Anti-Semitism in Australia is spreading from social media and leaflets to mainstream platforms with Jewish leaders calling for politicians and law enforcement to be more alert to the threat.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said the online “hate-filled” comments by Pittsburgh murderer Robert Bowers were commonly posted on platform Gab and other social media platforms.
US truckie Bowers stormed the Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday during a baby naming ceremony in an attack that claimed the lives of 11 people and left six wounded.
The massacre is thought to be the most deadly attack on Jews on US soil.
Mr Wertheim said social media platforms were being used to spread violent hatred and providers needed to examine themselves.
“It was only a matter of time before all this incitement, fuelled by outlandish antisemitic conspiracy theories, psyched up an evil fanatic somewhere to commit these murders,” he said.
The shooting focused attention on Twitter alternative Gab.com which is popular among right wing groups.
Gab is accused of failing to act sooner against Bowers’ anti-Semitic posts and has since gone offline.
Mr Wertheim said while vigilant security was vitally important, it only dealt with the symptoms of the hatred.
“The polarisation of our politics has enabled racist and extremist views to seep into the mainstream of public life,” he said.
Read the article by reporters Tessa Ackerman 