More trauma, exclusion, fear… and more pride

Jewish Victorians have experienced exclusion from public life, reported post-traumatic mental health symptoms and felt a high level of personal strain since the October 7 Hamas attack, a new report has revealed.

Turning Point: The Victorian Jewish Community After October 7, released by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) on Monday, depicts a fundamentally different Victorian Jewish community compared to 18 months ago.   

Drawing on 17 in-depth interviews with Jewish community leaders from a diverse range of organisations, from service provision to youth initiatives and religious institutions, the report identified a number of shifts across six key areas – social cohesion, mental health, community leadership, safety, community engagement and media consumption. 

These interviews are supported by findings from published research undertaken by Jewish Care Victoria, CSG Victoria, AUJS, ACJC and the Online Hate Prevention Institute.

“This report captures a pivotal moment in our Victorian Jewish community,” JCCV president Philip Zajac said. “I urge leaders of Jewish community organisations to review the findings of this report and consider how they best respond to the challenges and opportunities documented.”  

One of the most pressing concerns raised in the report is the erosion of social cohesion. Jewish Victorians said they were either excluded from public life or voluntarily retreated in order to avoid harassment and racial targeting.   

This experience has been most acutely felt in creative industries, with the Zio600 doxxing campaign creating long-lasting ripple effects that have seen Jewish artists lose their livelihoods.

More than half of all interviewees indicated that Jewish professional creatives had been disproportionately targeted over their background. Some artists reported leaving the creative industry altogether, while others chose to maintain their career while hiding their Jewish identity.

As one interviewee expressed: “October 7th happened, by October 9th or 10th, the entire arts community turned on Jewish artists and creatives." 

Such isolation extends to queer and progressive spaces, non-Jewish businesses and university campuses, where interviewees reported feeling unsafe, betrayed and disillusioned. A respondent who belongs to the LGBTQ+ community described feeling forced to “choose between being queer and being Jewish”, while another reported a member of the public making a gun gesture at them while participating in a Pride event.  

Jewish Victorians of all ages reported post-traumatic symptoms immediately following October 7 – from nightmares and intrusive thoughts to difficulty engaging in everyday activities such as work and school.   

Elders have been particularly affected, with many feeling they are reliving the antisemitism of their youth, while nearly every organisation interviewed experienced leadership burnout – across both paid and volunteer positions – as a result of the “immense mental load” they have carried over the past 18 months.

The report draws a link between negative wellbeing and a significant rise in traditional and social media consumption by Jewish Victorians. Community members described a "compulsive or consuming need" to engage with media; being unable to “switch off”; losing sleep; and experiencing distress from exposure to antisemitic and graphic content relating to the war.

Security remains top of mind for many community members, with local incidents including the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue and the ‘Jew Die’ graffiti at Mount Scopus College contributing to heightened anxiety.

“Our community has never known such an incredible need for security,” one community leader summarised in the report, which identified occurrences ranging from online trolling to the more extreme death and bomb threats.  

As a result, demand for culturally appropriate mental health services has remained high, and while government initiatives and police support have been welcomed, the needs are ongoing.  

Despite the pain, all but one interviewee expressed a "significant and abundant increase" in Jewish communal engagement and pride post October 7.

No matter their age, political leaning or religious background, Victorian Jews have actively sought out connection in a variety of ways. This includes an increase in donations to Israeli and local Jewish charities; higher attendance at synagogues, including by those who have never attended before; growing observance of Jewish rituals and laws; and rising demand for Jewish events and functions, among others.  

This is particularly true for young Jewish Victorians, with almost all organisations interviewed reporting that youth engagement in communal life had doubled compared to October 7.

But this renewed interest has also brought tension, particularly from interviewees who felt the focus on antisemitism, hostages and the Gaza conflict outweighed the positive aspects of being Jewish. This has seen many organisations not strongly associated with Israel reporting hardship in attracting membership and fundraising.

Turning Point joins two other pieces of research recently released by JCCV on antisemitism, JCCV-CSG Victorian Antisemitism Report 2024 and Defining Antisemitism: The Victorian Experience.   

While it does not make formal recommendations, JCCV plans to use Turning Point’s findings to inform its strategic direction and help organisations and leaders better support Jewish Victorians.  

“It is only by investigating areas of challenge and obstacles that we can better address the needs of the Victorian Jewish community,” the report concluded.  

The full report is available here.