT: That’s true.

KELLY: The questions raised: Jews in Australia knew they were being targeted. Has the Australian government done enough to protect the community?

LIPSTADT: When I was in office, and I haven’t been in office since January. But when I was in power, I heard complaints. They are not doing enough. They don’t take it seriously. They say the right things, but the actions don’t happen.

KELLY: What should they do?

LIPSTADT: Well…

KELLY: What can they do?

LIPSTADT: What can they do? First of all, good security, but even more so good investigations. One of the murderers, the son, was on their list because of his apparent ties to foreign groups. Details are just beginning to emerge. I don’t have them all. But take this seriously. That’s all. Take it seriously when people sing and tear gas Jews. Look, you can’t – there is free speech, and I’m a strong advocate for free speech. But when you hear these questions, where are the Jews, when you see protests, when people attack restaurants, don’t make light of it. Let’s say it’s something bigger.

KELLY: So to be specific, and to understand that you’re an expert on anti-Semitism, not event security…

LIPSTADT: That’s true.

KELLY: …But it seems like what you’re saying is that for an event like this, where we knew there would be a lot of Jews gathered for a Hanukkah event, there should have been security, or there should have…

LIPSTADT: Much better security.

KELLY: …Security has been better than before.

LIPSTADT: Much better security. But the thing to do is to prevent it in advance. And, you know, there’s an atmosphere created. I come back to the expression globalize the Intifada. I know the Intifada has some meaning in Muslim theology, but the Intifada means – refers to the attack on the Jews – the first and second Intifada in Israel, in which thousands of Jews were murdered, some non-Jews, but mostly Jews were murdered. When they talk about globalizing the Intifada, don’t discourage it. Don’t say, oh, I can’t condemn him, but I wouldn’t use that term like some elected officials have said. This gives you the green light. Condemn him outright.

KELLY: I want to note that the Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Albanese, called what happened at Bondi Beach an act of pure evil – in his words. He also spoke about the measures taken by his government to try to combat anti-Semitism. For example, he highlighted the creation of a federal police task force to investigate reports and incidents. Are these measures going in the right direction?

LIPSTADT: These are steps in the right direction, you know, maybe a little late but certainly in the right direction. And look, it’s – the main effort, of course, has to be done by the government because it’s a government issue. This is a criminal matter. These are murders and attacks, you know, criminal attacks. But it must also be a global approach to society. I mean, the only encouraging thing to come out of this horrible, horrible attack is the fact that one of the shooters was shot and killed by a Bondi Beach resident who happened to be a Muslim. And he did it – when you watch the video, he did it at the risk of his life. It wasn’t, he fought with the man, and if the fight had gone a little differently he could have been one of the victims.

KELLY: This is Deborah Lipstadt. She is a professor of Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University. She was the Biden administration’s special envoy to monitor anti-Semitism. Ambassador, thank you.

LIPSTADT: Thank you very much, Mary Louise. Take care of yourself.

KELLY: And you.

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