Adi Nirman
JNS, Feb. 14, 2025
“Now, the attendance in the synagogue and communal events is much bigger. That need to feel unified and united amongst your community has been amplified. We are leaning on each other for support here, and the Oct. 8 Jew is exactly that. It’s the one who proudly wears Magen David now.”
The unprecedented rise in antisemitism during the past 16 months is undeniable. Not a day passes without reports of antisemitic incidents worldwide, a relentless surge that began in the wake of Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
While American university campuses and European cities have dominated international headlines, the past month saw a specific destination suffering from the hateful phenomenon: Australia.
Sydney-based Dionne Taylor navigates this new reality through dual roles: as a global PR manager and Australian emissary for ISRAEL-is, an Israel advocacy organization, and as a mother of daughters aged 10 and 14 during Australia’s most volatile climate for Jews.
‘The police did nothing’
Q: Recently, we witnessed a sudden wave of antisemitism across Australia. Were these incidents surprising? How has the atmosphere in Australia been lately?
A: “On Oct. 9, 2023, we got messages from our community security group saying, “If you are Jewish, do not leave your house for your own safety.” That night, protesters at the Sydney Opera House burned the Israeli flag and chanted, ‘F*** the Jews,’ ‘Gas the Jews.’ The police stood there watching it happen and did nothing,” Taylor said.
“There had been a few turning points that have made this situation so much worse, but that night, two nights after Oct. 7, Israel hadn’t even gone into Gaza. The kibbutzim were still on fire, and this permitted the antisemites in Australia to behave this way. I feel like we’ve reached a fever pitch with the attacks that we’ve had just this last month. There was lots of spray-painting on cars and homes, firebombings of cars, a firebombing of a childcare center, and a synagogue. It’s just been terrible.”
Taylor emphasized most of the time, the attacks’ victims have not been Jews. “So they firebomb someone’s car and they’re not Jewish. They spray ‘F*** the Jews’ or ‘F*** Israel’ on someone’s home, and they’re not Jewish. It’s affecting the everyday Australians….Source