The world is rightly celebrating the recently announced ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and anxiously waiting to see if the agreement holds.
Together with many others, we hope and pray that it does and that this might be the beginning of a sustained peace in a region so often marred by war and human suffering—Jesus’ homeland and the “Holy Land” for Jews, Christians and Muslims.
This promising development is also an opportunity for us as Australians to reflect upon the tragic rise of anti-Semitic incidents in our city and nation in recent times. Since the horrific events of 7 October, 2023, discrimination against people of the Jewish faith has become increasingly prevalent.
In this past week alone, there have been several cases of anti-Semitic vandalism in Sydney suburbs, including cars being set on fire, and the graffitiing of swastikas and shameful messages on homes, businesses, cars, even on the façade of a synagogue.
And just last month, a synagogue in Melbourne was set ablaze by arsonists in what is being investigated as a terrorist attack.
Worryingly, some have sought to justify anti-Semitic behaviour by referencing the actions of state of Israel in its war against Hamas.
But such a moral calculus is seriously misguided. For one thing, it does the very thing it purports to abhor: the targeting of innocent civilians. There is no logic to attacking Jewish people in Australia as a means of “resisting” the actions of another nation’s military.
Moreover, some of the vitriolic language expressed on the steps of the Opera House on 9 October, 2023, before the most recent war between Israel and Hamas began, and in various places since, indicates something more sinister in the hearts of some people towards Jews.
There is no place for any type of religious or racially motivated hatred in Australia. Antisemitism is a particularly egregious form of discrimination. History shows us of how the dehumanisation of the Jewish people, based on their faith or ethnicity, can quickly descend into violence, even genocide.
A society that tolerates antisemitism is regressive in treating some people, based on their religious or racial affiliation, as “fair game.” Instead of being a nation that celebrates all people and champions all human rights, we could become one that accepts the targeting of others and the normalisation of hatred.
Although we might be tempted to think of the horrors of the pogroms and the Holocaust as things in the distant past, over the past 15 months it has been clear that belief in the intrinsic worth of each person and their freedom to live and worship in peace are things that cannot be taken for granted.
Each generation must renew this commitment and do all that they can to make sure that hatred never becomes normalised, and that society upholds the dignity and protection of all its members. For Christians, this is founded on the conviction that all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27).
This task it not only the responsibility of civic, religious or moral authorities. It is incumbent on all of us to examine our hearts, motivations and prejudices, and to reject the recent spate of acts of racial or religious hatred. As Christian leaders, we urge what Jesus commanded his followers, that is to love our neighbours as ourselves.
We must all strive to make our nation a place where hatred and discrimination are supplanted by peace, generosity and love of all people whatever their background or beliefs.
Most Reverend Anthony Fisher OP, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney
His Eminence, Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney