As a person of Jewish descent living in Australia, I have experienced racism in the form of anti-semitism all my life. It’s often subtle, like someone saying in my hearing that the Jews control Hollywood, monopolising the industry. It’s sometimes overt, like the time we were at a friend’s house for dinner and a guest said, quite casually and apropos of nothing, that he hated Jewish people. He was not admonished by our host. That same host interrogated me as soon as I arrived, saying “What have you got to say about Palestine?” I replied that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians was shameful, and that not all Jewish people are Zionists. He refused to believe me.

In both my books, Capriccio and A Dangerous Daughter, there’s a chapter in which a young schoolgirl is physically attacked by her classmates because her father is Jewish. That young girl was based on myself, an Australian child sent to a country school when most of the fathers were away fighting the Nazis. That my own father was a warden, refused enlistment because of poor health, did not count. I was still representative of the enemy, deserving of a good beating while others stood by and watched. I have fictionalised this incident in both my books, changing the setting and the characters, but the kernel of truth remains: hatred of all Jews, inculcated into the minds of those Australian children by their anti-semitic parents.

I could not call out the behaviour of those children, the casual snide comments of so-called friends, as racism. In this age of political correctness, there was no embarrassment from otherwise enlightened people when an educated guest a the dinner table professed his hatred of Jews. Well,maybe a little, but the evening continued as if nothing had happened. Imagine if that guest had said “I hate all Aboriginal people” or “I hate all Asians”. There would be more than embarrassment – at least others would protest, and the racist would be shamed. So why is it different to villify the jewish race?

Antisemitism can generally be defined as: “opposition and hatred toward Jews” or, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) :
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” (Definition endorsed by over forty countries (including Australia) and adopted by the United Nations and other international organisations).

When an almost entirely Gentile organization condemns Jews for acting as oppressors but does not acknowledge the existence of anti-Jewish oppression, it is anti-Semitism.

David Balliel, author of “Jews Don’t Count” writes that the racism of anti-semitism is ignored. Jews, he claims, are not counted as a minority group in the same way as Indigenous peoples, Gay or Trans-sexual people, or other-abled people. This, he says, is because Jews are often seen as “rich and powerful” or at the same time “lowly and inferior” and above all “white”. He reasons that therefore Jewish people re not seen as vulnerable, or worthy of protection under a nation’s anti-discrimination laws. Yet although Jews are 2% of the world’s population, 60% of all racist attacks are against Jews. So why is anti-semitism seen as different to racism?

Perhaps some of this dichotomy is because of the confusion between Judaism and Zionism, and between Israelis and Jews. Because not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Israelis are Jews. I am proud of my Jewish heritage but do not condone the acts of the Israeli government in its treatment of Palestinians. In other words, although I support Israel’s right to exist, I, and many Jewish people like me, am not a Zionist.

My grandparents, great grandparents, and my great-greats, from my mother’s line, were Palestinians. And they were Jewish, most of them devout Talmudic scholars or shopkeepers who spoke Arabic as well as Hebrew and Yiddish, and lived in harmony with the Arabic population. My forebears on my paternal line were from Eastern Europe, and most were no doubt wiped out with the six million Jews during World War II, because of sheer hatred which we now call anti-semitism. It is such a powerful, entrenched hatred in the minds of many that it has led to the murderr of millions and the ongoing abuse to which many anti-racists turn a blind eye.

Is it because Jewish people are seen as white and privileged, as David Baddiel argues? I for one have never felt “white” although my skin bears little pigmentation, and apart from my dark hair and eyes I’ve been told I could “pass”. Interestingly that term is used for people of colour whose appearance belies their race.

Now, with the rest of the world reeling from the attack by Hamas on innocent Israeli men, women and especially children, including babies both born and unborn, the world is saying: How could this have happened? How was it allowed to happen? Exactly as the world asked nearly eighty years ago when the atrocities and genocide of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and political prisoners was finally discovered. Yet there are till those who would deny the Holocaust.

In January 2023, a report showed anti-semitic incidents in Australia, a so-called free-thinking country with laws against racism, jumped to 41% over the last two years. “Vandalism, harassment, hate speech and graffiti. It’s all in there, and it’s Australia we’r talking about.” (Gemma Tognini, Images of Horror a Reminder of Why Language Matters, The Weekend Australian, June 10-11, 2023)

And now again there are cries of “Gas the Jews! Kill the Jews!” in the streets of Sydney after the shock attack by the terrorist organisation Hamas to which Israel has retaliated, killing innocent Palestinians in its wake. Was Israel supposed to turn the other cheek?

What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again. I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains – Anne Frank

Anne Frank, author of “The Diary of a Young Girl”