Blaming the Albanese government is irresponsible

I share the anguish and anger of my fellow Jews. We are aware of growing antisemitism and the failures of some in authority to call it out. But to blame the Albanese government, as Prime Minister Netanyahu has, for the massacre in Bondi is not only irresponsible, it makes little sense.

That Australia, in common with most of the world, has recognised a Palestinian state, might upset the government in Jerusalem, but it is difficult to see how it leads to slaughter in Bondi. To argue that attacks on Israel, as in the chant “from the river to the sea” are antisemitic overlooks the fact that senior Israeli ministers also claim control over the lands involved.

Many people are upset that the government has not adopted all of the measures recommended by Antisemitism Envoy, Jillian Segal. They included clamp downs on cultural and academic institutions, accused of fostering—or at best ignoring—antisemitic rhetoric and behaviour.
Let us assume that all of her recommendations had been followed, that institutions such as Sydney University, Adelaide Writers Week and the ABC had been admonished, maybe censored. Does anyone seriously believe that the two crazy gunmen responsible for the attacks would have behaved differently?

Where I have sympathy with the complaints against federal and state governments is the failure to crack down on hate speech disguised as religious teachings. Queer Australians have long understood that hatred disguised as religious beliefs are often protected in ways that would be censured in other forums.

We may never know what led the shooters to Bondi, but it is likely they were originally radicalised online. In a world where the most appalling incitements to hatred and violence can be accessed in one’s living room, it is difficult to know what governments can do to control this.

There were clearly issues around both the granting of gun licenses and the surveillance of people known to have links to extremism. But neither of these can be blamed on the Albanese government’s foreign policy, and the attempts by Netanyahu and John Howard to politicise a tragedy should be rejected.