Online hate report exposes ‘overt effort to normalise antisemitism'
The findings by the Online Hate Prevention Institute, a research organisation and charity that monitors extremism, are drawn from content published on social media platforms after last December's firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue, this month's attack on the East Melbourne Synagogue and last week's release of Jillian Segal's plan to combat antisemitism.
The report also examined the impact of the Dural caravan plot in Sydney and how, after NSW police downgraded it from a suspected terror attack to a 'criminal con job', the online discourse shifted to dismiss as hoaxes all attacks against Jews in Australia.
'This report shows just how normalised antisemitism has become, and just how willing many are to dismiss it, contextualise it, blame Jews for it, promote conspiracy theories, and otherwise make excuses,' the report concludes.
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'It highlights a discourse, largely built around conspiracy theories, that is dismissive of, or even supportive of, attacks targeting Jews in Australia.'
The report cites 113 examples of antisemitic posts or responses published on X, TikTok and Threads that reference the synagogue attacks and Segal plan. The posts are de-identified in the published report, but the details of the accounts were provided in confidence to this masthead.
They include celebratory messages about the firebomb that gutted the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, such as one which welcomed Jews getting 'a taste of their own medicine,' and conspiratorial claims about the arson attack being a 'false flag' orchestrated by Jews or Israel to deflect attention from the war in Gaza.
Declared one: 'The suspect is very likely a Mossad agent and the intent of this false flag is obvious.' Another claimed: 'The zios did it .. smoke screen.'
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