Of late, a spate of incidents has taken place in Australia giving sheer delight to the simian-resembling Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton.  On a visit to South Australia, he showed himself to be merrily divisive in attacking protestors who had shown solidarity for Palestinians in Gaza in the wake of their catastrophic suffering since October last year: “If you allow these lunatics to continue their protests at university campuses and you allow them to spew their hatred and affiliate with a listed terrorist organisation, and there [is] no consequence, of course we’ll see the sort of outcomes we have seen – which most recently has culminated in the firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne”.

The December 6 attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, while horrid, was immediately elevated to a level of concern warranting an emergency – that, at least, was the view of Dutton and his charges.  The attacks on mosques and their worshippers, a feature of Australian public life for some years now, hardly warranted a mention.  (A 2021 joint study by three Australian universities surveying 75 mosques found that 58.2% had experienced violence between 2014 and 2019.)

Dutton also had inspiration from another source.  “The burning of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is an abhorrent act of antisemitism,” stated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on platform X. “I expect the state authorities to use their full weight to prevent such antisemitic acts in future.” 

Ever the opportunist, Netanyahu saw a chance to see unsubstantiated links between the bombing in Melbourne, Australian foreign policy and antisemitism.  “Unfortunately, it is impossible to separate this........

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