Politicians Are Curtailing Liberties and Chastising the Public Over Contrived Antisemitism

published on
Information on this page was reviewed by a specialist defence lawyer before being published. Click to read more.
Politicians using Antisemitism

Recent days have really seen gaping holes clearly exposed in the conspiracy around rising antisemitic incidents in the community, which involve a terror plot consisting of stolen mining explosives being no such terror plot at all, whilst in the midst of an ongoing antisemitism fear campaign, the Murdoch press took it upon itself to attempt to contrive such incidents to create more news.

Indeed, when the press caught wind of the caravan full of explosives located on a property in the northwestern semirural Sydney suburb of Dural ten days after it was found in January, state politicians commenced flapping their wings about a potential terror threat, even though police had raised no terror alert, and they’ve now confirmed the explosives were stolen up to four decades ago.

Amidst the rising antisemitic vandalism incidents, along with questions about the legitimacy of the attacks, the Daily Telegraph saw no issue with sending known provocateur Israeli Australian man Ofir Birenbaum into the Cairo Takeaway, which is located on Gadigal land in the inner city suburb of Enmore, to attempt to provoke some sort of “antisemitic” response from those inside.

These latest incidents have led to an outpouring of commentators now openly decrying the antisemitic vandalism and firebombing incident as bogus.

When they first began, the “antisemitic” incidents clearly targeted Israel with political criticism of its genocide in Gaza, yet these were labelled Jewish hate crimes nonetheless, and it’s now become apparent that federal and state politicians have been pointing the finger at the pubic, because apparently, we all harbour antisemitic prejudices, despite the contrived nature of these crimes.

A criminal enterprise

The reason that the van full of explosives, usually used in mining, was considered to be an antisemitic threat is due to a list of the addresses of synagogues and other Jewish-owned buildings being found within it.

However, NSW police deputy commissioner David Hudson has been clear that because of the manner in which it was discovered, his agency has been inquiring into whether it is a setup.

The Herald reported on Saturday that NSW police are focusing on organised crime gangs in relation to the caravan, and according to the legal experts the masthead had spoken to, the blast material that was stolen up to 40 years ago saw criminals attempting to alert NSW authorities to its whereabouts prior to their discovery, in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.

The sources that informed the Herald in regard to the discovery of the explosives, which didn’t include a detonator, stressed that although the van was not a terror threat targeting the NSW Jewish community, it does not lessen the fear they felt. However, it certainly does lessen the actual threat posed, while the fear produced was whipped up by NSW politicians and the mainstream media.

The van full of explosives is understood to be a stashed cache of weapons that could be revealed to police when a criminal has been taken into custody, in order to be exchanged for a “letter of assistance” that serves to reduce a prison term during the sentencing process, and in this case, it’s thought to be an attempt to reduce the term of an inmate facing a charge of commercial drug supply.

As it became aware of the caravan, Hudson told the public that of the ten suspects in custody over the spate of “antisemitic” attacks in Sydney, none of them had been found to harbour an ideology that would explain why they perpetrated the crimes, which lends credence to the prior suggestion of AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw that the crimes may be orchestrated by a foreign actor.

The foreign interference scenario, which sees foreign actors paying local criminals to stage the crimes, fits the case of Tammie Farrugia, who was arrested for a December anti-Israel incident in Woollahra, and the owner of the Dural property told the press that on presentation of the raid warrant, he found Farrugia’s name and that of her partner on the document.

The Scott Marsh mural that adorns the side of Enmore’s Cairo Takeaway
The Scott Marsh mural that adorns the side of Enmore’s Cairo Takeaway

Manufacturing antisemitism

The political stoking of the spate of antisemitic hate crime scenario, which was concurrently being debunked by admissions from law enforcement in the same reports, staff at the Daily Telegraph concocted the idea for a report that it had entitled “Undercover Jew” in its internal documentation, and it involved a man wearing an Israeli flag cap being sent into various situations.

Israeli Australian man Ofir Birenbaum was employed by the Murdoch rag to be the undercover Jew, wearing a Star of David on his cap, as well as video glasses to record the incident, although the known provocateur has since denied he was recording footage. And what occurred in Enmore at the Cairo Takeaway was set to be repeated in various suburbs throughout Greater Sydney.

The idea was simple, send Birenbaum into the café to provoke an antisemitic response, as the Cairo Takeaway openly displays its support for Palestine on the side of its building, via a Scott Marsh mural.

So, the Jewish man entered the café, ordered at the counter and then received no derision or ridicule, although a staff member did follow him out of the premises as he left, only to find a Daily Telegraph journalist and two camerapeople waiting outside.

This discovery has only served to support suspicions that these incidents are being manufactured to convey a community riddled with antisemitism. The Murdoch scenario serves as a domestic example of what the federal police consider may be orchestrated by foreign actors paying locals to commit the crimes. And it further serves to leave the public suspicious of the authorities.

The unethical approach taken by the Daily Telegraph in its attempt to produce an antisemitic reaction has only been heightened by the fact that at the time those at the masthead had attempted to stage such an incident, they’d too be serving to assist any foreign actor, who might be attempting to convey a false spate of antisemitism attacks in this country, with their ultimate goal.

Permanent damage

A large sector of the community has been offended by the finger pointing from major party politicians and those propagating the antisemitic fear campaign, as the public in general has been accused of stoking these flames, as the “animals” and “bastards” NSW premier Chris Minns has been warning are hiding within our midst, appear to be paid actors with no real prejudice.

The people who have not bought on to validity of the outpouring of antisemitic vandalism incidents have also been put out by the fact that the Islamophobia Register of Australia has warned that there has been a 530 percent rise in Islamophobic incidents in this country since October 2023, however they’re not being afforded the same attention.

The conflation of anti-Israel sentiment with antisemitism by the authorities is a practice that has been employed by the state of Israel since the 1970s in order to deflect criticism of its settler colonial project in Palestine and the apartheid state it’s operating to achieve this.

This dangerous conflation is currently being employed by authorities in this country in order to deflect from the genocide Israel has been perpetrating upon the Palestinians of Gaza since October 2023.

However, the most dangerous aspect to the current manufacturing of an antisemitic crimewave and the equating of political criticism of Israel with prejudice against Jewish people in the public mind, is that the NSW government and its federal counterpart have since produced hate crime laws to prevent incidents from occurring, which is to reflect a nonexistent antisemitism issue on the books.

Paul Gregoire

Paul Gregoire is a Sydney-based journalist and writer. He's the winner of the 2021 NSW Council for Civil Liberties Award For Excellence In Civil Liberties Journalism. Prior to Sydney Criminal Lawyers®, Paul wrote for VICE and was the news editor at Sydney’s City Hub.

Receive all of our articles weekly

Your Opinion Matters