The Antisemitism Summit’s Law-and-Order Action Plan Will Destroy Our Freedoms

The law-and-order action plan to combat the antisemitism that Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin laid out at the Sky News Antisemitism Summit, which took place on Gadigal land at Bondi Junction’s Central Synagogue last week, was akin to a wet dream that Peter Dutton might’ve had in his time as home affairs minister.

Not only did the 19 February Antisemitism Summit address recent antisemitic and anti-Israel graffiti and arson attacks that have been occurring in Greater Sydney and Naarm-Melbourne, and in turn, deflect criticism from the heinous genocide Israel has been perpetrating in Gaza, but it also served to advance the Coalition’s political agenda and reinvigorate the quest to heighten the surveillance state.

A further preoccupation at the televised event was the assertion that multicultural Australia has failed, and there were clear hints of the religious freedoms crusade that was waged by Scott Morrison when PM, yet this time, as former PM John Howard told the hall, the campaign is about prioritising the “moral title deeds of Australia”, which consist of “the Judeo-Christian ethic”.

The antisemitic action plan that those behind the summit have devised forebodes another security state lawmaking bonanza, just like the one the federal duopoly progressed over the first two decades of this century, to pass over 100 pieces of national security and counterterrorism legislation that have effectively served to erode the civil liberties of all constituents.

And as Liberal leader Peter Dutton was welcomed to the stage to be interviewed by summit co-host Sky News journalist Sharri Markson, the Liberal leader guaranteed antisemitic law reform would be progressed if he’s elected to top office, and it was clear that the heightened erosion of civil freedoms the action plan portends is no issue for the potential next prime minister.

“Action Points with Alex Ryvchin”

“It is my solemn privilege to conclude this summit by presenting the plan of action to defeat antisemitism in Australia,” Ryvchin told those gathered inside the Central Synagogue. “This work is dedicated to our fellow Australians, the good and decent people of this country. People who have stood with us.”

“Never again became a hollow slogan stripped of its sacred meaning, but not to us,” he continued. “To us, the promise of never again will we allow the Jewish people to be consumed by fire, never again will we allow the enemies of humanity to rise against us… is our creed. This is our oath. And we will fulfill it.”

“And now to the action plan.”

The powers behind the summit firstly want a national emergency on antisemitism declared, as well as a joint counterterrorism taskforce led by a single minister to accompany it. This relates to the spate of anti-Israel and antisemitic crimes that began spiking in October and has consisted of graffiti and arson attacks on cars and buildings, according to NSW deputy police commissioner Dave Hudson.

The next demand is uniform policing laws should be established, with law enforcement and intelligence agents to be “trained in what antisemitism is and how it is expressed, so they can identify and prosecute those who commit crimes”. This education can then be extended to other sectors, such as health and education.

Another key theme running through the summit was the idea that antisemitism is a unique type of prejudice that is somehow hard to define or decipher. And in following on from this, the next step in the action plan is to include antisemitism in the national education curriculum, so society as a whole can grasp this intangible type of prejudice.

Advertising campaigns that debunk antisemitic myths are needed. A national ban on encampments at universities and a prohibition on tertiary student protest that disrupt lectures must be imposed, and a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at tertiary institutions is now required, obviously because the parliamentary inquiry into the matter just didn’t cut it.

Universities must further disclose all funding from foreign governments and foundations. Tougher laws are needed to discipline antisemitic academics. Religious and charitable institutions that promote racism or display terror symbols must have their charitable status cut. And there must be greater scrutiny of charity funding.

Immigration officers need to be versed in what antisemitism is, so that they can identify it, when assessing noncitizens in regard to the Migration Act character test. Indeed, these people want to insert antisemitism into the character test, so it can be a ground for deportation or visa denial.

Further, algorithm regulation laws should be enacted to combat foreign interference over social media. A condition for government grants should be that recipients do not spread racism, and if they do, such grants should be cancelled. And in regard to literary and cultural festivals, a balance of representation should be insisted upon, with senior staff tasked with ensuring this.

“A boot stamping on a human face forever”

As much of the nation is aware in April last year, a series of Gaza solidarity encampments sprung up across the continent, which were antigenocide protest actions launched in opposition to the Israeli state’s wholesale slaughter of the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.

The levels of deception involved in the staging of the Antisemitism Summit was highlighted when Sky News host Caroline Marcus asserted that the universities had actually been “the coalface of this antisemitism crisis”, as these tertiary institutions had become hotbeds of “hate calls for genocide against Jews”.

Australian attorney general Mark Dreyfus addressed the summit at one stage, and despite his being a Jewish politician, who has shown a clear allegiance to Israel over the course of the Gaza genocide to the point of paying a much-derided visit to the country to speak with Israeli officials, he was heckled by the crowd at the Central Synagogue.

Dreyfus went on to note all the law-and-order law reforms that the Albanese government has rolled out in response to the antisemitism fear campaign, which include doxxing laws, banning the Nazi salute, Nazi symbols and listed terrorism organisation symbols, along with the expanding offences of promoting terrorism, listing Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organisations permanently, criminalising the possession and dissemination of violent extremist material, convening a national cabinet on antisemitism, committing $78 million to improve security at Jewish community sites, the AFP has established Special Operation Avalite to deal with antisemitism, there was the appointment of Jillian Segal as the first special envoy on antisemitism, the creation of a national student ombudsman, who is empowered to investigate antisemitism, as well as establishing the parliamentary joint inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses, committing $14 million to Holocaust remembrance and outreach and federal Labor granted $250,000 to the Addas Israel Synagogue of Melbourne towards “the preservation and restoration of their precious Torah scrolls”.

This staggering list of law reforms and policy initiatives, however, has apparently done nothing to sate the Murdoch press, reactionary Coalition ministers, nor the local outlet of the Israel Lobby.

Yet, for those amongst the constituency who don’t consider the Orwellian impact the actioning of this draconian antisemitic law-and-order package will have upon Australian civil society as a fortuitous development, be warned, when Liberal leader Peter Dutton rose, the standing ovation those gathered bestowed upon him, revealed where the real hope lies in making this our future.