SA expats feel the heat of antisemitism Down Under

South African Jews who chose to make their home in Australia often went looking for safety and sanctuary, and many found it in the “the lucky country”. But now, in the space of 14 months, that rock-solid sense of security has been shaken in a wave of antisemitic attacks that some expats say their government has done little to stop.

For many expats, this came to a head when, in November, a car was set alight and vehicles were spraypainted with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs – where many South African Jews have settled. Then, in the early hours of Friday, 6 December, the Adass Israel Synagogue, a major ultra-Orthodox shul in Ripponlea, Melbourne, another area where many South African Jewish expats live, was firebombed, with congregants escaping with their lives. The attack has now been classified as terrorism, and Australia has launched an antisemitism task force in response.

Australian Jews experienced a record number of 2 062 antisemitic incidents over the year following 7 October 2023, according to a new report from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. In light of this, South African expat and Melbourne resident Justine Pearl is hyper-vigilant everywhere she goes. “I’ve been told, anecdotally and by professionals, that this hyper-vigilance is a trauma response that has been activated in many South African Jewish expats. We grew up in an environment where hyper-vigilance was necessary for our safety, and although this has been quiet for as long as we have been out of South Africa, it has been reawakened by the trauma of the past 14 months,” Pearl says.

Her family moved to Australia nearly 22 years ago, and for the first 20 years, she never felt unsafe for a second. “That changed overnight for me on 9 October 2023, when a violent jihadi rally broke out on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, baying for Jewish blood and chanting, ‘Gas the Jews!’ The perpetrators of this violent behaviour went unpunished,” says Pearl.

She believes this has since emboldened similar radicalised Muslims and the extreme left to be “significantly more forthright in their antisemitic vitriol, both online and on the streets of Melbourne. For more than a year, I have no longer felt safe travelling into the city on the weekends because thousands of people have colonised our city with protests that often turn threatening towards police and anyone they deem remotely Zionist. I’m not willing to remove my Magen David to visit the city, so I avoid it as much as possible.”

Pearl says the Australian Jewish community is mostly made up of descendants of Holocaust survivors, and many are experiencing the awaking of generational trauma. Talking to a non-Jewish friend on 5 December, Pearl said, “We have a deep historical understanding that what starts off as a protest outside a shul today turns into the burning of a shul tomorrow.” When she subsequently heard the news of the burning of the Adass Israel Synagogue the very next morning, “I felt utterly horrified, but honestly, not shocked.”

Greg Dorfman, whose parents are South African expats, says he also wasn’t shocked by the attack.

“I feel quite numb to it, as it almost felt inevitable,” he says. “Obviously, it’s shocking, and nothing like that has happened as far as I can remember, but I don’t think anyone is shocked by it, which probably tells you all you need to know.

“The government has shown no leadership, and there hasn’t been any meaningful action,” he says. “The government has tied itself in knots trying to appease both sides, and it ends up pleasing no-one. They know they need to crack down on antisemitism, but they’re scared to lose votes. And the police are scared to do anything because these people are intimidating.”

Israeli educator and former Melbournite, Ittay Flescher, says, “It’s important to understand that the Adass Israel building was much more than a place of prayer. Described by the community as ‘the jewel in the crown’, it was also a place of gathering, Torah learning, a library, and central hub of all community activities. That’s why there were people there at 04:00. It’s a building that never closes.”

Former Capetonian and current Melbourne expat, Jann Blair, says, “Waking up to the devastating news of the firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue just 1.5 km from our house was completely surreal.” For her, antisemitism has moved from being something from the past, “to real life, day-to-day situations that force you to question the overarching safety of family and friends”.

She has found herself questioning decisions like sending her daughter to a Jewish pre-primary school next year, and then feeling guilty for these thoughts, including “Will she be safer among Jews in a Jewish school, or as a Jew among non-Jews?”

Like Pearl, she avoids going into the city on weekends, and “we no longer hang out on the north side of the city, which is polluted with anti-Israel stickers. Australian festive traditions, like the iconic Myer Christmas window in the city, has been threatened because the company is owned by Jews.”

However, these incidents have brought the community together. “We feel more united and stronger than ever,” says Blair. “I find hope in non-Jewish work colleagues who check in and remind me that this terrible behaviour is coming from a small group of extremely loud individuals. But the stark contrast to the safety we are used to makes us question if we can continue to live the beautiful life here that we have enjoyed until now.”

Liora Benater, formerly of Cape Town and Johannesburg and now living in Melbourne, says, “We felt disgusted that this level of antisemitism has been accepted in Australia.” Australia generally takes pride in its multiculturalism, she says, “However, since 7 October, there has been a gradual rise in antisemitism, and it’s not surprising that the Labour government’s inaction has resulted in these repulsive acts.

“We still attended a Friday night dinner at our community shul, and were encouraged by the rabbi to continue to spread light at such a dark time,” she says. “We didn’t feel unsafe to attend, but the gate and shul premises were manned by security.”

Pearl still believes that Australia is one of the safest places in the world for Jews outside of Israel. “While the current Australian government has repeatedly betrayed the Jewish community, the opposition party has showed a stronger backbone when it comes to standing against antisemitism and protecting the Australian Jewish community.

“This is still a country comprised of mostly great people who are equally horrified by the chaos that these fringe movements have created,” she says. “Overall, I’m dismayed that the violent vitriol that became public on 9 October 2023 has been allowed to flourish to the point of a shul being burned, but I don’t believe that this level of violence will be the new normal for Australian Jews.”