It was before dawn though the darkness of the night was starting to fade to a sort of murky grey and Rocky, having been subjected to a quite substantial haircut a week ago, shivered in the cold, his legs thin now, legs I thought, of an aging ballerina — for Rocky, even in old age, still dance-walks—when we turned the corner onto Barkly Street.
What a wonderful piece and what a travesty that it had to be written.As you so righly say, words have been corrupted now, and to the extent that they no longer mean anything, unless it's in the Alice in Wonderland sense of words meaning " whatever I choose them to mean". The fact that anti semitic words and statements and actions are no so commonplace so as not to arouse anger or indeed much of any reaction from anyone anymore, is both dispiriting and alarming. The PM's continued refusal to call unequivocally call out anti semitism without the add on of islamophobia, like KFC and chips, demonstrates both moral and intellectual blindness. And all the other questions you raise are so well stated. Where does the PM stand..anywhere or everywhere? Or perhaps nowhere.
Thank you for writing, again, Michael. I almost can't read it because so chilling. I still don't understand why more people who are not Jewish are expressing concern if not outrage about this.
I couldn't "like" this piece because I was so miserable reading this horrible news. Many people are too scared to stand up against this imported and deliberately engendered persecution. My puny mission in my neighborhood and at my gym is to approach the apparently serene and cheerful Jews I encounter with, "Hi how are you? I want to tell you as a Catholic, I am so sorry. I stand with you and with Israel." To me, the courage of the young copper is what I see on my streets and it outshines and far surpasses the ugliness, cowardice, savagery and sheer ignorance of the almost certainly paid barbarians. I have no doubt the Australian Jewish copper insisted on guarding the ruins of our democratically elected MP.
Please watch this if you want to know why, from where and by whom this crime is happening.
So sad. I’m not Jewish but I’m feeling quite devastated at the twisting of words and truth, just as Michael describes, as well as the government’s weakness, which is just another way of giving support to the “pro-Palestinian” lobby and their vile hatreds.
Such a good piece. And such a gutless PM. It is really worrying. It could be even worse if the Greens hold the balance of power after the next election.
Wasn't it Goebbels who said that if you say the same thing over and over, everyone will believe it?
Thanks Michael for saying it as it is. Such comments and the whole eruption of antisemitism are so dispiriting. I certainly don't feel as safe as I did. I heard Josh on television this evening and he sounded pretty upset and good on him for showing what many of us feel. The segment on television also show that devil horns had been painted onto his head so Jews are responsible for all the evils of this world (??)
All this hatred is exhausting and makes me cry. A distinguished Jewish MP in London is standing down at the Election because he fears for his safety. Here in Hastings a neighbour screamed at a Labour council candidate recently that the candidate was murdering babies.
Thank you Mr Gawenda for sharing your reflections.
It is troubling for me as a non-aligned citizen (my great grandfather on return from WWI declared to his family that he would no longer identify as a person with Irish ancestry and similarly not live a Catholic life).
To be ‘non-aligned’ comes from my 20 years of teaching English in secondary schools because in that position it is important to instruct students about the principles of rhetoric.
One maxim that guided my instruction was that, and remains, argument requires a position.
This position is conditional upon the person’s ability to recognise an other position and a sincere sense of the difference between belief and rationality.
If these conditions find agreement, then argument can occur because reason, passions and experience will inform a discussion, conversation, debate and even monologue.
To speak to the event you speak of where Zionism equals Fascism, the activism is bent and unusual.
I ask for contemporary anthropology to explain or maybe help someone like me to understand why seemingly educated people buy into the banner Z = F.
I also ask, being a Melbourne citizen, what sort of actions do you think might lessen this hysteria and bad faith (in the existential sense) ?
Thank you for this thoughtful response to my article. I am not sure I can answer the question you ask in your last sentence. I think the majority of people I know -and have known over a long public life- are people of goodwill, many of them with different perspectives about the place we share, but who are open to deep and often unsettling conversations. The hysteria is real but it is the work of a loud and sometimes unhinged minority. All I can do is what I am doing: write as well as I can.
Thank you, Pia. I've been wanting to watch this but thought it was for subscribers only. At least this is one good thing about an otherwise pretty trashy online news site.
The awful situation of the Palestinians cannot be lost here. The greatest tragedy, to my mind, in the current war, is that Egypt will not let the civilians out of Gaza....well you can leave if you pay the huge bribes. No one is screaming or demonstrating about this. The callous disregard of this issue by, it seems, the entire world, is utterly shocking to me.
But let's remember where these posts began. A Jewish MP in Melbourne had his office vandalised, and occupants living upstairs, who were not related to his office at all, could have been incinerated.And this MP believes in a 2 state solution. That is what this country has become.
Whoever wrote "Zionism is Fascism" likely simply meant that Israel is perpetuating a gross injustice against arabs. It does not seem to be any more of a political theory than that. Moreover, it is not obvious at all there is any implicit comment about the WW2 genocide.
So I think Mr Gawenda makes too much of it. We do not know who did this vandalism or what they were thinking of. We should not make assumptions but wait to find out. It is not as though it is part of a known pattern. Breaking windows is stupid but this is not Kristallnacht. Whereas vandalism by graffiti is not something we should worry about too much. Burns is a politician, and is being targeted for the views he advocates, not for being jewish.
