Last week, emergency services were called to the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, where a car was found engulfed in flames.
Author
- Matteo Vergani
Associate professor, Deakin University
While the blaze was quickly extinguished, the situation soon escalated. Police discovered that around a dozen vehicles and at least three nearby premises had been vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti. The vehicles were defaced with the phrase "fk Israel" in spray paint.
On Monday, a man was charged with 21 offences, including 14 counts of destroying and damaging property.
This incident is part of a worrying trend of rising antisemitism since the October 7 attacks in 2023. What can be done to stop it?
Counting the crimes
The rise in antisemitic incidents is supported by data from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ). It recorded 495 incidents from October 2022 to September 2023.
An alarming increase is projected this year, with more than 1,800 incidents expected between October 2023 and October 2024.
The council's antisemitism report, due to be released soon, outlines the circumstances of each event. This enables readers to assess for themselves whether the acts should be classified as antisemitic.
This task is inherently complex. It often hinges on the perceptions of victims or witnesses. They must identify specific slurs or contexts to classify an event as one motivated by prejudice.
Most hate crime registers employ a "perception" approach . This means an act is considered to be motivated by prejudice depending on how it is viewed by those directly affected.
Objectively verifying these motivations demands extensive investigations and resources. It often requires the involvement of the justice system, which goes beyond what community registries can typically handle.
This complex process highlights the challenges in tracking trends in not only antisemitism but all forms of prejudice-motivated crimes including Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and many more.
Why is this happening?
Research indicates antisemitic attitudes and behaviours are influenced by a range of factors, especially overseas conflicts.
Although "fk Israel" might not necessarily seem to be an antisemitic slur per se, the selection of Woollahra was strategic.
The suburb is known for being home to many Jewish people , who represent 13% of the suburb population, compared with the New South Wales average of 0.5%.
This likely means Jews - regardless of their views on the conflict - were targeted, not Israelis.
Such acts qualify as hate crimes when the targets are chosen based on their identity or perceived membership of a minority group.
What can be done?
Hate crimes, like terrorism, aim to make a group of people feel unsafe.
When a community understands that the victims in this case were selected solely because of their Jewish identity, others who share that identity feel threatened. This is regardless of whether they live in close proximity or if they are identifiably Jewish.
Recent research shows Jewish Australians are feeling this threat more than ever.
In a survey of 7,611 people, only 6% of Australian Jews considered antisemitism a "very big" problem and 38% saw it as "fairly big" in 2017.
In 2024, however, these perceptions shifted significantly, with 64% viewing it as a "very big" problem and 28% considering it "fairly big".
Police can play a significant role. They can reassure communities that hate crimes and related incidents are taken seriously. They can also make people feel more secure by providing a visual presence which can deter similarly minded offenders.
An example of this sort of community engagement is Victoria Police's Priority and Safer Communities Division , which works with communities disproportionately affected by crime motivated by prejudice.
Given the nature of this sort of offending, the prejudice motivating the crime is relevant at the time of sentencing.
Sentences that recognise the true intention behind crimes like these - to terrorise a minority group - will send a powerful message to the targeted community that our society has zero tolerance for such acts of hate.
In many cases, judges can impose harsher sentences when it's clear the offender is hostile towards a "protected attribute" during the crime. These attributes include religion, race and gender and sexual identity.
Addressing antisemitism effectively demands a comprehensive, multifaceted strategy due to the complexity of the factors that fuel it.
Antisemitic prejudices often persist covertly. They can be sustained by deep-seated stereotypes such as mistrust towards Jews or misconceptions about Jewish control of media and finance.
In Australia, these biases remain prevalent even without specific trigger events, as demonstrated by recent surveys .
Research suggests that to mitigate these attitudes, educational programs and interfaith or intercultural dialogues might be effective.
But care is needed: in times of heightened tension, such interactions can sometimes be counterproductive.
Research shows that intergroup contact requires equality, shared goals and cooperation to reduce prejudice. Otherwise, it could escalate the problem.
Nonetheless, sustained efforts in education involving schools, museums, and other cultural institutions remain a key strategy in fostering long-term understanding and reducing prejudices.
To effectively mitigate the risk of violent incidents like the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting - which we have so far avoided in Australia - implementing specialised and targeted strategies is crucial.
These strategies encompass the monitoring of fixated individuals and violent groups. They also include referral systems where trained professionals discreetly engage with people at risk of committing targeted violence. These professionals focus on building relationships and addressing the root causes of such behaviours, including social, psychological, employment, or housing issues.
Although this approach is challenging and often overlooked, it is a crucial building block for ensuring community safety.
Matteo Vergani receives funding from the Campbell Collaboration, NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Australian Human Rights Commission.
