Antoinette Lattouf case: A Jewish conspiracy theory surfaces in a Sydney courtroom

As Australian Jews endure the awful experience of being shamed, threatened and attacked in a country they had assumed was a haven, a foundational anti-Semitic argument is being debated in room 16a of the Federal Court in Sydney: the Jewish media conspiracy theory.

On Monday, a barrister representing Antoinette Lattouf, a stand-in ABC radio broadcaster, argued the passionate Palestinian advocate was fired in 2023 because of “a group of people the ABC identified as a pro-Israel lobby, who openly targeted her for her opinions”.

“She was the target of a campaign coordinated by persons, some of whom are unknown, some known,” he said. “The objective of the campaign was to convince the ABC to dismiss Ms Lattouf post-haste.”

The lawyer did not identify Lattouf’s antagonists as Jewish. That was unnecessary. It is axiomatic the Jewish state’s main supporters are.

The civil trial, which began Monday, is remarkable for the audacity of its core argument: Lattouf alleges the ABC’s most senior members, starting with media veteran and chairman Ita Buttrose, were coerced to fire the previously obscure journalist three days into a five-day contract because of Lattouf’s Arab race and political beliefs.

Neither, of course, are grounds for dismissal in any civilised nation. The implication is that a cabal of Jews, led in this case by a group called Lawyers for Israel, can control the media.

Hostile streets

The theory has a long and ugly history. In 1903, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion described a plan by Jews to take control of the world and stoke religious conflict by manipulating finance, government and the media.

The hatred embodied in the Protocols can be seen on the streets of Australian cities today. “F... the Jews” is scrawled on homes in once-quiet suburbs every week. On Saturday evening, five women were pelted with eggs while walking near Bondi Beach in what was reported to be an anti-Jewish act.

To non-Jews, some of the incidents might feel trivial. Graffiti can be washed away. Clothes can be cleaned.

But even before explosives were found stored in a caravan with a list of Jewish addresses, the prospect of street-level harassment had made most Jewish families wary, according to Colin Rubenstein, the executive director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.

“In my lifetime I have not seen this sort of apprehension for the very safety of people,” said Rubenstein, who was born when Hitler was alive.

The latest available figures show anti-Semitic incidents rose from 495 in the 12 months ended September 30, 2023, to 2062 last year, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which has close links to Lawyers for Israel.

Greater ‘balance’

As for the Jewish control of the media, not long before she was hired and fired by the ABC, Lattouf signed a petition calling on media outlets to show greater balance in coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

The petition, organised by the journalists’ union, sought the opposite. It wanted Israel’s war against Hamas portrayed as evil, rather than a legitimate military response to the act of terror on October 7, 2023.

The blatant bias was why no prominent journalist signed, and why a mid-level manager who hired Lattouf was chastised for failing to conduct an adequate background check.

Lattouf’s response in court Monday when asked about her social media posts criticising Israel: “I don’t think facts are controversial.”

The debate over the petition or Lattouf’s short-lived job might be seen as an example of the media’s obsession with itself.

But there are serious consequences. The anti-Jewish anger among some Australians – especially those with family connections to the Middle East – is encouraged by unbalanced reporting.

Case in point: an ABC article posted by Lattouf on Instagram accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon in the Gaza Strip.

The article, which triggered her dismissal, was based on research by Human Rights Watch, a watchdog-type organisation which has long been a critic of Israel’s.

The starvation accusation continues to have great potency. Apart from undermining the moral case of Israel’s war, it conjures the centuries-old trope of fat Jews preying on starving children.

While finding food in Gaza was difficult during the fighting – a ceasefire began January 19 – the evidence Israel used it as a weapon is highly contested.

The Israeli government said it placed no restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza, except to inspect trucks for weapons and other contraband.

Predictions by UN bodies and major relief agencies of a famine by last May never eventuated.

The latest figures show 66,474 trucks have crossed into Gaza since the war began carrying 1.18 million tonnes of aid, including flour, rice, sugar and cooking oil.

Food could not protect Gaza’s 2.1 million residents from bombs, but it was a humanitarian consideration by Israel to its weaker enemy.

It also demonstrated the problem with conspiracy theories. They rarely survive the facts.