Australian PM fails to confront Anti-Semitism |
Rivka Sassover Peled told me about what happened to her mother in Trieste when the Nazis invaded Italy. Her mother, Hemda Sassover, was a young Jewish woman living on her own, so her best friend Angelica offered her refuge with her family. But when the Nazis introduced their race laws against Jews that decreed death for anyone offering refuge to Jews, Hemda told her friend’s father that she would leave as she did not want to endanger their family. The father, Dr Giovanni Pesante, refused and insisted she stay with them. He told her: “ I do not do it for you. I do it for myself to keep my humanity.”
After the war, Dr Pesante was recognised both by Italy and Yad Vashem for his valour. An ordinary Italian was prepared to risk his life and that of his family to protect a Jewish fellow Italian.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, however, has failed to protect Jewish Australians and failed to confront growing antisemitism.
The Bondi massacre during Hanukkah that left 15 dead and 42 injured was the culmination of two years of dangerously escalating antisemitism in Australia. However, the response of the Prime Minister following the attack has been alarmingly weak. He has shown that he is not prepared to risk political support within his party and with a section of the electorate by taking a strong stand against Islamism.
A high-ranking law enforcement professional this week published an article in ‘ The Australian’ newspaper describing the Government’s response to antisemitism as “Wilful blindness”. This he explained is when someone deliberately avoids knowing the truth so they can later claim ignorance.
” That is the core issue: the failure to recognise, confront and act decisively against escalating extremist ideology and anti-Semitism… This issue is not about gun control. It is about leadership, anti-Semitism and confronting radical Islamist extremism,”he wrote.
In February this year Mike Burgess, the Director-General of Australia’s Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) declared that “antisemitism is the agency’s number one priority in terms of threats to life in Australia”.
Nevertheless, for over two years,........