A spike in abuse of Jewish people in the past year has been partly fuelled by a neo-Nazi group that attempted to infiltrate the National Party, a report claims.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s annual Anti-Semitism in Australia report found there had been a 59 per cent increase in anti-Semitic threats and violence in the year to September 30, with 156 attacks and 210 threats.
ECAJ chief executive Peter Wertheim recorded a total 136 more acts of anti-Jewish hatred compared to last year’s survey, with the far-right Antipodean Resistance responsible for almost a third of the incidents.
“There has been an increase in the activities of groups which are not only hostile towards Jews but who actively and publicly express that hatred,” he told The Australian.
“As far-right groups publicly denigrate, demonise and incite violence against Jews, among others, it is incumbent upon political and other leaders to demonstrate that anti-Semitism, and all other forms of racism, are totally unacceptable in Australia.”
The Antipodean Resistance has spent the last year putting up highly offensive posters and stickers around Australian capital cities with messages such as “Reject Jewish Poison”.
The ECAJ report also says the Antipodean Resistance’s website has targeted members of its organisation and other Jewish Australian leaders, including anti-Semitic accusations that they participate in blood rituals. The group was not connected to the rise in anti-Semitic violence.
Read the article by Richard Ferguson in The Australian.