Anti-Semitic incidents in Australia rose 21 percent in the last year and are the second highest on record, says the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s annual 'Report on Anti-Semitism in Australia'. The paper was presented at Sunday’s annual general meeting in Melbourne, where World Jewish Congress Vice-President Robert Goot was elected as new president of the Jewish umbrella body, succeeding Danny Lamm.
The report revealed 657 recorded incidents of racist violence against Jews in Australia and Jewish community buildings in the 12 months from October 2012 to September 2013. Serious physical attacks were at the lowest since 2005, however, with fewer than 20.
In general, it can be said that Australians neither particularly like nor dislike Jews,” wrote the authors, Julie Nathan, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s research officer, and Jeremy Jones, director of international and community affairs at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. “Although stereotypes of Jews remain part of the culture in Australia, these are not as deeply ingrained or hateful as in European and Middle Eastern cultures,” said the authors. “Anti-Semitism remains at the fringes of Australian politics and society, and though there are exceptions, anti-Semitism is not generally part of the mainstream discourse.”
The 202-page report does not include the assault last month of five religious Jews walking home from a Sabbath dinner in Sydney, which was described as the worst anti-Semitic incident of its kind since records began in 1989. Four men and a woman were bashed in a fist fight that left Eli Behar, 66, with bleeding on the brain. He was released after two nights in the hospital.