Warning: Distressing content
Sarah Bendetsky runs a food charity called Souper Kitchen in Melbourne, where she feeds those in need and delivers meals and groceries to her community.
Sarah is Jewish, and the charity's logo features Jewish iconography. She said her experiences of antisemitism in Australia were rare, until the attacks.
"After the 7th of October the whole anti-Israel rhetoric turned into being an anti-Jewish rhetoric right in our backyard," she told SBS Examines.
"Our charity food truck has this big logo on it. So our wheels were pierced in the middle of the night. We had lots of crazy online hate ... it became the new norm, almost."
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Is antisemitism in Australia changing?
SBS English
09/12/202407:48
Sarah said she saw anti-Jewish posters reminiscent of those used by Nazi Germany in her neighbourhood, and her children faced abuse on their way home from school.
"My 15-year-old was screamed ‘heil Hitler’ to her face, with the Nazi salute ... we were stopped on the street by some woman screaming that ‘Hitler should have finished you all'," she said.
Sarah has refused to let it stop her from doing good in her community.
"It takes a lot of time to adjust to it, not to be scared, not to stop doing what you believe in, still be part of the community.”
Antisemitism on the rise
Sarah isn't alone in her experiences.
According to a , over 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents were reported in Australia between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024.
That's a 316 per cent increase on the year prior.
ECAJ also reported that antisemitic incidents in the two months following October 7 in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
"[The Australian Jewish community] are experiencing more abuse, more hatred, more exclusion, more vilification and in each case it's to do with their Jewish identity," said ECAJ Co-Chief Executive Officer Alex Ryvchin.
"Unquestionably, it's here, it's real, and it's reached levels that we really have never seen in this country before."
'This is a hate crime'
In the past week, two instances of antisemitic violence have made headlines.
Emergency Services were called to a vehicle fire in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
That vehicle and another, as well as two buildings and a footpath, were graffitied in Magney Street, NSW Police confirmed in a statement. Graffiti on one of the buildings read 'Kill Israiel' (sic).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese "unequivocally" condemned the attack and labelled it a "hate crime".
On Friday, Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue was firebombed. The Australian Federal Police declared it a terrorist attack and are investigating.
The PM was heckled during his visit to the synagogue on Tuesday, with Jewish Community member Rae Anaf saying he was "too little too late".
Fire crews and Police at the scene of a fire at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne, Friday, December 6, 2024. (AAP Image/Con Chronis) NO ARCHIVING Source: AAP / Con Chronis
In a joint statement, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Opposition Home Affairs Spokesperson James Paterson said the government had a "year of inaction and weakness".
They shared their antisemitism response plan that would begin "day one" if the Coalition wins government in next year's election.
It includes a specialised antisemitism taskforce, a ministerial direction to the AFP to prioritise antisemitism, amending the Migration Act to cancellation or refuse visas on antisemitic grounds, and a $32.5 million funding package for the ECAJ "without any strings attached".
What is antisemitism?
While Australia grapples with the rise of antisemitism, some remain unsure of what is and isn't antisemitic.
The term 'Semitic' refers to a and those who spoke them were known as 'Semites'. However, in the 19th century, the term morphed to refer only to Jewish people.
German journalist Wilhelm Marr coined the term antisemitism in 1879 to describe anti-Jewish campaigns.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, in 2016, adopted the following working definition of antisemitism:
The Australian Government adopted this definition in 2021.
While the definition is endorsed by many Jewish organisations, it's also been criticised for including certain views on Israel as examples of antisemitism — for example, "".
Human rights lawyer and Executive Officer of the newly established Jewish Council of Australia, Sarah Schwartz told SBS Examines "Israel and its lobby" have attempted to use "definitions of antisemitism to stifle Palestinian voices".
Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation Associate Professor David Slucki said antisemitism is a "very unique form of racism".
"One of the things that distinguishes antisemitism is just how long it's been around," he said.
"Hand in hand with that is its malleability ... it's managed to shift its shape depending on the circumstances.
"Through the 20th century, instead of a religious basis, there became this pseudoscientific basis for antisemitism. Jews were racially different, racially inferior.
"There was also this conspiratorial thinking that emerged about Jews being all powerful, ruling the world. So antisemitism kind of adapts itself to the modern world, and continues to adapt itself.”
He said Jewish people have been a "easy and convenient target" throughout history.
"They are such a small minority everywhere that they live, other than Israel. Jews can be easily pinpointed or targeted because of people's angst about the modern world."
Ryvchin said what Jewish people in Australia are reporting can be described as antisemitism.
"If we look at the things that are being said about Jews right now, they are exactly what has been said about Jews for thousands of years - that we're not to be trusted, that they're a nation of liars, that they're always plotting and scheming, trying to undermine the host society, that they're obsessed with money, they're disloyal, they're blood thirsty," he said.
"These are things that have pursued the Jews forever, and this is why antisemites today latch onto those same concepts: because they are so effective, and they're so lodged in the consciousness or subconsciousness of people."
