Violent attack in Sydney renews the call to fight racism and antisemitism

The attack during a Jewish celebration in the Australian city raised the alarm among international bodies, which called for the eradication of hatred against ethnic or religious communities.

Antisemitism is once again showing its bloodiest face worldwide, as part of a new wave of hatred and hostility framed by the current situation. The recent attack on the Jewish community in the Australian region of Sydney has once again stirred as much concern as condemnation, in a scenario where current political polarization and ideological conflicts combine with the remnants of the historical antisemitism that still persists in the world and that it is more necessary than ever to combat. A wake-up call regarding struggles that have not let up well into the 21st century.

Indeed, the violent episode took place on the beaches of Sydney when two people opened fire on those who were in the midst of celebrating the traditional Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The attack left at least 15 dead, including a rabbi and a 10-year-old girl. The news quickly caused widespread shock and prompted reactions from diplomatic and humanitarian bodies around the world. 

The international community once again issued messages condemning this antisemitic act. The European Commission sent its messages condemning the attack, as did the United Nations and humanitarian organizations such as Amnesty International. All of them agreed on the need to call for action and awareness against racism, hatred and prejudice as the central triggers of all violence of this kind.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also issued words condemning the attack, as did the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, who urged the government of Australia to step up its efforts to combat local antisemitism and its terrorist expressions. 

At the close of a year marked by intense political hostility surrounding the conflict between the State of Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, there is concern about the growing escalation of both antisemitic and Islamophobic expressions around the world, reaching in this case their most extreme and cruel form. Amnesty International issued a statement expressing its rejection of those who seek to blame entire ethnic or religious communities as “scapegoats” or to use tragedies to deepen division, hostility and violence of any kind, against any race.

Although calls for peace and justice were repeated, the event quickly had geopolitical consequences stemming from positions on the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caused a major stir by pointing at the Australian government over the attack in Sydney, accusing it of “encouraging” antisemitism through its decision to recognize the State of Palestine last September. The response from Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian prime minister, was likewise swift, and he urged his Israeli counterpart to stay out of his country's politics. 

Extreme waves of antisemitism

Although the fight against antisemitism became one of the main tenets of human rights worldwide over the course of the 20th century and the postwar period, hate speech has periodically resurfaced in step with certain political processes. The outbreak of the confrontation between the State of Israel and the terrorist group Hamas has been the recent trigger for new waves of both antisemitism and Islamophobia, fueled by political polarization that finds in both communities a target for hatred and prejudice.

In May of this year, a report revealed that antisemitism reached worrying levels of expansion during 2024. According to figures compiled by the J7 Large Communities' Task Force Against Antisemitism, there was an exponential growth in incidents linked to hatred against the Jewish community. According to the report, one of the most worrying territories was Australia (where the recent attack took place), where this rise was more than 300% in the last year. In the United States, meanwhile, the increase in antisemitic incidents was 5%. According to the data in the report released by the group, in previous years countries such as Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom, among others, had stood out. 

Likewise, there have been ongoing debates in the international community in recent years about the importance of not linking the fight against antisemitism with state geopolitical disputes that could shift the focus of the struggle for human rights. Amnesty International put it this way in April 2023 in the face of complaints about human rights violations by the State of Israel. At the time, Amnesty warned of the risk that the fight against antisemitism could be used to persecute any criticism of the Israeli state, which would undermine the very spirit of the cause. 

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia