EDITORIAL: Opera House protest a key moment in rise of anti-Semitism
The royal commission is reminding us of the painful truth. The lessons must be applied.
After nearly three years, the anti-Semitism which was displayed at one of our most famous landmarks remains a burning national shame.
The famous sails of the Sydney Opera House had been lit in the colours of the Israeli flag on October 9, 2023, to support the Jewish community mourning the atrocities carried out during Hamas’ invasion of Israel two days earlier.
What took place at the Opera House forecourt was shocking.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.A crowd of about 1000 gathered. They waved Palestinian flags, lit flares and fireworks and their hateful chants included “f. . . the Jews” and “where are the Jews?”
The police advised the Jewish community not to attend.
For many people it was, and remains, the shocking moment the extent of the anti-Semitism in this country smacked us in the face.
The hate on display was a symptom of the evil which festered and came to a deadly conclusion with the slaughter of 15 innocent people at a Jewish celebration at Bondi Beach last December.
The Opera House protest was put under the spotlight on Tuesday at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip told the hearing the October 7 attacks had a profound psychological impact on the Jewish community.
He said the October 9 rally — which began at the town hall — had been promoted on the evening of October 7, whilst the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas were still underway.
“This post would have gone out while women were still being raped, while children were being kidnapped, whilst families were being burnt alive,” he said.
What unfolded was “amongst the clearest examples of anti-Semitism we’ve seen over the past two years” and the warning to Jews to stay away was “effectively the police transferring control of the CBD to the protesters,” Mr Ossip said.
The commission also heard from NSW Police acting deputy commissioner Peter McKenna, who confirmed no charges were laid against anti-Israel protesters on the night of the rally but two people brandishing Israeli flags were arrested for breach of the peace.
The hearing came after Jonathan Greenblatt, the leader of the high-profile Jewish body the American Anti-Defamation League, visited the site of the Bondi attack.
“This is what globalising intifada looks like. It’s not anti-Israel. It’s pro-hate to harass Jewish people for what’s happening on the other side of the world,” Mr Greenblatt said.
“It always starts with words, but words have consequences, and rhetoric can ignite real-world action.
“We need to have the kind of moral cohesion to recognise the consequences of unvarnished, ugly hate directed at a single group of people again and again.”
The royal commission hearings are a reminder of what took place at the Opera House and the tragedy which followed at Bondi — two of our most iconic locations.
The passage of time cannot be allowed to dilute the significance of those events.
The painful truth must lead to lessons which must be learned and, importantly, applied.
There is no place in this country for the hatred which the commission is examining.
