The Blogs: Catastrophizing the Melbourne synagogue attack

With the firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne, the Jewish world is understandably concerned about the situation in Australia. Some have said Australia is no longer safe for Jews. Comparisons have even been made to Europe in the 1930s. Should Australian Jews such as myself be packing up and heading for Israel?

No, not out of fear.

Australian Jews should be vigilant but not unduly fearful. Antisemitic acts happen in Australia, as they do everywhere. But Australia is on the whole a multicultural success story. It is one of the safest places in the world for Jews, just as it is for other minority groups. When we fail to put threats in their proper perspective, we succumb to unnecessary fear. And that, ultimately, is the aim of terror attackers.

While antisemitism is on the rise, it is still relatively mild in Australia – in terms of both numbers and severity. No one is ‘canceling’ me at my university simply for being a Jewish professor (something that, with my name, would be hard to conceal). Jews like me are still walking freely nearly everywhere in Australia. We are still taking our kids to cheder at the local synagogue on Sunday mornings. Security has increased, as has anxiety – to some extent, but the sense of physical risk is not generally high among the many Jews I know.

Yes, there has been a several-fold rise in verbal or — less common — physical antisemitic encounters since October 2023 in Australia. (Assaults were 3% of the total.) Jewish and other commentators on the situation are right to cite key cases that should give us pause – slogans chanted at a rally, picketers at a synagogue, etc.

But the rise in antisemitic incidents is a rise from a very low number to another, still low number. This is critical context. Any rise is regrettable. But rather than overreact, we must look at the whole picture. The rate of risk remains mild, especially in comparison with other countries.

This may be little comfort to those who have been targeted. Here in Australia any act of antisemitism is regrettable, of course, even if the rate is low. But not every act is a sign of our worst histories returning. Many Jewish leaders, both in Israel and Australia, have tended to catastrophize acts and statements to the extreme. This is not only unwarranted, but it is self-defeating and even dangerous.

Jews are easily triggered, of course, not only as a result of the Holocaust but of the prior centuries of expulsions, forced conversions and mass killings. So it is no surprise that antisemitic tropes plastered on signposts in major cities of Australia, and – much worse – a firebombing of a synagogue can cause a visceral response. Our history haunts us.

However, we must not let the extreme or the rare case guide our judgment. If we do, then we cannot make mature political judgments. When Australia’s leaders call for a peacemaking in Israel on a two-state plan, this is neither repudiation of Israel nor fuel on the antisemitic fire.

Even more concerning perhaps, when we fail to put things in their proper perspective we can succumb to excessive fear. Since October 2023, there has been enough to worry about, enough to lament. All the more reason to avoid adding to the psychological burden. Jews must not read every insult – nor, even, every violent act – as a return to the age of the pogrom (a word now regularly invoked by sympathetic commentators in Australia).

A single act of terror in Melbourne – which by global standards is at the low end of the scale of severity – is easily misapplied as evidence that Jews are wholly unsafe. This is untrue. And by distorting risks, we regrettably give power to the very people who target Jews. The aim of a terrorist is to terrorize. We lose when we let them.