Now they’re all shocked. The progressive activists. The influencers. The Greens. The podcasters. All those impeccably right-on people who’ve spent two years making “Zionist” – or “Zio” – the dirtiest word in the Australian vocabulary. Who marched down Oxford Street during the Mardi Gras holding a sign that said “Globalise the Intifada”.
Well, congratulations. The Intifada’s here. Globalised. Mission accomplished.It arrived on Sunday night, on the first night of Hanukkah. The so-called resistance moment – that noble struggle for liberation we’ve been hearing so much about – manifested as gunmen opening fire on Jewish families celebrating their festival by the sea. Fifteen dead. At least. A 10-year-old girl among them. The motive? Oh, we don’t officially know the motive yet. But of course we know the motive. We’ve watched it incubate in this country since October 7, 2023: anti-Jewish rhetoric in the guise of morally urgent criticism of a war in the Middle East.
Dressed up by the very people now eagerly posting their condolences. Their horror and devastation and disbelief.
But here’s what needs to be said to the people who’ve spent two years treating Israel as a uniquely evil state. Who’ve made “Zionism” synonymous with racism and slavery and every conceivable sin. Who’ve said Zionists should not be platformed, should not have culturally safe spaces, should essentially be drummed out of polite society. Who’ve chanted “from the river to the sea” at rallies, in parliament, and posted it on their Instagram stories with little watermelon emojis:
You built this. You laid the foundations, brick by rhetorical brick, post by viral post, march by march with your inverted red triangles and your signs bearing the words “Zionists are neo-Nazis”.
What exactly did you think “intifada” meant? It means blood. It has always meant blood. And now they’ll be cleaning up the blood on Bondi Beach for weeks.Take Nasser Mashni, now sending “love, care and solidarity” to the Jewish victims. The same Nasser Mashni who for two years, in his role with the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, has painted Zionism as “settler colonialism” and “Jewish supremacy”. Who thinks Israel’s destruction would bring about – and I quote – the “liberation of the earth”. Who won’t call Hamas a terrorist group but who, sure, stands in solidarity. Very meaningful.
Or Randa Abdel-Fattah, the author and academic, who’s expressing sadness online at this “horrific act of anti-Semitism”. Who’s on record saying Zionists have “no claim or right to cultural safety”. Who quite literally, the day after the October 7 massacres – the day after families were burned alive in their homes – changed her profile picture to a paraglider in Palestinian colours.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said: “My thoughts are especially with the Jewish community.” The same community whose state is “rogue” and “genocidal”. Abbie Chatfield is “heartbroken” and “sickened” by the “anti semetic (sic)” attack. Despite refusing to “platform Zionists” on her podcast. Despite publicly shaming a man as a “genocide supporter”. Just politics, right? Nothing personal.
Anti-Semitism has always been like this. It never goose-steps into the ball dressed as anti-Semitism. It doesn’t wear a sign. It arrives in the costume of the moment. As nationalism. As anti-capitalism. As social justice. It makes itself sound reasonable, even righteous. It speaks in the gentle language of decolonisation and human rights.
And then people die; that’s how this story goes.
Yes, you can criticise Israel. You can oppose settlements and protest civilian casualties in Gaza. But there’s a difference – and it’s a life-or-death difference now – between protest and incitement. Between holding a government accountable for its conduct in war and demonising an entire people.
Because when people talk about Russia and its war in Ukraine, none of it metastasises into graffiti on Russian restaurants. Into harassment of Russian students. Into boycotts and firebombings. Or bullets on beaches.
But with Israel? With Jews? It always does. Every single time. And the Jewish community kept saying this. We saw it coming. We saw it in Europe and America. We saw it in England.
So spare us the shock. Save the thoughts and prayers. You don’t get to globalise the intifada and then act all surprised when it finally shows up.https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/the-price-of-incitement-you-wanted-b...
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