Jewish Voices Of Inner Sydney Reject Politicisation Of Antisemitism

25 members from Jewish Voices of Inner Sydney have written an open letter condemning the politicisation of antisemitism within the community.

The letter was sent on February 7 to Inner West Council Mayor, Darcy Byrne and all Inner West Councillors, as well as to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Tanya Plibersek, Jenny Leong, Jo Haylen, Kobi Shetty, and Alex Greenwich, all of whom are elected representatives of Inner Sydney and Inner West electorates.

The residents condemned the recent antisemitic attacks that have taken place across Sydney, and welcome the work of law enforcement in arresting suspects, but “deplore” the rhetoric being used to politicise the attacks, specifically naming Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Inner West Mayor, Darcy Byrne.

Byrne published an op-ed in The Australian on January 17 in which he accused local Greens members of “whipping up antisemitism ever since October 7”.

In the wake of the attempted firebombing of the Newtown synagogue on 13 January, Byrne released a media statement calling on the Inner West community to stop the spread of antisemitism.

“For months now local Jewish leaders have been pleading with local representatives in the Inner West to turn the temperature down and to help reduce tensions,” he said at the time.

“Unfortunately, not all local politicians have heeded these calls.

“Our community must unite to eliminate antisemitism, but that won’t happen if our elected representatives are continually sowing the seeds of division.”

Multiple Greens members, such as recipients of the letter, Jenny Leong and Kobi Shetty, have been outspoken in their support of Palestine, attending multiple actions against the genocide over the past 70 weeks.

“In a moment where our community fears when and where the next attack could be, we need our political representatives to show leadership and do their best to unite the broader community against antisemitism and all forms of racism,” the letter read.

“We note that incidents of Islamophobia have also increased significantly but have not received the same attention as antisemitic attacks.”

The group also rejected the notion that criticism of Israel amounts to antisemitism.

“Such narratives erase the diversity of opinion in our community and trivialise antisemitism,” they said.

“We urge our elected representatives not to exploit this moment to score political points and suppress dissent about how Australia is responding to what the International Court of Justice has called a ‘plausible genocide’ in Gaza.”

Controversial anti-protest laws also addressed

Jewish Voices of Inner Sydney also addressed the proposed hate speech laws introduced by the NSW government this week, which have faced criticism from human and civil rights groups around the lack of protection for LGBTQIA+ groups, and expanded restrictions on protest.

The proposed Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Bill 2025 would make it an offence to block access to a place of worship without reasonable excuse, with a potential two years imprisonment and/or a $22,000 fine for blocking, impeding or hindering access to places of worship.

The proposal could be used to charge members of the faith protesting their own organisation, as was the case when anti-Zionist Jewish protesters gathered outside of the Great Synagogue in December.

Institutional child sexual abuse survivors would have been unable to protest outside churches, and Town Hall, the site of multiple significant protests over the years, would no longer be a viable location to gather given its proximity to St Andrews Cathedral.

“Australia is a peaceful and prosperous country with a healthy democracy and the freedom to speak out against injustice. These are the qualities that make this country safe for communities such as ours, and we oppose attempts to curtail pro-Palestinian protests and censor criticism in the name of ‘protecting’ us.

We will never be safer with fewer rights, and we will be decidedly less safe if our politicians continue to use us as political footballs in the lead up to this year’s election.”