Antisemitism isn’t always overt. A torrent of suspicion is questioning Jewish Australians’ loyalty to the country we love | Josh Burns
Guardian AU
•Wed, 01 Jul 2026 01:11:03 GMT
📰 What Happened
Labor MP Josh Burns, in a powerful opinion piece submitted to the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion, detailed the torrent of antisemitic abuse he has received, including hundreds of comments questioning Jewish Australians' loyalty to the country. Burns highlighted that his office was firebombed, vandalised, and had its windows smashed, describing how antisemitism becomes 'legitimised from multiple directions at once'. He traced the historical pattern of antisemitism — from Spanish Jews forced to convert or face expulsion, to French Jews pressured to assimilate, to Soviet Jews pressured to abandon religious practice — arguing that the accusation that Jews can never truly belong to their home countries is one of the oldest antisemitic tropes.
🔍 The Backstory
The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion was established by the Australian government in response to rising antisemitic incidents, including the firebombing of Burns' electoral office and a series of attacks on Jewish community institutions. Josh Burns is the Labor MP for Macnamara in Melbourne, an electorate with a significant Jewish population. His submission forms part of a broader inquiry examining social cohesion in Australia amid increasing polarisation.
🎯 Why It Matters
Burns' testimony to the royal commission brings personal, first-hand evidence of the rising tide of antisemitism in Australia, connecting contemporary abuse to centuries-old patterns of persecution. It underscores the challenge of addressing hate speech and extremism while preserving free political debate.
Labor MP Josh Burns, in a powerful opinion piece submitted to the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion, detailed the torrent of antisemitic abuse he has received, including hundreds of comments questioning Jewish Australians' loyalty to the country. Burns highlighted that his office was firebombed, vandalised, and had its windows smashed, describing how antisemitism becomes 'legitimised from multiple directions at once'. He traced the historical pattern of antisemitism — from Spanish Jews forced to convert or face expulsion, to French Jews pressured to assimilate, to Soviet Jews pressured to abandon religious practice — arguing that the accusation that Jews can never truly belong to their home countries is one of the oldest antisemitic tropes.
The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion was established by the Australian government in response to rising antisemitic incidents, including the firebombing of Burns' electoral office and a series of attacks on Jewish community institutions. Josh Burns is the Labor MP for Macnamara in Melbourne, an electorate with a significant Jewish population. His submission forms part of a broader inquiry examining social cohesion in Australia amid increasing polarisation.
Burns' testimony to the royal commission brings personal, first-hand evidence of the rising tide of antisemitism in Australia, connecting contemporary abuse to centuries-old patterns of persecution. It underscores the challenge of addressing hate speech and extremism while preserving free political debate.