Mr Gawenda should consider the contrast he is describing, that there is an upsurge in anti-semitism coinciding with the violence in the Gaza strip. We hear this very frequently. It is from people who don't seem to think what they are saying. Perhaps I need to spell this out: they are weighing a few broken windows, as of yesterday, and no injuries against countless smashed buildings and thousands of deaths. The serious thing that has been going on since last October is that war, not some trivial incidents in Australia, or elsewhere for that matter. Secondly, it only shows that the so-called anti-semitism is after all nothing but opposition to what Israel does.
I think Mr Gawenda and some other commentators are gaslighting us when equating opposition to Israel with anti-semitism (not entirely consciously I hope). I thought this was an insight of my own but I see in Mr Gawenda's book that he has anticipated it. Whereas anti-semitism does not exist in Australia. That is my view but Mr Gawenda comes close to agreeing on the second last page of his Chapter 4 of "My Life as a Jew". I mean Mr Gawenda grew up here in Melbourne. If he was family suffered discrimination he would know about it and surely tell us.
Thank you Michael. As I explained to you, I believe there should be more of a dialogue between Australian jews and the rest of us. The immediate question is whether Australia should give diplomatic support to Israel or perhaps be neutral.
The hysteria is real - I’m 52, first recession since the late 70s early 80s - paid HECS from 1990 but I ask that the definition of hysteria be held for a moment. When I grew up, there were new skin heads - they punched me up at train stations when I was 14/15
I am very sad this is happening in your neighbourhood. It is outrageous and I would like to think that the perpetrators are being vigorously pursued but I have seen little sign of that.
I would like to point out that this sort of systematic intimidation of elected members was occurring before the horror of last October. Nicole Flint the previous Liberal member for Boothby was subject to this sort of monstering over a long period of time and sadly no one has been prosecuted for it.
Right on our doorstep. In our face. Nowhere is off limits.
Look at this brave young Policeman . Brave because he’s in the front lines protecting our community against criminals. Braver, because he wears his Yarmulke to work, in a society that’s rampant with antisemitism.
Michael, are we as a Jewish Community inherently non-confrontational? If so, is that a detriment or an asset . I’m thinking the later.
What a wonderful piece and what a travesty that it had to be written.As you so righly say, words have been corrupted now, and to the extent that they no longer mean anything, unless it's in the Alice in Wonderland sense of words meaning " whatever I choose them to mean". The fact that anti semitic words and statements and actions are no so commonplace so as not to arouse anger or indeed much of any reaction from anyone anymore, is both dispiriting and alarming. The PM's continued refusal to call unequivocally call out anti semitism without the add on of islamophobia, like KFC and chips, demonstrates both moral and intellectual blindness. And all the other questions you raise are so well stated. Where does the PM stand..anywhere or everywhere? Or perhaps nowhere.
Thank you for writing, again, Michael. I almost can't read it because so chilling. I still don't understand why more people who are not Jewish are expressing concern if not outrage about this.
Oops - 'are not.' You get the gist.
I couldn't "like" this piece because I was so miserable reading this horrible news. Many people are too scared to stand up against this imported and deliberately engendered persecution. My puny mission in my neighborhood and at my gym is to approach the apparently serene and cheerful Jews I encounter with, "Hi how are you? I want to tell you as a Catholic, I am so sorry. I stand with you and with Israel." To me, the courage of the young copper is what I see on my streets and it outshines and far surpasses the ugliness, cowardice, savagery and sheer ignorance of the almost certainly paid barbarians. I have no doubt the Australian Jewish copper insisted on guarding the ruins of our democratically elected MP.
Please watch this if you want to know why, from where and by whom this crime is happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov5Uw0c_K7o&t=2294s
So sad. I’m not Jewish but I’m feeling quite devastated at the twisting of words and truth, just as Michael describes, as well as the government’s weakness, which is just another way of giving support to the “pro-Palestinian” lobby and their vile hatreds.
Such a good piece. And such a gutless PM. It is really worrying. It could be even worse if the Greens hold the balance of power after the next election.
Wasn't it Goebbels who said that if you say the same thing over and over, everyone will believe it?
A society can lurch into a dangerous state very fast. Read "Prophet Song" by Paul Lynch. Won the Booker prize in 2023.
Thanks Michael for saying it as it is. Such comments and the whole eruption of antisemitism are so dispiriting. I certainly don't feel as safe as I did. I heard Josh on television this evening and he sounded pretty upset and good on him for showing what many of us feel. The segment on television also show that devil horns had been painted onto his head so Jews are responsible for all the evils of this world (??)
I missed the devil’s horns. An ancient antisemitic trope.
All this hatred is exhausting and makes me cry. A distinguished Jewish MP in London is standing down at the Election because he fears for his safety. Here in Hastings a neighbour screamed at a Labour council candidate recently that the candidate was murdering babies.
Your writing by contrast is beautiful.
Reading your pieces is like following a barometer with an inbuilt rot detector. The gauge is not heading in the right direction.
