Shafaqna English- “Unfortunately, in the last 15 months, we have seen a rise in anti-Semitism across Australia and also a rise in Islamophobia,” Jamal Rifi, Leader of Sydney’s Lebanese Muslim community, said.
“Every time this happens now it is dispiriting for Australian Jews, and I think other Australians who have been targeted by racism as well,” Max Kaiser, a historian on Judaism in Australia and an executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, told the ABC.
“It points to some serious underlying issues with racism in Australian society that need to be dealt with.”
Research over recent years supports the notion that discriminatory sentiments and behaviors have increased.
In 2019, a survey by Charles Sturt University of 75 mosques across the country reported that more than half had experienced targeted violence in the past five years.
In 2023, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said there had been a six-fold increase in anti-Semitic incidents that year.
This trend appears to be increasing, with a Scanlon Foundation Research Institute survey reporting that negative attitudes towards both Muslim and Jewish people lifted between 2023 and 2024.
Source: ABC news