Silence from the Top: When Governments Fail to Protect Minorities
Australia’s antisemitism problem is real—and dangerously unaddressed
“I told my son not to wear his Star of David necklace outside anymore. It’s just not worth the risk.”
— Melbourne mother, 2024
He didn’t argue. Just nodded and slipped the chain into his pocket.
That’s how fear works now—not in screams, but in silence.
The new normal wears a quiet face
It doesn’t make headlines every day. It doesn't look like Kristallnacht.
But in Australia—like in parts of Europe and America—antisemitism has crept into the public square through a side door. A slur on the train. A vandalized synagogue. A hiring manager who casually wonders if “you people are all Zionists.”
It’s not just what’s said. It’s what isn’t punished.
It’s what’s ignored.
When the law looks away
Australia has laws against hate speech. It has workplace protections. It has anti-discrimination statutes.
But what it lacks—deeply and systemically—is enforcement.
Ask the Jewish graduate who changed her last name to sound “less identifiably Jewish.” Ask the teacher who saw a swastika scrawled on a desk and was told by the principal: “Don’t make a big deal. We don’t want community tensions.”
Laws don’t mean much if institutions pretend not to see.
And governments, by failing to act, give permission.
Minorities remember
Jewish Australians are not new to this land. They’ve fought in its wars, built its cities, served its Parliament.
But minorities carry long memories.
They remember what happened the last time their governments stayed neutral while hate festered.
They remember being told, once again, “It’s probably just a phase,” or “This too shall pass.”
They’ve heard that before. It didn’t end well.
Why does it always start with the Jews?
Maybe because they’re visible. Maybe because they’re few. Maybe because antisemitism is the world’s oldest conspiracy theory—always shape-shifting, always finding new homes.
But here's the thing:
It never ends with the Jews.
Every time governments normalize hate against one group, they’re chiseling cracks into the foundation that holds everyone else up too.
History doesn’t whisper. It warns.
“First they came for the Socialists…”
— Pastor Martin Niemöller
We remember the quote. But we forget how long the silence lasted before someone spoke.
Maybe it’s time to ask:
Who will speak this time?
And will the law listen?
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