I always look forward to hearing from you Ann.
I'm honoured.
Thank you Mr Gawenda for sharing your reflections.
It is troubling for me as a non-aligned citizen (my great grandfather on return from WWI declared to his family that he would no longer identify as a person with Irish ancestry and similarly not live a Catholic life).
To be ‘non-aligned’ comes from my 20 years of teaching English in secondary schools because in that position it is important to instruct students about the principles of rhetoric.
One maxim that guided my instruction was that, and remains, argument requires a position.
This position is conditional upon the person’s ability to recognise an other position and a sincere sense of the difference between belief and rationality.
If these conditions find agreement, then argument can occur because reason, passions and experience will inform a discussion, conversation, debate and even monologue.
To speak to the event you speak of where Zionism equals Fascism, the activism is bent and unusual.
I ask for contemporary anthropology to explain or maybe help someone like me to understand why seemingly educated people buy into the banner Z = F.
I also ask, being a Melbourne citizen, what sort of actions do you think might lessen this hysteria and bad faith (in the existential sense) ?
Thank you for this thoughtful response to my article. I am not sure I can answer the question you ask in your last sentence. I think the majority of people I know -and have known over a long public life- are people of goodwill, many of them with different perspectives about the place we share, but who are open to deep and often unsettling conversations. The hysteria is real but it is the work of a loud and sometimes unhinged minority. All I can do is what I am doing: write as well as I can.
Anyone who hasn't seen this film should do so, and pass it round widely
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ngva62KPv4
Thanks for the link. Very good film b/c it is so disturbing
Thank you, Pia. I've been wanting to watch this but thought it was for subscribers only. At least this is one good thing about an otherwise pretty trashy online news site.
The awful situation of the Palestinians cannot be lost here. The greatest tragedy, to my mind, in the current war, is that Egypt will not let the civilians out of Gaza....well you can leave if you pay the huge bribes. No one is screaming or demonstrating about this. The callous disregard of this issue by, it seems, the entire world, is utterly shocking to me.
But let's remember where these posts began. A Jewish MP in Melbourne had his office vandalised, and occupants living upstairs, who were not related to his office at all, could have been incinerated.And this MP believes in a 2 state solution. That is what this country has become.
Whoever wrote "Zionism is Fascism" likely simply meant that Israel is perpetuating a gross injustice against arabs. It does not seem to be any more of a political theory than that. Moreover, it is not obvious at all there is any implicit comment about the WW2 genocide.
So I think Mr Gawenda makes too much of it. We do not know who did this vandalism or what they were thinking of. We should not make assumptions but wait to find out. It is not as though it is part of a known pattern. Breaking windows is stupid but this is not Kristallnacht. Whereas vandalism by graffiti is not something we should worry about too much. Burns is a politician, and is being targeted for the views he advocates, not for being jewish.
Mr Gawenda should consider the contrast he is describing, that there is an upsurge in anti-semitism coinciding with the violence in the Gaza strip. We hear this very frequently. It is from people who don't seem to think what they are saying. Perhaps I need to spell this out: they are weighing a few broken windows, as of yesterday, and no injuries against countless smashed buildings and thousands of deaths. The serious thing that has been going on since last October is that war, not some trivial incidents in Australia, or elsewhere for that matter. Secondly, it only shows that the so-called anti-semitism is after all nothing but opposition to what Israel does.
I think Mr Gawenda and some other commentators are gaslighting us when equating opposition to Israel with anti-semitism (not entirely consciously I hope). I thought this was an insight of my own but I see in Mr Gawenda's book that he has anticipated it. Whereas anti-semitism does not exist in Australia. That is my view but Mr Gawenda comes close to agreeing on the second last page of his Chapter 4 of "My Life as a Jew". I mean Mr Gawenda grew up here in Melbourne. If he was family suffered discrimination he would know about it and surely tell us.
Mr Durkacz sent this to me in an email. I said he should post it here. I think it speaks for itself.
Thank you Michael. As I explained to you, I believe there should be more of a dialogue between Australian jews and the rest of us. The immediate question is whether Australia should give diplomatic support to Israel or perhaps be neutral.
The hysteria is real - I’m 52, first recession since the late 70s early 80s - paid HECS from 1990 but I ask that the definition of hysteria be held for a moment. When I grew up, there were new skin heads - they punched me up at train stations when I was 14/15
I am very sad this is happening in your neighbourhood. It is outrageous and I would like to think that the perpetrators are being vigorously pursued but I have seen little sign of that.
I would like to point out that this sort of systematic intimidation of elected members was occurring before the horror of last October. Nicole Flint the previous Liberal member for Boothby was subject to this sort of monstering over a long period of time and sadly no one has been prosecuted for it.
This is a very important article, beautiful and precise.
Thank you.
Right on our doorstep. In our face. Nowhere is off limits.
Look at this brave young Policeman . Brave because he’s in the front lines protecting our community against criminals. Braver, because he wears his Yarmulke to work, in a society that’s rampant with antisemitism.
Michael, are we as a Jewish Community inherently non-confrontational? If so, is that a detriment or an asset . I’m thinking the later.
Oops, I meant to say the earlier.