As the conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate, the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel has provided Australians an opportunity to reflect on our nation's direction and the urgent need to safeguard fundamental freedoms amid the alarming rise of antisemitism.

For many Australians who gathered in major cities around the country to commemorate October 7, it was an “agonising anniversary”, not only because of the atrocities that occurred in Israel a year ago, but also due to the shifting and increasingly negative cultural moment that Jewish Australians have experienced since.

At a memorial held in Melbourne, Rabbi Ralph Genende “recounted a year of broken pieces, hearts and hopes”:

... it’s been a year of shattered innocence – or was it blissful naivety – for those of us who believed that antisemitism had been banished to the dark corners of humanity.

The ferocity and the pervasiveness of the new antisemitism has sent us spinning into a vortex of doxing and cancelling and cold, isolating spaces.

Many federal and state politicians attended memorials to commemorate the attacks, with Federal Health Minister Mark Butler voicing his concern about the growth of antisemitism in Australia, which he said is “growing and spreading here in a way we’ve never seen before, in a way that is simply unique – in its scale and its character”:

Only Jewish parents have to watch their children walk into schools surrounded by security fences and guards. Only Jewish aged care facilities – subjected to threats and vandalism since October 7 – have had to hire security guards on police advice.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott stood in solidarity with Australia's Jewish community at the Never Again Is Now rally outside Parliament House in Canberra. He spoke of Israel’s right to defend itself and the shared values between our two democracies.

He said:

If something terrible were to happen to the state of Israel, all of us would be diminished. As Bob Hawke said, if the bell tolls for Israel, it tolls for all mankind.

The unexpected and dramatic rise in antisemitism has shocked many Australians, who had until now considered the nation to be a tolerant and inclusive one.

As expressed in the Australian Financial Review’s editorial:

… sympathy for the plight of ordinary Palestinians and questioning of the Israeli response to October 7 has spilled over into antisemitism. In the past year, Australian Jews have been subjected to unprecedented levels of antisemitism. It’s been a black mark for the tolerance that has helped to make modern Australia a beacon for migrants from around the world.

HRLA’s work to defend religious freedom is part of the fight to protect religious freedom all around the world. The Jewish people have historically suffered great persecution for their faith.

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights, upon which Australia’s human rights tradition is based, was formulated after World War Two. The Declaration was a response to the atrocities suffered by the Jewish people in the Holocaust, and an attempt to prevent such atrocities from ever occurring again.

Australia is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which builds on the Declaration, and guarantees such rights as the right to freedom of speech, thought, conscience and religion.

It is imperative that these freedoms are defended and upheld by all Australians.