I did not make a submission to the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion.

That is not because I have nothing to say. It is because I was afraid.

I work in a sector that speaks often, and rightly, about racism, discrimination and human rights. Yet on this issue I have felt the boundaries of acceptable speech narrow around me. To some, I am not progressive enough. To others, I am not supportive enough. Between those demands sits a quieter position that should not be controversial: that Jews are human beings, that Palestinians are human beings and any position that requires us to forget either truth has already begun to fail. We have to recover the capacity to hold two truths at the same time.

I have felt criticism from both extremes. There are those who hear concerns about antisemitism as indifference to Palestinian suffering. There are others who hear concern for Palestinian life as a betrayal of the Jewish community. Both reactions ignore the humanity of the “other”, and make peace........

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