Published: 7 December 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
The convergence of far right, far left and some Muslim attitudes to Jews and Israel is creating an unprecedented threat, argues extremism expert JOSH ROOSE.
Israel has warned its citizens to reconsider travelling to Australia over fears of antisemitism. The threat level to Australia, the UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Russia were all raised to level two by the Israeli National Security Council (NSC) this week.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has defended Australia as a safe place to travel.
This may be fundamentally true, but we cannot ignore the reality that Australia, if safe, is less safe than it used to be for Jewish people.
Since the October 7 Hamas attack and subsequent Gaza war, we have seen unprecedented antisemitism and these shocking cases do not exist in isolation.
We are subject to the same forces that fuelled acts of terror such as the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue attack and the Christchurch Mosque attack in 2019.
The rise, fall and re-emergence of the Islamic State movement prompted global terror attacks in Western capital cities. The election of president Donald Trump created a permissive environment that emboldened far-right extremists. The emergence of new conspiratorial movements such as QAnon that are deeply ridden with antisemitic tropes was fuelled by new forms of social media such as Telegram, which allowed extremist actors to bypass regulation. The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns left a legacy of anti-government extremism driven by a conspiratorial framing of the world. The cost of living and housing affordability crisis has added to seething resentment and distrust in government among sizeable elements in the wider community.
