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Antisemitic incidents are on the rise around Australia

Antisemitic incidents are on the rise around Australia, according to the latest research by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

The council’s annual report into antisemitism found there were 478 antisemitic incidents lodged with the group in the year to September 2022, up from 447 in 2021.

There were 180 more incidents compared with the 2013 to 2021 annual average.

The biggest increase across all categories of incidents was in posters – including banners, clothing, leaflets and flyers – believed to be in part due to Covid protests, according to researcher Julie Nathan.

She said:

The Covid regulations … produced mass street protests, particularly in Victoria, and the antisemitic conspiracy theories associated with the anti-vaxxer, anti-lockdown camp, resulted in large numbers of antisemitic placards at protests and antisemitic stickers on the streets.

Secondly, there was an increase in neo-Nazi activity, propagating antisemitic propaganda material in the form of posters, stickers and the like.

Nathan said the annual report captured just the “tip of the iceberg” of what was happening around the country.