A moment of national reckoning for all Australians

There are times when a nation is forced to look into the mirror and acknowledge the flaws it sees. Up till now, non-Jewish Australians have been able to turn away from that mirror. But after this week’s opening hearings at the Royal Commission, not anymore.

The viciousness of words and deeds that witnesses recounted was chilling, yet the power of their testimony lies in the sheer number of experiences brought into the sunlight. These stories of hatred and sometimes violence are all the more shocking because of where they occurred – in the street, on the bus, at sporting events and other public places.

Much of this week’s testimony was a litany of these events, but the hearings also provided Australians with the opportunity to understand the lines in the sand that are instinctive to many Jews – which have been repeatedly crossed as criticism of Israel’s conduct of war in Gaza flowed through to attacks on Jewish Australians.

Key to this distinction was an exchange on Wednesday afternoon between Commissioner Virginia Bell and Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) president Jeremy Leibler.

Bell: “Mr Leibler, you talk about the delegitimisation of Israel, and as I understand it for you, that connotes the denial of the right of Israel to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people, and you talk about the excessive criticism of Israel…

“I appreciate that there are views on both sides about the pursuit of the war in Gaza by the current administration. But can you appreciate there is a difficult line between what you describe as delegitimising Israel and the views that may be conscientiously held by non-Jewish Australians of goodwill, who are trenchantly critical of actions of Israel, even against the Hamas attack?”