On January 7, in a stunning move that reflects a troubling global trend, Ice Hockey Australia canceled its plans to host a key international tournament — allegedly to “protect”‘ the Israeli national team from pro-Palestinian activists.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the cancellation was “unfortunate,” but offered little more than a dismissive comment about the sport’s limited popularity in Australia, while insisting that the Australian government has taken sufficient action to protect its Jewish population.

This meaningless, almost dismissive, statement by the Prime Minister demonstrates just how out of touch he and his Australian Labor government are when it comes to dealing with the scourge of antisemitism currently plaguing Australia.

By contrast, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been stronger, rightly calling antisemitism “a national disgrace.”

The tournament’s cancellation highlights the broader failure of many Western governments, including Australia, to confront the surge of antisemitism that followed Hamas’ October 7 terror war.

On October 9, 2023, just two days after the attack, the Sydney Opera House was lit up in blue and white to show solidarity with Israel. Yet it was the deeply distressed  Jewish community that was warned to stay away for their own safety — as violent anti-Israel protestors brazenly showed up burning Israeli flags and shouting antisemitic slogans.

The anti-Israel mob was also empowered by the police to take over the downtown area.

This set a terrible precedent. Since then, the Australian Jewish community has been under severe stress — with little confidence in federal and state governments or law enforcement agencies to protect them, and with good reason.

A report released late last year showed that between October 2023 and September 2024, there was a staggering 316% increase in antisemitic incidents reported in Australia for the previous period.

These figures don’t even include the fire bombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne last month, or numerous recent cases of property damage in Sydney, including  one from just a couple of days ago in which the words, “F**K the Jews,” was scrawled in bold black letters across a white car.

Other notable acts of appeasement and capitulation to hate since the October 7 massacre have been numerous.

In March, 2024, a world-renowned Israeli trauma expert was axed from a medical conference to be held in Australia, after organizers received threats from pro-Hamas agitators. Like the Ice Hockey Federation, the conference organizers were quick to concede to the antisemitic demands of these agitators in the name of “security.”

Most recently, the World Bowls Tour, an association for lawn bowling, banned Israelis from participating in international events due to “much pressure.” Appropriately, that blatantly discriminatory ban was revoked a short time later after  “significant additional security measures” had ostensibly been put in place — though an international outcry also likely played a part.

This is not about lawn bowling, ice hockey, or medical conferences. It’s about a systematic campaign to intimidate and harass Israelis and Jews from participating in any international and public events.

This is a deliberate campaign to ostracise Jews from society and delegitimise Israel as a nation state — and it started long before the October 7 attacks.

For many years, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), along with other international organizations, such as elements of the United Nations, have laid the groundwork for today’s antisemitic rhetoric. They have campaigned to exclude Israel from international events, accusing it of being a rogue state with no right to exist, and falsely labelling it “apartheid” or “colonialist,” or insisting that it is guilty of “ethnic cleansing.”

The October 7 attacks incentivized the haters to carry on this campaign by utilizing the undoubted suffering of Gaza — even though the war was one that Hamas initiated. Their slanderous claims of Israel committing “genocide” have often been amplified by the dedicated Israel-haters in the UN and the international media.

These intimidation tactics have succeeded in impacting the personal safety of Jews in Australia and across the world.

Earlier this year, Australian pro-Hamas activist Laura Allam was arrested for kidnapping and torturing a man, reportedly because he worked at a Jewish-owned business. A synagogue was firebombed with worshippers in the building.

As Israel’s ambassador to Australia ,Amir Maimon, correctly said, “By yielding to extremists and intimidation, you are proving that such tactics succeed.”

Governments need to recognize that appeasement only emboldens extremists, and sporting and other boycotts directed against Jews and Israelis are not free speech or political protest, but efforts to impose blatant ethnic discrimination as part of a global antisemitic movement.

Only a firm stand against these actions can ensure Jewish communities in Australia and around the world feel safe, supported, and protected.

Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).

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