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The Australian Government Allowed Hate Speech Against Jews and Israel; Then a Synagogue Was Burned

Arsonists heavily damaged the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 6, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
Vandals defaced a synagogue in the Australian city of Melbourne in late November, with the phrases “Free Gaza” and “Jews kill babies.” A week later, in early December, two masked individuals deliberately burned down a different Melbourne synagogue, according to local police, who declared it to be an act of terrorism.
For Jews worldwide, it’s a short ride from inflammatory rhetoric to synagogues in flames.
Jacinta Allan, the premier of the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, described the arson as an “act of antisemitism.” And Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “I have zero tolerance for antisemitism. It has absolutely no place in Australia.”
But this is far from an isolated case in the country. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry reported more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024, more than quadruple the number over the previous 12-month period.
Just days ago, another antisemitic attack took place in Sydney.
On October 9, 2023, two days after Hamas launched the bloodiest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, demonstrators gathered outside the Sydney Opera House to bash Israel, with some shouting blatantly antisemitic slogans. There was some debate as to whether they were shouting “Gas the Jews” or “Where’s the Jews?” But after the Hamas massacre, the distinction means little.
Just days before the Melbourne arson attack, protestors, allegedly without permits, gathered across from The Great Synagogue of Sydney to protest an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Technion, Israel’s premier research university. For nearly three hours, the Jewish people there were locked down inside the synagogue out of fear for their personal safety.
The demonstrators shouted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan calling for the ethnic cleansing of Israel. The protestors held signs accusing Israel of war crimes, and claiming that the Australian prime minister has blood on his hands for not halting Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Then, when a Jewish man unfurled an Israeli flag across the street, facing Palestinian flags and banners calling for sanctions against Israel, the anti-Israel mob began aggressively shouting “shame” and “murderer” at him. Yet the police detained the pro-Israel pedestrian for endangering the peace by “antagonizing” the mob, not the unauthorized assembly.
In effect, the protestors used the pretext of human rights to harass Jews outside a synagogue. And several supposed human rights groups are producing materials that help protestors justify their hatred of the Jewish State and its supporters.
During this time, the Australian government has grown increasingly critical of Israel and its defensive war against Hamas — which culminated in Australia’s decision to reverse decades of policy, and vote for an extremely anti-Israel measure at the United Nations.
The same week as the Sydney synagogue heckling and the Melbourne synagogue arson, Amnesty International, the once-respected human rights organization, released a report contending that Israel had committed acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
This erroneous conclusion is flawed for several reasons. First, it rests on expanding what it calls an “overly cramped” standard for determining genocidal intent, the core of the crime. Second, it frames the war as an Israeli assault on Gazans even though Hamas initiated the fighting. Third, it misrepresents data about food insecurity in Gaza, which actually shows that Israel has taken significant steps to stave off starvation.
Fourth, it accepts Hamas’ overall casualty figures while omitting the number of Hamas fighters killed in the fighting, which — even using Hamas’ false numbers — would show a civilian-to-combatant death ratio in line with urban combat, not genocide. Fifth, it discounts Hamas’ use of human shields as a contributing factor to civilian deaths. And sixth, it dishonestly edits quotes from Israeli officials to suggest that they had genocidal intent when the opposite was true.
In truth, there’s many more than six reasons why the report is false and genocide isn’t happening; but no amount of the truth will convince people who are pre-determined to find Israel guilty.
This isn’t an exercise in seeking the truth. Amnesty produced its 296-page report with the intent to punish Israel and — by extension — its supporters. The report attempts to cast Israel as a uniquely evil state that must be dealt with accordingly.
This approach to the Jewish State feeds into a long history of antisemites casting the Jews as villains. In what has become known as the blood libel, medieval Christians in Europe accused Jews of killing Christian babies to use their blood for their Passover matzah. This framework justified all sorts of injustices against Jews, who were seen as bloodthirsty baby killers.
The details may have changed, but the accusations remain the same. The protestors outside synagogues in Australia, Amnesty International, and possibly the arsonists in Melbourne decry the Jewish State as a bloodthirsty child killer and want to stop it. Those casting aspersions against Israel are not overzealous defenders of human rights. Rather, they are modern purveyors of ancient blood libels portraying Jews — and now the Jewish State — as an embodiment of evil that must be destroyed. Australia and other nations should treat these vilifiers accordingly.
David May is a research manager and senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow David on X @DavidSamuelMay. Follow FDD on X @FDD.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran

Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages

Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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